From CNY Solidarity Coalition:
Next Meeting: Sun. Dec. 6, 2020, 3-4 PM, via Zoom. Link to come.
Agenda: Part 2, The Work Ahead: What is Our New Direction? Continuation of our productive discussion from the Nov. 22 meeting. Please come and share your thoughts as we consider the new realities of political work during the Biden-Harris administration.
Upcoming Meeting Schedule: 12/20/20, 1/10/21
The CNY Solidarity Coalition Coordinating Committee needs to fill some empty positions that need to be filled in January. Please respond to this email if you would like to know more about this exciting opportunity!
Where can my political donation have the biggest impact?
Help Georgia Turn Blue: Stacey Abrams’ organizing efforts will prove critical to enabling Democrats to take Georgia’s two Senate seats in the expected run-offs. Please consider making a donation and volunteering to help her group, Fair Fight: https://fairfight.com/. Text or call Georgia voters by clicking on “Join our Fight” under the “Get Involved” heading at the bottom.
Articles of the Week:
Our friend Aly Wane, in one of his deep and thoughtful FB posts, says this: “I found this discussion helpful in terms of thinking about opportunities these next 4 years:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHAl-HjhchI&t=1700s” It’s Naomi Klein, Astra Taylor and Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor in a discussion on the election and what’s next.
Heather Cox Richardson, in her daily post, has now provided the best short history ever of tax policy, debt and deficits, and Republican lies. Absolutely worth reading, even if you know most of it. Read it Here
“This is a pattern. Since President Ronald Reagan’s presidency in the 1980s, Republicans have insisted that tax cuts will pay for themselves by stimulating economic growth, thus increasing tax revenues as everyone gets richer. At the same time, they have dramatically increased military spending without ever suggesting a way to pay for it. Then they complain about the debt, and insist that the only way to get our finances back into whack is to cut domestic spending.”
CNY Wish List: Looking to help? Here’s a wish list from local non-profits in CNY Read it Here
Advance Media New York assembled a list of our local non-profits’ most pressing needs to help them through the season – the CNY Wish List. And we’re publishing and promoting that list so we can work together to help the organizations in our community that help others.
Want to fight climate change effectively? Here’s where to donate your money. From Vox. Here
These are six of the most high-impact, cost-effective, evidence-based organizations. You may not have heard of them.
Founders Pledge, an organization that guides entrepreneurs committed to donating a portion of their proceeds to effective charities, used these same criteria to assess climate organizations. Its comprehensive report, released in 2018, informed my research and the list below. As in that report, I’ve chosen to look at groups focused on mitigation (tackling the root causes of climate change by reducing emissions) rather than adaptation (decreasing the suffering from the impacts of climate change). Both are important, but the focus of this piece is preventing further catastrophe.
EVENTS/ACTIONS CALENDAR
How to Tax the Rich
Dec. 2 at 7 PM
Register Here
Democratic Socialists of America
Learn from NYC-DSA about our plans to tax the rich and fund our future. We’re planning an ambitious campaign to mobilize across New York to demand taxes on the rich and a budget that funds a just recovery for everyone in New York. Our campaign to tax the rich is how we pay for a Green New Deal, the New York Health Act, and Housing Justice for All. Join us on December 2nd to learn about our campaign and join our fight to tax the rich!”
AFRICOM & Human Rights in Africa. Free Webinar
Friday, December 4 at 2:00PM ET / 7:00PM Nigeria Time
How to join: Register here for the Zoom info
Invite your friends and share it on Facebook!
Women’s International League for Peace & Freedom-US Section, Black Alliance for Peace, & World BEYOND War invite you to attend this free webinar on the United States African Command (AFRICOM) and Human Rights in Africa, on Friday, Dec. 4 at 11am PT, 2pm ET, 8pm Nigeria time.
Currently, there is very little discussion or reporting on the U.S. military’s presence in Africa and its detrimental impact. We need to shine a light on the alarming militarization of Africa and what we can do to reverse it. On December 4, join us for what will be an eye-opening, fact-filled webinar about what the U.S. military is really doing in Africa.
The webinar will feature first-hand reports from WILPF women describing what effects AFRICOM is having on their respective nations
Joy Onyesoh, the President of WILPF International, will speak about Nigeria; Sylvie Ndongmo, the Africa Region representative of WILPF, will speak about Cameroon; Marie-Claire Faray, currently living in the UK, will speak about the Democratic Republic of the Congo; Christine Odera, Commonwealth Youth Peace Ambassador Network – Kenya Country Coordinator (CYPAN), will speak about Kenya; writer and author Margaret Kimberley, representing the Black Alliance for Peace, will explain their initiative: Out of Africa: Shut Down AFRICOM; and investigative journalist Amanda Sperber will report on Somalia.
COVID Safety in Onondaga and Beyond: A Panel Discussion
Sat. Dec. 7 PM EST – 9:30 PM EST
Presented by Syracuse DSA Mutual Aid Committee
Communities of Color, (In)Justice, and Multiple Pandemics: Resisting the Racism of COVID-19
Webinar 1: Resisting the Racism of COVID-19
Tuesday, December 8, 2020, 3 – 5 pm EST
The Democratizing Knowledge (DK) Collective presents the Webinar Series Communities of Color, (In)Justice, and Multiple Pandemics. This Series addresses the multiple pandemics facing communities of color today, from police violence to COVID-19, from environmental racism to economic injustice, to incarceration and detention. “We can’t breathe” is both a collective reality and a rallying cry as communities work to demand accountability, and create more just and inhabitable futures. These DK webinars will bring together artists, community activists, scientists, and scholars to discuss intersecting emergencies and our visions for collective healing and political transformation.
This Webinar Series seeks to further the analysis of the current pandemic that DK laid out in our public statement (June 2020) We Can’t Breathe: Black Death, Racism, Structural Inequality and the American Viruses in Health and Higher Education at SU (http://democratizingknowledge.syr.edu/covid-19-statement.html).
Resisting the Racism of COVID-19 looks at how the pandemic exposes and intensifies the everyday violence of structural racism. Confirmed speakers include: Carrie Mae Weems, artist-in-residence at SU and creator of Resist Covid!/Take 6; Dr. Kishana Taylor, a microbiologist and leading researcher on the intersection of COVID-19 and racism (author of That’s Racist–COVID-19, Biological Determinism, and the Limits of Hypotheses); and Crispín Hernández, a community organizer with the Workers Center of CNY who mobilizes low-wage workers employed by the region’s dairy farms.
Virtual Tour of 200-Year-Old CNY Farmhouse with a 21st Century Geothermal Heat Pump!
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2020 AT 7 PM EST – 8 PM EST
After heating for 40 years with wood, Karen invested in a life-changing upgrade to her home and commitment to a sustainable future with improved insulation, a geothermal heat pump, and a solar array. She can now use the entirety of the home in the winter (no more sealing off sections of the house!) and her energy bills have dropped to just $20/month. The HeatSmart CNY team, Karen, and geothermal installer Halco will gather virtually for a show & tell of this amazing transformation!
Register here
Connecting Faith, Climate, and Justice—Virtual Conversation
Tuesday, December 8
7:00 p.m ET
Climate change does not exist as its own calamity—it is deeply interconnected with the inequities and injustices that pervade our society, both in the United States and globally.
The Union of Concerned Scientists invites you to a virtual conversation among faith leaders to learn how they have come to connect the call of faith with the need for action on climate change and racial justice.
Please register for the virtual conversation today. Contact us at events@ucsusa.org if you have questions.
Speakers:
Ken Kimmell, UCS President (Introduction)
Rev. Canon Sally Bingham, UCS National Advisory Board (Moderator)
Ibrahim Abdul-Matin
Rabbi Melanie Aron
Rev. Dr. Gerald Durley
Dr. William Edelglass
SPECIAL SHOPPING SECTION
We don’t normally promote shopping here, but with a busy shopping season combined with a need to stay home, here are a few options:
1. Support Local/Independent Businesses as much as possible. Buy gift cards, order and pick up, etc. They really need our support! Example: https://www.syracuseculturalworkers.com
2. Don’t buy from the richest man in the world. Support independent bookstores. Shop online with Bookshop. Read about it here. Or go to https://www.onlib.org for Library Takeout or to download books, movies, etc.
3. Shop at Green America’s directory of green businesses Here
4. Seven Sites that are Great Alternatives to Amazon for online essentials. article from Fast Company
5. See the special events below from some of our most progressive institutions.
ArtRage Fair Trade Sale – Virtual Edition
November 1, 2020 to January 31, 2021
Each December ArtRage Gallery hosts a two-day fair trade sale. Your purchases support artisans around the world and small local businesses. This year we feel it’s safer to offer a virtual Fair Trade Sale.
Two ways to shop with SERRV International AS a fundraiser for ArtRage:
1. Place your order through ArtRage
2. Shop directly with SERRV. ArtRage Gallery (The CORA Foundation) will receive 20% from your purchases
Details Here
Syracuse Peace Council Plowshares Craftsfair Online
Nov. 20 – Jan. 31
We are going virtual with Plowshares this year. Ten weeks of sharing, shopping, and crafts November 20-January 31, with a special weekend of online performances and live-streaming events on December 5-6 to celebrate Plowshares’ 50th Anniversary.
Plowshares Craftsfair and Peace Festival has been an SPC tradition (and major fundraiser) for 50 years! This is not the celebration we had envisioned last year, but just like everyone else, we are adapting and doing the best we can to celebrate an alternative marketplace built on cooperation, the work of our own hands, and community. Now “open” at www.plowsharescraftsfair.org.
In addition to browsing and shopping from crafters and organizations, those of you who have been to the in-person Plowshares will recognize other familiar features of Plowshares:
- An online Marketplace where you can buy books, calendars, buttons, t-shirts, and more
- An online Silent Auction where you can bid on a great selection of gift certificates for local restaurants and businesses
- Live-streamed entertainment and music
- Opportunities to talk with crafters, SPC organizers, and community members via Zoom
There will be no admission fee, but donations are gratefully accepted. Plowshares is SPC’s biggest fundraiser in the year (and frankly, we’re a bit nervous about finances). We can’t wait to “see” you there!
Three Easy Ways to Help Out With Plowshares Beforehand
1) Adopt a beautiful Plowshares Lawn sign for your lawn – we’ll put it in and pick it up. Contact carol@peacecouncil.net
2) Share the online poster. Encourage your friends and family who live further away to “visit” Plowshares. Share the facebook event for the Special Anniversary Weekend.
3) Purchase a gift card from a local business (restaurants, cafes, performing arts, health & wellness services, gift shops, etc.) and donate it to SPC to be auctioned off in our online Plowshares Silent Auction. Contact michaela@peacecouncil.net
ONGOING EVENTS:
Street Heat – Weekly Protests are back with Physical Distancing!
HANCOCK: our decade-long protests against Hancock’s piloting killer reaper drones over the Islamic oil lands continue. 6000 East Molloy Rd from 4:15 to 5 p.m. For the winter months, we will reduce our schedule: the first Tuesday of every month: same time 4:15 to 5 p.m. Dec 1; Jan 5; Feb 2; March 2; April 6.
DEWITT: Weekly protest against IDF terrorism, maiming and killing of Palestinians. Fridays NEW TIME: 4:00 to 4:45 p.m. at Erie Blvd E and E Genesee, Dewitt. Park in the nearby mini-mall parking lot.
REGIONAL FARMERS MARKET: Protests are off until April.
For more information: anntiffany6235@gmail.com
JOE GUERRIERO
WAITING FOR NORMAL: Cuba and the United States
October 22, 2020 to January 17, 2021 at ArtRage Gallery
You must make a reservation to view this exhibit in the gallery!
CLICK HERE to reserve your time to see the exhibit.
Photographer Joe Guerriero’s photography and film work does just that, reflecting more than 20 years of spending time with the Cuban people and experiencing first hand the effects of the United States’ continuing embargo of the island. He shows how the embargo affects the lives not only of Cubans but of those Cuban-Americans who still have relatives in Cuba.
COVID-19 INFORMATION:
SIRDN Covid19 Warm Line: (315) 552-1670
Syracuse Immigrant and Refugee Defense Network (SIRDN) Coronavirus-related information for farmworker, immigrant, undocumented, day laborer, and domestic worker communities. English and Spanish-speaking operators. Text and phone.
SIRDN has also created a resource document for COVID-19 information, for immigrants and undocumented folks. English and Spanish Or use these instructions to have Google translate .
If you do not have a doctor and have questions, symptoms, or may have been exposed to COVID-19, call Upstate University Hospital’s Triage Line at 315.464.397
Onondaga County Coronaviris Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Information Page
COVID-19 Testing Hotline
Upstate University Hospital Regional Triage (COVID-19) Information Page
NYS Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Information Page
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Peter McCarthy
pmccar1100@gmail.com