Join a Community Event to Support the Ride to End Fossil Fuels in CT

by Ella Foster, The No Pipeline Expansion Northeast Coalition

On Saturday, May 30 and Sunday, May 31, about twenty cyclists will ride 100 miles across Connecticut to oppose the expansion of fossil fuels in our state. Along the way, we’re hosting community events in Brookfield, Middletown, and Mansfield, and you’re invited!

All three of these locations have current or proposed fossil fuel projects that damage our local environment, contribute to climate change, harm our health, and push our energy prices up. Join us as we learn about these projects, make art, cheer on the riders, and imagine a cleaner, greener, and healthier Connecticut.

Together, we can send a message to fossil fuel and utility companies that Connecticut says NO to fossil fuel expansions. Read on to learn about each of the Ride to End Fossil Fuels events and their registration details. We hope to see you there!

Press Conference and Kick-off: May 30th, 8:30 a.m.-9:30 a.m., in Brookfield, CT. The ride will start in Brookfield, Connecticut, where riders will join community members to highlight the proposed doubling of the methane gas compressor station. The compressor station is located in Brookfield, only 1,900 feet from the town’s middle school. Register at bit.ly/4to5juN.

Art for Our River: May 30th, 3 p.m.-6 p.m., in Middletown, CT. Riders will ride 60 miles from Brookfield to Middletown, where we will host a community art project, highlighting the proposed Eversource pipeline under the Connecticut River. This pipeline would impact state parks in Middletown, East Hampton, and Higganum. Register at bit.ly/4cKldsm.

Ride to End Fossil Fuels Rally: May 31st, 3 p.m., in Mansfield, CT. Riders will complete the final 40 miles of their ride before we cheer them across the finish line in Mansfield. Here we will talk about the impact of the interstate Enbridge pipeline that runs through Connecticut, including Mansfield. Register at bit.ly/4sQUssb.

For more information, email sena.wazer@sierraclub.org.

Protest the Fascist Trump Regime

by New Haven Chapter of Refuse Fascism

Join with the New Haven Chapter of Refuse Fascism along with New Haven groups and individuals to protest against all of the fascist Trump regime with the unifying demand: TRUMP MUST GO NOW!

Every Monday, 4-5 p.m., weather permitting, join us on South Frontage Road near the corner of Church Street South, outside The Towers’ east gate. Bring signs, banners, whistles, etc.

Info: newhaven@refusefascism.org, RefuseFascism.org

The Origin of Mother’s Day

MOTHER’S DAY PROCLAMATION
Boston, 1870

Arise, then… women of this day!
Arise, all women who have hearts,
whether our baptism be that of water or of tears!
Say firmly:
We will not have great questions decided by irrelevant agencies.
Our husbands shall not come to us, reeking with carnage,
for caresses and applause.
Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn
all that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience.
We, women of one country, will be too tender of those of another country
to allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs.

From the bosom of the devastated earth a voice goes up with our own.
It says:  Disarm, Disarm!
The sword of murder is not the balance of justice.
Blood does not wipe out dishonor,
nor violence vindicate possession.
As men have often forsaken the plough and the anvil
at the summons of war,
let women now leave all that may be left of home
for a great and earnest day of council.

Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead.
Let them then solemnly take council with each other as to the means
whereby the great human family can live in peace,
each bearing after his own kind the sacred impress, not of Caesar,
but of God.

In the name of womanhood and of humanity, I earnestly ask
that a general congress of women, without limit of nationality,
may be appointed and held at some place deemed most convenient,
and at the earliest period consistent with its objects,
to promote the alliance of the different nationalities,
the amicable settlement of international questions,
the great and general interests of peace.

~ Julia Ward Howe

Mother’s Day Tribute Garden News

by Paula Panzarella, West River Peace Garden

On Saturday, May 9 at 11 a.m., we invite you to take part in the first Mother’s Day Tribute in the expanded area of the West River Peace Garden. In case of rain, the gathering will be on Sunday, May 17, at 2 p.m.

The West River Peace Garden features blooming native perennials, a magnolia tree, and a Ginkgo tree (grown from a cutting of a Ginkgo that survived the atomic bombing of Hiroshima in 1945). Now we have a circular garden to the north side (near MLK Blvd.), developed through the initiative of a neighbor who felt the need for Mother’s Day to include paying homage to mothers who have passed on.

We hope you’ll bring a plant for the garden in memory of your mother. Share a story about your mom, listen to music, decorate a stone to put in the garden, and meet the neighbors.

The West River Peace Garden is by Ella Grasso Blvd. between Legion Ave. and MLK Blvd. We work in the garden every Friday from 9:30-11:30 a.m. and welcome all volunteers. For info, call 203-350-3795. Our website is westriverpeacegarden.org.

An Urgent Call to PAR Newsletter Readers

by Ann Froines, Back from the Brink

Are you concerned, even frightened, that the regional wars involving nuclear powers in these perilous times could spark an exchange of nuclear weapons? The result of such an exchange could result in the deaths of millions over time—from the explosions themselves, radiation contamination, and a “nuclear winter” resulting in vastly lowered food production. Prominent scientists and medical personnel have warned for decades of this possibility because nuclear weapons are on hair-trigger alerts. One mistake in a complicated system could result in devastation to the planet.

You can help avert this catastrophe by participating as an individual in the grassroots campaign launched by the coalition Back from the Brink. (See preventnuclearwar.org.) At this readable website you will find this campaign’s common sense approach to nuclear policies that will secure a safer future for all the world. You can easily join as an individual, provide financial support, and use its advocacy tools to help prevent a nuclear war.

The approach argues for actively pursuing through diplomacy verifiable agreements among nuclear powers to reduce and eventually eliminate nuclear weapons. Furthermore, it advocates, among several other measures, the cancellation of the one trillion dollar plan to replace the current U.S. nuclear arsenal with “enhanced weapons.” Such expenditures will not make us safer but instead prioritize an arms race that deprives our nation of much needed programs for health care, housing and education.

Fifty members of the House of Representatives, including three of the five Connecticut representatives, have endorsed House Resolution 317, a bill that describes Back from the Brink’s objectives (Reps. DeLauro, Hayes, and Larson). Connecticut citizens are also trying to arrange a meeting with Senator Chris Murphy, who would be an important voice advocating for the companion resolution, Senate Resolution 323.

Please won’t you consider joining in the citizens’ campaign for a sane nuclear policy and the eventual elimination of nuclear weapons?

Sincerely, Ann Froines, Hamden, CT

In Memoriam: Cal Robertson

 

Many PAR readers who, from the 1980s on, attended peace rallies and demonstrations in Groton and New London against war, nuclear weapons, and the production of the nuclear submarines, met Cal Robertson, who earned their admiration and respect. Stephen Vincent Kobasa, New Haven writer and activist, wrote this article originally for the Hartford Catholic Worker at https://bit.ly/4t9c6YJ.

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