Community Events & Newsletter – April 20, 2021 to April 27, 2021

COVID vaccination info: links at the bottom.

From CNY Solidarity Coalition:

Next Meeting: Sunday, April 25, 2021, 3-4 PM. Zoom Link to come

Agenda: Committee Meetings. Come check out our action committees!

· Indivisible NY 24

· SLAT/IONY (State and Local Legislative Action Team/Invest in Our NY)

· Climate Justice

NOTE: Revised Meeting Schedule: Upcoming Meetings: 5/16/21, 6/6/21, 6/27/21. Committee meetings will take place, after announcements, at our second meeting each month: 4/25, 6/27

Invest in Our New York

Next IONY Planning Team Meeting is April 25, at the CNY Solidarity Zoom Meeting at 3pm. 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:

Rachel May, a different kind of upstate Democrat

The IDC-slaying state senator is showing that you don’t have to be a moderate to win.

Link to article on www.cityandstateny.com

“May believes her leadership represents a shift for upstate New York. Upstate Democrats no longer need to run to the right to win elections and deliver for their districts – both the rural and urban parts. Before her 2018 victory, there were only two other upstate Democratic state senators aside from Valesky… Last year, five upstate Democrats were newly elected to the state Senate, bringing the total of upstate Senate Democrats to eight and helping to deliver a supermajority for the party in the upper chamber.”

During Women’s History Month, thank women for preventing nuclear disaster

Link to Syracuse.com

Wendy Yost, of Syracuse, writes on behalf of the Nuclear Free World Committee of the Syracuse Peace Council.

“In 1961 Bella Abzug and Dagmar Wilson founded “Women Strike for Peace.” Their goal was to stop nations from nuclear testing. The movement brought 50,000 women in 60 different cities together in protest. Coretta Scott King served as the organization’s delegate to an international disarmament conference in 1962. The public pressure brought by these women and the near-disaster of the Cuban Missile crisis helped bring the Soviet Union, United Kingdom and U.S. together to sign the Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty…”

Abolition Is a Collective Vision: An Interview With Mariame Kaba – at The Nation

A conversation about how the pandemic has raised the stakes for the abolition movement, collective care, and a world without prisons.

“…Kaba has argued that prisons do not end violence; they simply concentrate it among the most marginalized members of society. As a result, both survivors of interpersonal harm and state harm concerned with ending violence ought to support prison abolition, the ongoing movement to end surveillance, police, and prisons and to produce alternative modes of providing justice. Her new book, We Do This ’Til We Free Us, collects a number of her essays, interviews, and more.”

Cities Drop Most Charges Against BLM Protesters as Cops Fail to Provide Evidence

Read it on Truthout

“The extremely high percentage of protest-related charges ultimately being dropped or dismissed suggests that police may have been using arrests as a tactic to prove that the protests were unruly and unlawful. As political commentators from both parties disparaged the movement for racial justice, media outlets kept tallies of arrests from the protests… Arresting more people and racking up charges, even if they’ve now been shown to be baseless, became a way for police to justify officers’ violent and deadly behavior.”

Some folks have been watching the Hemingway series on PBS. Here’s another take:

Ken Burns’ vicious Hemingway smear: PBS series totally ignores writer’s lifelong leftist politics on Salon

Ernest Hemingway was a lifelong anti-fascist persecuted by the FBI. New miniseries erases that history entirely

“I’m not suggesting that Hemingway deserves hagiography. He was undeniably a complicated and difficult man. But in failing to demonstrate any compassion for his physical ailments and mental illness, lying about the FBI’s desecration of his civil liberties and distorting his lifelong leftist politics, Burns and Novick are effectively carrying water for J. Edgar Hoover.”

EVENTS/ACTIONS CALENDAR

Workers’ Center seeking help with LTE’S: We won! $2.1 billion was allocated to an Excluded Workers Fund in the NYS budget. Unfortunately, it was an ugly fight and even some of our Dems (like Mannion) chose not to support excluded workers. We’re already seeing some uninformed, racist, anti-immigrant attacks on the fund by republican politicians. We want to ramp up positive voices in the media celebrating this fund and its impact in our upstate communities, correcting myths and supporting the politicians who fought for the fund. The FEW coalition is launching a coordinated Letters to the Editor (LTEs) effort over the coming weeks. We have a template and can help personalize messages and place LTE’s, we’re looking for allies in various sectors who are willing to sign one — especially teachers, healthcare workers, social workers, etc., who have seen first hand the harm this pandemic has caused to our immigrant community. If you can personalize, sign, and send a letter based on their template, please contact Jessica at jmaxwell@workerscentercny.org

Why Hospitals & the People They Serve Should Support Single Payer & the NY Health Act

Tuesday, Apr. 20 at 7 PM Go To Link

Event by Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP) – NY Metro Chapter

RSVP here: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_i9vAYStFS3CVWSFuIcZb4Q
Closed captions will be available.

This forum will explore the failures of the way hospitals are currently financed, and how the New York Health Act would benefit hospitals and the people they serve.

Well before the COVID-19 pandemic, many hospitals – especially those serving low-income communities – suffered from financial difficulties, leading to many of them closing. The reason was not a lack of need – in fact, many closures occurred in communities with great unmet health needs. The closures occurred as a result of the way we pay for health care in the United States. Too many people have no coverage, or inadequate coverage, and too many hospitals receive inadequate reimbursement. The pandemic has tragically further exposed this broken financing system, as hospitals were busier than ever – literally overflowing with severely ill patients – yet were financially stressed due to the postponement of more profitable elective patient care.

Despite this, senior leadership at many hospitals openly opposes single payer and its local form, the New York Health Act. This forum will explore the failures of the current way we finance hospitals and how the New York Health Act would benefit hospitals and the people they serve. We call on hospital leaders to support the New York Health Act (A.6058/S.5474) and the national legislation that would create improved and expanded Medicare for All (HR-1976).

Qualify, Certify, Compete! | Workshop for Minority & Women Owned Businesses

Wed., Apr. 21, at 5:30 PM Link

Event by Cooperative Federal and Diversify-NY, LLC Online: eventbrite.com

New York State has increased its state contracting utilization goal for minority-and-women-owned business enterprises (MWBEs) to 30 percent – the highest such target in the nation for any state government.

This workshop, lead by DIVERSIFY-NY LLC, provides guidance to help BIPOC and/or women entrepreneurs become part of the diversity supply chain. Learn what it takes to get certified as a Minority or Women Business Enterprise, and how to navigate government contracting.

NYS M/WBE Certification qualifies your company for contracting opportunities that are otherwise inaccessible.

*Presented by Diversify-NY LLC, a certified MBE

*Hosted by Cooperative Federal, Syracuse’s community credit union (NCUA INSURED)

Homeownership Pop-Up: Your Path

Wednesday, April 21, 2021 At 7 PM EDT

Event by Cooperative Federal

Online: eventbrite.com

How ready are you to buy a home? Find out where you are on the path to homeownership, and how you can take the next (or the first!) steps. Cooperative Federal is a HUD Housing Counseling Affiliate and an Equal Housing Lender. As a non-profit, community development credit union, we are dedicated to homeownership opportunity and justice in Syracuse communities.

World on Fire! Earth Day Event at Hancock Air Base

Thursday, April 22 – 10:15am, meet at May Memorial (3800 E. Genesee St., Syracuse) to caravan to the base together OR just meet at the Base at 11am. Share the facebook event. The event is sponsored by Upstate Drone Action and supported by SPC’s Beyond Militarism Committee.

Our action, World on Fire!, cries out that the U.S. military is wounding our climate 24/7 and if we want our children to have a livable future, this must be stopped. Drone warfare is one component of the vast military mega machine which consumes fossil fuels relentlessly. The U.S. military is the single biggest institutionalized emitter of carbon dioxide in the world, more than most nation-states. What we stand for is what we stand on, our lovely planet Earth.

Heat Pump Homeowners Happy Hour!

Friday, April 23, 2021 | 5 – 6 PM
Register Here
Come brag about your system, ask questions about best operating practices, and generally enjoy the company of other heat pump homeowners. You are part of the climate solution! Homeowners considering heat pumps are also welcome to attend.

It’s MAYDAY for the PRO Act!!! Pre-May Day campaign mass call LINK

Saturday April 24 At 3 PM EDT – 4:30 PM EDT

Event by DSA for a Green New Deal, Democratic Socialists of America and Charlottesville DSA

Online: actionnetwork.org

DSA’s highest national priority is to pass the PRO Act (Protect the Right to Organize), which would strengthen unions, the power of the working class to organize on the job, and our collective capacity to win a just transition to a green economy for all.

Almost two months into our campaign to #PassThePROact, we have a LOT to report back!

Your pressure is working. Just in the past week, 2 out of 5 of our target Senators have flipped to co-sponsor the PRO Act, Sen. Angus King of Maine and Joe Manchin of West Virginia.

DSA members all over the country have made over half a million calls to voters in key states where Senators are still sitting on the fence about the PRO Act, and many chapters are planning coordinated actions to escalate the pressure on May Day—a historic day for international workers to celebrate the power of organized labor.

It’s time to escalate everywhere. Join us for a mass call showcasing the amazing work of organizers all across DSA, and how we’re going to keep building the power we need together to pass the PRO Act!

Agriculture at Ganondagan: Virtual Field Trip

Saturday, April 24, 2021 At 11 AM EDT – 12 PM EDT

Info Here

Event by Erie Canal Museum

Join us for a virtual field trip on Ganondagan State Historic Site’s agriculture, featuring Peter Jemison, Seneca artist, educator, advocate, and Historic Site Manager of Ganondagan State Historic Site. The field trip will consist of a discussion of the historic locations of the farming and food storage at the site, women’s role in Haudenosaunee agriculture and a visit to the Iroquois White Corn Project, with further discussion of their mission and role in agriculture today. This field trip is in partnership with the Skä·noñh-Great Law of Peace Center as part of our series looking at the impact of the Erie Canal on the Haudenosaunee as well as Haudenosaunee foodways in general, as part of our larger Erie Eats Foodways Project. Admission is $5 for the general public and free for members of either the Erie Canal Museum or the Onondaga Historical Association. Museum members, please email outreach@eriecanalmuseum.org to receive your discount. When you preregister for this special lecture through the Shop page of our website, you’ll receive an email providing access to this secure event. You can register here: https://eriecanalmuseum.org/…/agriculture-at-ganondagan/

HeatSmart Webinar: Campaign for Free Heat

Wednesday, April 28, 2021 | 7 – 8 PM
Register Here
Join Clean Heating and Cooling community teams from across New York and the Renewable Heat Now Campaign to learn about the movement for building electrification and how you can be a part of it on a personal level, at the municipal level, and at the state level and federal level.

Campaign for Clean Heat Webinar

Wednesday, April 28, 2021 At 7 PM EDT – 8 PM EDT

Go To Link

Event by HeatSmart Tompkins, Network for a Sustainable Tomorrow and 2 others

Online: us02web.zoom.us

Join Clean Heating and Cooling community teams from across New York and the Renewable Heat Now Campaign to learn about the movement for #BuildingElectrification and how you can be a part of it on a personal level, at the municipal level, and at the state level and federal level. #HeatPumpsNotPipelines

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.

Poverty in Syracuse and the Potential for Racial and Economic Justice through the I-81 Project

Apr 29, 2021 04:00 PM in Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Register

Deka Dancil, Presenter

The Community Hub invites you to join us for the Social Justice in Syracuse lecture series, which features leaders from Syracuse who work to dismantle structural inequality and advance social justice in the community.
Deka Dancil is manager of bias response and education at Syracuse University and president of the Urban Jobs Taskforce Board of Directors. Deka’s talk will explore the history of the I-81 Viaduct and its role in the concentrated poverty and racial segregation that exists in Syracuse as well as look at how racial and economic justice may be achieved through the upcoming rebuild. Additional harsh realities surrounding poverty in the city of Syracuse will also be highlighted during this visionary presentation.

“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. Save the Date:Poor Peoples’ Campaign Online Mass AssemblyJune 21, 2021

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.

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*