COVID vaccination info: links at the bottom.
From CNY Solidarity Coalition:
Next Meeting: Sunday, April 11, 2021, 3-4 PM. “Re-imagining Police Response”. Special Presentation by Dr. Brandon Hollie, Regional Program Director at Liberty Resources: See three related articles below. Zoom Link to come
Upcoming Meetings: 4/25, 5/9, 5/23. 6/6, 6/20. Committee meetings will take place, after announcements, at our second meeting each month: 3/21, 4/25, 5/23, 6/20
Invest in Our New York
Update: Over the weekend we’ve seen the news that legislators are “nearing a budget agreement that would increase corporate and income taxes by $4.3 billion a year”. But it’s not over until it’s over and we’re demanding Not A Penny Less than $7 Billion!
Will you call the Governor RIGHT NOW and tell him that you expect him to Invest In Our New York? 1-518-474-8390
Next IONY Planning Team Meeting: April 25, at the CNY Solidarity Zoom Meeting at 3 PM. Contact Peter (pmccar1100@gmail.com) or Keller (Keller.shelton@gmail.com)
Agenda: What next? The long term struggle to enact fair taxes in New York.
To Learn more:
o https://www.cnysolidarity.org/2021/02/02/invest-in-our-new-york/
o http://investinourny.org (scroll down past the petition to the slideshow, or keep going to the Act Summary)
Articles of the Week:
There’s a new approach to police response to mental health emergencies. Taking the police out of it. Article on CNN
“The concept of relying on police only when they’re absolutely needed has been gaining traction across the country, with San Francisco being the first big city to actually launch its own unit. They’re hoping to model a decades-old program in Eugene, Oregon called CAHOOTS, short for Crisis Assistance Helping Out On The Streets. The program dispatches unarmed responders to crises that are neither violent nor criminal.”
KEEPING COMMUNITIES SAFE WITHOUT COPS:
Watch Here. In February 2021, the Portland Street Response responded to their first call. PSR is a non-police response pilot program, operating only in the Lents neighborhood, which seeks to assist people experiencing homelessness and behavior or mental health crises by dispatching paramedis and crisis counselors instead of armed police.
Portland City Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty joins #AppealLive to discuss how the Portland Street Response unit came to be, how the pilot program is going, and what other cities can learn from the experiment.
Syracuse Can Improve Police Reform By Reimagining Public Safety (Commentary)
Commentary by George Kunkel of SPAARC
Link to article on Syracuse.com
The Filibuster’s Racist History, Explained
“It’s been a tool used overwhelmingly by racists,” says Kevin Kruse, a historian of race and American politics at Princeton University.
The “Root Cause” of Central American Migration Is Broken U.S. Policies
Migrants are fleeing their home countries in large part because of conditions that the United States helped bring about. Read itin the New Republic
“While often discussed as if emerging from a vacuum, the state of weakness, corruption, inequality, and domination of organized crime that so often forms the basis of asylum seekers’ claims has been created and fomented at every turn by U.S. policymaking.”
EVENTS/ACTIONS CALENDAR:
The Onondaga County Legislature Democratic Caucus unveiled their CNY Rising Recovery Plan for federal funds we are receiving from President Biden’s American Rescue Act. Read it Here, then call your legislator. If you live in the city of Syracuse, you still are represented by a County Legislator. Figure out who that is, between the Members Here and the Maps Here.
The Syracuse Center for Peace and Social Justice is accepting applications for their Board of Directors. The Center is a non-profit organization that houses Syracuse Peace Council, Workers Center of CNY, Public Citizen, Black Lives Matter, AGREE, Unchained, and NY Immigration Coalition. We also offer low cost meeting spaces for progressive organizations. We are a fully volunteer board seeking to expand our skill base. Applications can be found on our website at syracusecenter.org.
April Events from our friends at Alliance for a Green Economy (AGREE) and HeatSmart
We’re busy planning a whole series of informative online events, and sharing a few others that have caught our eye. Learn the basics, talk to people who have already taken steps to improve their homes with better insulation and heat pumps, and think big -heat pumps are the future for schools and large buildings too! These are just a few… visit our website for more events coming up in April.
In current events… the Heat Pump Demonstration Study still has funding, so if you or your neighbors qualify, there is still time to connect with this opportunity for low or no-cost insulation and heating and cooling upgrades to efficient heat pumps.
The Big Scary ‘S’ Word: Socialists Fighting for Universal Healthcare during COVID and Beyond
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 7, 2021 AT 8 PM EDT – 9:30 PM EDT
Event by Democratic Socialists of America, In These Timesand Dissent Magazine
Online: act.dsausa.org
RSVP here: https://act.dsausa.org/…/the-big-scary-s-word…/
Join the Democratic Socialists of America Fund, Dissent magazine, DSA’s Medicare for All campaign and Health Workers Collective, Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP), and In These Times for the first installment in a-series of virtual events inspired by The Big Scary “S” Word. This month’s discussion will focus on the fight for universal healthcare during COVID and beyond.
The Big Scary “S” Word is a new documentary feature from Yael Bridge about socialism in the United States past and present. It draws connections between many of our social and economic crises and focuses on American socialists’ responses.
On April 7, the filmmaker will join us to answer questions about the film and the panel will discuss and respond to your questions about how we can get where we need to go now for everyone in the U.S. to have full access to good healthcare, during the COVID pandemic and beyond.
Energy Democracy in Action
Thursday, April 8, 6PM Alliance for a Green Economy
RSVP | Facebook Event
Our utility system is set up to prioritize making money for a small number of wealthy people over us, our homes, our health, and our well-being. Join Alliance for a Green Economy and other members of the New York Energy Democracy Alliance at 6PM on April 8 to learn how we can fight back against the system and demand debt cancellation, energy efficiency, and public power!
We will learn more about the struggle for energy democracy across New York and talk through our plan to win each of these three demands: Utility Debt Cancellation, Energy Efficiency Equity and Jobs, and Public Power. Together! Please RSVP here, and share this invitation with your network.
Bridging the Gaps of COVID-19: A Community Conversation
Friday, April 9 at 5PM EDT – 6:30 PM EDT
Event by InterFaith Works
Pre-registration required 35 participants max
This Community Conversation invites the new American, immigrant and refugee community to join the wider community to:
• Share lived experiences and the impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had in your life
• Listen to personal accounts from medical experts, including factual information about the COVID-19 vaccine
• Reflect on the unique impact and discrimination of Asian-Americans and Asian communities
The event is a collaboration between SCSD Seeds of Peace students (current and alumni), the El-Hindi Center for Dialogue and the Center for New Americans at IFW.
Climate Justice Town Hall with Senator Schumer and more!
Friday, April 09, 2021• 6:30 PM • EDT
Register Host Contact Info: NY Renews, info@nyrenews.org
Join NY Renews and One NY Indivisible for a Climate, Jobs, and Justice Town hall with Senator Schumer and other local and federal leaders to discuss how we’re going to pass ambitious climate justice legislation on both a state and federal level.
We will be diving into the New York State Climate and Community Investment Act (CCIA) and the federal THRIVE Agenda and spending most of the time taking questions directly from YOU to the legislators.
Live Spanish translation and closed captioning
The Spector of Dictatorship and Judicial Enabling of Presidential Power
Dr. David Driesen speaks on his forthcoming book.
Sunday, April 11 at 1 p.m Register Here
Zoom meeting hosted by the CNY Humanist Association. The book examines democratic erosion in Turkey, Hungary and Poland (primarily) to understand the threat growing presidential power poses to U.S. democracy.
The Public Health Case for a 100% Renewable New York
Wednesday, April 14, 2021 At 7 PM EDT
Join us for the third forum in our 4 part series on the transition to 100% renewables in New York.
Dr. Sandra Steingraber, Dr. Tommy Rock and Dr. Patricia DeMarco, esteemed scientists and experts on health, energy and the environment will discuss the health impacts of fracked gas, uranium mining and nuclear power and why a swift transition to 100% renewable energy is the way forward for better public health.
Register Here: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_uaayF2ihQde0MJT_34_uEw
Parole Justice Town Hall
April 15th at 6pm. RSVP on Zoom here: bit.ly/syracuse-parole-justice
Join Center for Community Alternatives, ACTS and NAN. Hear from formerly incarcerated people and families about the urgent need for parole justice in New York State. Together, we can end mass incarceration and bring our elders and loved ones home.
2021 Justice For Women Lecture: “The Impact of Climate Change on Indigenous Women Around the World”
Thursday, April 15, 2021 at 12 pm EDT – 1:30 pm EDT
Event by University of Maine School of Law
Join us for the 10th annual Justice For Women Lecture. We are excited to present an amazing lineup of activists from around the world for an engaging discussion on the impact of climate change on indigenous women. The event will kick off with a special message from U.S. Representative Deb Haaland and a reading by Joan Naviyuk Kane, Inupiaq writer, Harvard, Scripps & Tufts faculty. The panel discussion will be moderated by Joaqlin Estus, national correspondent for the Alaska bureau of Indian Country Today. Featured panelists include:
*Galina Angarova- Executive Director at Cultural Survival
*Sherri Mitchell- Lawyer, Author, and Indigenous Rights Activist
*Sara Olsvig- Ph.D. fellow and former MP of Greenland
*Quannah ChasingHorse- Land Protector and Climate Activist
Learn more about this year’s lecture and panelists here: https://mainelaw.maine.edu/news/2021-jfw/
Policed Bodies: A Community Conversation on Race, Disability, and Justice
| April 16-17, 2021Schedule and registration: http://ow.ly/za7s50DTtO3The Lender Center for Social Justice #CDI and School of Education, Syracuse University#PolicedBodies, a two-day conversation on issues of race, disability, and justice in the policing of bodies in communities and schools including a Saturday morning session focused on community engagement and next steps in the Syracuse area and beyond. |
“Driving While Black: African American Travel and the Road to Civil Rights”
April 16, 2021 | 4 PM EST
Gretchen Sorin, Distinguished Professor at SUNY Oneonta
Ms. Sorin will discuss her new book, “Driving While Black: African American Travel and the Road to Civil Rights.” The book was also the basis of a major PBS documentary, uncovering the history of how the automobile profoundly changed African American life.
Campbell Institute, Maxwell School, Syracuse University
17th Annual Symposium on Energy in the 21st Century
April 16, 2021 – 8:00am – 1:00pm REGISTER or for information: Www.energy21symposium.org
*Zero Emission Transportation*
*State, National & Global Initiatives*
*Environmental Equity in Transportation*
Speakers include:
Daniel Sperling, Ph.D.: National Center For Sustainable Transportation, UC Davis California Initiatives As A Model; Zev Mandate
Matteo Muratori, Ph.D; NREL, Usdoe: Electric Vehicles In The U.S. – Present And Future
Adam Rude; NYSERDA: NYS Collaboration Public/Private; Transportation
Joshua Sperling, Ph.D; NREL: Environmental Justice & Sustainable Urban Living
Tara Kapila; National Grid: The Grid’s Role In Ev’s And Renewables In Grid
Jared Snyder, Dec: CLCPA; Clean Transportation Policy Initiatives
Update on Federal Initiatives
Virtual People’s Hearing on New York State Redistricting
Thursday, April 29, 2021 at 6:30 pm EDT
Go To Link Event by League Of Women Voters of NYS
Join us for the League of Women Voter’s first ever virtual People’s Hearing on New York State Redistricting! Our virtual hearing will allow New Yorkers from around the state to present testimony on why redistricting matters to them and their community of interest.
Click here to register via Zoom for this event: https://us02web.zoom.us/…/reg…/WN_SAAgQj4oSvynFjTLVfx6Hg
The League will be inviting selected applicants to provide oral testimony at our People’s Hearing on April 29th at 6:30 pm. Testifiers will be selected based on their written testimony and the region of the state they represent.
| “Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present”April 30, 2021 – 4 PM EST https://www.maxwell.syr.edu/stateofdemocracy/Ruth Ben-Ghiat, Professor of History & Italian Studies at New York UniversityMs. Ben-Ghiat writes frequently for CNN and other news and analysis sites on fascism, authoritarian leaders, propaganda, and threats to democracy around the world and how to counter them. She will discuss her new book, “Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present,” the first study to place President Donald Trump in the context of a century of authoritarian leaders that use a playbook of corruption, violence, propaganda, and machismo to stay in power. |
DEADLOCKED AND LOADED: Disarming America Curated by Karen M. Gutfreund
February 11 to April 18, 2021
ArtRage Gallery – https://artragegallery.org Make your reservation for in-person gallery viewing HERE!
The need to address gun violence is more urgent than ever and in response, artists from across the United States have used their artistic voices to address issues related to our culture of gun violence particularly how it affects women, children and marginalized peoples.
Deadlocked and Loaded: Disarming America is a “locked and loaded” conversation through art, showcasing art in all media that addresses the culture of violence, systemic racism, police brutality and gun issues in the United States—particularly in how it affects women and children with lasting impacts.
This exhibition is presented in collaboration with Community Folk Art Center and Point of Contact Gallery in Syracuse. A catalog representing all 36 artists exhibiting in the three galleries can be viewed HERE.
VERY BUSY? BUT WANT TO DO YOUR PART? JOIN STREET HEAT!
EXPOSE KILLER DRONE TERROR: join our decade-long protests against the piloting of reaper drones over the Islamic oil lands…across from the main gate of Hancock AFB, 6000 East Molloy Rd (east of Mattydale)…4:15 to 5 p.m. every Tuesdayfrom April 6 thru the end of October.
STAND WITH PALESTINE expose IDF terrorism, Occupation and apartheid in Gaza and West Bank…intersection of Erie Blvd E and E Genesee in De Witt…4:15 to 5 p.m every Friday
BRING YOUR OWN PEACE AND JUSTICE SIGN*…opposite the Regional Market main entrance On Park ST.. every Saturday 9 to 9:45 a.m. beginning April 3 *or use one of ours. (Ann or Ed 315 478-4571 home)
*Social distancing***Legal***No meetings, no obligation, no cost***Easy parking***Rain or shine*
DONATIONS NEEDED:
Using your stimulus or tax return check for good:We have compiled a list of organizations that do important work and are in need of assistance. We will update and reprint this periodically. You can respond to this email with your suggestions. Our emphasis is on local groups providing services and advocacy in our community.
61 Ways to Donate in Support of Asian Communities in New York Magazine Here
“We’ve organized this list based on what each organization does, from assisting businesses impacted by COVID-19 to providing legal aid and education, so if you’d like to jump to a specific type of organization, simply click on the category.”
Syracuse Peace Council really needs our support now – and many of us are receiving $1,400 checks (or more if we have a partner or children). Many of our neighbors desperately need those funds for food, housing and other basic necessities. Others of us have the capacity to donate some, or all of that money.
During the Trump era SPC played important support roles:
· Helping found and provide significant organizational support to the CNY Solidarity Coalition
· Participating actively in SPAARC (Syracuse Police Accountability and Reform Coalition) and advocating for the demilitarization of the police
· Working with a broad coalition of local progressive organizations to protect the 2020 election results
· Supporting Indigenous-led organizing to remove the Columbus statue in downtown Syracuse
And, SPC’s ongoing projects – Neighbors of the Onondaga Nation, Beyond War and Militarism,, Nuclear Free World, and Justice for Palestine – continue their long-term educational and advocacy work.
This work needs our financial support to continue, and ideally to expand. SPC has suffered financially during the pandemic, but has carried on a high level of activity with limited resources.
Donate Online right now, Send a check to: Syracuse Peace Council, 2013 E. Genesee St., Syracuse, NY 13210
OR – Become a monthly or quarterly pledger – you can do this online, via check or as a direct transfer from Cooperative Federal Credit Union or another financial institution. For help setting up an ongoingpledge, contact https://peacecouncil.net/contact
Workers’ Center of Central New York is a grassroots organization focused upon workplace and economic justice. Through community organizing, leadership development, popular education and policy advocacy, the Workers’ Center of Central New York aims to empower marginalized, low-wage workers to combat workplace abuses and improve wages and working conditions throughout the community. Donate Here
NYIC – The New York Immigration Coalition
Fund the fight to protect and empower immigrant New Yorkers.
NYIC is an umbrella policy & advocacy organization that represents over 200 immigrant and refugee rights groups throughout New York. Donate Here
We work on behalf of New York’s 4.4 million immigrants, one third of whom are on the frontlines of COVID-19 taking care of our loved ones, picking our produce, and sanitizing our essential businesses.
SIRDN Syracuse Immigrant and Refugee Defense Network
Donate Here Contact us at SIRDN315@gmail.com OR call our warmline 315-552-1670
This fund supports undocumented workers and families who are ineligible or unable to receive governmental relief funds during the COVID-19 pandemic. We allocate the funds in coordination with the Workers Center of Central New York to assist individuals with paying rent, buying food, accessing transportation, and meeting other basic needs.
Here are some other ways to help by donating directly:
ReBirth Syr
Syracuse Immigrant and Refugee Defense Network (SIRDN)
Black Leadership Coalition
Unchained works to decarcerate jails and prisons and improve conditions for those left behind.
Support Black-owned Businesses in Syracuse. Over the summer, Onondaga Community College’s Phi Theta Kappa honor society leadership team conducted academic research to better understand racial inequality in our community. They decided to do something positive and created an easy-to-use directory of 21 Black-owned businesses in Syracuse and CNY.
Friends of Dorothyis an initiative to be supportive of people with AIDS. Since October of 1992 we have offered home-based care to people with AIDS in a variety of ways, including recuperative or hospice care, supportive housing and emergency assistance. Donate:
Food Bank of CNY Donate or Volunteer
Rise Above the Streets provides support for people who do not have housing.
For monetary donations: Use PayPal weriseabovethestreets@gmail.com
Cashapp: $Alamin44 #IfWeEatTheyEat
See this article. We will continue to serve our homeless friends and the under represented but volunteering will be by scheduled appointments only. If you would like to volunteer please contact me at 315-491-7164.
OG’s Against Violence is proud to serve the City of Syracuse and Central New York to reduce the violence that has afflicted our community through grassroots outreach and a boots on the ground effort to reach out to people and bring positive change.
Support Organizations during Black Futures Month Donate Here
(This link is from the national Indivisible folks.)
The impact of Black-led organizations cannot be overstated. If we just look at what they’ve done in the last year, Black activists have been at the front lines of the ongoing struggle for racial and economic equality. All the while, they had the vision to organize, register, and activate voters across the country. The work is only just getting started, which is why these organizations deserve all the support we can give.
174 Ways to Donate in Support of Black Lives and Communities of Color
From New York magazine
The 50 Best Charities to Give to Right Now (from Good Housekeeping, Here. NOTE: Charity Watch and Charity Navigator rate organizations on financial health and transparency, not on social justice goals or impact.)
INTERNATIONAL DONATIONS
Medecins Sans Frontieres/Doctors without Borders: https://www.msf.org Doctors Without Borders is expanding our global response to the coronavirus pandemic, providing on-the-ground medical care to the people who need it most— from Italy to Iraq, Spain to Syria. We provide medical assistance to people affected by conflict, epidemics, disasters, or exclusion from healthcare. Our teams are made up of tens of thousands of health professionals, logistic and administrative staff – most of them hired locally. Our actions are guided by medical ethics and the principles of impartiality, independence and neutrality.
OXFAM We help people build better futures for themselves, hold the powerful accountable, and save lives in disasters.We are working with our partners, government health ministries, and key UN agencies in more than 50 countries to determine how best to respond to the crisis (despite limitations on travel in some areas), especially given our expertise in public health, water, and sanitation. Many of our staff and partners are increasing the delivery of soap, clean water, and sanitation services, including building and upgrading hand-washing facilities with a special focus on people in higher-risk areas and at health facilities. https://www.oxfamamerica.org
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.”
COVID Vaccination News:
Onondaga County – Sign up Now, scheduling for all over 16
Kinney Drugs: https://kinneydrugs.as.me/schedule.php
NYS: https://am-i-eligible.covid19vaccine.health.ny.gov/?fbclid=IwAR3Rnv3ZA95eGORIEUdcsJ0_nkgbz9BOUMOlEe-dKQPcxjxPcY_G1nQ3lwo
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Peter McCarthy
pmccar1100@gmail.com