The PAR Mission is to inform the greater New Haven community about the activities of many progressive groups, so that people may learn about them and become involved in discussions and actions on issues for the common good, such as peace, health, racial equity, justice, clean energy and the environment.
Please submit copy to PAR’s e-mail address: [email protected].
No e-mail? Call Paula at (203) 562-2798 to find out how to submit your article. There is a 350 word limit.
Next Planning Meeting date is Tues., May 2 at 3:45 p.m. … all welcome … call (203) 562-2798 for location. Subscription: $13 (or $10 if paid before June 1) for 10 issues, check payable to PAR, P.O. Box 995, New Haven, CT 06504
Dan Fischer, Dragonfly Climate Collective
For nearly two hours on April 7, customers were unable to get into the local Wells Fargo branch. A police officer told people attempting to enter that they would not be able to do so. After all, 76-year-old climate protester Vic Lancia had locked himself to two trash bins, each filled with 500 pounds of concrete and rocks, blocking entrance to the front door. Around the corner, nine Wesleyan students linked arms in order to prevent cars from accessing the drive-thru. They chanted “You can’t drink oil, keep it in the soil!”
Local residents, students and members of climate justice groups–about 45 people in total–protested outside Wells Fargo in opposition to the bank’s funding of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL). The proposed $3.8 billion oil pipe-line would threaten the drinking water and land of the Stan-ding Rock Sioux and surrounding indigenous communities in so-called “North Dakota” and other states, posing dangers to the environment and to indigenous sovereignty. Wells Fargo has invested $120 million in the pipeline’s development.
Middletown residents and Wesleyan students have repeatedly protested at Wells Fargo over the past months, but this demonstration marked an escalation in local efforts, with people breaking the law in order to disrupt the bank’s activities.
“I will not stop letting my voice be heard as an indigenous woman. I stand here to protect water from being polluted,” said Katrina Harry, a Navajo woman who joined the demonstration.
“Settler colonialism is a structure that has displaced Native Americans from their land for hundreds of years, and the Dakota Access Pipeline is another violent colonial project endorsed by the United States government,” said Wesleyan student Angel Martin. “I am coming to show solidarity with the water protectors who resisted and are still resisting DAPL. I am coming because indigenous sovereignty matters and native lives matter.”
For the full report of the action and to see photos, please go to http://www.capitalismvsclimate.org/2017/04/wells-fargo-branch-shut-down-for-two-hours-protesters-demand-divestment-from-dakota-access-pipeline.
by Stanley Heller, Promoting Enduring Peace
Hundreds gathered at Yale’s SSS building on April 23 to celebrate the Gandhi Peace Award being jointly given to Omar Barghouti and Ralph Nader. The award has been presented since 1960 by Promoting Enduring Peace (PEP).
Omar Barghouti
Omar Barghouti was introduced by Rebecca Vilkomerson, the Executive Director of Jewish Voice for Peace. She decried his Israeli arrest on March 19 as “politically motivated.” She called him a “charismatic speaker, a brilliant writer, savvy campaign strategist, and a principled thinker.”
Barghouti began his talk by noting Palestine “lingers on in colonial chains.” He dedicated his award to Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike in Israel. He asked that his $2,500 prize money be given in equal shares to Black Lives Matter, Students for Justice in Palestine, Jewish Voice for Peace, US Campaign for Palestinian Rights, and Friends of Sabeel North America. He talked about the “striking similarities” between Israeli treatment of Palestinians and that of blacks in the days of apartheid South Africa. He noted the recent decision of Barcelona, Spain, which ended its complicity with Israeli settlements and explicitly defended boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS). He also listed many other BDS victories.
Ralph Nader was introduced by activist and mediator Charles Pillsbury, who said he was inspired to be a lawyer by Nader and wanted to be one of the activists dubbed “Nader’s Raiders.”
Ralph Nader said he was a student of Gandhi’s thinking that “open non-violent disobedience be active and not passive.” He said, “Peace is desirable not just on philosophical, religious or argumentative grounds, but a survival mechanism which transcends cultures.”
He talked about terrorism, and said the worst terrorism was “state terrorism” which “is always legitimized as in the ser-vice of national defense.”
At the end of his talk, he mentioned Palestinians and Israelis.
He denounced settlements as “illegal colonies.” He talked about breaking the grip of the lobby AIPAC on Congress and categorized some of the resolutions it advances as “bloody beyond belief.” He asked “Who has killed more than 400 times the number of innocent men, women, and children than the other side? The answer is the Israeli government.”
The talks were warmly received with standing ovations.
For more on this year’s awards, visit http://www.pepeace.org/gpa-2017-video-and-photos.
Call for General Strike on May 1!
For full video coverage of the May Day festivities, visit http://www.thestruggle.org/Mayday%202017%20in%20New%20Haven.htm.
The rally begins with speakers and performers on the New Haven Green from noon to 5 p.m. on Monday, May 1, and will be followed by a Solidarity March starting at 5 p.m.
New Haven joins a call for a nationwide strike to demonstrate our economic power by not going to work, not going to school and stopping business as usual. We aim to highlight the economic power of workers: immigrants, women, Muslims, LGBTQ folks, Native Americans and African Americans and every other marginalized group that is currently under attack by the Trump administration.
We are asking you to join us and show solidarity: close your business on May 1; don’t go to work; don’t go to school.
Join the rally on the New Haven Green from 12 to 5 p.m. Speakers, live music, children’s activities, and a May pole! Join local justice, peace, equality, and labor groups as well as social service organizations, educators, students, healthcare workers, artists and ALL people on the Green.
Join the international workers’ march from the Green through Fair Haven at 5 p.m.
Funded in part by a grant from RESIST, Somerville, MA; web: http://resist.org; phone: (617) 623-5110.
by CT Peoples’ World Committee
In May, 1886, in Haymarket Square, Chicago, workers died in a rally for the 8-hour day. The Haymarket riot became the start of the International Workers’ Day or May Day.
“We won’t go back” is the theme of the celebration at 5 p.m. May 7 in Hartford put on by the CT People’s World Committee. There will be a slide show of May Day celebrations around the world, a panel discussion of “Today’s Struggles: Voices from the Front Line,” live music and a homemade buffet. A donation of $5 is suggested or what you can afford. The celebration will be held at the King-Davis Labor Center, 77 Huyshope Ave., Hartford.
For more information or to inquire about carpooling, email [email protected].
by CT Sierra Club
In the remaining weeks of the 2017 Connecticut legislative session, two priority bills for the environment are winding through the legislature and need your advocacy:
Senate Bill (SB106): We need you to support amendments to SB 106 (1) to remove subsidies for nuclear and waste incineration because they are dangerous and dirty and (2) to increase the Renewable Portfolio Standard requiring use of wind and solar for electricity generation in the state because they lower wholesale energy costs and create jobs in Connecticut and New England. Our state RPS needs to call for far more renewable energy than it does currently.
Senate Joint Resolution (SJ39): Support the proposal to amend the state constitution to protect state lands. This will create a transparent review process for ensuring that a proposal to remove these lands from state ownership is in the public interest. The amendment will help Connecticut reach our goal of setting aside 21 percent of our land into protected open space. The amendment is expected to help restore public trust so individuals will be confident that bequeathing private land to the state is a good idea.
How can you help? Volunteer to help lobby these bills: participate in one or more Wednesday lobby days between now and June 7 at the state capitol in Hartford. Help pass these bills that we need to protect open space and to defend our land, air and climate.
For more information, contact Chapter Program Manager, John Calandrelli, [email protected] or (860) 236-4405.
Thank you from the CT Chapter Sierra Club Legislative Team!
by Maria Martinez, Neighborhood Housing Services
From engineers to artists, from scientists to coders, women and girls are learning, excelling, and engaging in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math)! On Saturday, May 13, Neighborhood Housing Services of New Haven will host our 8th Annual Multicultural Family Festival, Full STEAM Ahead: Celebrating Women & Girls in S.T.E.A.M. The festival invites families and children of all ages to explore hands-on activities, exciting games, and inspirational performers geared toward highlighting professional women in S.T.E.A.M.
Bringing neighbors an opportunity to come together, build community, and have fun, NHS invites you to experience different careers led by female professionals and learn about how to encourage girls’ interest in STEAM. NHS strives to provide a space for people of all ages to enjoy and celebrate all that New Haven has to offer. Admission is free and includes games, food, and activities.
For more information, visit our Facebook event: http://www.facebook.com/events/1143219752454569.
by Andrea Kaiser, Yale U. Retirees Association
The Peoples Center is hosting an ongoing potluck supper event every Thursday evening at 37 Howe Street. It’s an informal occasion where progressive people of all ages get together to share ideas and experiences over a good homemade supper.
Everyone present has an opportunity to talk about something that they considered has been important recently. One event was a students’ walkout at the Metropolitan Business Academy, a New Haven high school. The students were protesting the history curriculum which only mentioned slavery in its history of African-Americans. The students were threatened with suspension for participating in the peaceful protest.
Another event was the rally in support of UNITE HERE Local 33 when 12,000 petitions were presented to Yale President Peter Salovey’s office. Several persons at the potluck had been there and told a lively account of petitions strung out end-to-end stretching for blocks. A spirited discussion followed after both stories.
Resistance Thursdays are held every Thursday from 6 to 7:30 p.m. and are open to everyone of all ages. (There have been people from high school age to 95!) It’s a potluck supper; bring a dish if you can, or just bring yourself.
by Rocel Beatriz Balmes & Sara Tabin, Yale Daily News Staff
Over 50 New Haven residents and Yale affiliates gathered in the Yale Law School on Monday night to discuss immigrant and worker rights as part of the final installment of the Yale and New Haven Discussion Series.
The event, titled “Local Activism in the Trump Age: Protect Immigrant and Worker Rights,” began with a panel and then opened into a group discussion. Panelists included Fatima Rojas of Unidad Latina en Acción, Ana Maria Rivera-Forastieri of JUNTA for Progressive Action, Rev. James Manship of St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church and Michael Wishnie ’87 LAW ’93 of the Law School. Monday’s discussion, the fourth and final one in the series for this academic year, centered on current activism in New Haven and the role allies can play in the efforts to resist President Donald Trump’s anti-immigrant policy.
“[Trump] has really created this heightened anxiety and depression in our community,” Rivera-Forastieri said. “[This] is something I have never seen before.”
During the panel, Rivera-Forastieri said many allies have come forward since November’s election to help, but that at times the outpouring of support can be overwhelming. Some have ended up creating more work for immigrant advocacy groups, who have to reply to emails and keep track of the new volunteers, she added.
Read the whole story here at Yale Daily News: Discussions series talks immigrant rights
by Ashna Gupta, Staff Reporter, Yale Daily News
New Haven residents and bike-afficionados gathered at the Bradley Street Bicycle Co-op from 6 to 8 p.m. on [April 19] to celebrate the launch of the third annual New Haven Bike Month.
Caroline Smith, a co-organizer of New Haven Bike Month, kicked off the month with a launch event that included food, speakers and community art. The launch featured bike portraits by “Faces of Cycling,” a project partnering with New Haven Go that highlights the diversity of cyclists in the Elm City.
Once the annual bike month officially starts in May, events will include various open street events, bicycle clinics, prize giveaways and other celebrations of biking culture.
“At its core, its main mission is that every single person stays excited and empowered to ride bikes,” Smith said.
by Coalition For People
The Coalition for People is organizing for universal, comprehensive, single-payer health care. The following is from a flyer they created for this campaign.
Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health is the most shocking and inhuman.
~ Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
What Is Single Payer Healthcare?
The United States is the only country in the developed world that does not guarantee access to basic health care for residents. Countries that guarantee health care as a human right do so through a “single-payer” system, which replaces the thousands of for-profit health insurance companies with a public, universal plan.
Does that sound impossible to win in the United States? It already exists – for seniors! Medicare is a public, universal plan that provides basic health coverage to those age 65 and older. Medicare costs less than private health insurance, provides better financial security, and is preferred by patients.
Under the single-payer legislation in Congress (H.R. 676):
For more information, call Robin Latta (203) 481-0894.
Call your Legislators NOW! Single-payer NOW!
The Institute Library, 847 Chapel St., is sponsoring a monthly story sharing group on the third Thursday of each month from 6 – 8 p.m.
The group gives its members an opportunity to share stories in a very informal atmosphere. The stories may be of any kind – traditional folk tales, myths, stories of personal experience, etc. The group is open to all levels of experience, so people with no formal experience of storytelling can try things out in a supportive atmosphere. No one is required to tell; if you simply want to listen for a while, that’s fine. If you feel so moved, come to the first session with a story ready.
We hope to encourage people to discover stories (their own or others), to become more skilled at telling them, and to build community. The group and the individuals in it will determine which is the most important. The group will be coordinated by Arnie Pritchard, local storyteller and Board Chair of the Connecticut Storytelling Center.
Meetings are from 6 to 8 p.m. on the third Thursday of every month.
For more information, visit us at http://www.institutelibrary.org.
by Mark Scully, President, PACE
People’s Action for Clean Energy (PACE) will host a tour of a beautiful, award-winning, energy-efficient home in East Haddam, CT at noon and 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, June 10. In addition, the tour will include an electric vehicle show featuring EVs from the New England Electric Automobile Association.
The home, a winner of the 2015 Connecticut Zero Energy Challenge, is an example of how energy-efficient homes can also be beautiful and comfortable to live in. It features a dramatic open floor plan, passive solar design, an extremely tight building envelope, with close attention to air quality and state-of-the-art HVAC and solar technologies. Come experience this house in person.
For tickets, go online to www.pace-cleanenergy.org and click on EVENTS. For additional information, call (860) 217-3686.
The current edition of the War Resisters League’s famous “pie chart” flyer, Where Your Income Tax Money Really Goes, analyzes the Federal Fiscal Year 2018 Budget. (FY 2018 is 1 October 2017 – 30 September 2018). Perfect for Tax Day leafletting, as a focus for forums and panels and workshops and more!
Because the Trump administration did not release its full budget proposal for fiscal year 2018 in time for production of this flyer, and Congress has not yet finalized the FY2017 budget, the figures here are based on the 2017 proposed budget altered to incorporate budget-related announcements, including at least $54 billion more for the Pentagon, increase in Homeland Security, and reductions for other slices of the pie.
Each year War Resisters League analyzes federal funds outlays as presented in detailed tables in “Analytical Perspectives” of the Budget of the United States Government. Our analysis is based on federal funds, which do not include trust funds – such as Social Security – that are raised separately from income taxes for specific purposes. What federal income taxes you pay (or donít pay) by April 18, 2017, goes to the federal funds portion of the budget.
Read the whole story and download, or order, all their flyers here: Where Your Income Tax Money Really Goes FY2018 | War Resisters League
Please submit copy to PAR’s e-mail address: [email protected].
No e-mail? Call Paula at (203) 562-2798 to find out how to submit your article. There is a 350-word limit.
Next Planning Meeting date is Mon., April 3 at 2:45 p.m….all welcome…call (203) 562-2798 for location
Subscription: $13 for 10 issues, check payable to PAR, P.O. Box 995, New Haven, CT 06504
by Stanley Heller, Administrator, PEP
At 4 p.m. on April 23, Promoting Enduring Peace is to hold its 46th Gandhi Peace Award ceremony, honoring consumer activist and Pentagon critic Ralph Nader and Palestinian BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) activist Omar Barghouti. On March 19, Israeli authorities arrested Barghouti supposedly for “tax evasion.” (Download the event flyer here)
A special meeting of the Board of Directors of Promoting Enduring Peace reaffirmed its choice of Omar Barghouti as co-winner of the Gandhi Peace Award despite the arrest. The Board has full confidence in Omar Barghouti and assumes that Israel is carrying through on its threats to harass and silence Palestinian activists. Barghouti is being honored for his leadership in the BDS movement, which uses the peaceful tactics of boycott, divestment and sanctions to pressure the Israeli government to respect Palestinian rights.
The Gandhi Peace Award has been awarded for over fifty years. It was first given to former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt. Other laureates include Dorothy Day, Cesar Chavez, Amy Goodman, Rabbis Arik Ascherman and Ehud Bandel, Bill McKibben, Medea Benjamin, Tom Goldtooth and Kathy Kelly.
Promoting Enduring Peace was originally founded in 1952 to foster world peace, in particular to help prevent a world war between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, and has since embraced efforts to avoid catastrophic climate change and species extinction. Its motto is: “Peace on Earth, Peace with Earth.”
The award ceremony this year will take place at 4 p.m. Sunday, April 23 in New Haven at the Strathcona Hall, 1 Prospect St.
In the past year the Israeli government has threatened BDS activists and Omar Barghouti in particular. At a conference in Jerusalem one Israeli minister called for Barghouti to be denied residence rights in Israel. Another called for the “civil targeted elimination” of BDS leaders. Last May Barghouti’s travel permit was revoked. Now he’s been arrested (though released on bail).
You can sign a petition urging the Israeli government to drop the gag order Omar Barghouti’s case, dismiss the charges, and restore his permission to travel abroad and to return to his home.
We could use your help in gaining Barghouti’s ability to come to the U.S. for the award and for the ceremony in general. Contact PEP at [email protected].
by Vada Crosby, Christian Community Action
On April 25 at 5:30 p.m. at Hill Career Regional High School, 140 Legion Avenue, New Haven, Christian Community Action is excited to host From Compassion to Action: The Road to Hope, a candid conversation about the pathway to family stability. This event is free and open to the public.
The featured speakers are Matthew Desmond, Ph.D., and Juan Salgado, recipients of the 2015 MacArthur “Genius” grant awards. The MacArthur Fellowship is awarded to individuals who show exceptional creativity in their work, and the prospect for more in the future.
Desmond is the John L. Loeb Associate Professor of Social Sciences and co-director of the Justice and Poverty Project at Harvard University. He is the author of the award-winning book Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City, a New York Times best-seller, a nonfiction finalist for the National Book Critics Circle award, and the winner of the PEN America/John Kenneth Galbraith Award for Nonfiction.
Salgado, a renowned community leader, is president and CEO of Instituto del Progreso Latino in Chicago, an organization that adapts principles of contextualized learning to equip immigrants and their families.
This discussion will raise awareness of issues affecting urban centers across Connecticut, a state where the cost of living is high, quality housing stock is limited and even families whose heads of household are employed are at risk of homelessness. Beverly Gage, a professor of 20th century American history at Yale University, will moderate.
The event’s host, Christian Community Action, a non-profit agency, has been an advocate since 1967 for New Haven families that are homeless as well as many others struggling with the challenges of poverty. CCA’s programs include an emergency shelter, transitional housing, a food pantry and a variety of support services, including job search assistance, family counseling, and workshops.
For more information, please contact Vada Crosby, CCA Marketing Associate, at (203) 780-8379 or [email protected], or visit CCA at ccahelping.org or http://www.facebook.com/ccahelping. Christian Community Action, 168 Davenport Ave., New Haven, CT 06519.
The Coalition for People is currently working on a flyer to be handed out in New Haven on April 8, the National Day of Action for Improved Medicare for All. We are organizing for single-payer healthcare and would like to work with individuals and groups that want to help bring a decent healthcare plan for ALL into being. Please e-mail [email protected] or call Robin at (203) 481-0894
[The following article was written by the Healthcare-Now! organization before last week’s vote. It’s a great victory that the GOP plan did not pass. Now we need to push all the harder for single-payer, real health care reform, without the entanglements and profit motives of the pharmaceutical and medical industries and health insurance companies controlling our healthcare. Please go to www.healthcare-now.org/ for more information.]
The Campaign for Guaranteed Healthcare is calling for a National Day of Action for Improved Medicare for All on Saturday, April 8th.
The Campaign is asking local activists and organizations to organize rallies or speak-outs at medical institutions, to draw attention to the local impacts that the GOP’s American Health Care Act will have, and to call for single-payer as the only moral and sustainable “replacement” plan.
April 8 will come at a crucial moment as it’s also the first day of a two-week “April recess” when Members of Congress return to their districts and will have to face constituents at town halls, on conference calls, office visits, etc. and should provide a great hook for the press.
An example of an action: here in Boston, a coalition of single-payer groups (Mass-Care, PNHP) and others are planning an event outside of a hospital that serves as a safety net institution in the state (treating a high percentage of Medicaid and uninsured patients). We’ll have both providers and patients speak out about the impact the AHCA would have at that hospital and others and talk about how single-payer would allow us to control costs while caring for all patients.
by Joan Cavanagh, a friend of Theresa’s
On Saturday, May 20, at 2 p.m. in Jocelyn Square Park (Humphrey, East, Walnut and Wallace streets), the friends of Theresa Carr and the City of New Haven will plant a white oak tree and erect a plaque in memory of the long-time New Haven activist.
While she lived on Walnut Street Theresa was instrumental in restoring the park and received recognition for her work in 2005. Throughout her life, this self-described “Marxist-Leninist lesbian feminist” was an activist for economic and social justice, peace, and the preservation of our planet.
Theresa died of cancer on March 27, 2014 at the age of 59. Her last words were “Keep doing our work.” Especially in these times, when economic injustice, bigotry, misogyny, xenophobia, war-making, the dismantling of social welfare and environmental protections are the clear goals of our highest-ranking government officials, the meaning and importance of her instruction (and if you knew Theresa at all, you know that it wasn’t a mere suggestion) cannot be exaggerated.
Theresa would be 63 on May 23. This event is occurring the weekend before so that out-of-town friends can more easily attend. If you knew Theresa well or slightly, have just heard about her or simply would enjoy learning about and remembering a remarkable life while sharing a picnic in our beautiful park on a (hopefully sunny) spring day, please join us!
There will be a flyer in the May PAR newsletter about the event. Please feel free to email or call me with any questions: [email protected], (203) 668-9082.