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Progressive Action Roundtable: A forum for progressive groups in the Greater New Haven Area where actions and ideas may be publicized so that others are aware of peace, health, justice, energy, environmental and other issues for the common good.

Archive for category Events

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Legacy of Environmental and Social Justice 2012 Jan. 15-16

Dec 29

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– Josue Irizarry, Peabody Museum Events Coordinator

The Yale Peabody Museum will open its doors for a FREE, two-day festival in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his efforts to ensure environmental and social justice for all people. The Museum, 170 Whitney Avenue, will host its sixteenth annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Legacy of Environmental and Social Justice on Sunday, Jan. 15, 12 to 4:30 p.m., and Monday, Jan. 16, 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

In his tireless efforts to work toward equality for, and harmony between, all people, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. strove to raise awareness about public health concerns and urban environmental issues that disproportionately affect minority and low-income communities. We now refer to this as environmental justice, a term coined long after Dr. King’s death. In recognition of the progress that has been achieved in these areas, and with optimism for the future, we will celebrate with music, dance, children’s storytelling, teen summit, an open mic and our annual poetry slams.

On Sunday, Jan. 15, 12:30 to 5 p.m. teens from the Yale Peabody Museum’s EVOLUTIONS After School Program will host their third annual event celebrating the legacy of Dr. King. This year, they are bringing together high school students from across greater New Haven to explore the themes of “Unity & Community.” The event will feature exciting interactive sessions led by a variety of teen-centered organizations from the area. All students who participate in the full event are invited to an after party from 5 to 7 p.m, where there will be free food, good music, and much dancing. Come explore your community!

An important component of this celebration is our Zannette Lewis Environmental and Social Justice Community Open Mic and Poetry Slam, on Monday, Jan. 16, from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The Community Open Mic is an exciting aspect of our festival that gives people a unique opportunity to honor the spoken word legacy of Dr. King by sharing original poetry and rap or speaking their mind about issues of environmental and social justice our society faces today. The Poetry Slam includes well-known poets from around the United States.

Every poet who registers for the Community Open Mic by Friday, Jan. 6, 2012, will have at least three minutes at the mic to speak his or her truth and will receive an MLK Day T-shirt. Space is limited! To register, contact peabody.events@yale.edu. For more information on the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. festival, visit www.peabody.yale.edu/events/mlkday.html

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African American History Month High School Arts and Writing Competition

Dec 29

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– Joelle Fishman, People’s World

The annual People’s World African American History Month Arts and Writing Competition for High School Students is open for entries in artwork, essay poem or song.

This year’s theme is: “What is your vision for the future? How can being involved in the struggle for freedom and equality bring positive change to your life and the larger community?” The theme reflects on the historic struggle for African American freedom and resistance to oppression through the decades, and the fact that today’s youth movement is joining the struggle to combat racism, poverty and social injustice.

Entries must be received by 5 p.m. on Friday, February 17, 2012 and should include name, address, phone, e-mail, age and school. Paper size for artwork should be no larger than 12″ x 15″. Essay, poem or song should be no longer than two pages. Entries should be mailed to People’s World, 37 Howe St., New Haven CT 06511,  or call (203) 624-4254.

Gift certificates will be awarded on Sunday, February 26, 2012 at 4 pm at the New Haven Peoples Center, 37 Howe Street, during the 38th Annual African American History Month Celebration.  All entries will be recognized. This competition is sponsored annually by the People’s World in Connecticut to remember the lives and work of Dalzenia Henry and Virginia Henry who devoted themselves to the young people of New Haven and to making a better future.

New Haven/Leon Sister City Project for 2012: An Invitation to Make a Difference

Dec 29

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– Chris Schweitzer, NHLSCP

New Haven/Leon Sister City Project is launching a new campaign in 2012…WalkBikeTransit…which will educate people about the links between food insecurity in rural communities around the world, climate change and their transportation choices, in particular, car use. Go to www.newhavenleon.org to learn more or get involved, or to take the WalkBikeTransit pledge to help create a healthier world in 2012.

Support Food Security work in Goyena, Nicaragua, including pilot projects and community education led by the Environmental Youth Brigade. Make a year-end tax deductible donation to expand this important work. Volun-teer with these or other efforts at New Haven/Leon SCP.

New Haven/Leon Sister City Project works to promote social justice in Nicaragua and Connecticut.  For more information call (203) 562-1607 or see: www.newhavenleon.org;  nh@newhavenleon.org;  www.facebook.com/newhavenleon.

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Peace and Social Justice Martin Luther King Event at the Peabody Jan. 15-16

Dec 29

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== Mary Compton, GNH Peace Council

Every January, the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History holds the “Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr’s Legacy of Environment and Social Justice Event.” It takes place on Sunday, January 15 from noon to 4 p.m. and on Monday, January 16 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Greater New Haven Peace Council will be there on both days to host an activity on making peace activists kits with children ages 3-12 years. We need volunteers especially those who enjoy working with children. If you would like to help, please call (203) 230-1312.  (See p. 1)

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New Haven Bioregional Group Events

Dec 29

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– Maria Tupper, NH Bioregional Group

Turning of the Year is a time to reflect on the year that has gone by and to contemplate the year that is coming. We gather promptly on Saturday, Dec. 31, at 10 a.m.at the First Unitarian Universalist Society, 608 Whitney Ave., drop off food, and walk to one of New Haven’s traditional sacred sites. There we will take time to experience the spirit of the land and assess the times. We return to the FUUS for a potluck lunch at noon. This will be a relatively short walk. People can also just join us for the end of the year luncheon.

On Monday, January 9, there will be a Full Moon Walk at Sandy Point, West Haven.  At 5 :30 p.m. we meet at 608 Whitney Avenue, for a carpool ride to Sandy Point. Or meet us at 6 p.m. in Captain’s Galley parking lot, 19 Beach Street, West Haven.

There will be a potluck at 6 p.m. and the movie, “Ciclovida: Lifecycle,” at 7 p.m., followed by a Seed Exchange on Saturday, January 14 at 608 Whitney Avenue. Bring seeds you have saved. “Ciclovida” follows a group of subsistence farmers as they traverse the South American continent by bicycle on a mission to rescue natural seeds.  The travelers document how agrofuels are taking over the countryside and displacing millions of small farmers ad indigenous communities.

For more information: http://newhavenbioregionalgroup.org/

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Darrell Allice, Stop The Violence Symposium, noon-4 p.m., Dec. 3., New Haven

Dec 1

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Come to the Sister City Project Holiday Fiesta & Gift Bazaar Dec. 3

Dec 1

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– Chris Schweitzer, NHLSCP

2011 Holiday Fiesta & Gift Bazaar, sponsored by the New Haven/León Sister City Project, will take place Saturday, December 3rd, from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. at 608 Whitney Avenue. Shop for a cause!  Fair-trade overseas crafts, local goods, and new products are available.

Some of our new selections are batiked scarves from India, hand-made goat milk soaps from Connecticut farms, and embroidered purses from northern Hill Tribes of Thailand. There will be some of our all-time favorites too: colorful woven products, organic coffee and chocolate from Nicaragua, and Eco Teas: Yerba Mate, South African Rooibos & Tulsi from India, calendars & date books designed and printed in the U.S., Haitian star ornaments and hand-painted metal art, hand-painted crafts from El Salvador, olive oil from Palestine, Swords Into Plowshares honey from Connecticut, note cards featuring Nicaraguan folk artists, African print cloth-bound photo albums, journals, and hand-made scented candles.

For more information call: (203) 562-1607 or online www.newhavenleon.org.

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Jobs, Not Jails! March and Rally Jan. 14, 2012

Dec 1

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— Submitted by ANSWER CT

On Saturday, Jan. 14, 2012 at 11 a.m. there will be a march and rally for Jobs, Not Jails! in Washingon, D.C., part of a nationally coordinated day of local actions. Planned are a Prisoner rights march, a march to end the drug war now, to release all non-violent drug offenders, to end exploitation of prisoners’ families and to end inhumane living conditions in the prisons. Join us in a rally against mass incarceration in Washington, D.C. or in events in your city. On Martin Luther King weekend 2012, we want to raise the voices of thousands of people around the country demanding Jobs, not Jails!

The United States, with 2 million people locked behind bars, holds 25 percent of the world’s prisoners despite having only 5 percent of the world’s population. Although African Americans represent roughly 13 percent of the U.S. population, they account for over 35 percent of those in prison. Under the so-called “War on Drugs,” the mass incarceration has been disproportionately aimed at poor and working-class people, particularly Black communities.

More than 21 percent of those incarcerated in the United States are there for non-violent drug offenses. Many non-violent offenders are addicts who are criminalized rather than treated for their addiction. We want the release of non-violent drug offenders as well as provisions to make treatment available for those suffering from substance abuse.

The recent hunger strikes by California prisoners brought attention to the 513 prisoners who had spent a decade or more in Pelican Bay’s solitary confinement units. The number of prisoners subjected to prolonged isolation has rapidly increased along with the fast proliferation of “supermax” prisons around the country. Trapping prisoners in tiny cells for 20 to 24 hours a day, long-term isolation is widely considered akin to torture. We demand an immediate end to isolation policies and long-term solitary confinement.

Jobs, Not Jails! Meaningful employment must be provided to prisoners returning to society. The economy would have to create 18 million new jobs just to return to the same rate of employment that existed in 2000. This underscores the massive scale of the employment crisis for society as a whole, not to mention the extra restrictions and hurdles placed on former prisoners. As such, we demand jobs for all with special protections against the abuse of formerly incarcerated individuals.

Endorsed by: ANSWER Coalition; Ceasefire: Don’t Smoke the Brothers and Sisters; Political Education and Action Committee-Howard University; New Jim Crow Movement; Party for Socialism and Liberation (list still in formation)

For more information: JobsNotJails@gmail.com

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Slain Man’s Brother: “Ice the Beef.”

Dec 1

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– Paul Bass, New Haven Independent

As New Haven’s 2011 body count hit 30, one murder victim’s brother urged a roomful of tough kids to resist the temptation to seek revenge. The way he did.

It wasn’t an easy decision.

So Darrell “D-Russ” Allick—aka “Little Green Eye” in his drug-dealing heyday—told 11 rapt teenagers at Riverside Academy Wednesday.

For the complete article, see http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/slain_mans_brother_ice_the_ beef

Darrell Allick will be a panelist at a Dec. 7 public forum on how to end gang violence, featuring, among others, Dean Esserman, New Haven’s new police chief and David Kennedy, the author of a new book called Don’t Shoot. The event, at Cooperative Arts & Humanities High School, begins at 7 p.m.; it is free and open to the public.

He is also organizing a Dec. 3 community “Stop The Violence Symposium.” Details are in the flyer shown left.

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Occupy New Haven Needs Supplies

Oct 29

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– from website www.occupynewhaven.org

Food: canned goods, water, use of kitchens to cook, cups and utensils, tea and coffee, sanitizer, wipes. Also, toiletries, hats, gloves, sleeping bags, tarps, rain gear, plastic bins, clothing, trash bags, socks, flashlights, clipboards, tents, tables, chairs, walkie-talkies, notebooks.

Occupy New Haven, Oct 15. (Photo: Deb Maltesta)

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PEP Presents Christian Parenti, Journalist and Author

Oct 29

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– Augusta Girard, Program Coordinator, PEP

The annual meeting for Promoting Enduring Peace will be held on Sunday, November 6 from 2-4 p.m. at the Thomas E. Golden Jr. Center, 268 Park Street, New Haven.

Following an appearance by The Yale Alley Cats and a brief introduction to PEP we are proud to have Christian Parenti, author of Tropic of Chaos: Climate Change and the New Geography of Violence as our featured speaker. The topic is Climate Change and the New Geography of Violence. The event is free, refreshments will be served and copies of Mr. Parenti’s book will be available for purchase.

Christian Parenti is a Puffin Foundation Writing Fellow, contributing editor at The Nation and a visiting professor at Brooklyn College, CUNY. As a journalist, he has reported extensively from Afghanistan, Iraq and various parts of Africa, Asia, and Latin America and his articles have appeared in Fortune, The Washington Post, The New York Times, London Review of Books, Mother Jones and Playboy. He has a PhD in sociology from the London School of Economics, has held fellowships from OSI, RBF and the Ford Foundation; and has won numerous awards, including the 2009 Lange-Tailor Prize and “Best Magazine Writing 2008” from the Society for Professional Journalists. His three previous books are “The Freedom: Shadows and Hallucinations in Occupied Iraq”; “The Soft Cage: Surveillance in America from Slavery to the War on Terror and Lockdown America: Police and Prisons in the Age of Crisis.” For more information on Parenti visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nJlUf9NmuE.

Visit PEPeace.org, peacenews.org or call (203) 376-3120.

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CT Coalition for Environmental Justice News

Oct 29

Posted by Progressive Action Roundtable in Environment, Events | No Comments

CCEJ’s 7th Annual Conference on October 29 will take place at the UConn School of Business – Hartford. The cost is $25 in advance, $30 at the door; $15 college students and seniors. CCEJ’s conference will educate activists and CCEJ supporters on the impacts toxics have on our health, environment, and communities and how encouraging non-toxic products can strengthen the economy. Environmental justice activists from throughout the region will meet and learn together and share their challenges and successes in fighting for environmental justice. For more information go to http://environmental-justice.org/ConfInfo11/ConfInfo2011.html

New England Environmental Justice Forum will have a Regional Training Workshop on November 19 from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Central Baptist Church, 457 Main St., Hartford. It is free, including lunch & childcare. The Regional Training aims to bring together environmental justice attorneys, law students, advocates, organizers, and other professionals from New England to share ideas, learn from one another, and plan future work. The Forum is especially interested in learning about community residents’ legal and technical assistance needs.

Participants will meet other environmental justice advocates who work in communities relatively close by. Lawyers interested in providing assistance in environ-mental justice matters will receive training on how to work with grassroots groups. There will be opportunities for interaction between advocates and lawyers, with the hope of starting long lasting relationships. Additionally, four open mic issue rooms will be set up where participants will be asked to speak about their campaigns and how those campaigns reduce health disparities and address climate change. Come prepared to talk!

For more information go to: neejfhartfordregional.eventbrite.com.

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