Rev Dr Barber Friday; Reject the Cover Up Tomorrow; and Much More!
716-332-3904 2/4/2020 wnypeace.org
Dear Friends,
We’re excited to invite you to join us on Friday busing to Rochester to hear Rev. Dr. Barber and Rev. Theoharis, leaders of the Poor People’s Campaign, A National Call for Moral Revival. This event – and the campaign! – provide tangible ways to get involved through mobilizing, organizing, registering people to vote, and education. There are only 16 seats left, so please rsvp at https://actionnetwork.org/events/rochester-new-york-mass-meeting-we-must-do-more-tour?fbclid=IwAR3dF1FTPRt7RhHUJBV5y2qBPcUwRLYzTqzg8-BZhyRMh2iQxhz2K8ahvco if you are interested in attending. The bus leaves from the LaSalle Park-N-Ride on Friday at 5pm. More info below.
You should also know that a previous court decision to hold Sherriff Howard accountable for accurate reporting of incidents in the Erie County jail system was overturned on appeal. In the original case, four former members of the Corrections Advisory Board – Karima Amin, Chuck Culhane (Chair of the WNYPC’s Prisoners’ Rights Taskforce), Nan Haynes, and Rev. Eugene Pierce – had been given legal standing to hold the Sheriff’s Dept accountable for accurate reporting of incidents. In 2018 the Erie County Holding Center and the Correctional Facility in Alden were among those listed as the worst state-run jails. This decision allows the trend of mismanagement in these facilities to continue. This makes our weekly vigils even more important! They’re outside the Holding Center on Wednesdays between 4pm-5:30pm. All are welcome to attend; please bring signs.
To mark the recent collapse of checks and balances with the impeachment trial, we will be cosponsoring a Reject the Coverup event on Wednesday evening at 5:30p on the corner of Elmwood and Bidwell. This Stop & Honk is being hosted by the Queen City Feminist (Jennifer Page). The themes of this national day of action event are accountability, democracy, and reform. Feel free to stop by both this event and the Holding Center Vigil!
Finally, please call our Senators with encouragement for standing up for both democracy and for the cessation of military aggression and/or occupation. Again, you can thank them for supporting the War Powers Act stopping any war on Iran, (Gillibrand: 202-224-4451; Schumer: 202-224-6542) and urge them to support both the Kaine and the Sanders resolutions (SJ69 and S3159 respectively).
Please see much more below, including great events this week, regularly scheduled events & vigils, and more at wnypeace.org, and on our Facebook page, Twitter (@wnypeace), and Instagram (wnypeace)!
Peace, Thanks, Solidarity, and yes Love.
#Unite! #OneLove
Events this week:
Nekanehsakt
February 4 @ 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm
At Burning Books, 420 Connecticut Ave. Indigenous support group/allies (including Indigenous Women’s Initiatives, WNYPC). (1st & 3rd Tuesdays) Come help plan support for Indigenous Rights, and People and the Planet. Learn about – and help with – the Nuclear-Free Peace On and With the Earth Month, and the Walk For Life, Walk For Water, Walk For Mother Earth! All are Welcome!
ECHC Vigil: NO MORE Deaths!
February 5 @ 4:00 pm – 5:30 pm
At the Erie Co Holding Center, Delaware between Church & Eagle Sts, Buffalo. Prisoners’ Rights Taskforce Vigil/protest Wednesdays 4-5:30pm at the Erie County Holding Center (Delaware & Church). The ECHC has significantly higher deaths than similar facilities. The Sheriff’s Dept has misreported, and been determined to have committed homicide by medical neglect per the DOJ! The Sheriff’s Administration is a Public Health Emergency!! All are welcome.
**Please bring signs. **
Also please call Gov Cuomo at (518) 474-8390 to urge him to remove Sheriff Howard as he clearly is not up to the job.
Reject the Coverup Honk & Wave
February 5 @ 5:30pm
At Elmwood Ave & Bidwell Parkway. This Wednesday, hundreds of thousands of Americans will mobilize with a simple demand: Reject The Coverup. Together, we’ll demand: Accountability — Trump and the Senators and members of Congress who voted to cover up his crimes will be held accountable by their constituents.
Environmental Justice Taskforce Mtg
February 6 @ 6:00 am – 7:30 pm
At Isaías González-Soto Branch (formerly Niagara Branch) Library, 280 Porter Ave, Buffalo 14201. Regular monthly meeting. Come learn, help plan and organize to move ourselves on to Renewable energy and off fossil fuels. Bomb train resistance, No Nuclear Waste over the Peace Bridge and on public highways etc. also often included in the mix of topics.
Community Solar is for Everyone!
February 6 @ 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm
At the Crane Library, 633 Elmwood Ave., 2nd Floor. The Sierra Club Niagara Groupo has three Community Solar experts coming to speak about local opportunities to participate in community solar. There are no costs, only savings for those that get in on the projects. This can work for everyone, renter and owner
Rev. Dr. Barber II & Rev. Liz Theoharis, Poor People’s Campaign, Rochester
February 7 @ 5:00 pm
The WNY Poor People’s Campaign invites you to get on the bus for a lifetime opportunity to listen to Rev William Barber and Rev Liz Theoharis on Friday, February 7th beginning at 7:00pm in Rochester. Transportation will be provided, and will be leaving from the LaSalle Station Park-n-Ride at 3030 Main St, Buffalo 14215. To register for your seat on he bus, please RSVP here. For more information, help with registration or transportation getting to the bus location, please contact Sara Palmer via call or text at 716-427-4933 or email saraleepalmer02@gmail.com
Lafayette Community School – Saturday Academy
February 8, 9am-12pm
Free activities for the whole community (with free breakfast & lunch)! Join the WNY Peace Center at 10:30 in the cafeteria for a PeaceJam activity.
Live Remote Skype Session with Ajamu Baraka
February 8 @ 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm
At Merriweather Library, 1324 Jefferson, Buffalo. Human Rights Activist and National Spokesperson for Black Alliance for Peace, Ajamu Baraka will speak on “The Interests of People of Color at Home and Abroad.” Live remote presentation on a big screen (in the auditorium), with Q&A following presentation. Mr. Baraka has been honored for his human rights work. Event sponsored by US Peace Council in Buffalo NY.
School Board Meeting
February 12, 5:30pm
In Rm. 801, City Hall. This meeting will address ending suspensions for BPS students in grades K-3. The meeting is open to the public and all who are interested are encouraged to attend.
For Future Generations: A Plastic Pollution Study of Lake Erie’ Opening
At CEPA Gallery, 617 Main Street, Buffalo, NY 14203. Opened January 17, 2020; exhibit is up through February 15, 2020. Artist Alexis Oltmer (b.1990) has spent 3 years creating For Future Generations : A plastic pollution study of Lake Erie, an environmental and conceptual body of artwork which elevates plastic pollution imagery.
REGULARLY SCHEDULED EVENTS in the One Struggle, One Vision, One Love:
Talking Peace with the WNY Peace Center Radio Show on 91.3FM, WBNY. Mondays, 1-3pm. Call-in show with Jim Anderson and Vicki Ross co-hosting. Also streaming on-line at wbny.buffalostate.edu.
Buffalo Nekanesakt. Indigenous support group/allies. 1st & 3rd Tuesdays, 6:30-8pm. At Burning Books, 420 Connecticut Ave. All are welcome!! Come work on Nuclear-free Peace-On-and-with-the-Earth-Month, with a peace walk with Jun-San Yasoda and international walkers to various “sacrifice areas” and Indigenous Reservations.
Prisoners’ Rights Taskforce – NO MORE Deaths! Vigil/protest Wednesdays 4-5:30pm at the Erie County Holding Center (Delaware & Church). The Sheriff’s Administration is a Public Health Emergency!! All are welcome. Please bring signs.
Resist Militarism! Taskforce – Regular monthly planning meeting third Weds of the month, February 19; 5-6:30pm. at Isaías González-Soto Branch (formerly Niagara Branch) Library, 280 Porter Ave, Buffalo 14201.
Interfaith Peace Network – First and third Thursday of each month at 9:15am. Located at 1272 Delaware Ave, Buffalo NY 14209 entrance and parking round back.) Breakfast potluck, and discussion.
End ICE Terror – Thursdays, 5-6pm, vigil in front of the ICE building on the corner of (@250) Delaware and Chippewa. Bring your signs and spirit of Solidarity. We will not stay silent! Taskforce meeting hosted at Spot Coffee across the street from the vigil location on the third Thursday of the month. (2/20/20 from 6-7pm) #EndICETerror #FamiliesBelongTogether #AbolishICE #CLOSETHECAMPS #NeverAgainIsNow.
Environmental Justice Taskforce – Vigil to Protest the Shipments of VERY Dangerous Radioactive Liquid from Canada coming over the Peace Bridge. Fridays 2-3pm, Front Park at Vermont & Busti, Buffalo. Signs welcome and also usually available.
Stop The Violence Coalition – 1st and 3rd Fridays of the month; 6pm, United Way Building, Delaware and Summer Sts.
Women In Black – Nonviolence vigil, Bidwell and Elmwood. Saturdays, Noon-1pm. Signs also available. (and you don’t need to be a woman or dress in black) Special gathering on Jan 4 for National Day of Action: US out of Iraq!!!
Riverside Salem Environmental Cottage & UCC/DC – Various progressive spiritual activist and naturalist programs, Sundays, 4-6pm followed by a pot-luck. 3449 West River Road, Grand Island, NY 14072.
Of note: Little Africa Culture Club, 356 S. Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo, NY. African Drumming Sundays, 12-2pm.
We shall overcome #Unitethestruggles #Loveislove #PowerWITH-NOTPowerOver
More listings on calendar and in previous email posts.
To subscribe, write to weeklynews@wnypeace.org with “subscribe” in subject line.
To unsubscribe, write to weeklynews@wnypeace.org with “unsubscribe” in subject line. (Sorry for delays!)
Please submit possible listings for consideration to weeklynews@wnypeace.org.
The time is now, and we are the people we’ve been waiting for!
And remember to tune in: DEMOCRACY NOW! IS NOW BEING BROADCAST MONDAY-FRIDAY, 8AM-9AM (LIVE) ON WBNY 91.3FM. Hear it over the radio or streaming live at wbny.buffalostate.edu.
And don’t forget to support it to keep it on the air: donations should go to the WNY Peace Center with a memo to us (on the check or with a note on the on-line contribution) the Friends of Democracy Now in Buffalo! Many Thanks!
Below are
- more event listings (see also calendar & facebook page); and
- Taskforce items and campaigns
COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
* ECONOMIC JUSTICE
Rev Wm Barber & Rev Liz Theoharis, Poor People’s Campaign, Rochester
February 7 @ 5:00 pm
The WNY Poor People’s Campaign invites you to get on the bus for a lifetime opportunity to listen to Rev William Barber and Rev Liz Theoharis on Friday, February 7th beginning at 7:00pm in Rochester. Transportation will be provided, and more details will be provided as the date nears. To register for your seat on he bus, please RSVP here. For more information, help with registration or transportation getting to the bus location, please contact Sara Palmer via call or text at 716-427-4933 or email saraleepalmer02@gmail.com
* EDUCATION & HUMAN RIGHTS
New York State’s Dignity for All Students Act (aka DASA or The Dignity Act) seeks to provide the State’s public elementary and secondary school students with a safe and supportive environment free from discrimination, intimidation, taunting, harassment, and bullying on school property, a school bus and/or at a school function. More information at: http://www.p12.nysed.gov/dignityact/
BOE Meetings
Board of Education meetings begin at 5:30 pm and are held in room 801 at City Hall, unless a venue change is previously announced. These sessions are open to the public. A schedule of upcoming board of education meetings can be found at https://www.buffaloschools.org/Page/85931. The upcoming meeting is likely to include efforts supported by the WNY Peace Center’s Education & Human Rights Taskforce to end suspensions of K-3rd grade students (and more).
More information on Buffalo Public Schools can be found at https://www.buffaloschools.org.
* ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE
Environmental Justice Taskforce Mtg
February 6 @ 6:00 am – 7:30 pm
At Isaías González-Soto Branch (formerly Niagara Branch) Library, 280 Porter Ave, Buffalo 14201. Regular monthly meeting. Come learn, help plan and organize to move ourselves on to Renewable energy and off fossil fuels. Bomb train resistance, No Nuclear Waste over the Peace Bridge and on public highways etc. also often included in the mix of topics.
Community Solar is for Everyone!
February 6 @ 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm
At the Crane Library, 633 Elmwood Ave., 2nd Floor. The Sierra Club Niagara Groupo has three Community Solar experts coming to speak about local opportunities to participate in community solar. There are no costs, only savings for those that get in on the projects. This can work for everyone, renter and owner
| Climate Emergency Petition |
| Please sign on to the WNY Youth Climate Council petition to the Buffalo Common Council to declare a Climate Emergency. They want to get as many signatures as possible on paper or on the internet! So all are wanted (not just the young people!) to sign on and to help make a difference here in Buffalo. The online petition is here: |
| Sign Now |
No Nuclear Waste over the Peace Bridge
Join us every Friday from 2 PM to 3 PM at the corner of Busti Ave and Vermont St. in Buffalo NY. Vigil against the shipment of high level LIQUID radioactive spent fuel from Chalk River Ontario to Aiken South Carolina. If any of it spills out, it will be next to impossible to clean.
______________
Ask Gov. Cuomo to Declare a Climate Emergency
Capitol district resident and longtime activist Sandy Steubling is organizing a
state-wide call-in effort. Please help out, and let me know if you did! Wish Gov.
Cuomo a happy new year.....and then:
"Governor Cuomo, Please declare a climate emergency for the state of New York and
immediately ban all new fossil fuel infrastructure."
Tel: 518-474-8390, press (1) or Tweet: @NYGovCuomo
Why? From a recent UN report:
- levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere reached a record high in 2018.
- We are on track for a temperature rise of over 5.7°F by the end of the century.
- We have to reduce emissions by 7.6% each year between 2020 and 2030 to limit
global temperature rise to 1.5°C (2.7°F).
- The G20 countries are responsible for 78% of global GHG emissions.
Ref:
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/11/26/science-screaming-un-report-warns-only-rapid-and-transformational-action-can-stave
*GENDER JUSTICE
Many thanks for the many who made the Women’s March WNY all that it was – standing up with determination for our principles and with tremendous Spirit!! We will definitely have an event on Sunday, March 8, International Women’s Day – and much more to come. The Gender Justice Taskforce continues organizing. Please see our taskforce page on the wnypeace.org website. The Chair is Denise Robinson.
* IMMIGRANT & REFUGEE JUSTICE
Vigil for Victims of ICE Terror – Thursdays, 5-6pm, ICE building on the corner of Delaware and Chippewa. Bring your signs and spirit of Solidarity. We will not stay silent! #EndICETerror #FamiliesBelongTogether #AbolishICE.
On the third Thursday of the month, the foregoing Vigil will be followed by Immigrant & Refugee Justice Taskforce Meeting at Spot Coffee (kitty-corner to Vigil site of Delaware North Bldg) at 6pm. All are welcome!
Vive la Casa, shelter for people awaiting documents and/or sanctuary, still desperately needs more resources for their already overstretched facility. Please give generously.
jrchc.org/vive
(Checks to Jericho Road/VIVE) 50 Wyoming St., Buffalo, NY 14211, 892-4354.
* LATIN AMERICAN SOLIDARITY
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Latin American Solidarity Committee website: http://www.lascwny.org/ Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/LASC-wny/143873822377380/
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Vigil for Victims of ICE Terror Thursdays, 5-6pm, ICE building on the corner of Delaware and Chippewa. Bring your signs and spirit of Solidarity. We will not stay silent! #EndICETerror #FamiliesBelongTogether #AbolishICE
_________
Other Latin American Solidarity news:
Invest in the children of farmworkers! A donor has agreed to match gifts given through Rural and Migrant Ministry board members through the end of the year. Contact the Rural and Migrant Ministry for more details. www.ruralmigrantministry.org.
Venezuela
Please help us defend the defenders of the Venzuelan Embassy in DC.
| Please Call: Prosecutor Sara Rosborough at 202-252-6837Tell the Prosecutor: |
| “I (state your name) request that you drop all charges against the four Venezuelan Embassy Protectors: Kevin Zeese, Margaret Flowers, Adrienne Pine and David Paul. The four did not violate any U.S. or international law during their 37-day stay in the Venezuelan Embassy in Washington DC. Their stay in the Venezuelan Embassy building was with full permission of the legitimate, elected Government of Venezuela, as recognized by the United Nations and its Charter.I believe it is the United States government that has violated the UN Charter by unlawfully raiding and transferring the control of the Venezuelan Embassy to an unauthorized opposition group in Venezuela that has little support among the people of that country.I don’t think that the charge of ‘interfering with the protective functions of the state’ can be legitimately applied to this case, and if abusively applied, it will open the door to any foreign government or entity to do the same with the United States diplomatic premises anywhere in the world.” If you get a recording, be sure to leave a message. |
| Embassy Protector activists spent 37 days protecting international law and peace within the Venezuelan Embassy in Washington, D.C. They are currently facing bogus federal charges brought by the Trump administration that, if convicted, would mean up to one year in prison and $100,000 fines each.In order to keep the DC embassy from being illegally taken over by right-wing coup supporters, the Embassy Protectors entered the Embassy with permission of the Venezuelan government, who handed them the keys, and remained there and refused to leave.For 37 days, the Venezuelan embassy in DC and the protectors inside were under siege by local and federal police and right-wing Venezuelan mobs who surrounded the embassy, used strobe lights and air horns throughout the night, tried breaking down the door, violently attacked Embassy Protection Collective solidarity activists outside the embassy, and even blocking supporters from bringing food and water to the activists inside. Despite all this, the Embassy Protectors refused to concede the Embassy to the right-wing, U.S backed forces. Now the Embassy Protectors face trumped by charges for defending Venezuelan sovereignty and self-determination. Solidarity with the Venezuelan Embassy Protectors! Drop the trumped up charges! |
| Embassy Protectors Defense Committee Email: admin@DefendEmbassyProtectors. org Web Site: DefendEmbassyProtectors.org |
– Cuba—IFCO/Pastors for Peace (same address) Phone: 212-926-5757. Please give generously – the situations continue to be terrible for many!! We’ll have a Pastors For Peace representative here on April 5! Save the date!
-Chenalhó, Chiapas—
If you would like to provide much-needed help, go to weaving-for-justice.org
* PRISONERS’ RIGHTS
#HALTsolitary Act – many thanks to all who went on the exhilarating/exhausting trip to Albany to urge the act’s adoption. For those who didn’t go, please call your state assemblypersons and state senators (see our website wnypeace.org, and you’ll find Gov’tal Contacts on the dropdown menu Get Involved!), as well as Gov Cuomo at (518) 474-8390, and urge them all to support the #HALTSolitary!
ECHC Vigil: NO MORE Deaths!
February 5 @ 4:00 pm – 5:30 pm
At the Erie Co Holding Center, Delaware between Church & Eagle Sts, Buffalo. Prisoners’ Rights Taskforce Vigil/protest Wednesdays 4-5:30pm at the Erie County Holding Center (Delaware & Church). The ECHC has significantly higher deaths than similar facilities. The Sheriff’s Dept has misreported, and been determined to have committed homicide by medical neglect per the DOJ! The Sheriff’s Administration is a Public Health Emergency!! All are welcome. Please bring signs.
Lastly please call Gov Cuomo at (518) 474-8390 to urge him to remove Sheriff Howard as he clearly is not up to the job.
___________
* RACIAL JUSTICE
Monthly meetings announced on our website calendar.
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THE CARIOL HORNE WHISTLEBLOWER FUND – The Western New York Peace Center has created a fund for the purpose of supporting police officers who face reprisals from their department from choosing to strictly uphold their oath to protect and serve the community. gofundme.com/cariol-horne-whistleblower-fund. The Peace Center has named this fund after Cariol Horne who saved the life of a citizen, but was fired just prior to earning her 20-year pension. Our goal is to encourage good police officers in following their moral conscience if and when it conflicts with the infamous blue wall of silence.
Each Police District has a Chief and Community Police Meeting. We encourage people to go to them and communicate freely on issues of concern. See wnypeace.org calendar for listings, and/or call your District and ask when & where the next Chief and Community Police Meeting will be held.
* RESIST MILITARISM!
Resist Militarism! Taskforce Mtg
Resist Militarism! Joint Meetings with Veterans For Peace #128, are 3rd Wednesdays of the month, 5-6:30pm. November 20. At Isaías González-Soto Branch Library (formerly Niagara Branch Library, 280 Porter Ave, Buffalo 14201)
Know about the King’s Bay Plowshares? 7 courageous and compassionate Catholic Workers who were just found guilty after their trial this past week, facing potentially 25 years each. They went to largest submarine base in the world Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base in St. Mary’s, Georgia on April 4th, 2018. They went to make real the prophet Isaiah’s command to “beat swords into plowshares”. Now is the time to write letters to Judge Lisa Godbey Wood regarding her sentencing of the Kings Bay Plowshares 7.
Please Donate
Thanks to your support, we have mobilized thousands of people around the world to speak out for the abolition of nuclear weapons. Please help with expenses, housing, and supporting defendants’ families following the verdict and the upcoming sentencing.
- Send checks to: Plowshares, PO Box 3087, Washington, DC 20010
- Donate online: GoFundMe
EMAIL: Media: kbp7media@gmail.com
General: kingsbayplowshares@gmail.com
WEBSITE: www.kingsbayplowshares7.org
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/Kingsbayplowshares
TWITTER: https://www.twitter.com/kingsbayplow7
INSTAGRAM: https://instagram.com/kingsbayplowshares7
YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkSCM4dxIJxAolsl2oMP72Q/
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#Unite #Loveislove #PowerWITH-NOTPowerOver
More listings on calendar and in previous email posts.
To subscribe, write to weeklynews@wnypeace.org with “subscribe” in subject line.
To unsubscribe, write to weeklynews@wnypeace.org with “unsubscribe” in subject line. (Sorry for delays!)
Please submit possible listings for consideration to weeklynews@wnypeace.org.
The time is now, and we are the people we’ve been waiting for!
And remember to tune in: DEMOCRACY NOW! IS NOW BEING BROADCASTMONDAY-FRIDAY, 8AM-9AM (LIVE) ON WBNY 91.3FM. Hear it over the radio or streaming live at wbny.buffalostate.edu.
Si, se puede! We shall overcome. #UnitePeace, Thanks, Solidarity, and yes Love.