Category: Events

Resources and Information from SURJ

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Stand Up for Racial Justice put together the following. If you want to receive the SURJ newsletters on a regular basis, please e-mail surjnewhaven@gmail.com.

This is a special issue with links to community response and mutual aid resources, webpages and groups.

Hope you’re doing well – stay safe!

We want to share regional resources for mutual aid, support for those who are the most affected on the basis of health but also by the economic impacts of the spreading disease.

Donate to a food bank! Don’t stockpile groceries! When everyone only takes what they need, there’s enough for everyone!

Think of supporting your local businesses by buying a gift-card or a voucher that you can use in the future. Put a dollar in a jar if you’re having a drink at home and send the money to your favorite bartenders or donate to an emergency fund!

Regional Groups and Support Networks:
Mutual Aid/Support Waterbury, Bridgeport, New Haven and Surrounding Areas
https://www.facebook.com/groups/501197987165893/?fref=nf
document for sharing resources:
http://bit.ly/2Wg2pvc

New Haven Area Mutual Aid
https://www.facebook.com/groups/639466263512268

CoronaVirus CT Community Support / Apoyo Comunitario – link

Handbooks:
Internet Book of Critical Care (IBCC)
https://emcrit.org/ibcc/covid19/

Corornavirus Tech Handbook
https://coronavirustechhandbook.com/

Coronavirus Community Care Resource Guide
https://www.ctznwell.org/coronavirus-care-guide

Mutual Aid Disaster Relief – When Every Community is Ground Zero: Pulling Each Other Through a Pandemic

Things To Do (at home for free!)
Collection of free resources – link
Time magazine and National Geographic for kids
Museums offering virtual tours
Free films from Indigenous film makers
Storytime for children

Fundraisers and Solidarity Campaigns:

Solidarity with Incarcerated People:

SURVIVING INSIDE: commissary payments for incarcerated people

http://www.ctbailfund.org/surviving-inside
https://www.facebook.com/donate/1003206333413384/639728416819386/

Urgent Action Needed to Protect Individuals in Connecticut’s Prisons and Jails from Coronavirus-19 Pandemic

The Coronavirus Could Spark a Humanitarian Disaster in Jails and Prisons

COVID-19 (Coronavirus) Response & Resources from The Justice Collaborative

Homelessness:
‘Stay home?’ 500,000 homeless Americans can’t follow coronavirus advice

Perspective from disabled folks

National Fund for bartenders
https://usbgfoundation.networkforgood.com/projects/95524-covid-19-relief-campaign

Fund for musicians impacted by Covid-19 shutdowns:
https://www.sweetrelief.org/covid-19-fund.html

Online Meetings:

ACTIVIST SONGBOOK audition process is now entirely online. (March 14th & 28th library auditions are canceled) You can submit video or audio of you performing a song or rap here
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeNspw3HnYruXaOi7fFcIlvlsYedwHoV4U69WyhZw9_5g-ceg/viewform

Sat Mar 28th 1pm The Annual Meeting of Promoting Enduring Peace (PEP)
More Details coming at www.PEPeace.org
Including Exclusive Video of Naomi Klein’s Lecture at Harvard AND we will announce the winner or winners of the 2020 Gandhi Peace Award

Opportunities to Get More Involved

To hear about more opportunities, join the SURJ New Haven General Body Google Group. We use this group to let members know about last-minute events and actions, as well as to coordinate SURJ’s presence at actions. Go to groups.google.com, search for our google group, and click “join.”

Another way that SURJ members can get more involved is by volunteering with our committees and working groups to organize and facilitate events. These groups often meet outside of general body meetings. If you see a project you might be interested in, email surjnewhaven@gmail.com to get connected with the co-chairs.

Recommended Media of the Week:
Tiny Pricks Project
the material record of Trump’s presidency
LINK
by Diana Weymar

SURJ is a national network of groups and individuals organizing White people for racial justice. Through community organizing, mobilizing, and education, SURJ moves White people to act as part of a multi-racial majority for justice with passion and accountability. We work to connect people across the country while supporting and collaborating with local and national racial justice organizing efforts. SURJ provides a space to build relationships, skills and political analysis to act for change. Join us!

Register for Promoting Enduring Peace annual meeting Sat. March 28, 2020 via Zoom

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This Sat. March 28 phone and zoom – Register for Promoting Enduring Peace open meeting

Starting 1 p.m. on Sat. until 2:30

10-minute video selection from Naomi Klein’s talk at Harvard

Drawing for a signed copy of Naomi Klein’s new book “On Fire”

(When you register you get one free “ticket” for the drawing)

Hear announcement of this year’s Gandhi Peace Award winner

Learn about Promoting Enduring Peace projects and key peace/environmental issues

Q&A and comments

To attend email  office@pepeace.org   Subject: Annual meeting

You’ll get an email back on Friday with the link/phone number

Full agenda at www.PEPeace.org

The Youth Transitions Program of the Children’s Community Programs of Connecticut

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The Youth Transitions Program of the Children’s Community Programs of Connecticut is offering training for young adults, 17 – 24 years of age. There are ongoing opportunities for training as a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) or a security guard. CCP-CT will pay the program costs once a client is enrolled as a student. Students may be eligible for childcare assistance and transportation assistance (bus passes). Please contact Thretha Green (information below) for other requirements. Also note that driver’s education is available, and there is assistance in paying for the learner’s permit and driver’s license. These training programs are offered year-round. For questions about classes, eligibility, etc. contact: Thretha Green, Program Coordinator. Phone: 203-786-6403, Ext. 160, or email tgreen@ccp-ct.org.

Yale Rebellious Lawyers Conference 2020 announcement and link to more info

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Keynotes Fri at 5:30 and Sat at 10.

Workshops with Robyn Porter, CT rep for 93rd district and Barbara Fair, former member of PIA and ACLU, now working to stop solitary confinement in CT.

https://reblaw.yale.edu/sites/default/files/reblaw_program.pdf

Pirzada Ahmad (he/him/his) tries to approach the practice of law from a critical race perspective and has a deep appreciation for the movement lawyering framework. When Pirzada is not busy with his clinics, he is probably playing with his cat, Mo.

Rhea Christmas (she/her) is a second-year law student from New Jersey. She believes in the power of community organizing to effectuate change. A list of Rhea’s favorite things in no particular order include: smoothies, bad Netflix shows, CrossFit, trivia and hanging out with two of the most adorable bunnies in New Haven.

Brooke Dekolf (she/her) is a second-year law student from New Jersey. She believes the law should be responsive to the needs of the communities it impacts; and she is passionate about climate politics and reproductive justice. In between responding to emails, Brooke spends her time baking bread and hanging out with her two bunnies.

Eli Feasley (they/he) loves collective liberation and mutual aid and hates prisons and policing. Eli has a long and storied past as an anti-fascist, a builder of adorable educational software, a subject of brutal arrests and a felony charge, and being a sweet transsexual. Eli is in too many clinics and teaches high school students Constitutional Law.

Olympia Karageorgiou (she/her) is a second-year law student from Dallas, Texas. Olympia is now part of the Reentry Clinic, where she works on school discipline and special education cases in the K-12 space. Olympia is a proud member of the Black Law Students Association, Women of Color Collective, Clinical Student Board, and a first-generation college student.

46th Annual People’s World African American History Month Event Sunday, February 23

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by Joelle Fishman, CT People’s World

Voting Rights Are Worth the Fight! Join us Sunday, Feb. 23, for a Dump Trump Unity March & Motorcade at 2:30 p.m., starting at the New Haven Peoples Center, 37 Howe St. and ending at 4 p.m. at the Troup Middle School, Edgewood Ave. Starting at 4:30 p.m. the event “Voting Rights Are Worth the Fight!” includes a panel discussion, performances and a presentation of prizes in the Arts and Writing Competition Grades 8 to 12, “Harriet Tubman and the Right to Vote.” A tribute to Lula White, Freedom Rider and a past judge of the competition will be included.

The 2020 elections are crucial for the future of the African American freedom struggle and the freedom struggle of all peoples, our country and our planet. This 46th annual march and event will serve as a call to action to organize against heightened racism, militarism and exploitation toward a future of solidarity, justice, peace and sustainability where all persons can reach their full potential.

Throughout the decades of struggle for civil rights, peace and economic justice, People’s World has reported and stood on the side of freedom fighters.

For information about the arts and writing competition, deadline Feb. 13, e-mail ct-pww@pobox.com or leave a message at (203) 624-8664.

24th Annual Celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Legacy of Environmental and Social Justice

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Sunday, January 19, 12 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Monday, January 20, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Free admission. Note new locations.

The Yale Peabody Museum will sponsor this festival for the 24th year in honor of Dr. King and his efforts to ensure environmental and social justice among all people. The weekend’s activities will include world-class performances, a community open mic and poetry slam, and educational activities for visitors of all ages. Special Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. programming also includes the 11th Annual Youth Gathering, Professional Poetry Slam and Storytelling at the New Haven Museum.

On Sunday, Jan. 19 and Monday, Jan. 20, performances on the World Stage will be held at the Marsh Lecture Hall located in the Yale Science Building conveniently located next door to the Peabody Museum (170 Whitney Ave).

All teens are invited to the 11th Annual Teen Summit located in Kroon Hall, 195 Prospect St., on the 3rd floor, on Sunday, Jan. 19 from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The Zannette Lewis Environmental and Social Justice Professional Poetry Slam and Community Open Mic also has a new location. Both of these popular events will take place at Kroon Hall, 195 Prospect St., on the 3rd floor, on Monday, Jan. 20. The Community Open Mic will take place from 11 a.m. to noon. The Professional Poetry Slam will start at 12:30 p.m.

Storytelling will take place at The New Haven Museum, 114 Whitney Avenue. Join local storytellers for family-friendly stories and other hands-on activities for children and families!

Check the website for the complete schedule. peabody.yale.edu/events/dr-martin-luther-king-jrs-legacy-environmental-and-social-justice.

Celebrating 50th Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Love March

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On Wednesday, Jan. 15, at 10:45 a.m., the 50th annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Love March will begin at Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church, 100 Lawrence St. There will be a program at the church following the march. The theme of the march this year is “Stepping Out of the Past, Into the Future.”
From the Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church press notice:

We will march on this day rain or shine to commemorate the dreams and aspirations of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The Love March, which was started by Shiloh’s late Founder and Pastor, Rev George W. Hampton Sr., has been a positive force in the community of New Haven for 50 years. The Love March was created to preserve the notion of nonviolence. This is a historical celebration of 50 years. It is the longest-running event in the city of New Haven and all are invited to join us on this commemorable day. Scheduled to attend will be some of our political leaders from New Haven and the State of CT.

For further information, please contact the Shiloh Missionary Baptist by phone at (203) 776-8262, by email at mlklove100@gmail.com, or by web at www.smbcnh.org.

Fundraiser for Venezuela Embassy Protectors Jan. 28, New Haven

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by Henry Lowendorf, GNH Peace Council

On (new date, place and time) Monday Jan. 27, 2020, the people of Connecticut will welcome the “Embassy Protectors.” We will be able to hear their story and will be raising funds for their defense.

UPDATE: Friends, Embassy Protectors Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers have to appear in court in DC on Wednesday morning the 29th. They would have had to face an overnight 7 hour trip back to DC if they spoke on the 28th.

Thus, we had to move the date for their fundraiser. Sorry for the abrupt change.

The fundraiser will be held and Zeese and Flowers will speak at the Performing Arts space in the New Haven Free Public Library on Monday, Jan. 27, 5:30 to 7:30 (the library closes at 8).

The forum is free and open to the public, although we will be fundraising. The host, the US Peace Council, is building a list of co-sponsors. For more information, please contact Henry Lowendorf, uspeacecouncil@gmail.com, (203) 389-9547.

On May 16, 2019, four US citizens were arrested in the Washington, D.C., Embassy of Venezuela after having occupied that Embassy with as many as 100 other activists over the course of 37 days.

Those final four “Embassy Protectors,” Kevin Zeese, Margaret Flowers, David Paul and Adrienne Pine, and the scores of others had been asked by the legitimate government of Venezuela to protect its embassy against being stolen by President Donald Trump in an intensification of the US political and economic war on Venezuela, started decades earlier.

“The Four are now facing misdemeanor charges of ‘Interfering with certain protective functions’ of the Federal government that carries a maximum of one-year imprisonment and $100,000 fine for each of them. The United States Government is intent on making examples of these citizens and is using its unlimited resources to make sure that they are penalized and incarcerated.”

Trump, in full regime-change mode, last winter decided who should govern Venezuela. He picked a rightwing parliamentarian, Juan Guaidó, relatively unknown to Venezuelans, to be president trying to force out the elected president Nicolás Maduro. Disagreeing with Trump, the people of Venezuela and their military stood behind the man they elected. In decimating the human rights of Venezuelans, Trump took the whole population hostage by illegally imposing deadly sanctions, threatening a military invasion and backing right-wing violence in the streets. By denying Venezuelans the ability to buy food and medicines the sanctions are intended to coerce that country’s citizenry to submit to the demands of the US.

In parallel to the oppressive measures taken by Washington toward Venezuela, Trump blockaded food, water, medicine and electricity from being delivered to the Venezuelan Embassy Protection Collective, to force them out.

 

Let It Grow! Let It Grow! Let It Grow! Winter Garden Workshop

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by Tebben Lopez, NHS

The snow doesn’t have to keep you down. You’d be surprised with how soon in the year you can get started in your garden!

By January, most gardeners start to get an itch to throw their gardening gloves back on. But what they may not know is they can start much sooner than they think!

Neighborhood Housing Services of New Haven organizes an opportunity for everyone – gardener and hopeful alike – to get a jump-start on the growing season. NHS helps to increase access to fresh, healthy food by offering the classes for a low-cost and free rate to community gardeners.

Advanced Certified Master Gardener Rachel Ziesk teaches six classes that are as accessible as they are informative. A seasoned teacher, who has worked with the UConn master gardening program & Yale University among others, Rachel specializes in organic vegetable gardening.

More information and tickets are available at NHSWinterWorkshops2020.EventBrite.com. NHS wants everyone to have access to these classes and encourages those with means to consider taking them at a help-a-neighbor rate.

The first workshop on soil and composting will be held Saturday, Jan. 25, 10 a.m.-noon at NHS, Building 3, 333 Sherman Ave. (203) 562-0598, Ext. 226.

Mazin Qumsiyeh to Give Shafer Lecture Jan. 18

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by Stanley Heller, Promoting Enduring Peace

On Saturday, Jan. 18 at 6 p.m., Mazin Qumsiyeh will speak at the Palestine Museum US, 1764 Litchfield Turnpike, Woodbridge. The Shafer Lecture is a continuing project of Promoting Enduring Peace (which gave its Gandhi Peace Award to Omar Barghouti in 2017). Qumsiyeh is the Director of the Palestine Museum of Natural History at Bethlehem U. See this National Geographic page about him: www.nationalgeographic.org/find-explorers/mazin-b-qumsiyeh. He was the Director of Cytogenetics at the Yale Medical School for a number of years and has written “Sharing the Land of Canaan” among other works. He lives in Palestine near Bethlehem.

Latin American Short Stories Discussion Group, Dec. 3 and Dec. 10

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The Latin American Short Stories Discussion Group will take place at the New Haven Free Public Library, 133 Elm St., on Tuesday, Dec. 3 and Tuesday, Dec. 10 from 6-7 p.m. This is part of a series of open discussions centering on selected stories by Latin American authors.

Isaias Morales Cabezas, a documentarian and art historian from Colombia, will moderate the discussions. The dialogue will be accessible at all levels of familiarity with literary fiction and the readings will be available at the Information Desk at Ives Main Library. Upon request, a link to digitalized copies of the stories will be available.

Stories for Tuesday, Dec. 3 are Unworthy by Jorge Luis Borges and The Crime of the Mathematics Professor by Clarice Lispector. Stories for Tuesday, Dec. 10 are The Southern Thruway by Julio Cortázar and The Trail of Your Blood in the Snow by Gabriel García Márquez.
For more information: isaias@newschool.edu, (203) 946-8138.

Winter Gardening Workshops at Neighborhood Housing Services

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Advanced Certified Master Gardener Rachel Ziesk will teach classes that will help you prepare your garden for the upcoming season. The perfect gift for any gardener (or wanna-be gardener) in your life! 6 sessions for just $100! Scholarships available! Find out more at: NHSWinterWorkshops2020.EventBrite.com.

All classes take place on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to noon at Neighborhood Housing Services, 333 Sherman Ave., Building #3.

Jan. 25: Soils and Composting – The most important component for a successful garden is soil health. Learn how to make your own compost and everything else you need to keep your soil healthy for the most productive garden.

February 8: Garden Planning & Season Extenders – Ensure a long and productive growing year with row covers, organic mulch, cold frames and more! Get the most out of even a small garden space.

February 22: Cool Weather Crops – Start your garden as soon as the soil thaws, even in mid-March! This class covers how and when to plant cool weather crops and manage their pests and diseases.

February 29: Warm Weather Crops – Learn how to make the best of our growing season including which warm-weather crops are best started indoors, which can be direct-seeded, what conditions and fertilizers each crop prefers and how to fight their pests and diseases organically.

March 14: Seed Starting – Start your own seedlings! Learn about when to start indoor seedlings, watering, using lights, and dealing with common problems. Everyone will get to plant a six-pack of seedlings to take home. We will also review which crops can be planted directly outdoors and when.

March 28: Weeds: the Good, the Bad, and the Tasty – Some weeds are actually native wildflowers benefitting your vegetable garden’s pollinators. Some are invasive horrors with plans to take over your garden. And some are edible, delicious little morsels that can be harvested and enjoyed.

Scholarships available. Please contact Kathy at (203) 562-0598, Ext. 225, or at kfay@nhsofnewhaven.org for details.

Nov. 2 Book Launch, Zionist Betrayal of Jews, New Haven

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News release

On Saturday, Nov. 2, Stanley Heller will talk about his new book “Zionist Betrayal of Jews: From Herzl to Netanyahu.” It’s a history of the many, many times Zionist groups and Israel put their state-building project ahead of the vital interests of Jews. The event will take place in the Community Room in the lower level of the New Haven Public Library, 133 Elm St., at 2 p.m. Free and open to the public, there will be light refreshments. Sponsored by the Middle East Crisis Committee and co-sponsored by Jewish Voice for Peace (New Haven), part of the meeting will be about their projects.

Most people know something about the disastrous effects of the Zionist movement on Palestinians and other Middle Eastern peoples, but the story of the cost of Zionism to Jews is less well known. The account ranges from Theodore Herzl, the founder of modern Zionism, making a deal with the notorious anti-Semitic Imperial Russian minister von Plehve to Israel’s current Prime Minister Netanyahu declaring friendship with authoritarians who use dog whistles of anti-Semitism to appeal to their bases. The book describes the Zionist destruction of the powerful anti-Nazi boycott of the ’30s, Israel’s friendly relations to Argentina under the rule of Jew-hating generals and Israel’s sale of weapons to modern Ukraine whose army includes a neo-Nazi Azov Brigade.

One of the reasons for writing the book was to expose the Zionists who constantly accuse critics of Israel for being anti-Semitic. Again and again a sentence is taken out of context or a political cartoon is taken to task for resembling something anti-Semitic from the ’30s. Heller’s book exposes the hypocrisy of the Zionist movement which made deals with anti-Semites and in some cases killers of Jews, deals that put Jews in peril.

This is Heller’s second book. His first was titled “The Uprising We Need” (2017), which was a collection of his articles that appeared in newspapers and media. The book is available for a donation of $10 or more to the Middle East Crisis Committee.  See ordering information about both books at stanleyheller.com.

People’s World Amistad Awards: Rise Up — Unite 2020, Nov. 8, People’s Center

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by Joelle Fishman, CT People’s World

This year’s People’s World Amistad Awards will take place on Saturday, Dec. 14, at 4 p.m. at New Haven City Hall Atrium, 165 Church Street — site of the Amistad statue symbolizing solidarity and courage in the ongoing freedom struggle. The theme is “Rise Up – Unite 2020. People & Planet before Profits.”

We invite you to place an ad in the greeting book and take a bloc of tickets to honor the awardees and the occasion. The ad deadline is November 20, 2019. For greeting book and ticket information e-mail ct-pww@pobox.com or call (203) 624-4254.

This year’s awardees are:

Rochelle Palache, Political Director of 32 BJ SEIU, a fierce warrior for workers’ and immigrant rights and a leader in the fight that won $15 minimum wage and paid family leave in Connecticut.

Ken Suzuki, Secretary-Treasurer of Unite Here Local 34 and a leader in the ongoing fight for job pipelines for Black and Latino neighborhood residents to full-time union jobs at Yale University.

John Humphries, Executive Director of the CT Roundtable for Climate and Jobs, is in the forefront of the movement for a just transition for workers and people of color in the climate crisis.

The Awards event leads into the 2020 elections and is held on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Communist Party USA. Special recognition will be given to Joelle Fishman for 50 years of leadership. To mark this special year, all former awardees will be called forward in a tribute to their continued contributions and unity building. The Movement Band and Brian Jarawa Gray and Friends will perform.

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