Defend the Sacred! Truth and Love. Holiday Blessings!

716-332-3904      12/22/19                  wnypeace.org
Dear Friends,

We are grateful for you, all year round – and especially at this time of year, when there are so many reminders of our values, our issues, our wonderful and terrible existence.

Please enjoy this time to recharge with family and friends, and to remind ourselves what our lives are all about – Truth and Love; caring for each other (and ourselves), for the most oppressed, the most hurting, and for the whole of Creation.

As we pause at this time of year, you may find some of the vigils that are on auto pilot (that’s virtually all below) may not have anyone there – or may have as many or more than usual!

Special schedule changes include:
– no program at Riverside Salem today (resumes 12/29);
– no Great Law of Peace meeting for December (and last will be January 28);
– no Environmental Taskforce meeting for January;
– Interfaith Peace Network changed from 1st & 3rd to 2nd and 4th Thursdays of January;
– no office hours for the WNYPC on 12/24; nor on 12/26. Catch us the next week!

(And don’t forget our membership meeting on January 11, 1:30pm at the WNYPC, and the Women’s March Sunday January 19, 1:30pm as part of a Weekend of Action! More to follow.)

Which reminds us too, to thank all who came out (some ~400) and/or supported the Impeachment Rally! (seems so long ago now!) and the work of the WNYPC and our allies and partners all year long! We’re all in this together.

And we need our courage and strength more than ever. Might is not right; and another world IS possible! We will continue to stand up for our principles, our values, and the Spirit – for people and the planet. Remember, too, Crisis = Opportunity! And it’s darkest before the dawn.

As always, more below, including 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
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Events this week:
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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. Special values program on 12/23.

Buffalo Nekanesakt. Indigenous support group/allies. 1st & 3rd Tuesdays, 6:30-8pm. At Burning Books, 420 Connecticut Ave. All are welcome!! Reading group for the Great Law of Peace will meet on the last Tuesday of January for its final session on the Kayanerenko:wa as put forth by Kayanesenh Paul Williams.

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, Nov 20; 5-6:30pm. at Isaías González-Soto Branch  (formerly Niagara Branch) Library, 280 Porter Ave, Buffalo 14201.

Interfaith Peace Network – in January only, 2nd & 4th Thursdays of the month, ie, January 9 and January 23, with special presentations on Congregation of Israel and Sufism respectively; 9:15am 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! #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)

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. No program this week (ie 12/22) – please join us next week!

Of note: Little Africa Culture Club, 356 S. Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo, NY. African Drumming Sundays, 12-2pm.

We shall overcome #Unitethestruggles #Loveislove #PowerWITH-NOTPowerOver
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More listings on calendar and in previous email posts.

To subscribe, write to weeklynews@wnypeace.org with “subscribe” in subject line.

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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.
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Si, se puede! We shall overcome. #Unite
Peace, Thanks, Solidarity, and yes Love.
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Below are
– more event listings (see also calendar & facebook page); and
– Taskforce items and campaigns.

Impeachment Rally Tues 5pm (Bidwell & Elmwood); Celebrate Sunday & Monday (RS & LASC)

716-332-3904      12/14/19                  wnypeace.org

Dear Friends,

Please join us on Tuesday 5pm at Bidwell & Elmwood for an Impeachment Rally on the eve of the historic vote. We have seen the criminal behavior in the White House (and previously) and have been calling for this since the 7/2/17 Impeachment Rally. Come on out and dress warmly! Signs welcome to this family event we’re cosponsoring with MoveOn. Maybe some will see the light who haven’t already. This is the opposite of a partisan issue!

Also, please call our Senators and urge them not to vote in favor of the NDAA. Virtually all the excellent amendments we and other allies were striving for were not included. The Bill is a huge boondoggle to militarism and will of course cause more security problems. “This bill authorizes $738 billion in Pentagon dollars with almost nothing to constrain the Trump administration’s erratic and reckless foreign policy,” we and our allies said in a statement. “It is a blank check for endless wars, fuel for the further militarization of U.S. foreign policy, and a gift to Donald Trump.”
 
It should not be passed!! Please take a moment to call:
-Senators Kirsten Gillibrand – (202) 224-4451, or locally (716) 854-9725; regional rep Austin Ponce; and
-Senator Chuck Schumer – (202) 224-6542, or locally (716) 846-4111; regional rep Jordan Nicholson.

Again, a lot is going on besides the holiday rush, so – don’t get overwhelmed! And don’t miss some of these great events:

– Christmas in the Woods, 4-7pm, singalong and potluck at Riverside Salem on Sunday;
– Celebrate Fair Trade and Justice with LASC/WNYPC & El Buen Amigo at El Buen Amigo fair trade store, Mon 7-9pm at 114 Elmwood, Potluck-Presentation-More;
– Rally to get Cuomo to sign the SWEAT bill to stop employer theft of employee wages, Tues, 12-1:30pm at Lafayette Sq (btwn Main & Central Public Library) – or call Gov Cuomo at 518-474-8390;
– Nekanesakt’s Future Generations Ride Potluck, Tues at 6:30, at Burning Books, 420 Connecticut St – Potluck, presentation, and opportunity to support the annual Ride to Wounded Knee by Water Protectors who stood/ lived at Haudenosaunee Camp at Oceti during Standing Rock.

Again, please join us for a special vigil outside the Holding Center this coming Weds, 12/18, when we’ll be joined by Voice Buffalo and for a Radical Love Holiday Candle vigil at the usual 4-5:30 time frame in front of the Holding Center, remembering the many lives lost there, the shared suffering, and the determination to change all that! And here’s another reason/need to call Gov Cuomo (518-474-8390): pleae urge him to recall Sheriff Howard for his terrible performance of his duties.

We met for the Women’s March WNY planning. Save the Date!: the WM will be Sunday, January 19, on a Weekend of Action (with Women’s March DC and the Celebration of Rev Dr Martin Luther King weekend). We also have a snow date of Sunday, March 8 – International Women’s Day. Groups are welcome to bring a banner to march behind at the event 1/19/20.

Pace yourself; & please come out 5pm on the Day Before the Impeachment Vote!

716-332-3904      12/11/19                  wnypeace.org

Dear Friends,

We had a great victory when the Erie Co Legislature did not give Sheriff Howard a full-time SWAT team but rather provided funds for more addictions counseling at the Erie Co Holding Center! Many thanks to the Legislature, our allies at SURJ, and all who’ve worked on these associated issues.

Please join us for a special vigil outside the Holding Center this coming Weds, 12/18, when Voice Buffalo and SURJ will come out and join us for a Radical Love Holiday Candle vigil at the usual 4-5:30 time frame in front of the Holding Center, remembering the many lives lost there, the shared suffering, and the determination to change all that! Again, please do call Gov Cuomo (518-474-8390) and urge him to recall Sheriff Howard for his terrible performance of his duties.

Also please note that at 5pm on the eve of whatever day the Impeachment Vote will occur, we’ll gather with friends and allies at Bidwell & Elmwood to stand up for the rule of law! Please dress warmly, join us, and remember that our love, courage, and persistent determination will keep us warm! And we shall prevail! Signs welcome.

Here are a couple more things for your consideration:

– The Women’s March WNY is being planned for Sunday, January 19, as part of a Weekend of Action (with Women’s March DC and the Celebration of Rev Dr Martin Luther King weekend). Women community members and leaders are invited to come out to a planning meeting tomorrow Thursday, 12/12, 6pm at the WNYPC/NRC Bldg. (Snack-sharing welcome too!);

– Riverside Salem is holding Christmas in the Woods with Nan Hoffman and Friends, for a sing-along, pot-luck, and general holiday gathering on Sunday at 4-7pm, 3449 West River Road, Grand Island;

– We’ll celebrate and learn too at the LASC Party at El Buen Amigo, 114 Elmwood (btween North & Allen Sts), 7-9pm – another potluck with updates from Mexico by Tom Potts. All are welcome!

– Rally to Demand that Cuomo signs the SWEAT Bill to protect workers from wage theft by their employers will be held on Tues, 12/17, 12-1:30pm at Lafayette Sq, Buffalo;

– The “To Suspend or Not to Suspend” event organized by the WNYPC Education & Human Rights Taskforce with CAO will be held at Northland Workforce Training Center, Tues, 12/17 at 5:30-7:30pm.