Sunday, December 13th, 2020
We want to again feature our upcoming Zoom event: Speak-out on Erie County Holding Center. We thank you for your understanding in our postponing the event to allow for Thomas Diina to join us (due to a family health emergency). We hope that you will also join the WNYPC this Thursday, December 17th at 6:30 PM for an opportunity to share your lived experience and/or perspective on the Erie County Holding Center, and to hear from authorities. Details to join are below.
- Superintendent – Jail Division, Thomas Diina will be attending, as will Miles Gresham, Esq., and Heron Simmonds, members of the Corrections Specialist Advisory Board.
- Heron, Racial Justice Taskforce Co-Chair, and other WNY Peace Center members, including its Racial Justice Taskforce and Prisoners’ Rights Taskforces, will also be involved. Other officials have also been invited (attendance TBD).
- Please come to tell your story and hear what current plans are. We’ll start with a Community Agreement to ensure we have a productive conversation, in truth and love.
This Tuesday, join the Center for Community Alternatives and 140+ organizers – including the WNY Peace Center – for the launch of Justice Roadmap 2021. Together, we’ll demand that New York dismantle systems that criminalize, incarcerate, and deport our communities and build a world where all of us can survive. The launch will happen on Zoom and in five locations (Buffalo, Albany, NYC, Westchester, and Long Island). The in-person event in WNY will be masked and physically distant at the Erie County Holding Center – see full details below.
Please also join us on Tuesday evening for a LASC planning meeting on 2021 events – bring your ideas! See details below.
And on the 23rd, plan to join us for a special Prisoners’ Rights vigil at the ECHC with caroling – cohosted by Queen City Feminist and WNYPC. Details below.
We also had a small victory: notorious war-hawk Michele Flournoy was not Biden’s pick for Secretary of Defense! However, his pick of Gen. Lloyd Austin – a retired military man who’s also on war profiteer Raytheon’s board – is still somewhat problematic. (Though he did oversee the departure of many troops from Iraq.)
Please see details and much more below, 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
Sunday, December 6th, 2020
We want to highlight our upcoming Zoom event: Speak-out on Erie County Holding Center. Join the WNYPC this Thursday, December 10th at 6:30 PM – on International Human Rights Day – for an opportunity to share your lived experience and/or perspective on the Erie County Holding Center, and to hear from authorities. Details to join are below.
– Superintendent – Jail Division, Thomas Diina will be attending, as will Miles Gresham, Esq., and Heron Simmonds, members of the Corrections Specialist Advisory Board.
– Heron, Racial Justice Taskforce Co-Chair, and other WNY Peace Center members, including its Racial Justice Taskforce and Prisoners’ Rights Taskforces, will also be involved. Other officials have also been invited (attendance TBD).
– Please come to tell your story and hear what current plans are. We’ll start with a Community Agreement to ensure we have a productive conversation, in truth and love.
Please also join us for the following preparatory events and activities TOMORROW:
– At 1PM, tune in to Talking Peace on WBNY. We’re thrilled, in the first hour, to have Medea Benjamin on, covering Cabinet appointments (tell Biden not to pick Flourney!), endless war, War Powers Act, sanctions, Cuba, and more; followed second hour by a conversation with community activist Myles Carter discussing the Speak-out, Erie County budget, and the vicious cycle of violence visited on BIPOC communities; please see more below.
– At 5PM, join the Racial Justice and Prisoners’ Rights task forces for a joint meeting on Zoom. We’ll plan for the upcoming Speak-out and explore other criminal justice and racial justice issues and campaigns. All are welcome; please see more below.
We also want to mention the recent NAPL victory. National Fuel was denied an extension of its deadline to complete a new pipeline carrying natural gas from PA to Canada through WNY. They’ve won every lawsuit over the pipeline so far, so this rejection is worth celebrating! Kudos to all those who worked on this, especially the Sierra Club and Diana Strablow. Now we need to be persistent on West Valley – please see more on that below.
Lastly, today is the final day of our Annual Fundraiser auction! We had many wonderful donations from our generous supporters, and there is still time to visit our virtual marketplace (Bidding Owl registration required) – perfect for holiday gift ideas! Includes items from great local businesses: El Buen Amigo, Burning Books, Black Monarchy, and more! Ends tonight at 11:59 PM!
Please also note that our campaigns below have been *updated* to include urgent items related environmental justice, antiwar foreign policy, and policing/criminal justice reform!
Please see details and much more below, 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
Sunday, November 29, 2020
In an era of global crisis, we need new rituals to connect us. Giving Tuesday strives to “build a world in which the catalytic power of generosity is at the heart of the society we build together, unlocking dignity, opportunity, and equity around the globe.” If you are able, we ask for your support this upcoming Giving Tuesday, which will allow us to continue our work building a more peaceful and just world.
- One way to support the WNYPC’s mission is through our annual fundraiser! We had many lovely donations from our generous supporters, and there is still time to visit our virtual marketplace (Bidding Owl registation required) – perfect for holiday gift ideas! Includes items from great local businesses: El Buen Amigo, Burning Books, Black Monarchy, and more! Ends Sunday, 12/6 at 11:59 PM.
We want to highlight an upcoming Zoom event: Speak-out on Erie County Holding Center. Join the WNYPC at 6:30 pm on Thursday, December 10th – Human Rights Day – for an opportunity to share your lived experience and/or perspective on the Erie County Holding Center, and to hear from authorities. Details to join are below.
- Superintendent – Jail Division, Thomas Diina will be attending, as will Miles Gresham, Esq., and Heron Simmonds, members of the Corrections Specialist Advisory Board.
- Heron, Racial Justice Taskforce Co-Chair, and other WNY Peace Center members, including its Racial Justice Taskforce and Prisoners’ Rights Taskforces, will also be involved. Other officials have also been invited (attendance TBD).
- Please come to tell your story and hear what current plans are. We’ll start with a Community Agreement to ensure we have a productive conversation, in truth and love.
We also want to encourage you to take advantage of the City of Buffalo’s Parking Amnesty Program by the December 31st deadline! The program allows individuals whose tickets are older (i.e., issued prior to June 30th, 2019) to pay the original amount owed without late fees and clear their records. Contact pvboffice@city-buffalo.com or 716-851-5182 for more information, and please help the Fair Fines + Fees Coalition spread the word about this very important program!
Please also note that our campaigns below have been *updated* to include urgent items related environmental justice, antiwar foreign policy, and policing/criminal justice reform!
Please see details and much more below, 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
