Wednesday, August 12th, 2020
We are very excited about tomorrow evening’s event, Congregate Living in the Age of COVID-19, an info session on what is needed to keep people safe from COVID-19 while residing in congregate settings. This Zoom meeting (register here) is hosted by the WNY Peace Center, Immigrant & Refugee Justice (IRJ/”urge”) Task Force, Jericho Road Community Health Center and Vive Shelter. Featured panelists include Myron Glick, M.D., and Anna Ireland Mongo, Ph.D., with special guest Heron Simmonds, Erie County Corrections Specialist Advisory Board (covering ECHC and Alden Corrections Facility). Q&A will follow the presentations – all are welcome! This discussion is just one part of continuing work on this area, including the People’s Hearing next week (see below).
We also want to highlight some amazing in-person events this weekend, including the Buffalo 5 Rally and the WNY Liberation Collective’s Black Lives Matter Community Art Show on Friday – see our Upcoming Events below for details. There is plenty that can be done from the safety of our homes, as well – check out our Calls to Action below.
Lastly, we want to remind you that through the remainder of August, contributions of $100 or more to WNYPC get you one of Amanda Besl’s beautiful limited edition pieces (while supplies last), an individual or organizational WNYPC membership with your choice of the #RESIST or #LoveIsLove lawn sign, AND will have your donation matched by the Fr. Bissonette Fund! For more information and to contribute, please visit the fundraiser page on our website.
Please see details and much more below, including other special events this week, regularly scheduled events, 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
August 5th, 2020 wnypeace.org
Dear Friends
These exciting days remind us of what has been told as an old curse: “And may you lead an interesting life!” It’s been all too interesting and plenty busy!
We hope you’ll watch our press conference tomorrow August 6 @ 1:00 pm when Indigenous Women’s Initiatives & WNYPC will present a gift from the Hibakusha to the Buffalo History Museum 75 years after the bombing of Hiroshima. We will present photos and petition to abolish nuclear weapons, and info about the August 9 – United Nations International Day of World Indigenous Peoples and day for a NuclearFree Future!
We also invite you to join us on August 9, 4pm-dusk, on United Nations (UN) declared International Day of the World’s Indigenous People. The event celebrates the United Nations’ Declaration on Indigenous Peoples Rights to exist with prior, free and informed consent. We celebrate by acknowledging an oldest continuing government in North America the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy- the Seneca, Tuscarora, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida and Mohawk. We’ll start and end with the traditional Haudenosaunee Ganonyok, and have much singing and dancing, as well as multiple speakers – and Poet Jillian Hanesworth!
You’ll be able to watch it on Facebook live, at https://www.facebook.com/WesternNewYorkPeaceCenter/ or https://www.facebook.com/IndigenousWomensInitiatives/ or https://www.facebook.com/TheBuffaloHistoryMuseum/
We’ll also have an Interfaith Prayer service with Toro Nagashi, the Japanese Lantern Ceremony, From 7:15 to dusk, it will also be on The Buffalo History Museum ZOOM (https://zoom.us/j/94367842616…
Passcode: 735284) We’ll be commemorating those lost to the nuclear bombs, racism (Black Lives Matter!), COVID, cancer, children and others who died at the Border, and more. You can make your own lantern, too, at home to participate more fully and intentionally. Instructional videos are on the event calendar on our website here. So is the day’s agenda, the names of those who’ve died at the Erie County Holding Center, and more.
There are two marches as well this weekend, at 3pm Saturday, 8/8, starting and ending in Cazenovia Park in South Buffalo (from the center of the Seneca St side), and at Harlem Rd Community Center on Sunday, 8/9, 1-4pm. Both are sponsored by the WNY Liberation Collective and the WNY Peace Center.
We want to remind you that through August, contributions of $100 are fully match funded by the Fr. Joe Bissonette Fund for the WNY Peace Center! We cannot say it enough – this work can only be done with your support, for which we are so grateful!
You can also go to Resource:Art to purchase artist Amanda Besl special original portfolio of 20 limited edition linoleum prints each, of ‘React’, ‘Resist’, and ‘Reform,’ reflecting “ the current social justice crisis facing our nation.” They can be purchased on ArtFare, Facebook, and Instagram. She’s donating the full proceeds to the WNYPC, and so you’d get the inspiring art, a peacenik WNYPC membership, your choice of membership gift, and your donation fully matched.
Lastly, we are excited to announce that we’ll be holding a series of Collective Nonviolent Direct Action Studies with the WNY Liberation Collective cosponsoring. The first – held July 26 with 35 enthusiastic participants – will be repeated and recorded by popular request. Date TBD.
Please see other special events etc this week below, and regularly scheduled events, campaigns, fundraisers, and more elsewhere on wnypeace.org, on our Facebook page, Twitter (@wnypeace), and Instagram (@wnypeace)!
Peace, thanks, solidarity and yes – love.
<3 <3 <3 <3 <3
June 23rd, 2020
In an effort to limit ongoing digital overload, we are continuing to highlight just a few important items and special upcoming events and then refer you to our website for details on our regularly scheduled events and ‘Helping Hands’resource list.
We hope you will join us this Thursday evening at 6PM for our Zoom webinar on Know Your Rights featuring Daire Brian Irwin, Esq. and John A. Curry III, NYCLU. The webinar will also include de-escalation techniques from WNYPC Executive Director, Victoria Ross, with a Q&A after the presentation. Meeting ID: 868 1853 9395, Password: 268120
Our shero, Cariol Horne, still needs our help! Please continue to call Mayor Brown (311 for city residents; otherwise 716-851-4841) and demand #JusticeForCariol! Restore Cariol’s pension and pass Cariol’s Law! PLEASE ALSO SHARE WIDELY ON SOCIAL MEDIA using the images on our website and social media accounts or at cariolslaw.com
Please also note that our 13th annual youth summer camp, Camp Peaceprints, is less than one month away! Registration is now open with a sliding scale of up to $25/week, with scholarships readily available! Camp will be 100% online this year due to the public health crisis, but we offer games, recreation/physical activities, art projects, music, and virtual field trips; plus wonderful guest presenters (activists and artists from the Buffalo area)! Please register ASAP as we’ll be delivering packets with art supplies, etc. for use during camp.
In response to the current $14 billion COVID-related budget crisis, Governor Cuomo is withholding authorization of NYS contracts beginning July 1st. This affects all operations – in particular, the funding of social programs like food banks and SNAP (food stamp) programs. Food For All and 43 other agencies currently receive funding to provide SNAP education and assistance in NYS counties, and their Nutrition Outreach program is one of the programs dramatically impacted. We are asking friends of the FFA and those who recognize the importance of the SNAP program – especially during the current public health crisis – to contact their NY State Representatives and Senators urging them to have the Governor authorize vital state contracts for the fiscal year beginning July 1st. If you are able to support FFA by donating a basket for auction, please contact Kelly Ann Kowalski at kellyannkk@aol.com. Visit our Campaigns page for more details.
Sentencing dates are again postponed for the remaining Kings Bay Plowshares 7 – now July 30th, 31st – per the request of the defendants in order to accommodate their right to be sentenced in person in an open court, witnessed by the public. As they await their sentencing, each of the KBP7 continues to serve their communities as human needs grow exponentially during this COVID-19 pandemic. If you would like to write to Judge Lisa Godbey Wood in support of the defendants, you may do so here.
More previews for next week: Note the LASC/IFCO webinar in our scheduled events below. Plus if you’re interested in the Racial Justice taskforce, please check back on our Event Calendar – a date/time for the next planning meeting should be finalized sometime next week.
Lastly, out of respect for Martin’s request for privacy, our last mention of the events will be to share this video from Jimmy Dore. We ask that you please no longer contribute monetary donations to him via the GoFundMe fundraiser nor the WNYPC website, as these donations will be returned. We thank you for your understanding, kindness, and support.
Please see details and much more below, including other special events this week, regularly scheduled events, campaigns, fundraisers, and more at wnypeace.org, on our Facebook page, Twitter (@wnypeace), and Instagram (@wnypeace)! We update our Event Calendar often as we learn of new events, so please be sure to check back regularly!
*** And lastly, a reminder to pace yourselves – no one can do it all. Let us know what kind of help you might need from the WNYPC; please feel free to reach out!
Peace, thanks, solidarity and yes – love.
<3 <3 <3 <3 <3
