The First Unitarian Universalist Society Welcomes You!

The First Unitarian Universalist Society of New Haven is located at 608 Whitney Ave. and hosts many programs for the New Haven community.

The New Haven Bioregional group regularly holds meetings, skillshares, potluck dinners and presentations at our meeting house. New Haven Bioregional Group maintains a lifeboat garden on our property.

ANSWER CT, a chapter of the ANSWER Coalition, regularly holds meetings and events at our meeting house. The ANSWER coalition’s mission is to stop war and racism.

The Children’s Preschool is a non-profit preschool for area children. The school has been located on our property since its founding in 1972, and we are represented on its advisory board.

The New Haven Compassionfest regularly holds meetings and vegan potlucks at our meeting house.
The New Haven/León Sister City Project has their offices in our meeting house. They engage in sustainable economic, human, and community development projects in Nicaragua.
Social Justice and Charitable Giving.

The congregation gives away its weekly collection to organizations pursuing social and environmental justice. We select a different recipient each quarter. We are donating the money collected at this quarter’s services to support Puerto Rico recovery from Hurricane Maria.

Prior recipients include: New Haven Land Trust, CT Food Bank Mobile Pantry, Common Ground High School, CT Fund for the Environment, True Colors, Friends of Haiti Edge of the Woods, Fellowship Place, Inc., SNE Planned Parenthood, Amistad Catholic Worker Hill Area Kitchen, Downtown Soup Kitchen, CT Food Bank — Kids Backpack Program, Stepping Stone Transitional Housing Program, AIDs Project New Haven.

Services are held Sundays 10:30 a.m. Child care is provided 10:15-11:30 a.m. Fellowship and refreshments follow the service. To find out more about the First Unitarian Universalist Society of New Haven, please visit our website at www.uunewhaven.org.

Rock to Rock News and High School Energy Awareness Programs

by Chris Schweitzer, New Haven/León Sister City Project

It’s time to get excited about the 10th Annual Rock to Rock Earth Day Ride. We are joining forces with Green Drinks to put on a Pint Night to benefit Rock to Rock Wednesday, March 14, 6-7:30 at Patagonia, 1 Broadway (corner of York St.), New Haven. We will have beer from Blue Point Brewery, wine, refreshments, live music from Andrew Biagiarelli, and our ever-popular raffle. Admission: $5 donation to Rock to Rock.

Rock to Rock is New Haven’s biggest Earth Day celebration. Here’s how it works: You and about a thousand of your neighbors travel by bicycle from West Rock and East Rock, with celebrations on both sides of the city. Along the way, eat tasty food, hear great music, take on environmental service projects, and explore our city’s parks and neighborhoods. Info: [email protected] or (203) 285-6147.

Climate Health and Energy Week (CHEW) is an opportunity–April 30 to May 5–for New Haven-area high schools to broaden climate change awareness and engage in concrete action to cut greenhouse gases, improve health and reduce energy use and expense. CHEW organizers are researching and developing–with educators and school administrators–a variety of program/activity options to be available to individual teachers, departments, grade levels, schools, or the entire school district. The range of options will enable educators to meet the specific needs and realities of their school. Other non-school youth and community organiz-ations can also participate.

Check out the website  www.climateweeknh.org or contact Margalie at Margalie Belizaire [email protected] or call (203) 562-1607.  Also please submit good climate education activities!

Seymour Police, Town of Seymour Policies Discriminate against Disabled

by Joseph A. Luciano  Disability Rights Action Group of CT

I have asked NBC-TV Troubleshooters to investigate the present-day status of ADA access and mobility in downtown Seymour. Investigation can reveal the plight of persons with disabilities (PWDs) living here.

This is happening 27 years after the Americans with Disabil-ities Act (ADA) was enacted (July 26, 1990). That’s 10,100 days ago. This was happening even before Seymour approved 38 new senior/disabled housing units downtown. On Columbus Street alone, the senior/disabled population has increased from 12 to 38—not counting the disabled living in my downtown apartment complex (Fallview Apts). Often, only able-bodied people can get around in downtown Seymour. I and other PWDs cannot—because police do not enforce ordinances or regulations that enable accessibility. I have filed complaints on these issues against Seymour and its police department with the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights & Opportunities (1730312, 1830021). Inex-plicably, CHRO ruled that town and police policy do not discriminate against PWDs—even though only able-bodied persons can get around.

PWDs are routinely denied their rights to access and mobility at Seymour’s new $6.4 million park (Paul Pawlak Sr. Fishway & Park at Tingue Dam). Police do not ticket or tow away vehicles obstructing or blocking access to the “accessible walkway” leading to the scenic lookout.

PWDs are routinely denied their rights to access Seymour’s downtown businesses when property owners flout Seymour Ordinance 14-6, which mandates timely removal of snow from sidewalks. Seymour PD itself routinely flouts Ordinance 1-9, which mandates that flouters “shall” be fined up to $100/day for each day of the offense. Seymour PD has admitted never having fined snow ordinance flouters. Sidewalks covered with snow that should have been removed by town law prevent PWDs from access to groceries, restaurants, pharmacy, banking, worship, theater, shopping, and other reasonable purposes. For more information: [email protected], (203) 463-8323

Conference on Drone Warfare to be Held In Hartford March 14

by Rev. Rich Killmer, Interfaith Network on Drone Warfare

The Connecticut Interfaith Conference on Drone Warfare takes place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Wednesday, March 14 at Hartford Seminary, 77 Sherman St., Hartford, CT. The presenters include: Andrea Prasow, Associate Director of the Washington Office of Human Rights Watch; Dr. Maryann Cusimano Love, Politics Department, Catholic University, Washington, DC; Rev. Chris Antal, Unitarian Universalist Minister, who resigned as an army chaplain because of the U.S. lethal drone policy; Lt. Colonel Shareda Hosein (U.S. Army Reserves Retired), Muslim Chaplain. Two short films produced by the Interfaith Network on Drone Warfare for congregations will also be screened.

Registration is free, but a free-will offering will be taken. Lunch will be provided. Please register at www.bit.ly/DroneCTConference. For more information, visit www.interfaithdronenetwork.org or call (609) 924-5022 or (207) 450-7242. The conference is co-sponsored by Hartford Seminary and the Interfaith Network on Drone Warfare.

Listen Here! Classic Short Stories Read Live

Listen to short stories selected by the editors of New Haven Review and read by actors from New Haven Theater Company at the Young Men’s Institute Library, 847 Chapel St., New Haven. Talk back with New Haven Review moderator.

So what are we reading at the Institute Library? Tuesday, March 20, 7 p.m. Theme: Vengeance Is Mine. “Fleur” by Louise Erdrich and “A Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe.

Tuesday, April 17, 7 p.m. Theme: Weight of History. “Evening Prayer” by Stephen Carter and “The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven” by Sherman Alexie.

Bring yourself, your ears, your love of literature. What’s to eat? Freshly baked treats each night. What’s to drink? Tea, chai, hot chocolate…oh, just come already!

The Arts Council Announces New Office Space at 70 Audubon St.

by Jennifer Gelband, Marketing Director

The Arts Council of Greater New Haven has moved its headquarters at 70 Audubon Street to another suite of offices across the hall on the 2nd floor, previously occupied by Con-necticut Public Radio. The Arts Council owns the second floor of the building and had occupied the previous space since the building was constructed in 1990.

“Vital government funding for the arts in Connecticut is at an all-time low,” said Daniel Fitzmaurice, Executive Director. “This change represents a fiscal and programmatic opportunity to expand our mission to serve artists, creative or-ganizations and our region. I can’t wait to start the renovation!”

The new space will include administrative offices and community venue, which Arts Council members can reserve at no cost for meetings, performances, and events. As of Dec. 1, the Arts Council has rented their previous space to The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven.

“We have enjoyed a great relationship with our neighbors at The Arts Council for many, many years….” said Angela Powers, Senior Vice President of Planning and Operations at the GNH Community Foundation. For more information about the Arts Council, see www.newhavenarts.org.

Resist Foundation Wants to Fund Justice and Liberation!

Resist is a foundation that supports people’s movements for justice and liberation. We redistribute resources back to frontline communities at the forefront of change while amplifying their stories of building a better world.

The movement for justice and liberation is in a constant state of flux. Here at Resist we’re constantly finding ways to sit in that change, learn from it, and iterate so we can be a more responsive and accountable organization to the front-lines. As we close out our 50th anniversary we continue to reflect on what our world, our movement and our organization will look like in the next half-century. We’ve learned a lot from these reflections. As we continue to reimagine our grants program in conversation with a growing number of our grantees and the wider Resist community we want to in-troduce two new and exciting changes in our program.

New Rapid Response Grant: In the last two years we’ve seen a sharp spike in the need for emergency and technical assistance grants from groups all over the country. For this reason we’ve merged our two grants into a new rapid response grant.

Resist now offers a $1,000 Rapid Response grant to better meet the needs of frontline groups and organizations. This grant is decided on by Resist staff and generally has a one week turn around. This grant is for groups looking to:

Imagine and Build: for groups seeking financial support with training, consultation, healing, cultural work, conflict resolution, and/or restructuring. Examples include (but are not limited to): developing organizing skills, exploration of new strategies, community-led arts and culture work, board and staff development, fundraising support and training, transformative and strategic planning.

Resist and Respond: for groups seeking to respond to unforeseen and timely political opportunities with organizing and/or cultural interventions. Examples include organizing direct action, creative resistance, and travel to protests in response to a call to action.

Please go to www.resist.org for information on how to apply for a grant. Resist, 259 Elm Street Suite 201, Somerville, MA 02144 (617) 623-5110, [email protected].

Resolution from the Conference on U.S. Military Bases Held Jan. 12-14

by Henry Lowendorf, GNH Peace Council

The Conference on U.S. Foreign Military Bases was held in Baltimore, Maryland, on January 12-14, organized by Coalition Against U.S. Foreign Military Bases—con-sisting of more than 250 peace, justice and environmental organ-izations from around the world. It heard from Okinawans and members of the Veterans For Peace from the U.S. who recently visited Okinawa to add their voices to the growing chorus opposed to the presence of U.S. military bases on the island.

We are aware of the terrible role that U.S. bases on Okinawa have played in the destruction of the environment and of the many criminal acts of U.S. military personnel, including rape and murder against the people of Okinawa.

We are also aware of the central role that the U.S. bases on Okinawa played during the criminal war waged by the U.S. against the people of Vietnam and the present-day role they play in the aggressive military presence of the U.S. in the entire region.

On the basis of these facts, the Coalition Against U.S. For-eign Military Bases and all of the Conference participants unanimously demand that all charges against Hiroji Yama-shiro, and his co-defendants Hiroshi Inaba and Atsuhiro Soeda, be dropped and all attempts to silence the people of Okinawa in their just quest to rid their homeland of the many U.S. military bases be stopped.

The Coalition further pledges to support the case of Hiroji Yamashiro, Hiroshi Inaba, Atsuhiro Soeda, and to publicize their cases in the U.S. and to raise the demand that all U.S. military bases be removed from Okinawa.

Issued by the Coordinating Committee of the Coalition Against U.S. Foreign Military Bases, January 15, 2018.

Committee: Ajamu Baraka, Black Alliance for Peace; Ann Wright and Medea Benjamin, CODEPINK; Al Marder, U.S. Peace Council; Bruce Gagnon, Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power In Space; Nancy Price, WILPF, and others. The very successful conference built unity in the US peace movement. It can be viewed in streaming video on the noforeignbases.org website.

LAST CALL! Use Your Creativity to Change the World (and this Newsletter)!

The Progressive Action Roundtable Planning Committee is happy to announce our first-ever contest for a bumpersticker and/or logo for our newsletter. What phrase or design would you want to see on the cars in front of you?

What logo for our newsletter would really speak to your sentiments of a better world? Depending on the number of entries, we estimate we will be able to announce a winner by June.

We are offering a $100 prize for the winning entry.

All entries must be in black and white, and be mailed to PAR, P.O. Box 995, New Haven, CT 06504.

Please include your name, address, phone number and e-mail address with your design. You do not need to be a subscriber to participate. Thanks!

Celebrate 35 Years with the Middle East Crisis Committee March 3

by Stanley Heller, chairperson, MECC

The Middle East Crisis Committee (MECC) is in its 35th year. MECC invites you to “Struggle, Resistance and Resili-ence in Solidarity with the Palestinian People,” a fund-raising party on Saturday, March 3 at 6 p.m. at the First Unitarian Universalist Society of New Haven, 608 Whitney Ave. Learn about Mazin Qumsiyeh’s efforts in building the Palestinian Natural History Museum in Bethlehem. There will be food, music, and video; auctions and door prizes are planned. $25 suggested donation.

For the past dozen years or so our biggest efforts have involved media. We have a weekly TV show on over 30 cable stations stretching from Maine to New York City. One focus of late on TheStruggle.org is Saudi Arabia (KSA) and its war against Yemen. Another focus is of efforts around the world to remember Syria. It’s called “2nd Day of Rage for Syria.” MECC stands for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria and in support of Syrian civil society demands for ceasefire and honest elections.

‘Meditating in Troubled Times’ — A Talk by Dr. Paul R. Fleischman, March 5

by Aruna Pawashe, Lecturer, MBB and MCDB Dept., Yale

The Connecticut Vipassana is pleased to host the 4th Annual public talk by Dr. Paul R. Fleischman, MD entitled “Meditating in Troubled Times,” on Monday, March 5, at 4 p.m. It is free and open to the public and takes place at Yale Osborne Memorial Lab, Room 202, 165 Prospect St. For details and to register go to: bit.ly/YaleMeditationLecture.

Dr. Fleischman trained at Yale University and practiced psychiatry for over thirty years. He was appointed a teacher of Vipassana by S.N. Goenka. He has recently lectured at numerous universities in the U.S. as well as in many coun-tries around the world. This year at Yale, he will discuss troubled times on the minds of our students/audience and how meditation can retain its relevance, or even increase its relevance, when the world is so full of turmoil.

Reconstructing the Dream: March and Event Mark African American History Month 4 p.m. Feb. 25

by Joelle Fishman, CT People’s World

The 44th People’s World African American History Month Celebrations, “Reconstructing the Dream” will be keynoted by Rev. Scott Marks, director of New Haven Rising and co-founder of Connecticut Center for a New Economy. He will address the way forward for equality and justice in 2018, 50 years since Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated, and 150 years since W.E.B. DuBois was born. A national leader of Unite Here, Marks has organized people from all races, nationalities and genders to fight for their homes, jobs and communities. He is traveling the country to train new African American union leaders and is organizing the I AM 2018 effort to carry forward Dr. King’s legacy.

The event will be held on Sunday, Feb. 25 at 4 p.m. at Troup School, 259 Edgewood Ave, New Haven, CT 06511. Prior to the event, a march has been organized from the New Haven Peoples Center through the Dwight neighborhood to Troup School. The march, themed “Jobs for Youth, Jobs for All,” will remember neighborhood youth who have been killed, and is sponsored by Ice the Beef, New Elm City Dream/YCL and New Haven Rising.

The event will be opened with drumming by Brian Jarawa Gray. Prizes will be awarded in the Arts and Writing Competition Grades 8 through 12. Students were asked: “What lessons can we learn from Dr. King’s courageous life? What kind of collective action is needed in 2018 to carry his legacy forward? A video “Remembering Dalzenia Henry, Grace Cummings, Emma Fair” will honor the memory of three African American Communist women leaders in Connecticut. Ice the Beef will perform excerpts from King and DuBois.

A donation of $5 or what you can afford is requested. No one will be turned away

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