Speak up for local land conservation

You can help protect 70+ acres of open space land in Greenwich!

by Laura McMillan, CFE/Save the Sound

For several months, CFE/Save the Sound has been working closely with the Greenwich Land Trust and the Town of Greenwich on an agreement to protect 72.27 acres of forest and wetland currently owned by the Aquarion Water Company. Without the intervention of these local partners, the land would have been incredibly vulnerable to development and Greenwich would have lost a beautiful landscape and all the ecological and human benefits it gives.
But there are a few more steps before the protection deal is complete. You can help!

You can send official comments to the Public Utility Regulatory Authority from home:
1. Email your comments to [email protected] by March 24.
2. Put “Docket 20-01-58” in the subject line.
3. Tell PURA you support Aquarion’s application to dispose of 80 acres of land, including 72.27 acres to the Greenwich Land Trust, and why preserving open space in Greenwich is important to you.
There is a public hearing scheduled Tuesday, March 24 at 6:00 - 7:30 p.m., in the Cone Meeting Room, Greenwich Town Hall, 101 Field Point Road. Given the current public health situation with COVID-19, the hearing is subject to change. Please check Town of Greenwich’s website and PURA Docket 20-01-58 for updates and be mindful of minimizing transmission risk.

CT Fund for the Environment/Save the Sound
www.ctenvironment.org | www.savethesound.org
900 Chapel Street, Upper Mezzanine, New Haven, CT 06510

Shut Down The Cricket Valley Fracked Gas Power Plant

Resist CVE via ActionNetwork.org <[email protected]>

Dear friends,

At Resist CVE, we are reeling from the rapid escalation of the COVID-19 pandemic and offer our love and solidarity to those who are feeling the deepest effects of this crisis. We have had to quickly reflect on how to shift our organizing strategy with respect to the new and important need for social distancing. We came to the conclusion; we can’t stop because the fossil fuel companies aren’t stopping. We will keep organizing, safely and creatively, to shut down the Cricket Valley fracked gas power plant.
While this massive health emergency unfolds, fossil fuel executives capitalize on the crisis, positioning themselves for bailouts. Meanwhile, the rest of us are busy helping our communities. Coronavirus containment proves we can make needed changes to protect public health. We need a similar sense of real urgency applied to the extremely lethal and large-scale climate emergency, and to the deadly air and water pollution which is business as usual for the fossil fuel industry.

So, today we are asking you to join the online rally!

We are conducting a virtual protest that everyone can join from home. Help us get the word to Cuomo that we are not stopping until he stops Cricket Valley!

ACTION STEPS:
1. Call Governor Cuomo @ (877) 235-6537 and tell him to stop Cricket Valley!
2. Sign the Petition and share the web address: Bit.ly/protectourhealthstopcve
3. Sign the Pledge to take action
4. View our new video & share on social media
5. Forward this message to at least 10 of your friends
stopcricketvalley.org

Resources and Information from SURJ

Stand Up for Racial Justice put together the following. If you want to receive the SURJ newsletters on a regular basis, please e-mail [email protected].

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 [email protected] 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!

Medicare for All meets online beginning this weekend — Mar. 29, April 1, April 26 — Facebook events

This Sunday, March 29, 7.30pm – Medicare for All CT planning meeting
https://www.facebook.com/events/2976003719109510

Wednesday, April 1, 8pm – Public Citizen’s national Medicare for All resolutions webinar
https://www.facebook.com/events/2227982930838012

Sunday, April 26, 2pm – Medicare for All virtual organizing meeting
https://www.facebook.com/events/608278636420904

 

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

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  [email protected]   Subject: Annual meeting

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

Full agenda at www.PEPeace.org

Due Date for April Articles for Progressive Action Roundtable Newsletter: Thursday, March 19

Readers want to know: What is the purpose of your organization? How are you building your group? What campaigns are you organizing? What events are you planning?

We want to publicize the workgroups have done and what they’re planning to do. We want to spread the word to others who will be inspired to join you, support your activism and build the struggles. Send us articles (even a paragraph or two) about what your group wants to do and any ideas for organizing! 350-word limit, please!

Please send articles about your group’s recent and current activities and upcoming actions and events to [email protected].

Read more

In Memoriam, Mitzi Bowman, Anti-Nuclear Activist and Founding Member of PAR

by PAR Planning Committee

On Feb. 14, Mitzi Bowman, dedicated activist, teacher and friend of the New Haven peace community, passed on. She was an integral member of many New Haven and state-wide organizations and for many years, she, with her husband Pete Bowman, through their organization Don’t Waste Connecticut, helped vast numbers of Connecticut residents understand the dangers of nuclear power plants and radiation exposure. Mitzi wrote many articles for PAR about the work of Don’t Waste Connecticut, the necessity of clean, sustainable energy and the importance of caring for the environment.

Mitzi with Ralph Nader

Mitzi with Ralph Nader (photo: Hearst CT media)

Mitzi was a member of the PAR Planning Committee, and she and Pete created our PAR mission statement. Pete died Feb. 14, 2006. Two years later Mitzi moved to Vermont to be close to family.

Mitzi had an incredibly sharp intellect. She was a determined, fearless and compassionate activist. In 2015 she campaigned for Bernie Sanders at her nursing home, handing out flyers and talking to all the residents and visitors about why they should vote for him in the primary. She continued to give out posters of “The Radioactive Woman,” which depicted where radiation is most likely to affect the body with various cancers.

She has papers archived in Brattleboro and at the University of Massachusetts. The UMass papers can be accessed at scua.library.umass.edu/umarmot/bowman-mitzi.

We’re grateful to have known her, learned from her, worked with her, and been friends with her. Our condolences to her children Lori and Jason and Mitzi with Ralph Nader (photo: Hearst CT media) their families.

Mitzi Bowman 1924-2020

Mitzi Bowman died at Barre Gardens, Montpelier, VT, with her family by her side. Born in New York City on July 27, 1924, she was 95 years of age. Over the years she also lived in New York State, England, Connecticut, Nova Scotia and Vermont. A dynamic, strong-willed crusader for anything to do with peace and justice, civil rights, solar energy and Bernie, she was also a passionate anti-nuclear activist beginning in the early 70s.

She went to Music and Art High School in NYC, and then became a Master’s level Librarian. She loved music, was an artist, hiker, lifeguard, animal lover, sailor, and organic gardener. She loved singing with her three sisters, and lively political arguments. She joined the Air Force at 19-years-old during WWII where, stationed in Alabama, she taught the soldiers to swim. Widowed twice, she died on Valentine’s Day, as did her second beloved husband, Pete.

She is survived by her daughter Lori Bowman and partner Andy Harris of Montpelier, Vermont, her son Jason Bowman and his wife Beth, her granddaughter Marin Bowman, her partner Chris Winter, and her great-grandchildren Fiona and Shea Winter of Plainfield, Vermont. She leaves a younger sister, a 106-year-old cousin, two nieces, one nephew, their partners, one grandniece and three great-grand nephews in New York City. She was predeceased by her parents Lena and Joseph Silver, first husband Hy Bogursky, second husband Peter Bowman, and her sisters Buelah Lehrman and Lucille Weinstat.

A small memorial for family and close friends will be held in the spring. In lieu of flowers, donations in her name would make her very happy if given to the Bernie Sanders Campaign, 1 Church Street, 3rd Floor, Burlington, VT  05401, or to 350.org VT environmental group at 179 S Winooski Ave. #201, Burlington, VT  05401.

To plant a tree in memory of Mitzi Selma Bowman, please visit the Tribute Store: www.tributearchive.com/obituaries/11238525/Mitzi-Selma-Bowman.

Volunteer Readers Needed for Commemoration of Dr. Martin Luther King April 3

by James Pandaru, GNH Peace Council

“A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.”

The above quote is from Dr. Martin Luther King’s speech “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break the Silence,” which he gave on April 4, 1967, at Riverside Church, NYC. The following year, on April 4, 1968, while supporting striking sanitation workers, he was assassinated in Memphis, TN.

We will honor the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on Friday, April 3, at noon in front of New Haven City Hall (165 Church St.). Dr. King’s words continue to be as relevant today as they were in 1967.

Volunteers are needed to read excerpts from Dr. King’s speech. Please join us in this event to commemorate Dr. King. To take part contact James Pandaru, (203) 933-4043, [email protected]. Thank you.

Nine Reasons to Oppose Assisted Suicide: What Progressives Need to Know

by Joan Cavanagh, Second Thoughts CT member

In the February 2019 PAR newsletter, Lisa Blumberg, of Second Thoughts Connecticut, wrote: “Trump wants the Affordable Care Act to implode. Republicans seem willing to swell the ranks of the uninsured and to cut Medicaid funding. There are corporate imperatives to reduce health-care costs even if quality is diminished. Many people are unable to access basic care and minorities, the old and people with disabilities are often subject to medical prejudices or ‘quality of life’ misconceptions. Legalizing doctor-assisted suicide in these times would be akin to taking coals to Newcastle.”

A year later, nothing has changed, only gotten worse. Yet the Public Health Committee of the Connecticut State Legislature is once again poised to consider an “Aid in Dying” (“Assisted Suicide”) bill. The dangers of such legislation should become more and more obvious every day.

Assisted suicide is fraught with peril for the most vulnerable among us–the elderly, disabled and poor, who are already viewed by the medical system and the insurance companies as too costly to treat and thus expendable. There are no imaginable “safeguards” that can change that fact. This legislation would only codify what we have experienced and had to fight in our daily lives—and which has already cost the lives of far too many.

Below are Nine Reasons to Oppose Assisted Suicide.

  1. In our cost-cutting health care system, it encourages the rationing of health care for the most “expensive” patients: the elderly, disabled, seriously ill and poor.
    2. It subjects the vulnerable to potential overt or covert abuse that can never be adequately monitored.
    3. It encourages a rush to judgment as to how “terminal illness” is defined.
    4. It promotes the idea of extreme individualism and self-sufficiency, the notion that being vulnerable and needing care is somehow “undignified,” the idea that we live in a vacuum with no responsibility for or to each other.
    5. It erodes patient confidence in our health care providers, causing justified fear that they will advocate for the suicide option in difficult cases.
    6. It requires doctors to lie about the facts of a patient’s death, citing the illness as the cause, not the ingestion of the lethal medication.
    7. It does not necessarily guarantee a “peaceful” or immediate end of life.
    8. It promotes suicide as an option in a time where suicide among the young is increasing and suicide prevention is public policy.
    9. It opens the door to involuntary euthanasia of those deemed “defective,” such as people with advanced dementia or severe disability that renders them unable to communicate.

For more explanation of these and other reasons to oppose assisted suicide, please go to www.notdeadyet.org and dredf.org/public-policy/assisted suicide.

Progressives and disability rights advocates have a compelling case to make here. We need to voice our opposition loudly and clearly, and to help educate others about the full implications of this legislation so that they will indeed have “second thoughts.”

There is a list of Public Health Committee members at cga.ct.gov. Please write to ask them to withdraw this bill. (It did not yet have a number as this newsletter went to press.)

Joan Cavanagh, a long-time peace and justice activist, is a member of Second Thoughts Connecticut, a bi-partisan organization composed of citizens with disabilities and advocates who oppose the legalization of assisted suicide.

Speak Out Against Environmental Injustice | Save the Sound (formerly CT Fund for the Environment)

Environmental injustices are a national problem, and our state is no exception. Connecticut’s less prosperous neighborhoods face unfair pollution and public health threats.

For example, the combined asthma hospitalization rate for Bridgeport, Hartford, New Haven, Stamford, and Waterbury is 3.4 times greater than for the rest of the state.

In 2008, Connecticut passed its first environmental justice legislation into law. It recognized the unjustly frequent placement of power plants, sewage treatment plants, waste incinerators, and landfills near low-income communities and communities of color. These toxic sites spew pollution into over-burdened neighborhoods and cause disproportionately high rates of asthma and other respiratory diseases.
The proposed bill strengthens this existing legislation by:

  1. Changing existing law from a voluntary to a mandatory requirement for polluting facility developers to conduct public engagement like notifying neighborhood and environmental groups of their plans in writing.
  2. Adding a new clause to invalidate any application for a new power plant, etc. if the applicant does not abide by the rules of public participation.
  3. Proposing the creation of a wellness clinic, and ongoing asthma screening, air monitoring, an ongoing traffic study, and watercourse monitoring to track impacts.

Let the Environment Committee hear your thoughts on this proposed bill! You can call (860) 240‑0440, e-mail https://www.cga.ct.gov/env/ or write the Environment Committee, Legislative Office Building, Room 3200, Hartford, CT 06106. Also, contact your local representative and senator to let them know you think this is important.

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

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 [email protected].

Telling the Palestinian Story – Palestinian Women Global Art Exhibit opening on Sunday, March 8

The exhibit features over 200 works of art from about 50 Palestinian women artists who have made significant contributions to the art scene in their immediate communities and around the world. Artworks that will be on display include paintings, sculptures, photographs, and embroidery pieces.

The exhibit will be unveiled during a ceremony on the afternoon of Sunday, March 8, and will be open on Sundays 1 to 5 p.m. through May 30, 2020.

“The exhibit will give dozens of Palestinian women artists an opportunity to exhibit their artwork in the United States for the first time,” said Museum founder, Faisal Saleh. “Our mission is to celebrate and showcase Palestinian artistic excellence – this event goes a long way in fulfilling that promise.”
Partial list of artists participating in the exhibit are:

  • From the US & Canada: Samia Halaby, Manal Deeb, Samar Hussaini, Rawan Anani
  • From Europe: Laila Shawa, Jacqueline Bejani, Halima Aziz
  • From Jordan: Raida Shahin, Dalia Ali, Reem Khader, Nadia Al Khateeb, Aya Abu Ghazaleh
  • From Palestine: Nameer Qassim, Sana’ Tahboub, Hya Kaabneh, Reen Natsheh
  • From Africa: Kholoud Subhi (Kenya)
  • From South America: Ruby L. Yunis (Chile), María Eugenia Akel (Chile)

Palestine Museum, 1764 Litchfield Tpke, Woodbridge, CT 06525 Museum Hours: Every Sunday 1 – 5 p.m. Admission fees: Adults: $8; Students and seniors (age 65+): $5; Children 12 or under: Free. Maximum $20 per family.

Part-Time Position Advancing Health Care with POCCT

Protect Our Care CT is adding a part-time staff person to work on outreach and organizing for the next 4 months.

We are seeking an Organizer/Coordinator to work 20 hours a week from March 1 through June 30. Organizer/Coordinator would be responsible for working with POCCT partner organizations to advance state and federal health care initiatives and with the POCCT Steering Committee and other staff to build the organization. We are interested in sharing a staff person with another organization but could also work with an individual. Job description here.

If you or your organization are interested, send a resume or questions to Jane McNichol, [email protected].

Source: Part-Time Position Advancing Health Care with POCCT — Protect Our Care CT

Yale Rebellious Lawyers Conference 2020 announcement and link to more info

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

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 [email protected] or leave a message at (203) 624-8664.

Hundreds Rally To Oppose War With Iran

by Paul Bass, New Haven Independent, Jan 5, 2020

“Trump says more war! We say no war!”

That chant filled the air on the southeastern corner of the New Haven Green Sunday afternoon as hundreds rallied to criticize President Donald Trump’s decision to assassinate top Iranian General Qassim Suleimani through a drone strike in Baghdad.

The local chapter of the ANSWER Coalition organized the rally, one of many around the country this weekend (over 80 on Saturday alone) and around the world calling for peace as the fears of war mount in the wake of the assassination.

Local activist Norm Clement called the assassination “an act of war and a war crime.” He said it follows in a line of four centuries of land theft and occupation and death forged by the U.S. “This country is the biggest thief ever in the history of mankind,” Clement told the crowd. “They steal everything.”

“Nobody wants war. Nobody wants to be slaughtered,” Fahd Syed of The Council of American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) of CT said in another speech at the rally.

Read the complete article at: www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/rally_to_opposes_war_with_iran.

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