June 19th, 2020
So much has happened and is happening, that it’s hard to know where to start – except with a deep breath of love and courage!
We again express extreme grief and concern about the longstanding injustices that have been made more obvious over the past years, months, and days. This includes most recently the cruel (and unfortunately not “unusual”) punishment of Deyanna Davis. Please see her fundraiser here; and plenty more on the need for and ways to work for her compassionate release at https://linktr.ee/deyannadavis – and a great video by Akram Shibly; Deyanna’s not a flight risk; is a truly hurting young mother and student; and the Erie County Holding Center, well, it holds a world of maltreatment including homicide by medical neglect #ReleaseInmates.
There has been a great trauma to our community, and we need to find the ground of our dwelling – the roots that help us to continue on with our struggle. We have no choice but to, so we need to pace ourselves for this marathon (that includes self-care during COVID and this Census year).
This is a transformative time, with growing clarity regarding racial injustice, police brutality, and the militarization of police. Buffalo’s being in the national eye has finally led to the appropriate attention for Cariol Horne, someone we are proud to have as a member of our board. See Cariol on CNN speaking about her experience as a BPO intervening in a chokehold situation over a decade ago. You can find more information about Cariol and her latest work on Cariol’s Law (and keep an eye out for a call to action on Monday). Lastly, there is her Whistleblower fundraiser – please share widely and contribute if you are able. #GeorgeFloydNeededCariolHorne
Big shout out to the many devoted young (and not so young) activists gathering every day at Niagara Square since Monday, June 1, in determination that this time, platitudes and incremental change will not be enough. A Change is Gonna Come – NOW!!
Tomorrow, 6/20, join a General Assembly in Niagara Square at 1pm. Demands to be made to the authorities will be discussed; and groups and organizations (including but not limited to the WNYPC) will be there to talk about their work and visions. It will be an opportunity to meet lots more activists engaged in the struggle (including some of our board members and staff). We hope you can join in this critical time – we are all in this together.
Special shout-out too to Black Love Resists in the Rust (BLRR)’s establishment of Liberation Square. We thank BLRR for occupying the Square to push for Deyanna’s compassionate release (see above), and all their leadership. Yes, the struggle is everywhere!!
We want to highlight a few upcoming events, including
Next Thursday, 6/25 at 6pm on Zoom we are hosting a Know Your Rights webinar featuring Daire Brian Irwin, Esq. and John A. Curry III, NYCLU; as well as
Monday, 6/22 we have a great radio show featuring Myles Carter and Rev. Denise Waldon speaking on E-District events of 6/1 (including Deyanna Davis’ compassionate release efforts) and racial justice issues; Brooke Binkowski and Professor Mike Niman speaking on disinformation and propaganda. 1-3 pm on 91.3 FM or wbny.buffalostate.edu
Another session (same workshop) of the Know Your Rights will be in person (with physical distancing) at Niagara/Liberation Square, Sunday June 28 at 1pm.
Zoom session with experts on Cuba’s wonderful medical aid to the world (June 29, see below).
our youth (virtual) summer camp – Camp Peaceprints – which is less than one month away! More details and to register here.
We hope you were able to participate in last week’s Juneteenth of Buffalo virtual festivities. We look forward to when we are able to all able to celebrate in person again. In the meantime, we’ll take time to reflect on the significance of this day in American history, and continue our work in the fight against racial injustice and violence. You can still check out their videos here (great info and inspiration).
Lastly, we have had many people reach out inquiring about lawn signs as a way to express their solidarity. We have many #UNITE lawn signs – designed by our own Office Manager & Coordinator, Deidra – left from last fall’s Annual Dinner. (We do also have some #LoveIsLove signs left.) These are WNYPC Membership gifts, so after joining please email office@wnypeace.org to set up a pickup time.
#PeopleandthePlanet #UniteTheStruggles #OneLove
Trident nuclear disarmament activist Steve Kelly, a Jesuit priest, begins his third year imprisoned in a county jail as he and his companions await sentencing. (Photo from previous Plowshares action 7 years ago.)
By Kathy Kelly
April 3, 2020
On April 4, 2020, my friend Steve Kelly will begin a third
year of imprisonment in Georgia’s Glynn County jail. He turned 70 while in
prison, and while he has served multiple prison sentences for protesting nuclear
weapons, spending two years in a county jail is unusual even for him. Yet he adamantly
urges supporters to focus attention on the nuclear weapons arsenals which he
and his companions aim to disarm. “The nukes are not going to go away by
themselves,” says Steve.
The Kings Bay Plowshares 7 now await sentencing for their
action, performed two years ago inside the Kings Bay Trident Submarine
base in southern Georgia. They acted in concert with many others who take literally
the Scriptural call to “beat swords into plowshares.” Commenting on their case, Bill Quigley, a member
of their legal team, told me “their actions speak louder than their words and their words are very
powerful.” Bill encourages us to remember each of them in our thoughts,
prayers, and, hopefully, through our actions. “The legal system is not big
enough for the hearts, minds and spirits of these folks,” he adds. “The legal
system tries to concentrate all of this down to whether you cut a fence or
sprayed some blood.” Bill believes we should instead look at the impending
disaster nuclear weapons could cause, and the continuing disaster they do cause
by wasting crucially needed resources to potentially destroy the planet.
“You’ve got eight numbers just like everybody else.” Jailers
sometimes use this line to subdue or humiliate a prisoner who complains or
seems to ask for special treatment. I learned this during a two-month stint in
a Missouri county jail, (for planting corn on top of nuclear missile silo
sites).
Once inside the prison system, your number is more useful to
the Bureau of Prisons than your name, and you grow accustomed to responding
when your number is called. The eight numbers help blur personalities and
histories.
I think jailers have a hard time finding any instances when
Steve Kelly tries to pull rank or claim extra privileges. He’s a well-educated
Jesuit priest who has traveled the world. Outside the prison, he’d often be
found walking alongside people who migrate from one difficult situation to the
next, blending in, trying to help. Inside a jail or prison, he has often preferred
solitary confinement to “general population” which requires obedience to all
rules. The cramped confines of the Glynn County Jail don’t have a more punitive
space in which to put him. Amid the jail’s crowded, noisy, unhealthy conditions,
he uses his time remarkably well. I surmise this from reading his weekly post
cards which are always humorous, thoughtful, and encouraging.
From his vantage point, amid people immiserated by poverty
and mass incarceration systems, he yet sees the nuclear threat as the one that
most endangers people. When “nuclear states” insist on superiority because they
can menace non-nuclear states, a dangerous nationalism arises. Using arsenals
to back up a fortress mentality undermines our capacity for international
cooperation now massively needed to tackle the major problems we face. “You’ve
got eight numbers just like everybody else” could point to a humbling yet
helpful reminder that we are confined together on this planet and constrained
by the prospect of real crises like the pandemic we’re now weathering.
I can recall walking through wet markets in far-away places and
shuddering at the sight of slaughtered, bloody carcasses hanging from hooks in
the open air. I imagine Steve would catch me, with a certain glance and nod,
and ask what could be more savage and destructive than a lab creating nuclear
weapons to incinerate people.
At the end of World War I, soldiers emerged from trenches in
the front lines and felt puzzled by the silence. Realizing the terrifying,
horrific explosions had ended, that the war was over, they didn’t clap or
cheer. Exhausted, they slumped over their packs, awaiting migration back to
their homes.
When the COVID-19 pandemic ends, global silence may be appropriate.
A new biological threat will still be conceivable, one that could equal climate
change and a nuclear meltdown or nuclear winter. Climate catastrophes could exacerbate
our human immunological vulnerability. It’s grim to reckon with the potential for
a new, mutated wave of coronavirus or another virus altogether to cause further
sorrow and death.
We’ll all need to pick up our packs and go back to work,
determined to be far better prepared for life saving actions as we move into an
uncertain future. Ideally, nuclear weapon arsenals will be recognized as a
crazed burden we must finally shed if we’ve any hope of surviving our past recklessness.
At some point, hopefully, my friend Steve Kelly will hear a
voice over a loudspeaker telling him to pack his belongings. He’ll have
survived this chapter of punishment. He won’t very likely be released, as there
is a warrant for his arrest for a previous protest action, but he’ll carry a
small pack beyond the confines of the Glynn County Jail. More importantly, he’ll
carry the challenge to continue dedicating his life to ridding the world of
nuclear weapons. In these challenging times, those eight numbers distinguish
him as a fine and invaluable leader to follow.
Kathy Kelly (kathy@vcnv.org)
co-coordinates Voices for Creative Nonviolence (www.vcnv.org)
716-332-3904 716-931-3520 7/29/18
Dear Friends,
Here comes another busy week with lots of opportunities to work for justice and peace.
Please join us today at the Racial Justice Taskforce meeting 1-2:30pm, again at the WNYPC, 1272 Delaware Ave (entrance & pkg round back of bldg).
Also today, is Stop The Violence Coalition Memorial Celebration of Lives Lost to Homicide, Noon- 7pm. Please join us at MLK Park, Best & Fillmore Aves, for the 8th Annual of this event, free for all the community, family, and friends. Food and prizes, fun and laughter. Unification is the only way we can stop gun violence. Many thanks to and for Nona Holman, main organizer. (Donations welcome to help cover expenses).
And of course on Monday, Kathy Kelly, Co-coordinator of Voices for Creative Nonviolence, renown peace activist and Nobel Prize Nominee, will speak at Focusing on Yemen, July 30, 7pm at Burning Books, part of the Infringement Festival. Kathy gives both peoples stories as well as the facts, figures, and policy framework for a deeper understanding and commitment to action!
Many thanks to those who came out to #FocusOnYemen yesterday, and directly afterwards, to rally for justice in Iraq, followed by Women In Black’s regular nonviolence vigil. To continue working to stop our government’s militarism, violence, and war crimes, please join us Weds, Aug 1 at 5:30-7:30pm at the Niagara Porter Library to start a roundtable for increased collaboration on same.
Please note too that we are having the first of a regular weekly Vigil for Victims of ICE Terror – Thursday(s) at 5-6pm in front of ICE at Delaware & Chippewa Sts. Please bring signs.
Also Wednesday, at 6-7:30, there’ll also be a meeting of the Poor People’s Campaign –WNY, at 1199 SEIU Bldg, This critically important effort will #UnitetheStruggles and pursue #PowertothePolls for #PowertothePeople!!
Go to wnypeace.org to see our calendar for more details and events! as
well as the rest of this post on the home page.
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 or
#UniteTheStruggles #PowerWITH-NOTPowerOver #LoveisLoveBUF
Below are
– more event listings (see also calendar & facebook page);
– Taskforce items and campaigns; and
– regularly scheduled events – all in that order.
And be sure to go to wnypeace.org/calendar for more event listings – there’s plenty more and additions are frequent! …..
No hate, no fear as we are #StillResisting. #UnitetheStruggles !
Peace, Thanks, Solidarity, and yes Love. #loveisloveBUF <3
