716-332-3904 | Tuesday, March 30th, 2021 | wnypeace.org
Dear Friends,
Please join us on Thursday, 4:30pm-6pm at Niagara Square, Buffalo, to rally in solidarity with Indigenous runners going from Lakota/Ojibwe/Anishinaabe territories to DC to urge President Biden to STOPthePIPELINES!! We stand in Solidarity with our Indigenous friends and relations in support of #PeopleAndThePlanet, and in fierce opposition to DAPL, Line 3, NAPL and any other fossil fuel pipelines. Signs and banners welcome. #MniWachoni – Water is Life!
Today we also invite you to:
– attend the Buffalo Common Council meeting(s) today and next Tuesday where discussions will be held of both the Speed Zone Camera Ticketing program, and the City Of Buffalo Commission on Police Reform and Social Reconstruction recommendations. The press conference we were part of responding to the latter can be viewed here.
– urge President Biden to #ReSealTheDeal with Iran by signing the petition. Please join the twitter storm too, and/or call the President at 202-456-1111.
– urge Gov Cuomo to sign the #HALTsolitary bill, due by tomorrow! He didn’t sign it last year, forcing us back to the drawing board, despite solitary’s being illegal, immoral, and totally destructive to all involved (including corrections officers). (Also #HALTsolitary will save some $1.32 Billion for NYS and localities over a 10-year period.)
This week of all weeks, please remember and strive to work together to #DefendTheSacred!!!! In Truth and Love!!
Please see details and much more – including special and regularly scheduled events this week – plus campaigns, fundraisers, and more at wnypeace.org, on our Facebook page, Twitter (@wnypeace), and Instagram (@wnypeace)!
Peace, thanks, solidarity, and yes – love!
<3 <3 <3 <3 <3
716-332-3904 | Thursday, March 25th, 2021 | wnypeace.org
Dear Friends,
Please take some time in the next less than 24 hours to comment on Mayor Brown’s City Of Buffalo Commission on Police Reform and Social Reconstruction recommendations are now available for public comment. The deadline for commenting is Friday, March 26, at 11am. It’s worthy of note that the only deadline for any action in initiative is the deadline for our comments. The report was made available on Monday. (Sorry for our delay getting it to you with such a short window!!) Image from abc.net.au.
Please note that the Women’s March event scheduled for Saturday is being transformed – please use that time to support our Burmese sisters and brothers as they protest and rally against the violence going on in their country, 10am-Noon, at Bidwell and Elmwood. Meanwhile, please support other Women and Women’s Events here, join our Gender Justice Taskforce by contacting Chair Talia Rodriguez (Rodriguez, Talia E <gender@wnypeace.org>), or join us at our next Gender Justice Taskforce meeting on April 10th.
You can also join us tonight at 7pm for Our City Build’s “The State of Our City” – the real scoop. Registration form is located HERE. OUR CITY is a broad coalition of community-based organizations and people in Buffalo, New York who have come together to create a policy agenda that centers people instead of profits; and believes in building a multi-racial, multi-generational, intersectional movement for justice and equity. Director Vicki Ross is one of the many speakers, and will include a report-back on the trip to Minnesota to #StopLine3, as well as how important it is to #UniteTheStruggles.
While the Executive Director application period is now closed (and the deliberations in process) there’s still time to submit your application to be a Board member. If the WNYPC’s mission (Peace Thru Justice at Home and Abroad) speaks to you, see a write-up below to check out applying for Board Membership!!
Our youth program, PeaceJam Buffalo, continues Thursdays (yes today 😉 at 4pm. PeaceJam helps develop a new generation of young leaders committed to positive changes in themselves, their communities, and the world through inspiration, education, and action. You can still register youth for the program today at bit.ly/wnypeace_peacejam21.
We remind you that we have many YouTube videos, including sessions of Talking Peace as well as livestreamed segments from the trip to Minnesota, on our YouTube chanel. Of course we welcome your viewing and sharing them!
Please see details and much more – including special and regularly scheduled events this week – plus campaigns, fundraisers, and more at wnypeace.org, on our Facebook page, Twitter (@wnypeace), and Instagram (@wnypeace)!
Peace, thanks, solidarity, and yes – love!
<3 <3 <3 <3 <3
Illustration courtesy of Sallie Latch
by Kathy Kelly
March 2, 2021
Amid the ongoing horror, it’s important to find ways to atone for war crimes —including reparations.
Thirty years ago, when the United States launched Operation Desert Storm against Iraq, I was a member of the Gulf Peace Team. We were 73 people from fifteen different countries, aged 22 to 76, living in a tent camp close to Iraq’s border with Saudi Arabia, along the road to Mecca.
We aimed to nonviolently interpose ourselves between the warring parties. Soldiers are called upon to risk their lives for a cause they may not know much about. Why not ask peace activists to take risks on behalf of preventing and opposing wars?
