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Coalition for People Invites You to Join Our Board

Coalition for People is planning its annual meeting in April 2019. We look forward to more people being involved to make sure their issues of importance are acted upon. There is room for additional people to join the board, and we hope some PAR readers take up this challenge to help organize and advocate for the disenfranchised in the New Haven area.

We are working closely with Mothers (and Others) for Justice around issues of affordable housing; we have been networking with organizations around homelessness, the criminalization of the poor, and Yale New Haven Hospital’s neglect by discharging homeless people to the street. YNHH’s actions have led to the deaths of at least two homeless people in the past year.

People have a right to have a home, enough food to eat, a job with a living wage and healthcare. Our government still has not accepted the fact that healthcare is a right for all. The struggle for universal, comprehensive single-payer healthcare continues.

Our next meeting is Wednesday, Nov. 14, from 2-4 p.m. at the Fair Haven Library, 182 Grand Ave. in the community room in the lower level. Starting again in December we will meet there the third Wednesday of each month. Please e-mail us if you need a different meeting time and tell us when you can meet. We are flexible and want to make meetings convenient for everyone who wants to join us.

coalitionforpeople@hotmail.com.

Christian Community Action continues to serve the community after 50 years

Christian Community Action has been serving the community for over half a century. The support of friends and neighbors like you is what makes this work possible. CCA is able to provide help, housing, and hope to families that are homeless in New Haven because of the various individuals, businesses, houses of worship, civic groups, schools and foundations that have committed themselves to reaching those in need. Read more about us at ccahelping.org.

CCA Thanksgiving Basket Drive:
Donations of Turkeys, Canned Goods, and Pastas are in high demand
Please refrain from donating glass items
Drop off donations at:
168 Davenport Ave. New Haven, CT 06519
By: 11/14/2018 at 5:00 P.M.

“Show Me How”- Learn about the New Haven Promise: FREE Money for College!

Come Monday, Nov. 5, 6:30 p.m. or Saturday, Nov. 17, 10:30 a.m. to Mitchell Library, 37 Harrison St., New Haven.

Yes, the New Haven Promise Scholarship works! If you are a New Haven Public School Student, you can receive free college tuition! The New Haven Promise Scholarship is an annual award that covers up to full tuition, and tuition only, at a Connecticut public 2- or 4-year college or university, or up to $2,500 at an in-state private institution. Don’t wait until senior year! Register as early as 7th grade. Learn about the requirements for the Promise Scholarship. Hear from Promise staff, New Haven Promise Scholarship recipients and very happy parents!

Please call to register: (203) 946-8117. Refreshments will be served at both events. Parents are highly encouraged to attend with their students.

NHFPL Mitchell Library, 37 Harrison Street, New Haven, (203) 946-8117, www.nhfpl.org.

Talk and Labor History Walking Tour, Nov. 18

by Steve Kass, President, GNH Labor History Association

Toil and Triumph: Italian American Women in the Sweatshops of New Haven. To celebrate the permanent display of the former traveling exhibit of “Garment Workers of New Haven” at the New Haven Labor Center, 267 Chapel St., New Haven, the GNH Labor History Association will host Anthony Riccio’s talk with historical pictures on Italian American women in the sweatshops of New Haven. Afterward, there will be a labor history walking tour of the former garment district. Anthony is the author of the book, The Italian American Experience in New Haven: Images and Oral History. A suggested donation of $5 or a $25 membership to the Greater New Haven Labor History Association, a non-profit organization, is encouraged.

David McReynolds, socialist, photographer, and lifetime WRL member, passes at 88

Early Friday morning, Aug. 31, socialist, photographer, and lifetime War Resisters League member David McReynolds — committed pacifist and socialist — died peacefully at the age of 88. David was on WRL staff for a  large part of his life and remained within community long, long after.

Born in 1929 in Los Angeles, he moved to the East Village in 1956 and began working for Liberation magazine, before joining the WRL staff. An avid photographer, a collection of his photos can be found at www.mcreynoldsphotos.org.

The memorial for David will be Saturday, Dec. 1, noon-3 p.m. at Judson Memorial Church, 55 Washington Square South, New York, New York 10012. To RSVP, email McReynoldsMemorial@gmail.com.

The following are excerpts from an article by WRL Member Ed Hedemann: David McReynolds (1929-2018) died at 1:30 this morning, a day after being brought to Beth Israel ICU in Manhattan. He had suffered a fall in his apartment and apparently never regained consciousness.

For those who don’t know, David was on the WRL staff for almost 40 years (1960-1999), a long time member of the Socialist Party, who ran for Congress in 1968, President of the United States on the SPUSA ticket in 1980 and 2000 — the first (I think) openly gay candidate for President — and for the U.S. Senate from New York in 2004 on the Green Party ticket. An internationalist and former chair of the War Resisters’ International, he traveled extensively, many times to war-torn countries, once getting arrested in Red Square during an anti-nuclear protest in 1978.

John McCutcheon in Benefit Concert for CT Children’s Museum Nov. 17

by Paul Wessel, CT Children’s Museum

John McCutcheon will give a benefit concert for the CT Children’s Museum at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 17, at the Center Church Parish House, 311 Temple St. (directly behind the main library) in New Haven. A wonderful night in celebration of ordinary people doing extraordinary things in a benefit for the work of the Connecticut Children’s Museum. Children need a place of their own where they can experience the magic of learning at their own pace, a place full of whimsy and wisdom, a space built to their size and specifications. Early childhood educators need a place to teach and learn with their children, a place where they can find support and inspiration. Families need a place full of color, joy, and community where they can play and learn together. Through Creating Kids Childcare Center, the Early Childhood Resource Center, educational field trips, and an array of literacy-based projects, the Connecticut Children’s Museum is such a place.

Please join us for some really wonderful uplifting music in the tradition of Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger. “John McCutcheon is not only one of the best musicians in the USA, but also a great singer, songwriter, and song leader. And not just incidentally, he is committed to helping hard-working people everywhere to organize and push this world in a better direction.” – Pete Seeger

Event website, including videos:  https://mccutcheon-newhaven.dudaone.com. Direct ticket link: bit.ly/McCutcheonNewHaven. In addition to attending, you can show your support by taking out an ad in our program. For more information, please contact Paul Wessel, (203) 410-8018, pauldwessel@gmail.com.

Vote YES on the transportation BALLOT AMENDMENT

According to CT Roundtable on Climate, there will be a ballot initiative, to be voted on Nov. 6 to approve a constitutional amendment to use the special transportation fund only for transportation purposes.

It’s called the Transportation Revenue Lockbox Amendment. Since 2005 the legislature has moved more than $250 MILLION away from the Special Transportation Fund, including $50 million in 2016  alone.

The legislature has also put into the General Fund $155 million from the Clean Energy & Efficiency Fund collected by UI and Eversource from their customers, i.e. US, users. Were we consulted?

The cowardice of the legislature is unfathomable — they will do anything to prevent raising taxes on the rich, but it’s all right to take from programs that benefit the rest of us.

Download the flyer here.

‘Rachel’s Children’ speakers program in Madison to highlight Palestinian children Oct. 19

by Yann van Heurck, Shoreline Unitarian Universalist Society

Shoreline Unitarian Universalist Society of Madison, and Guilford Peace Alliance, together with Tree of Life, Jewish Voice for Peace New Haven, Middle East Crisis Committee, and other groups, are cosponsoring a speakers program in Madison to highlight the situation of Palestinian children. Rep. Betty McCollum, who is cosponsoring House Resolution 4391 “Promoting Human Rights by Ending Israeli Military Detention of Palestinian Children,” says the following about this situation:

“Children as young as 12 years old are taken from their beds at night by Israeli soldiers and police. They are bound, blindfolded, and taken to detention centers. Under Israeli military law they are denied access to lawyers during interrogation, and even the youngest children are regularly denied access to their parents during interrogations …. With 40 percent of the Palestinian population under age 14, peace between Israel and the Palestinians starts with promoting the dignity and the inherent human rights of Palestinian children.”

Defense for Children International/Palestine says that “Israel has the dubious distinction of being the only country in the world that systematically prosecutes an estimated 500 to 700 children each year in military (not civilian) courts lacking fundamental fair trial rights.”

Tree of Life and its cosponsors are asking us all to respond to the sound of Rachel “weeping for her children” that can be heard in all Palestinian and Israeli mothers and fathers who yearn for a better future for their children. Speakers are Israeli Jew and former soldier Eran Efrati, an expert on US-Israeli military collaboration; Ruba Awadallah, a Palestinian-American researcher for Defense of Children International/Palestine; and Lara Kiswani, a Palestinian-American lecturer from San Francisco State who specializes in anti-racist campaigns.

We invite everyone to attend the program at Shoreline Unitarian Universalist Society, 297 Boston Post Rd., Madison 06443, on Friday, Oct. 19, 6-9 p.m. There will be a Museum of Zionism exhibit, speakers program, buffet and Tree of Life products for sale. Admission is free, donations welcomed.
Info from tolef.org and from Yann at janinawoelfin@gmail.com.

Download the program flier here.

ConnectiCOSH 2018 Annual Health and Safety Convention

The convention on Friday, Oct. 19, 8 a.m. – 4 p.m., will highlight “Stop the Plague on Workers’ Lives” and “Making Worker Safety a Priority in Tough Times.” It takes place at the Plumbers & Pipefitters Local 777 Training Center, 450 Murdock Ave., Meriden.

The keynote speaker, Les Leopold, co-founder and current Executive Director of the Labor Institute, is the author of several books, including the award-winning The Man Who Hated Work and Loved Labor: The Life and Times of Tony Mazzocchi. His current book is Runaway Inequality: An Activist Guide to Economic Justice.

More than 4,000 workers do not return home to their families every year. Millions of workers return home injured or ill as well. The struggle to make sure that workers go home alive continues. Our annual health and safety convention offers a variety of thought-provoking workshops that better prepare participants for addressing hazards on the job.

ConnectiCOSH continues to:

  • Organize and educate injured workers to protect their legal rights
  • Be active members of the Coalition for a Safe and Healthy Connecticut fighting for chemical substitution and reducing exposure to toxic chemicals
  • Partner with UCONN and Yale Occupational Environ-mental Health Clinics
  • Train Hazardous Waste Site Workers and Emergency Responders as part of a joint effort with the other COSH groups in New England
  • Organize and participate in Worker Memorial Day events across the state.

    For more info, call (860) 953-2674.

Rally for Climate Change, Jobs Draws Crowd

by Melinda Tuhus, New Haven Stands with Standing Rock

This article was sent to PAR from the author Melinda Tuhus. It was originally published in the New Haven Independent on Sept. 10, 2018. The full article can be read at www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/climate_change_jobs_rally_draws_crowd.

A diverse crowd gathered on the (New Haven) Green Sunday afternoon, Sept. 9, for Connecticut’s own version of Rise Up for Climate, Jobs, and Justice.

It was one of 800 similar actions held around the world over the weekend ahead of a critical conference of provincial, state, municipal government and business leaders from around the globe convened this week by California Gov. Jerry Brown to push forward solutions to the climate crisis.

Traditional folk singers alternated with young rappers, Wes and Q, from Hartford in revving up the crowd, which also witnessed a “battle” between a 60-foot-long “fossil fuel dragon” and an “earth hero” armed with a sun shield and wind turbine sword, played to the hilt by young climate fighter Sam Rosenberg.

City Engineer Giovanni Zinn welcomed people to New Haven on behalf of Mayor Harp and urged everyone to check out the 97 elements of the City’s Sustainability Framework and sign up to help usher them into reality.

Jen Siskind with Food & Water Watch urged everyone to call their member of Congress to support the OFF Act (Off Fossil Fuels for a Better Future Act, H.R. 3671). Of Connecticut’s five reps, only Rosa DeLauro has signed on so far.

“Climate change is the most crucial issue facing all of us for the rest of our lives,” John Harrity, retired president of the State Council of Machinists and chair of the CT Roundtable on Climate and Jobs, said. And it’s happening now. “We all know that the fossil fuel economy can’t be sustained, but fossil fuel workers need a just transition to green jobs and new employment.”

The inclusion of “justice” in the day figured into several short speeches. Connecticut Puerto Rican Agenda member Alex Rodriguez related two recent disasters that befell the island.

“My mom and grandmother were caught in the storm,” Rodriguez told the crowd. “For two weeks, my family was immensely frightened by the possibility that they may be dead. When we made contact, we had to pool all of our resources together to bring them home a month after the destruction took place. The CT Puerto Rican Agenda calls on the federal government to provide more housing vouchers to the many families barely surviving without a roof over their head. We also call for our debt to be eliminated, because the PROMESA bill signed into law in recent years makes it impossible to pay back debt owed to the United States and give government services such as healthcare and education back to our people.”

“We know that the struggle against climate change is ultimately a struggle against injustice, and we definitely have to stand together,” the Rev. Scott Marks of New Haven Rising said. “The people that experience the cost of climate change are poor people and people of color. If that is the case then poor people and people of color must take the front and help to lead this movement. So many things are coming together to have us be divided, but I’m telling you, the environment is a great thing to bring us all together.”

Lawsuit to Return the Clean Energy and Efficiency Funds

by Paula Panzarella, Fight the Hike

On Thursday, Sept. 13, I attended the hearing at the Federal Courthouse in New Haven regarding the legislature’s seizure last session of $155 million that was collected from United Illuminating and Eversource customers. The intention of the funds was to (as noted on the back of our electric bills) “promote energy conservation and efficiency” and to pay for programs that “promote the use of renewable (or environmentally friendly) fuel sources, such as solar power, wind, fuel cells, methane gas from landfills, biofuels, trash-to-energy, and water.”

The legislators voted to use these funds instead to put money into the State’s General Fund.

The Clean Energy funds must be returned. People depend on these funds for their jobs in the renewable energy sector. Consumers rely on the efficiency programs to save energy and money. These programs have helped people get low-interest financing for solar installations. Efficiency and clean energy save the state money, and people’s health is at stake because fossil fuels are increasing asthma rates and respiratory illnesses.

As of this printing, Judge Janet Hall has not yet made a decision on the legality of the legislators’ appropriation of the funds that were intended for clean energy and efficiency.

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