[mpen-dayton4] Greater Miami Valley Local Events & News & FW: "Bernie just told it like it is" & "Fill-the-Vacancy Petition closes MONDAY" and more
FYI. Best, Munsup
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P.P.S. "He who dares not offend cannot be honest" - Thomas Paine
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· (Apr. 18) FW: Dayton Immigration Prayer Rally Monday
· (May 7) FW: Dayton Peace Bridge
· FW: [SchooltoPrisonPipeline] FW: It's Time to Get Cops Out of Schools
· FW: Buckeye Health Plan: National Infant & World Immunization Week
· FW: [NY DEBATE] Bernie just told it like it is
· FW: How to start each day with a positive outlook
· FW: "My students often refer to Trump with fear."
· FW: Supreme Court insanity (unprecedented)
· FW: Fill-the-Vacancy Petition closes MONDAY
· FW: Greedy liars on Wall Street are too powerful.
· FW: Tell Congress: Shut down shell companies
· FW: Victory in Arizona for voting rights!
· FW: Who Sells Cluster Bombs?!?
· FW: Sign: Israel isn't a "champion" of free expression
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From: Pam Long
Subject: FW: Dayton Immigration Prayer Rally Monday
April 15, 2016
CONTACT: Pam Long; Regional Director, Catholic Social Action Office
937-224-3026 Office 513-260-9406 Cell Phone 937-279-9482 Fax
Community to pray for Supreme Court Justices, government and families
The community is invited to gather for an immigration prayer rally Monday, April 18, at 4:30 p.m. on the sidewalk in front of the Federal Building, 200 W. Second St., Dayton.
Participants will pray for the U.S. Supreme Court Justices who will hear oral arguments on Monday about the President’s Executive Action on Immigration. Those gathered will pray that the justices will make decisions that will keep families together and not separate them, especially in the Year of Mercy as proclaimed by Pope Francis. Participants also will pray for a long-term solution for the plight of migrants that includes comprehensive immigration reform and peace and prosperity in other nations.
Prayers will also be offered for families who have experienced separation due to immigration laws.
The Dayton Hispanic Chamber and the Catholic Social Action, Family and Respect Life, and Hispanic Ministry offices of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati are co-sponsoring the rally.
For more information contact:
Pam Long, Catholic Social Action Office, Archdiocese of Cincinnati, at 937-2243026 ext. 5018 or plong@catholiccincinnati.org
or Claudia Cortez-Reinhardt, Dayton Hispanic Chamber, claudiacogt@gmail.com
Founded in 1992, the Dayton Hispanic Chamber actively promotes the economic growth and development of the greater Dayton area. The DHC advocates on behalf of Hispanics in the greater Dayton area and the State.
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati is the 38th largest Catholic diocese in the country, with almost 500,000 Catholics, and has the sixth largest network of Catholic schools in terms of enrollment. The 19 county territory includes 211 parishes and 111 Catholic primary and secondary schools.
From: Crystal Walker
Subject: Dayton Peace Bridge
25th ANNIVERSARY
DAYTON PEACE BRIDGE WALK
“stick with peace”
MAY 7, 2016
Join the Greater Dayton Community for the Celebration of the 25th Annual Peace Bridge Walk. (Walk is ¼ mile-15 minutes max)
We will begin at 10am at Building 20 Sinclair Community College. Building 20 is located at 220 South Edwin C. Moses Blvd. just before crossing to the 4th/5th Street Bridge. Parking available at parking meters (free on 4th and 5th Streets and/or at Building 20 Sinclair Community College)
10:00am: Welcome and Short Program
10:30am: Peace Bridge Walk
10:45am: (2) Workshops at Building 8 Sinclair Community College
1. One Human Family: One Human Family Workshops provides a unique focus for community engagement through the rich heritage stemming predominantly from Gospel music and Spirituals. We seek, through the dialogue portions of our workshops to demonstrate the relevance and applicability of this music, as well as that of more contemporary genres, to today’s issues and concerns. By bringing people of all backgrounds and ethnicities together, this becomes a process for opening hearts, thereby encouraging participants to understand each other better, and to engage in forging lasting bonds of friendship. As this is accomplished, we begin to connect with each other in more substantive and meaningful ways in order to create a more cohesive, solution-focused community.
2. Spoken Peace: Jay Martinez- A spoken word artist, host and youth advocate, Jay is a native of Newark, N.J., where he engaged in constant rap freestyle cyphers. He takes his struggles and eloquently recites them with a gritty, intelligent flow. The development of his fast-paced, didactic style stems from his hip hop influences. Jay also self-published a book entitled An Orators Declamation of the Ghetto and a CD titled Universal Language. When he is not performing throughout the country, he hosts two shows in Dayton: Lyrical Lounge open mic at Delish Café and the Metaphorically Speaking slam poetry competition at Therapy Cafe. Jay has organized events for a Dayton City Commissioner, the program director of the Salvation Army’s Kroc Center and the Parity Inc. youth group — all in the name of community uplift and awareness through poetry. He is a part of the award-winning video Playing For Change/Where There Is Love, which has received global recognition. He also won best up-and-coming artist at the 2013 Cincinnati Poetry Awards. Participants in this workshop will learn how to apply the spoken word to cultivate a community of peace.
11:45am-12noon: Break
12noon-12:30pm: Closing Ceremonies: Recognition of Covenant Signers; Recognition of Mothers who have lost children due to gun violence; Commissioning Service, Community Song
12:30pm-1:30pm: (continuation of workshops)
The event is free and open to the public.
#stickwithpeace
From: Prof. Vernellia Randall
Subject: [SchooltoPrisonPipeline] FW: It's Time to Get Cops Out of Schools
It's Time to Get Cops Out of Schools
by
Karen Dolan
'Get police out of schools,' demands Dolan, 'and keep their hands, batons, and cuffs off our children.' (Photo: viaTime.com)
I’m still shaking from watching the recently released video of a white, uniformed police officer violently body-slamming a 12-year-old Latina girl face-first into a brick walkway. You can hear a “crack” when her face slams into the brick.
The child was reportedly talking with another student when other kids gathered to see if there was an argument brewing. Officer Joshua Kehm apparently didn’t want to wait to see if the middle schoolers would indeed start arguing.
Kehm was fired after the video was released, but it’s the school-to-prison pipeline he represents that most deserves to be indicted. Officers like Kehm send thousands of children into the legal system each year for petty misbehavior at school — or, often, for no misbehavior at all.
Schools with embedded police officers — often euphemistically referred to as “School Resource Officers,” or SROs — see five times the number of arrests for “disorderly conduct” than schools without them. According to the Justice Policy Institute, in schools where SROs are allowed to arrest or refer children to the juvenile justice system, kids are getting criminal records for low-level status offenses — that is, offenses that are only illegal because of their status as a juvenile, including wildly subjective charges like “disruptive behavior.”
SRO policing happens primarily in low-income schools attended by children of color. While kids from financially stable families in predominantly white schools go to the principal’s office, kids from these poorer schools go to lock-up.
Worse still, these kids find themselves subject to the same kinds of violent police behavior that plagues the rest of the criminal justice system.
A similar disturbing video spread through social media last fall when an SROthrew a black girl across her classroom floor because she wouldn’t relinquish her cell phone. More violent video emerged from Baltimore, where a uniformed officer hit a black female student with a baton, inflicting injuries requiring ten stitches. Similar scenarios have played out in Florida andVirginia and, last October, in Oklahoma — where an SRO punched a teen in the head twice when he caught him in the hallway without a bathroom pass. The reality is that these incidents are far too common where police are given authority to discipline children in schools.
While juvenile detention rates have steadily decreased in the last two decades, arrests of children of color — especially black and Latina girls at schools — have not followed that same pattern. Black girls are experiencing the fastest growth in juvenile incarceration and the highest levels of middle school suspensions. And, as the African American Policy Forum reports, black girls also experience harsher sentences once in the juvenile system than any other demographic of girls.
Disabled and low-income black and Latino boys also continue to suffer suspensions, expulsions, and school referrals to the juvenile justice systemdisproportionately to their white peers.
These criminalizing, dehumanizing, and ineffective responses to childish behavior are the core the school-to-prison pipeline. And once a child has contact with the juvenile legal system, studies show it’s very hard for them to get out. The recidivism rate for juveniles is reported to be as high as 70 percent, with the initial detention being the most significant factor affecting recidivism.
The first thing we need to do is to get police out of schools. School administrators and counselors should be properly trained to treat trauma and address the complex stressors that more acutely affect children living in poverty. Policies should explicitly address the unique stressors and dangers to girls, particularly girls of color.
More broadly, in their efforts to address behavior that breaks or challenges school rules, schools should shift to restorative justice models that focus on relationship building among students, teachers, and administrators. Out-of-school suspensions and expulsions should be off the table. Schools should be nurturing, safe, learning environments — especially for our most at-risk student populations.
Deeper structural changes would include a fairer federal, state, and county tax system that stops the obscene income and wealth inequality that’s increasing the segregation of our schools by race and income. Adequate funding for housing, communities, schools, faculty, mental health, and public health are all necessary to stop the systematic abuse of our schoolchildren.
But first, get police out of schools — and keep their hands, batons, and cuffs off our children. Let’s be sure no more young girls are body-slammed face-first into brick walkways by uniformed officers in middle schools.
From: Christopher Beers
Subject: National Infant & World Immunization Week
Are your children immunized?
National Infant Immunization Week: April 16-23
World Immunization Week: April 24-30
Immunizations Save Lives!
Immunizations are safe and they have helped children stay healthy for more than 50 years.
Vaccinations have reduced the number of infections from vaccine-preventable diseases by more than 90%!
For more information, call Buckeye Health Plan at 866-246-4358
www.BuckeyeHealthPlan.com
From: Karli Wallace Thompson; Campaign Manager, Democracy for America for Bernie Sanders
Subject: [NY DEBATE] Bernie just told it like it is
Did you see the Democratic presidential primary debate tonight in New York?
I just finished watching it, and I think it was Bernie's best performance yet. On issue after issue, Bernie told it like it is -- and continued to stand up for real progressive values:
- He stood up for minimum wage workers across the country -- many of whom were on strike today -- telling Hillary, "$12 is good, but $15 is better!"
- He was brutally honest about the racist roots of the term "super-predator."
- He doubled down on not only protecting but expanding Social Security.
- He made it clear that our politicians can't both meet the demands of the fossil fuel companies and protect this planet for our children.
We need a president who isn't afraid to tell the truth and take bold stands. That's why we need to help Bernie win -- starting next Tuesday in New York.
Most polls show Bernie gaining on Hillary in New York -- but it's going to take a YUGE last-minute push if we are going to pull off a come-from-behind win. Can you chip in $3 to support Bernie Sanders and DFA right now?
Bernie has a ton of momentum right now, and not just in New York: The last three national polls show Bernie and Hillary statistically tied among Democratic voters -- a major improvement over earlier this year, when Hillary had a consistent double digit lead.
A better-than-expected showing in New York -- a state that elected Hillary Clinton to the Senate twice -- would prove to the pundits and naysayers that our movement is for real, and that we can take on the establishment and do well even in the biggest states in the country.
Our political revolution has come an incredibly long way in a few short months. Now, shocking the establishment in New York is well within our reach.
From: Eric Kramer
Subject: How to start each day with a positive outlook
What a great idea!!!
From: Mike Honda
Subject: "My students often refer to Trump with fear."
When I was a child in an internment camp, I felt the sting of fear and bigotry. I hoped no child would ever have to worry about being forced from their homes for who they are again.
But today I read about a recent survey of 2000 educators which says that Trump’s hateful rhetoric is impacting our children, especially those from immigrant communities and communities of color. Here’s what one teacher had to say:
My students often refer to Trump with fear. They are afraid of what will happen to them (many immigrants) if he becomes president."
As a former teacher, I can’t imagine the pain she felt upon hearing those words from one of her students. Her immediate instinct must have been to want to protect her student from any harm. That’s a feeling I still get, and that’s why I ran for Congress 15 years ago. Because I wanted to make sure that those who are voiceless, like students, have someone defending them in Washington. That’s what I’ve done since my first day as a Congressman, and that’s what I promise to do no matter who gets elected president in November.
What makes it worse is that it’s not just the fear of what Donald Trump will do that’s affecting our children. Half of the teachers surveyed are seeing an increase in uncivil political discourse in the classroom as children imitate Trump’s debate style, and over a third have seen an increase in anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant sentiments as students regurgitate Trump’s talking points.
Bullying is already a national epidemic in our schools, which is why I founded the Anti-Bullying Caucus, because we need to find a way to put a stop to this issue. Now we have a presidential candidate emboldening our children to tease and mock anyone who’s different than them, which makes the goal of zero bullying harder to reach. We need to use Trump as a teachable moment.
We must fill our Congress with progressive role models and show our children that you don’t have to resort to hateful language or behavior to show your disagreement. I have always conducted myself like that, and with your help, I can continue being a counterweight to the divisive rhetoric echoing through our nation’s politics.
From: Robert Reich
Subject: Supreme Court insanity (unprecedented)
Imagine what would happen if you didn't do your job … If you showed up at work but refused to do one of your most critical work responsibilities.
It's quite simple, right? You'd be fired.
In refusing to vote or even hold a hearing on President Obama’s nomination of Chief Judge Merrick Garland to the U.S. Supreme Court, Republican senators aren’t doing their job, as it is clearly spelled out in Article II, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution.
And the GOP leadership has made clear that it won't budge—that is, unless and until Republicans think they’ll be fired by voters and lose control of the U.S. Senate in November.
MoveOn has swung into action with an impressive campaign, but they didn't budget for a Supreme Court fight this year and need your help to keep the campaign going. That's why I’m asking you to chip in now to MoveOn's campaign to make the GOP feel political pain for failing to do their job.
Express Donate: $10 Express Donate: $40 Express Donate: $150 Donate another amount
As I talked about in my recent video for MoveOn, this fight has huge implications. If the Senate confirms Judge Garland, progressives will have a 5-4 majority on the Supreme Court—for the first time in more than 40 years.
We could reverse Citizens United and remove the poison of big money from our democracy. We could reaffirm the right to abortion and stop states from shuttering clinics. We could protect the rights of countless Americans who currently have little or no power in a system where more and more power is going to those the very top.
And that's precisely why Republicans are refusing to do their job and allow a vote on Judge Garland.
MoveOn has already mobilized members to confront senators outside their home offices during the Senate recess in a national day of action. MoveOn organized a call with Senator Elizabeth Warren—and 14,000 MoveOn members and our allies signed up for the call to turbo-charge this fight. This week, MoveOn members and allies flooded the Senate with 20,000 calls—demanding a timely hearing and an up-or-down vote.
Now, there are cracks appearing in the Republican wall of opposition. Senator Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania—one of the most vulnerable Republicans up for re-election—has agreed to meet with Judge Garland.
With your help, MoveOn will continue to organize high-impact, creative, in-person and on-line actions and to use its organizational megaphone to call out this nonsense—until Republicans relent and do their jobs. That’s the kind of unyielding pressure we’ll need to break Republican obstructionism going into the fall. It's exactly the kind of pressure that MoveOn used to force Republicans to back down and end the government shutdown in 2013.
Will you chip in to enable MoveOn to keep up the pressure and force the GOP to do their job again? So much hangs in the balance?
Express Donate: $10 Express Donate: $40 Express Donate: $150 Donate another amount
Want to support our work? MoveOn member contributions have powered our work together for more than 17 years. Hundreds of thousands of people chip in each year—which is why we're able to be fiercely independent, answering to no individual, corporation, politician, or political party. You can become a monthly donor by clicking here, or chip in a one-time gift here.
From: Fill the Vacancy (PFAW.org); Ben Betz, Online Engagement Director
Subject: Fill-the-Vacancy Petition closes MONDAY
Tax Day is coming up this Monday and we should ALL get our money back ... for the salaries of Republican Senators who simply refuse to do their job and give a hearing and a vote to President Obama's Supreme Court nominee, Merrick Garland.
Almost 185,000 people have already signed -- will you?
Sign the petition: Demand Senate Republicans DO THEIR JOB and give
Merrick Garland a hearing and a vote>>
This petition closes in just 3 days! Help us blow past our goal of 200,000!
GOP Senators are doing harm to the Supreme Court, our democracy, and the Constitution by listening to the NRA and the Radical Right organizations that want to keep this vacancy open, instead of the American people, who think Garland deserves fair consideration.
But we’ve been turning up the pressure on key Republican Senators -- especially those up for re-election this year -- and we’re already starting to see some cracks in the blockade.
We need YOUR help to keep up the pressure.
Will you add your name now and tell Senators to give the President’s nominee a hearing and a vote now?
The President did his duty and put forth a qualified nominee. Now it’s time for Republicans in the Senate to do theirs and give Judge Garland the fair consideration he is due.
From: Alex Lawson; Social Security Works
Subject: Greedy liars on Wall Street are too powerful.
Greedy liars on Wall Street have used income inequality to build wealth and power for decades. They have used this wealth and power to attempt to dismantle our Social Security system, Medicare, Medicaid, and any regulations that stand between them and consolidating more power.
Today, I am joining thousands of activists around the country in a positive, peaceful demonstration aimed at getting money out of politics and restoring voting rights.
Add your voice to the thousands in DC! We demand that Congress support:
- The Voting Rights Advancement Act, which would restore and increase protections against voting discrimination.
- The Voter Empowerment Act, which would modernize voter registration and ensure equal access to voting for all.
- The Democracy For All Amendment, which would overturn U.S. Supreme Court decisions like Citizens United and limit the undue influence of money in politics.
- The Government By the People Act/Fair Elections Now Act, which would amplify small contributions from everyday Americans.
The influence of money in politics is the reason that we keep having to fight to protect Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, no matter how popular and effective they are.
Whether Congress acts or not we will win by focusing the nation’s attention on the urgency of this crisis, the existence of solutions, and the strength of the popular demand to enact them.
Even if you can’t join us in Washington DC, you can still show
your support by signing this petition today.
Please, help us stand together so we can bring change to Washington.
From: Frank Clemente; Executive Director Americans for Tax Fairness Action Fund
Subject: Tell Congress: Shut down shell companies
The recently revealed and explosive “Panama Papers” shined a spotlight on the secret international financial dealings of the rich and powerful and the corrupt and criminal. These people often create “shell companies” in order to dodge taxes, hide wealth and launder money.
These shell companies are not limited to offshore tax havens. Right here at home, Delaware, Nevada and Wyoming have become prime locations for establishing shell or “anonymous” companies because the process is often simpler than getting a driver’s license or a library card.
Right now in Congress the Incorporation Transparency and Law Enforcement Assistance Act (H.R. 4450 and S. 2489) would require all U.S. corporations to disclose the identity of the individuals behind those corporations, and make that information available to state and federal law enforcement.
This is critical to know whether a tax dodger or a terrorist is behind the company; whether a money launderer or a corrupt politician is hiding behind the curtain of secrecy.
Many billions of dollars get squirreled away in these anonymous shell companies – money that if taxed could do a lot to improve the lives of average Americans.
Delaware alone has more corporations than people – over one million – because its laws have created a safe haven for shell companies to flourish. That must end through the sunshine of disclosure.
Let’s not let the powerful lessons of the Panama Papers be ignored.
When the wealthy and large corporations don’t pay their fair share of taxes, it falls on you and me to pick-up the tab.
Click here to demand that Congress hold these tax dodgers accountable.
From: Laura Packard
Subject: Victory in Arizona for voting rights!
I delivered your anti-voter suppression signatures --just under half a million of them combined-- to the Department of Justice over a week ago. Now the DOJ is launching an investigation into the dramatic decrease in polling sites (especially in minority communities) and resulting 5-hour lines to vote in Arizona.1 Together we can make a difference.
Our right to vote is so important - yet it's one subject that hasn't been brought up in the Presidential debates. From the cutbacks in polling places and/or early voting leading to 5-hour lines in Arizona and elsewhere, to voters disenfranchised by draconian ID laws in many states, there is a war on voting being conducted across the country.
We need to hear what the Presidential candidates will do to protect our voting rights, and make it easier not harder for Americans to vote.
The next (and only) scheduled debate is a Democratic one, in Brooklyn on April 14th. CNN must step up and finally ask questions about voting rights.
Tell Wolf Blitzer, Dana Bash and Errol Louis to #askaboutvotingrights in the next Democratic debate >>
1. The DOJ Is Investigating Arizona's Election Mess, Huffington Post, 4/4/16.
Want to make a donation? MoveOn is entirely funded by our 8 million members—no corporate contributions, no big checks from CEOs. And our tiny staff ensures that small contributions go a long way. Chip in here.
From: Alice, Alli, Ariel, Chelsea, Janet, Jodie, Marwa, Medea, Michaela, Nancy, Rebecca, Sam and Tighe; CODEPINK
Subject: Who Sells Cluster Bombs?!?
On April 18, peace activists from across New England will gather in front of Textron Industries headquarters in Providence, Rhode Island, to call on the company to stop selling cluster bombs to Saudi Arabia that it is using to kill civilians in Yemen!
Textron is the manufacturer of cluster bombs that are sold to Saudi Arabia for its war of aggression on the people of Yemen. A total of 118 countries have banned cluster munitions due to the threat they pose to nearby civilians at the time of attack and afterward. Even worse, Textron’s weapons fail to meet the standards for malfunction rates set in U.S. export law – according to Human Rights Watch – so their sale to Saudi Arabia is both illegal and will leave unexploded munitions scattered across Yemen, threatening civilians for years to come.
Saudi Arabia is committing war crimes in Yemen and has created a humanitarian crisis. Yet, Textron continues to provide its bombs for the war, even after more than 3,000 innocent Yemeni civilians have been killed. President Obama will visit Saudi Arabia next week and should press the Saudi government to permanently end the attacks against Yemen.
At the protest on Monday, activists will attempt to hand-deliver your signature to Textron personnel.
P.S. Once you’ve signed the Textron petition, sign our petition asking President Obama to meet with Saudi human rights activists during his trip next week!
P.P.S. Show your support for demilitarization and bringing our war dollars home with a CODEPINK t-shirt!
From: Shalva Wise; Shalva Wise; Artists & Cultural Workers Council Organizer, Jewish Voice for Peace
Subject: Sign: Israel isn't a "champion" of free expression
Tell PEN America: Stand with the people of Palestine, not the Israeli government!
. | . |
“Free Expression.”
That’s the central tenet of PEN America, an organization that fights to defend free speech and the rights of authors across the world.
Sounds good, no? But when it comes to their 2016 World Voices Festival, PEN America aren't living up to their beliefs. They’ve accepted sponsorship money from the Israeli government -- and they’re even listing the Israeli Embassy as one of their 2016 festival “Champions”.
Palestinian writers face repression from the Israeli government every day: arbitrary detention, denial of freedom of movement, and a ferocious climate of political intimidation. Worst of all, legislation has been proposed in Israel that would make arts funding contingent on the recipient’s ‘loyalty’ to the Jewish state -- a brazen attempt to stifle dissent.
Against this backdrop, PEN shouldn’t be standing with the Israeli government. They should be standing with the people of Palestine.
We’re partnering with our allies at Adalah-NY, and urging PEN America not to partner with the Israeli government.
Join thousands of human rights activists from around the world, and over 135 notable writers and intellectuals -- click here to sign the petition.
I really believe that our voices can make a difference, because PEN hasn’t been silent in the face of Israeli racism before. Earlier this year, they organized a letter writing campaign in support of Palestinian writer and journalist Muhammed al-Qiq, calling on the Israeli authorities to "end the practice of administrative detention against journalists and other writers."
That’s why it’s so disappointing that PEN is promoting the Israeli government through this festival: they know that the Israeli government systematically denies freedom of expression to Palestinian writers -- but they’re still cashing their checks.
If PEN truly believes in freedom of expression, then they should listen to the voices of Palestinians -- including the General Union of Palestinian Writers -- and respect their call to boycott the Israeli government, and other institutions complicit in violations of human rights.
Click here to tell PEN to continue their long-standing record of standing for human rights.
Stand with writers, artists, cultural workers, and Palestinian civil society -- until Israel respects international law, PEN shouldn’t be partnering with the Israeli government.
End of MPEN e-Newslatter
posted by lucas at 5:32 AM
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