Hoping everyone is keeping well. Please question what is being said about COVID and other issues.
Am not back posting on a regular basis.
– Please post events on Indybay even if event is digital: https://www.indybay.org/calendar/?page_id=12
See Indybay for other events.
‘Memorial Day 2020’
2 Items
1. The revolutionary origins of Memorial Day and its political hijacking – May 23, 2020 (originally posted in 2012)
https://www.liberationnews.org/revolutionary-origins-memorial-day-political-hijacking/?fbclid=IwAR3vYmlbJWHsEpkI9TPJIb6MOGYQFB7I4zipBznEVm_U_owzmHtQKkvW2sg
2. From: Rev. Shawna Foster, IVAW/About Face:
“Two days of the year are very difficult for me: Memorial Day and Veteran’s Day. Like many military-connected families and communities, I feel the pain of regret and loss about the people we’ve lost – both the people I knew who have died and the people overseas. As a Veteran of wars since 9/11, the pain is compounded by the knowledge that these wars were a sham.
These wars should have never started; they should not still be going on.
Memorial Day is so hard because this is the day when I hear many people talk about how we have to honor the war dead and what they fought for – and I think to myself – didn’t they want the wars to end? Didn’t they want peace? What about the families and communities that continue to be destroyed by our actions?
In this pain, I remember the ones who have died speaking bravely against the wars after serving in them. Those who turned the spotlight away from themselves as veterans to the innocent people who are the most impacted by these wars- the Black, Brown, Indigenous Peoples all over the world, including on this land. I honor all those who have died, and I lift the stories of those our society never dares to talk about – the stories of the anti-war troops and veterans.
We know that these wars are not endless by accident and neither is the erasure of those willing to tell the truth about them. Telling the truth – that the deaths we mourn (and don’t mourn) on Memorial Day, were for greed and power, not freedom – is one of the most powerful things we can do to unravel the lies and ignite the power we hold as the anti-war majority.
This Memorial Day, take a moment to learn and share about the lives, quotes, and stories of fallen About Face: Veterans Against the War members in a special online memorial. Share stories about those that have inspired you and copy/paste this link on your social media so that others can be inspired as well: ’…”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
ARTICLES:
A. ICE Detainee Who Died of COVID-19 Suffered Horrifying Neglect – May 24, 2020
Presente!
♥ Carlos Ernesto Escobar Mejia ♥
B. Trump administration considering first US nuclear test since 1992 – May 23, 2020
https://nypost.com/2020/05/23/trump-administration-mulling-first-us-nuclear-test-since-1992/
See Action # 1
C. Senate Committee slips through $38 billion package to Israel – May 22, 2020
The Foreign Relations Committee passed a bill yesterday to give Israel a minimum of $38 billion over the next ten years, despite ongoing devastation to the US economy. The bill was passed in a meeting closed to Senate live-streaming in a voice vote on a group of 15 items. There was no discussion or debate of the bill – the largest such package in US history – and its title was never said… Now the bill will go to the full Senate. If it passes there, it will likely be signed into law…
See Action # 4
D. UK Minister Who Approved Trump’s Request to Extradite Assange Spoke at Secretive US Conferences with People Calling for Him to be ‘Neutralized’
E. New York cops practice viral profiling – May 20, 2020
F. Annexation is not just about stealing land — it’s about expelling Palestinians – May 19, 2020
G. Structural Violence, COVID-19, and The Bronx: A Black Physician on Health Inequities – May 19, 2020
5 – ACTIONS:
1. Stop Trump from Testing Nuclear Weapons
2. Tell the EPA to stop poisoning our drinking water!
SIGN: https://action.foe.org/page/19518/action/1?ea.tracking.id=Email&ea.url.id=480866&forwarded=true
3. Petition calling on AIMCo to drop its risky investment in Coastal GasLink pipeline before the deal is finalized?
See Event # 3
4. CALL Your Senators – Tell them to VOTE NO on S.B. 3176 The $38 billion military aid package for Israel
Senator Dianne Feinstein
S.F. Office: (415) 393 – 0707
D.C. Office: (202) 224 – 3841
Senator Kamala Harris
S.F. Office: (415) 981 – 9369
D.C. Office: (202) 224 – 3553
Capitol Switchboard: (202) 224 – 3121
5. Pause the Sale of Weapons and Military Arms Until Congress can Provide Appropriate Oversight
SIGN: https://actionnetwork.org/letters/pause-arms-sales-during-the-covid-19-crisis
If these arms sales go through, expect to see more:
– Extrajudicial killings in the Philippines, where up to 24,000 people have been killed without trial in Duterte’s now infamous War on Drugs.Mass trials and disappearances of activists and critics – in Egypt, where President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has maintained a nation-wide state of emergency since 2017.
– Impunity in India, where extrajudicial killings are going uninvestigated and unpunished in regions still subject to the Armed Forces Special Powers Act.
– War in Yemen, where the United Arab Emirates has been transferring US weapons to armed groups engaged in the civil war.
– Consolidation of power in Hungary, where Prime Minister Viktor Orban is proposing sweeping emergency powers that would give him the ability to create and annul laws without legislative or judicial review.
See Event # 1
EVENTS
Monday, May 25 – Thursday, May 28
Monday, May 25
1. Monday, 5pm PDT/8pm EDT, #NoArmsSaletoDuterte: An Educational Forum about the Impacts of U.S. Arms Deal on Human Rights in the Philippines
Zoom call:
Register here: https://tinyurl.com/NoArmsSalesForum
Facebook event: No Arms Sales To Duterte: An Online Forum on US-PH Arms Deal
The International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP), BAYAN USA and Malaya Movement alongside the RESIST! invite you to the #NoArmsSaletoDuterte: An Educational Forum about the Impacts of U.S. Arms Deal on Human Rights in the Philippines
This is an urgent webinar and call to action regarding the recent news about the U.S. and Philippine government’s arms deal amidst this COVID-19 pandemic.
Published in detail April 30 by Defense Security Cooperation Agency, the following is a brief summary of the two possible deals, both of which mention the possibility of offsets, which means that US taxpayers could end up shouldering some of the cost:
1. From Boeing and Lockheed Martin, the offer includes attack helicopters, a long list of armaments, including rockets and air-to-ground and air-to-air missiles — a total offer of $1.5B to upgrade anti-insurgency capabilities against insurgent forces in the Philippines that do not even have any aircraft.
2. From Bell Helicopter and General Electric, the offer includes attack helicopters and associated arms including missiles, laser guidance missile systems, and semi-armor piercing high explosive Incendiary rounds – a total offer of $450M.
For info: ichrpus@gmail.com
2. Monday, 7:30pm, “More Than That”
Livestream: https://themarsh.org/runs/mnmarshstream/
Storied from The Formerly Incarcerated People’s Performance Project.
Fred Johnson – “Success In Minor”
Ronnie Muniz – “Ceo Pastor”
Tony Cyprien – “The Bus Ride & Then Some
Tuesday, May 26
3. Tuesday, 12 AM – 11:30 PM UTC-06, (Couldn’t figure out US time) Shut Down AIMCo Online Day of Action #WetsuwetenStrong
Online event
https://www.facebook.com/events/2773219559466844/?active_tab=about
Join the #ShutDownAIMCo Online Day of Action and take a stand in solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en nation!
Despite the COVID-19 global pandemic, international solidarity calls for an end to all construction, and an eviction notice by Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs, CGL and RCMP continue to illegally occupy sovereign Wet’suwet’en yintah. Their presence on the territory puts communities at risk; endangers Indigenous womxn, two-spirit, and non-binary people with the building of man camps along the pipeline route; and threatens land, water, climate, and air.
AIMCo, a public pension fund manager in so-called Alberta, is set to finalize a deal with TC Energy at the end of this month to purchase a 65% share in Coastal GasLink pipeline alongside U.S. based investment firm KKR.
Hosts: Shut Down AIMCo & Wet’suwet’en
Info: https://www.facebook.com/events/2773219559466844/?active_tab=about
4.Tuesday, 11:00am (PT); 2:00pm (ET), Alternative Facts: The Lies of Executive Order 9066
Register: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_PHPIoh4dSEi7Czbemyjz9g?timezone_id=America%2FLos_Angeles
Stop Repeating History in partnership with the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) is proud to present an exclusive panel discussion on the award-winning documentary feature film, Alternative Facts: The Lies of Executive Order 9066
The documentary is about the false information and political influences which led to the World War II incarceration of Japanese Americans. Honorable Mention for 2020 ABA Silver Gavel Award, the film sheds light on the people and politics that influenced the signing of the infamous Executive Order 9066 which authorized the mass incarceration of nearly 120,000 Japanese Americans.
Panelists include:
Sharon A. Sakamoto, Retired Legal Luminary, Sharon is a third generation Japanese American born in Camp Minidoka, Idaho and was a member of Gordon Hirabayashi’s coram nobis legal team. A co-founder of the Asian Bar Association of Washington (ABAW)
Donald Tamaki, Managing Partner, Minami Tamaki LLP, Don served on the legal team that reopened the 1944 U.S. Supreme Court case of Fred Korematsu, overturning his criminal conviction for defying the removal of almost 120,000 Japanese Americans.
Helen Zia, Civil Rights Activist & Author, Helen’s books include Last Boat out of Shanghai, Asian American Dreams and My Country Versus Me. She is board chair emerita of the Women’s Media Center. A founder in the Justice for Vincent Chin campaign, one of the seminal points in the modern day Asian American movement, Helen is outspoken on issues ranging from human rights and peace to women’s rights and countering hate violence and homophobia.
5. Tuesday, 4:00pm – 5:00pm (PT); 7:00pm (ET), Poor People’s Campaign Virtual Town Hall: Voting, Poverty, Racism, Healthcare, COVID-19
Broadcast live on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/anewppc/
join this important discussion on the impacts of systemic racism, poverty, voting rights, healthcare and Covid-19 in the black community as we organize to build power for the
Virtual Mass Poor People’s Assembly & Moral March on Washington taking place on
June 20th.
This discussion will include a call to action and conscience from the Council of Presidents – National Pan-Hellenic Council
ASL ACCESS: ASL Interpreters will be provided on thNAe main live-streamed event. The live-stream will be posted in the Deaf Poor People’s Campaign Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/deafppc/
Info: https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2020/05/22/18833179.php
6. Tuesday, 5:00pm – 6:00pm (PT); 8:00pm – 9:00pm (ET), Protect LGBTQ Workers: A Supreme Court Briefing
REGISTER HERE:
Livestream: https://www.facebook.com/wedemandjusticenow/
Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/4815900783594/WN_TA0jcw9WSQiL1XNkQSoy7A
Soon, the Supreme Court will decide whether to take away federal protection from millions of LGBTQ+ Americans and allow them to be fired from their jobs because of whom they love or how they identify. Over half of all LGBTQ+ Americans live in states where state law doesn’t protect them against workplace discrimination, so their only safeguard is the federal Civil Rights Act. Now, the Supreme Court could strip them of that essential protection.
As we await the Supreme Court’s decision, join Rep. Jerry Nadler, the National Center for Transgender Equality, Lambda Legal, National Women’s Law Center, ACLU of Michigan, CPD Action, and Demand Justice for a conversation, moderated by Slate’s Mark Joseph Stern, about what’s at stake for LGBTQ+ Americans and how we can act to advance equality.
Hosts: Center for Popular Democracy and Demand Justice.
Info: https://www.facebook.com/events/1183525718657339/ or https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2020/05/22/18833209.php
7. Tuesday, 5:00pm – 7:00pm, Palestine, Zionism, and Racial Justice: An Introduction
FREE REGISTRATION:
As people in the US, our government is directly responsible for providing Israel with the material resources and political cover it uses to maintain and expand its brutal settler colonial project in Palestine. Recognizing that all forms of oppression are interconnected and can’t be fought in isolation, we offer this webinar to strengthen your understanding of the struggle for Palestinian liberation, its intersections with domestic racial justice struggles, and to offer lessons for white organizers working in solidarity.
Panelists:
Jonathan Brenneman is a Palestinian American Christian serving as Communications Manager for Friends of Sabeel North America.
Lara Kiswani is the executive director of the Arab Resource and Organizing Center and a lecturer in the College of Ethnic Studies at San Francisco State University.
Lee Gargagliano is a member of the Catalyst Project collective and the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network.
Rochelle Watson is a mother, member of the Catalyst Project Collective and National Organizer for Friends of Sabeel North America.
Hosts: Showing Up for Radical Justice (SURJ), AROC, Friends of Sabeel North America, Catalyst Project
Info: https://www.facebook.com/events/237040584221317/
Wednesday, May 27
8. Wednesday, 1:00pm, Body Bags will be delivered to SF Federal Building – Trump / Pence Out Now!
SF Federal Building
7th Street & Mission
SF
COVID – safe event – WEAR MASKS, & KEEP SOCIAL DISTANCE
Refuse Fascism will deliver body bags to the Federal Building in San Francisco. This will be a protest that supports and preserves social distancing and sends a simple and basic message:
As the death toll reaches 100,000, we demand: Trump/Pence Out Now!
9. Wednesday, 6:30pm – 7:30pm, Tell the SF DCCC: Release All Immigrant Detainees!
contact Karina Lynch at info@sfdemocrats.org to get the zoom invitation
Public comment is at 6:30pm
the SF Democratic County Central Committee DCCC (DCCC) will be voting on a resolution that demands Governor Newsom use his emergency powers to free all immigrants from detention in California. With close quarters, lack of basic hygiene, and limited access to health services, detention centers are breeding grounds for communicable disease. There is no possible way to be safe from COVID-19 within the walls of a detention center, and ICE
Please contact Karina Lynch at info@sfdemocrats.org to get the zoom invitation so that you can make a public comment in favor of the resolution, AND urge members of the DCCC to follow up by making calls and putting pressure on Governor Newsom and his staff!
Hosts: Bay Resistance, Never Again SF Bay Area, & Democratic Socialist of America – SF
Info: https://www.facebook.com/events/689305601904391/
Thursday, May 28
10. Thursday, 4:00pm (PT); 7:00pm (ET), Housing and a People’s Bailout: From Relief to Reimagining
Register:
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_dpfBRF0zT7Cxx2OfI2BxYw?timezone_id=America%2FLos_Angeles
COVID-19 has exposed the deadly foundations of housing inequality. As the rich bunker down in second or third homes, others are on the precipice of losing theirs. For seniors, incarcerated folks, and those who are housing insecure, overcrowded or inadequate housing solutions can be a death sentence.
It’s clear: we need a People’s Bailout for Housing to ensure that everyone has a safe place to shelter out the crisis and beyond.
Join us as we speak with an international panel of housing advocates and organizers about what we need to weather the pandemic, how grassroots movements are building tenant power, and the transformative potential of a People’s Bailout for Housing.
Speakers – housing advocates:
- Geordie Dent, Executive Director of the Federation of the Metro Tenants Association
- Leilani Farha, Former UN special rapporteur on the right to housing
- Erica Hart, organizer with the Carnegie Community Action Project
- Kate Jacobson, host of the Alberta Advantage podcast and housing organizer
Sponsor: The LEAP
