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In the Spirit of Dr. King – Fight the War Machine!

by ANSWER CT

Saturday, April 14, noon-5 p.m. Rally and March – Gather at the White House. Followed by teach-in at George Washington University.

Fifty years after the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., peace and social justice groups across the country are uniting to carry on his legacy of determined struggle against racism, war and poverty. Many of these activities are being coordinated by the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival.

In his final book, Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., stated, “a final problem mankind must solve in order to survive … is finding an alternative to war and human destruction.” This comes just after his statement in the same text that “the time has come for an all-out world war on poverty.” Today, when there is no controversy in Congress about spending at least $700 billion on the war machine while horrendous cuts are being made to almost every program designed to help people survive, these words ring as true as ever.

In the richest country in the history of countries, this situation is unacceptable. Food stamps, Medicaid, programs to save the planet and funds for affordable housing cannot and should not be held hostage to a global war-making machine – a machine aimed not at freedom or democracy but domination and control, complicit in terrible crimes.

From facilitating the brutal war in Yemen to the extreme threats directed at North Korea, Venezuela and Iran, the U.S. government has placed itself completely at odds with Dr. King’s vision: A way of life where people’s needs rather than profits and imperial goals are the center of our society. This vision can be realized only if we seize the time and show that we won’t allow our future to be sacrificed at the altar of war and militarism.

Join us on Saturday, April 14 for a rally, march and teach-in against war, militarism and empire. These actions are timed to coincide with the anti-war Spring Actions 2018. As Dr. King said: “Science has provided us with adequate means for survival and transportation, which make it possible to enjoy the fullness of this great earth. The question now is, do we have the morality and courage required to live together … and not be afraid.”

Initial sponsors (list in formation): ANSWER Coalition; Justice First; Family and Friends of Incarcerated People; CODEPINK; Popular Resistance; Partnership for Civil Justice Fund; Imam Mahdi Bray, National Director of the American Muslim Alliance; Virginia Defenders for Free-dom, Justice & Equality; Internationalist Students Front at George Washington University www.answercoalition.org/ in_the_spirit_of_dr_king_fight_the_war_machine

Stop the Wars at Home and Abroad. Demonstration NYC April 15

by Henry Lowendorf, Greater New Haven Peace Council

There is no way to peace without dramatically cutting the $700 billion Pentagon budget and ending the many wars the US started and is engaged in. STOP THE WARS AT HOME AND ABROAD!

The Trump administration, however, is proposing more war spending and all CT members of Congress voted with their colleagues to increase the Pentagon budget by $80 billion, a third more than Trump asked for. This is a recipe for more killing, more refugees, more cultural devastation and indeed economic disaster for our own country. STOP THE WARS AT HOME AND ABROAD!

Cuts to the funding of education, environment, jobs, health-care, science, civil rights, infrastructure can only be reversed when we stop funding war. Ending the internal assault on minorities, immigrants, people of Muslim faith, women, our youth – ending the mass killings – requires strong opposi-tion to militarization and warmaking. STOP THE WARS AT HOME AND ABROAD!

The No US Foreign Bases Coalition, which brought together many peace organizations (noforeignbases.org) and held a successful conference in Baltimore in January, resolved to organize a national day of demonstrations on tax day 2018. There will be demonstrations in San Francisco, Minneapolis, Chicago and New York.

From Connecticut we want to send a large contingent to New York. We also want to subsidize transportation in particular to encourage youth to participate. Please help organize this effort. Let us know you will march and bring a crowd April 15, 2 p.m., Union Square, New York.
Greater New Haven Peace Council (203) 389-9547, [email protected]

The Future of Health Care in Connecticut: Paths to Equity and Good Health for All, April 25

Much of what influences health happens outside the doctor’s office. How can we build strong and meaningful links between the clinical care system and the communities where people live?
Wednesday, April 25, 9 a.m.-2 p.m., join the CT Health Foundation and a panel of experts to explore ways to improve health outcomes and ensure the health care system works for everyone, at the Connecticut Convention Center, 100 Columbus Blvd., Hartford. For information and to register, please contact the CT Health Foundation at (860) 724-1580, email: [email protected]. Free but space is limited so please only register once. If you register and can’t attend, please let us know so we can give your ticket to someone else.

Guest speakers include Dr. David Williams, Norman Professor of Public Health, Harvard Chan School of Public Health; Dr. Soma Stout, Vice President, Institute for Health-care Improvement; Dr. Elisabeth Rosenthal, Editor-in-Chief, Kaiser Health News and author of An American Sickness: How Healthcare Became Big Businessand How You Can Take It Back.

Nonviolent Communication Workshop April 21

Nonviolent Communication is a way of communicating more effectively and compassionately based on the feelings and needs we share as human beings. It is founded on the idea that people only resort to harming themselves and others when they don’t recognize other strategies for meeting their human needs. Imre Berty, who has been teaching Nonviolent Communication for over a decade, will lead this workshop. It is open to all, but it is requested that people read the book, Nonviolent Communication – A Language of Life, before the workshop, so that we will be able to use the time together well.
The workshop is on Saturday, April 21, from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the NH Friends Meetinghouse, 225 E. Grand Ave.

Please bring a bag lunch. If you need child care, please contact Mary Gorham at [email protected] by April 14 with the names and ages of your children.

Link to event: quakercloud.org/cloud/new-haven-friends-meeting/events/nonviolent-communication-workshop.

More information and to order the book: www.nonviolent communication.com/aboutnvc/4partprocess.htm.

Bringing in The Rain: Workshop March 20

by Lynne Bonnett, New Haven Bioregional Group

It’s been five years since we presented our first Bringing in the Rain session at the Mitchell Library to talk about stormwater runoff, combined sewer overflows and what citizens can do to help clean up our rivers and harbor.

Citizens with their local political representatives convinced CT’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) to adopt a watershed-based approach to cleaning up the West River and New Haven Harbor. The City of New Haven, Greater New Haven Water Pollution Control Authority (GNHWPCA), CT Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP), nonprofits and citizen groups have each had a role to play in helping us meet clean water standards in a cost-effective way, saving us money from expensive construction costs while cleaning our waters.

The challenges of reducing raw sewage overflows into the West River and reducing pollution from stormwater runoff are outlined in a West River Watershed Plan. The community has been implementing the plan for the last 3-4 years and we have accomplished a lot.

Come celebrate our efforts Tuesday, March 20, 6-8 p.m. and engage in residential stormwater management—learn how you can get involved. We will have a rain barrel on display with a sign-up sheet if you are interested in getting one for your home, presentations about rain gardens—the easiest and most attractive way to let rain water soak into the ground, and presentations from local schools, researchers and GNHWPCA. Light refreshments, family-friendly, we will start by showing a short film segment from Water Blues, Green Solutions about how community efforts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, helped reduce pollution from stormwater runoff in their community.
Barnard Nature Center at West River Memorial Park, 200 Derby Ave. (corner of Ella Grasso Blvd,), New Haven.

Lawsuit against State of CT to Restore Clean Energy Funds

by Paula Panzarella, Fight the Hike

Disgracefully, the legislature came up with a state budget that cut the funding for social service agencies and many programs that helped people. This betrayal includes their agreement to give to the General Fund approximately $160 million that consumers already paid into for programs that assist people with energy efficiency, energy conservation and with utilizing renewable energy, which were through the CT Green Bank and the CT Energy Efficiency Fund.

These funds were for the energy programs that we have paid for through the surcharge fee on our United Illuminating and Eversource electric bills. The money was collected specifically to help consumers improve energy efficiency, take part in energy conservation programs, low-interest loans to help with solar panels, modernize furnaces, water heaters, etc.

Besides these programs helping consumers, they have helped build up Connecticut’s economy. There are over 34,000 people working in the energy-efficiency industry in Connecticut. It will be a staggering blow to these businesses and their employees if people cannot continue to have the assistance of these clean-energy programs. The funding for these programs has already been collected to keep these programs going. And the legislators decided to put the money into the General Fund.

Fight the Hike has joined a lawsuit against the state of Connecticut to restore these funds. We hope businesses and other organizations will consider signing on to the lawsuit. Please contact Michael Trahan of SolarConnecticut, Inc. for more information. His e-mail address is [email protected] and his telephone is  (860) 256-1698.

3rd Saturday Cinema: The War to End All Wars

Film and discussion series at the NHFP Library, 133 Elm St., marks 100 years since the end of World War I. Post screening discussions will be led by New Haven resident and European art, history and politics connoisseur Jacinto Lirola.

March 17 at 2 p.m. Paths of Glory (1957) Director: Stanley Kubrick

April 21 at 2 p.m. All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) Director: Lewis Milestone

May 19 at 2 p.m. Grand Illusion (1937) Director: Jean Renoir

For more info contact Seth at [email protected] or 203-946-7450

Connecticut Fund for the Environment/Save the Sound Development Job Opening

Put your love of the environment to work!

Do you enjoy connecting with donors and prospects who have an interest in protecting and restoring the land, air, and water of Connecticut, New York, and Long Island Sound? You may be the ideal candidate for our Advocates and Special Gifts Officer position. Connecticut Fund for the Environment/Save the Sound is seeking a senior fundraising professional to expand on our proven record in major gift development.

Reporting to the Chief Development Officer, the Advocates and Special Gifts Officer is responsible for identifying, cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding major donors who support CFE and Save the Sound. In particular, s/he will work with the President and Chief Development Officer to develop organizational goals for major donor income, act as primary relationship manager for individual donors and prospects to reach or exceed annual funding goals, develop and execute cultivation and stewardship plans for donors and new prospects, and establish personal benchmarks for and report regularly on donor phone calls, meetings and other contacts.

www.ctenvironment.org/employment

Connecticut Fund for the Environment/Save the Sound, 900 Chapel St., Upper Mezzanine, New Haven, CT 06510. 545 Tompkins Ave., 3rd Floor, Mamaroneck, NY 10543.

The First Unitarian Universalist Society Welcomes You!

The First Unitarian Universalist Society of New Haven is located at 608 Whitney Ave. and hosts many programs for the New Haven community.

The New Haven Bioregional group regularly holds meetings, skillshares, potluck dinners and presentations at our meeting house. New Haven Bioregional Group maintains a lifeboat garden on our property.

ANSWER CT, a chapter of the ANSWER Coalition, regularly holds meetings and events at our meeting house. The ANSWER coalition’s mission is to stop war and racism.

The Children’s Preschool is a non-profit preschool for area children. The school has been located on our property since its founding in 1972, and we are represented on its advisory board.

The New Haven Compassionfest regularly holds meetings and vegan potlucks at our meeting house.
The New Haven/León Sister City Project has their offices in our meeting house. They engage in sustainable economic, human, and community development projects in Nicaragua.
Social Justice and Charitable Giving.

The congregation gives away its weekly collection to organizations pursuing social and environmental justice. We select a different recipient each quarter. We are donating the money collected at this quarter’s services to support Puerto Rico recovery from Hurricane Maria.

Prior recipients include: New Haven Land Trust, CT Food Bank Mobile Pantry, Common Ground High School, CT Fund for the Environment, True Colors, Friends of Haiti Edge of the Woods, Fellowship Place, Inc., SNE Planned Parenthood, Amistad Catholic Worker Hill Area Kitchen, Downtown Soup Kitchen, CT Food Bank — Kids Backpack Program, Stepping Stone Transitional Housing Program, AIDs Project New Haven.

Services are held Sundays 10:30 a.m. Child care is provided 10:15-11:30 a.m. Fellowship and refreshments follow the service. To find out more about the First Unitarian Universalist Society of New Haven, please visit our website at www.uunewhaven.org.

Rock to Rock News and High School Energy Awareness Programs

by Chris Schweitzer, New Haven/León Sister City Project

It’s time to get excited about the 10th Annual Rock to Rock Earth Day Ride. We are joining forces with Green Drinks to put on a Pint Night to benefit Rock to Rock Wednesday, March 14, 6-7:30 at Patagonia, 1 Broadway (corner of York St.), New Haven. We will have beer from Blue Point Brewery, wine, refreshments, live music from Andrew Biagiarelli, and our ever-popular raffle. Admission: $5 donation to Rock to Rock.

Rock to Rock is New Haven’s biggest Earth Day celebration. Here’s how it works: You and about a thousand of your neighbors travel by bicycle from West Rock and East Rock, with celebrations on both sides of the city. Along the way, eat tasty food, hear great music, take on environmental service projects, and explore our city’s parks and neighborhoods. Info: [email protected] or (203) 285-6147.

Climate Health and Energy Week (CHEW) is an opportunity–April 30 to May 5–for New Haven-area high schools to broaden climate change awareness and engage in concrete action to cut greenhouse gases, improve health and reduce energy use and expense. CHEW organizers are researching and developing–with educators and school administrators–a variety of program/activity options to be available to individual teachers, departments, grade levels, schools, or the entire school district. The range of options will enable educators to meet the specific needs and realities of their school. Other non-school youth and community organiz-ations can also participate.

Check out the website  www.climateweeknh.org or contact Margalie at Margalie Belizaire [email protected] or call (203) 562-1607.  Also please submit good climate education activities!

Seymour Police, Town of Seymour Policies Discriminate against Disabled

by Joseph A. Luciano  Disability Rights Action Group of CT

I have asked NBC-TV Troubleshooters to investigate the present-day status of ADA access and mobility in downtown Seymour. Investigation can reveal the plight of persons with disabilities (PWDs) living here.

This is happening 27 years after the Americans with Disabil-ities Act (ADA) was enacted (July 26, 1990). That’s 10,100 days ago. This was happening even before Seymour approved 38 new senior/disabled housing units downtown. On Columbus Street alone, the senior/disabled population has increased from 12 to 38—not counting the disabled living in my downtown apartment complex (Fallview Apts). Often, only able-bodied people can get around in downtown Seymour. I and other PWDs cannot—because police do not enforce ordinances or regulations that enable accessibility. I have filed complaints on these issues against Seymour and its police department with the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights & Opportunities (1730312, 1830021). Inex-plicably, CHRO ruled that town and police policy do not discriminate against PWDs—even though only able-bodied persons can get around.

PWDs are routinely denied their rights to access and mobility at Seymour’s new $6.4 million park (Paul Pawlak Sr. Fishway & Park at Tingue Dam). Police do not ticket or tow away vehicles obstructing or blocking access to the “accessible walkway” leading to the scenic lookout.

PWDs are routinely denied their rights to access Seymour’s downtown businesses when property owners flout Seymour Ordinance 14-6, which mandates timely removal of snow from sidewalks. Seymour PD itself routinely flouts Ordinance 1-9, which mandates that flouters “shall” be fined up to $100/day for each day of the offense. Seymour PD has admitted never having fined snow ordinance flouters. Sidewalks covered with snow that should have been removed by town law prevent PWDs from access to groceries, restaurants, pharmacy, banking, worship, theater, shopping, and other reasonable purposes. For more information: [email protected], (203) 463-8323

Conference on Drone Warfare to be Held In Hartford March 14

by Rev. Rich Killmer, Interfaith Network on Drone Warfare

The Connecticut Interfaith Conference on Drone Warfare takes place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Wednesday, March 14 at Hartford Seminary, 77 Sherman St., Hartford, CT. The presenters include: Andrea Prasow, Associate Director of the Washington Office of Human Rights Watch; Dr. Maryann Cusimano Love, Politics Department, Catholic University, Washington, DC; Rev. Chris Antal, Unitarian Universalist Minister, who resigned as an army chaplain because of the U.S. lethal drone policy; Lt. Colonel Shareda Hosein (U.S. Army Reserves Retired), Muslim Chaplain. Two short films produced by the Interfaith Network on Drone Warfare for congregations will also be screened.

Registration is free, but a free-will offering will be taken. Lunch will be provided. Please register at www.bit.ly/DroneCTConference. For more information, visit www.interfaithdronenetwork.org or call (609) 924-5022 or (207) 450-7242. The conference is co-sponsored by Hartford Seminary and the Interfaith Network on Drone Warfare.

Listen Here! Classic Short Stories Read Live

Listen to short stories selected by the editors of New Haven Review and read by actors from New Haven Theater Company at the Young Men’s Institute Library, 847 Chapel St., New Haven. Talk back with New Haven Review moderator.

So what are we reading at the Institute Library? Tuesday, March 20, 7 p.m. Theme: Vengeance Is Mine. “Fleur” by Louise Erdrich and “A Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe.

Tuesday, April 17, 7 p.m. Theme: Weight of History. “Evening Prayer” by Stephen Carter and “The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven” by Sherman Alexie.

Bring yourself, your ears, your love of literature. What’s to eat? Freshly baked treats each night. What’s to drink? Tea, chai, hot chocolate…oh, just come already!

The Arts Council Announces New Office Space at 70 Audubon St.

by Jennifer Gelband, Marketing Director

The Arts Council of Greater New Haven has moved its headquarters at 70 Audubon Street to another suite of offices across the hall on the 2nd floor, previously occupied by Con-necticut Public Radio. The Arts Council owns the second floor of the building and had occupied the previous space since the building was constructed in 1990.

“Vital government funding for the arts in Connecticut is at an all-time low,” said Daniel Fitzmaurice, Executive Director. “This change represents a fiscal and programmatic opportunity to expand our mission to serve artists, creative or-ganizations and our region. I can’t wait to start the renovation!”

The new space will include administrative offices and community venue, which Arts Council members can reserve at no cost for meetings, performances, and events. As of Dec. 1, the Arts Council has rented their previous space to The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven.

“We have enjoyed a great relationship with our neighbors at The Arts Council for many, many years….” said Angela Powers, Senior Vice President of Planning and Operations at the GNH Community Foundation. For more information about the Arts Council, see www.newhavenarts.org.

Resist Foundation Wants to Fund Justice and Liberation!

Resist is a foundation that supports people’s movements for justice and liberation. We redistribute resources back to frontline communities at the forefront of change while amplifying their stories of building a better world.

The movement for justice and liberation is in a constant state of flux. Here at Resist we’re constantly finding ways to sit in that change, learn from it, and iterate so we can be a more responsive and accountable organization to the front-lines. As we close out our 50th anniversary we continue to reflect on what our world, our movement and our organization will look like in the next half-century. We’ve learned a lot from these reflections. As we continue to reimagine our grants program in conversation with a growing number of our grantees and the wider Resist community we want to in-troduce two new and exciting changes in our program.

New Rapid Response Grant: In the last two years we’ve seen a sharp spike in the need for emergency and technical assistance grants from groups all over the country. For this reason we’ve merged our two grants into a new rapid response grant.

Resist now offers a $1,000 Rapid Response grant to better meet the needs of frontline groups and organizations. This grant is decided on by Resist staff and generally has a one week turn around. This grant is for groups looking to:

Imagine and Build: for groups seeking financial support with training, consultation, healing, cultural work, conflict resolution, and/or restructuring. Examples include (but are not limited to): developing organizing skills, exploration of new strategies, community-led arts and culture work, board and staff development, fundraising support and training, transformative and strategic planning.

Resist and Respond: for groups seeking to respond to unforeseen and timely political opportunities with organizing and/or cultural interventions. Examples include organizing direct action, creative resistance, and travel to protests in response to a call to action.

Please go to www.resist.org for information on how to apply for a grant. Resist, 259 Elm Street Suite 201, Somerville, MA 02144 (617) 623-5110, [email protected].

Resolution from the Conference on U.S. Military Bases Held Jan. 12-14

by Henry Lowendorf, GNH Peace Council

The Conference on U.S. Foreign Military Bases was held in Baltimore, Maryland, on January 12-14, organized by Coalition Against U.S. Foreign Military Bases—con-sisting of more than 250 peace, justice and environmental organ-izations from around the world. It heard from Okinawans and members of the Veterans For Peace from the U.S. who recently visited Okinawa to add their voices to the growing chorus opposed to the presence of U.S. military bases on the island.

We are aware of the terrible role that U.S. bases on Okinawa have played in the destruction of the environment and of the many criminal acts of U.S. military personnel, including rape and murder against the people of Okinawa.

We are also aware of the central role that the U.S. bases on Okinawa played during the criminal war waged by the U.S. against the people of Vietnam and the present-day role they play in the aggressive military presence of the U.S. in the entire region.

On the basis of these facts, the Coalition Against U.S. For-eign Military Bases and all of the Conference participants unanimously demand that all charges against Hiroji Yama-shiro, and his co-defendants Hiroshi Inaba and Atsuhiro Soeda, be dropped and all attempts to silence the people of Okinawa in their just quest to rid their homeland of the many U.S. military bases be stopped.

The Coalition further pledges to support the case of Hiroji Yamashiro, Hiroshi Inaba, Atsuhiro Soeda, and to publicize their cases in the U.S. and to raise the demand that all U.S. military bases be removed from Okinawa.

Issued by the Coordinating Committee of the Coalition Against U.S. Foreign Military Bases, January 15, 2018.

Committee: Ajamu Baraka, Black Alliance for Peace; Ann Wright and Medea Benjamin, CODEPINK; Al Marder, U.S. Peace Council; Bruce Gagnon, Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power In Space; Nancy Price, WILPF, and others. The very successful conference built unity in the US peace movement. It can be viewed in streaming video on the noforeignbases.org website.

LAST CALL! Use Your Creativity to Change the World (and this Newsletter)!

The Progressive Action Roundtable Planning Committee is happy to announce our first-ever contest for a bumpersticker and/or logo for our newsletter. What phrase or design would you want to see on the cars in front of you?

What logo for our newsletter would really speak to your sentiments of a better world? Depending on the number of entries, we estimate we will be able to announce a winner by June.

We are offering a $100 prize for the winning entry.

All entries must be in black and white, and be mailed to PAR, P.O. Box 995, New Haven, CT 06504.

Please include your name, address, phone number and e-mail address with your design. You do not need to be a subscriber to participate. Thanks!

Celebrate 35 Years with the Middle East Crisis Committee March 3

by Stanley Heller, chairperson, MECC

The Middle East Crisis Committee (MECC) is in its 35th year. MECC invites you to “Struggle, Resistance and Resili-ence in Solidarity with the Palestinian People,” a fund-raising party on Saturday, March 3 at 6 p.m. at the First Unitarian Universalist Society of New Haven, 608 Whitney Ave. Learn about Mazin Qumsiyeh’s efforts in building the Palestinian Natural History Museum in Bethlehem. There will be food, music, and video; auctions and door prizes are planned. $25 suggested donation.

For the past dozen years or so our biggest efforts have involved media. We have a weekly TV show on over 30 cable stations stretching from Maine to New York City. One focus of late on TheStruggle.org is Saudi Arabia (KSA) and its war against Yemen. Another focus is of efforts around the world to remember Syria. It’s called “2nd Day of Rage for Syria.” MECC stands for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria and in support of Syrian civil society demands for ceasefire and honest elections.

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