Come to downtown Springfield November 21 at 11:00am and join people from all over Massachusetts to rally against the big banks! This is a demonstration you won’t want to miss!
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Springfield March on Wall St Banks, November 21st
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Upcoming Events
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 22: The Gaza Freedom Flotilla is preparing to sail very soon. Passengers are gathering in Greece. There will be a solidarity demonstration on Weds, 6/22 from 4-6pm in Northampton. Meet in front of Edwards Church. Bring signs, We have some signs and banners.
THURSDAY, JUNE 23: Stand at Coolidge Bridge & demonstrate against Obama’s announcement! Thursday, June 23 7:30-9:00am and 4:30-6:00pm. The AFSC office is open until 5pm today—come make signs. See you there!
SAVE THE DATE next WEDNESDAY, JUNE 29 at 6pm for our “Civil Write-In” in the basement of the Unitarian Universalist church of Northampton and Florence. We will discuss the Preserving our Civil Rights campaign, and sign and bring cards over to the city council. Food will be served. See you there!
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Paul Chappell on The Roots of Peace
Thursday, April 7th, 4:00-6:00pm
UMass Amherst, Thompson 102
Iraq veteran and director of the Peace Leadership Program for Nuclear Age Peace Foundation will speak on “Why Peace is Possible.”
Paul K. Chappell is Director of the Peace Leadership Program for the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation (NAPF). He graduated from West Point in 2002, was deployed to Baghdad, and left active duty in November 2009 as a Captain. In the army he served in numerous leadership positions such as platoon leader, battery commander, and deputy chief of doctrine, training, requirements, and lessons learned for the air defense branch. He is the author of Will War Ever End?: A Soldier’s Vision of Peace for the 21st Century.
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Bus to April 9 UNAC Peace Rally!
BRING THE TROOPS HOME NOW!
Reserve your bus ticket ASAP!
Come rally on April 9 to bring troops home from Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, and decrease U.S. military involvement worldwide! The demonstration is sponsored by the United National Antiwar Committee, and will take place at noon in Union Square at 14 Street and Broadway, NYC. Stand up to demand jobs, education, social services, environmental protection, racial justice, and an end to torture! Support the end of all wars at home and abroad!
Bus leaves UMass Haigis Mall (in front of the Center of Fine Arts) at 7:00am; 2nd pick-up at Gazette parking lot at 7:45. Free parking is located in lot 34 across from Haigis Mall.
The rally is at Union Square in NYC and the bus is scheduled to drop us there. We will depart NYC at 5 PM for the trip back. The seats are $30 round trip. You can reserve your seat by emailing sherridl2004@aol.comor by mailing/dropping payment off at the AFSC office (2 Conz Street, Suite 2B, Northampton). Checks should be made out to “AFSC”, and seats will not be confirmed until payment is received!
For more information, visit www.UNACpeace.org or contact Sherri Long at 413-695-5903.
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February 26: Northampton Vigil and Senator Kerry Visit
(Pictures by Lynn Martin)
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CANCELLED: Barry Sanders and the “Green Zone”
UPDATE: Unfortunately, due to flight problems, Dr. Sanders will not make the event tonight, and is thus cancelled.
Barry Sanders, author of “The Green Zone: The Environmental Costs of Militarism” and professor emeritus of history at Pitzer College, will give a talk at 7:30 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 9, in Smith College’s Neilson Library Browsing Room. The event is free and open to the public.
Continue reading
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MLK Day celebration and Preserving Civil Rights
“Preserving Our Civil Rights Today”
Edwards Church, Northampton
January 17, 1:00 – 3:00 p.m.
Join the American Friends Service Committee for presentations and performances on MLK, Jr. Day. This year’s celebration will be a kickoff of a regional campaign to keep intact the rights of everyone in our communities, given assaults on immigrant rights, FBI raids on activists, and confronting the legacy of racism in the United States.
- Featuring soloist Evelyn Harris
- Hear from a range of community organizers from Northampton to Hartford about contemporary barriers to civil rights
Co-sponsored by the Bill of Rights Defense Committee
Walking Tour of Florence’s African American History
Sojourner Truth Memorial Statue (corner of Park and Pine Streets, Florence)
January 17, 10:00 a.m.
Join guide Steve Strimer to visit the homes of Sojourner Truth, Basil Dorsey, and David Ruggles. See the Mill River dam where David Lee and Lydia Maria Child processed sugar beets as an alternative to slave-grown sugar cane. Hear about David Ruggles’ Water Cure, the visits of Frederick Douglass to early Florence and resistance to the Fugitive Slave Law.
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Retreat to be held today
The Alliance for Peace and Justice (APJ) retreat WILL take place today, as planned, from 1-4pm at the First Churches in Northampton.
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THE GREEN ZONE: THE ENVIRONMENTAL COSTS OF MILITARISM
Book discussion group in preparation for author Barry Sanders’ February 9th Smith College Lecture. Join the APJ War & Environment Committee 7:30 pm Wednesdays January 12 and January 26 Bodman Lounge, Helen Hills Hills Chapel, Smith College, to discuss this extensively-documented expose on the price our earth is paying for the US wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
“Here’s the awful truth: even if every person, every automobile, and every factory suddenly emitted zero emissions, the earth would still be headed, head first and at full speed, toward total disaster for one major reason. The military produces enough greenhouse gases, by itself, to place the entire globe, with all its inhabitants large and small, in the most immanent danger of extinction.” —from the Introduction
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Representative Neal Signs on to Letter Regarding Afghanistan
Rep. John Conyers released the following letter today signed by 31 House members including Congressman Neal.
December 23, 2010
The Honorable Barack Obama
President of the United States
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, DC 20500
Dear President Obama:
We write today to respectfully request that General David Petraeus be made available to testify before the Members of the House of Representatives on your administration’s December Strategy Review and the status of conditions on the ground in Afghanistan. We believe that the enormous cost and importance of our war policy in Afghanistan warrants vigorous constitutionally-mandated congressional oversight as early as possible next year.
We believe that this bipartisan call for oversight is warranted by the uncertain progress being made securing the country, minimizing American casualties, combating corruption, expanding governing capacity, promoting political reconciliation, addressing links between the insurgency and Pakistan, limiting the Taliban’s ability to project violence, and furthering other important components of our Afghanistan-Pakistan policy. The limited analysis provided in your December Strategy Review, although important, cannot replace in-depth and substantive congressional hearings and oversight.
Many Members are also concerned about the incredible costs associated with the current policy. The War in Afghanistan is costing the American taxpayer $2 billion per week and will total $125 billion this year alone. Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, noted this past August that “the most significant threat to our national security is our debt.” We need direct access to our lead commander on the ground in order to fully consider the costs and benefits of a policy that is significantly contributing to our $1.5 trillion deficit and $15 trillion debt.
The American people deserve transparent oversight and a robust and comprehensive review of our Afghanistan policy by both the Administration and the new Congress next year. We urge you to make General Petraeus available to testify early next year so that we can properly and appropriately fulfill our constitutional duties.
Sincerely,
Rep. John Conyers, Jr.
Rep. Tammy Baldwin
Rep. Michael Capuano
Rep. Yvette Clarke
Rep. Steve Cohen
Rep. Donna Edwards
Rep. Keith Ellison
Rep. Bob Filner
Rep. Marcia Fudge
Rep. John Garamendi
Rep. Alan Grayson
Rep. Raul Grijalva
Rep. Michael Honda
Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee
Rep. John Lewis
Rep. Hank Johnson
Rep. Carolyn Kilpatrick
Rep. Dennis Kucinich
Rep. Barbara Lee
Rep. Ed Markey
Rep. Jim McGovern
Rep. Gwen Moore
Rep. Richard Neal
Rep. John Olver
Rep. Chellie Pingree
Rep. Mike Quigley
Rep. Fortney “Pete” Stark
Rep. Paul Tonko
Rep. Niki Tsongas
Rep. Maxine Waters
Rep. Lynn Woolsey
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