KC AFSC Peace and Justice Alert – August 29, 2014 Educate Yourself. Share your knowledge. Take Action! For information about the American Friends Service Committee, contact us at 816931-5256 or [email protected]
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Check out articles and video about police, military weapons and Ferguson, MO ------
“It is only our humanity that can deliver us from the brutality of our achievements.” ~Henry Rollins
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Dear Peacemakers and AFSC Supporters,
Please check out the interesting articles and videos in the full Peace and Justice Alert. See diverse issues discussed including: Jon Stewart commenting on the killing of Michael Brown Exploration of how surplus military hardware end up in police hands; and Bernie Sanders exploring if “People are ready to stand and fight and create a political revolution.”
And we are busy finishing up listening sessions with community leaders who have insight on unmet needs in our community and the impact of budget cutting. We’ve conducted over 37 listening sessions and are approaching our goal of 40. Stay tuned to hear a summary of what we are hearing and about forums and other events we will be holding September to focus the public discourse on meeting community and society’s needs rather than the destructive focus on budget cutting.
And we’re pleased to be working with Austin, Maigan and Owais and doing outreach to groups inviting their participation in the If I Had A Trillion Dollars youth film project.
Thanks for your support and involvement.
Sincerely,
Ira Harritt KC Program Coordinator American Friends Service Committee 816 931-5256, [email protected]
Check out these events below:
September 2, Tuesday, 10:00 A.M, Religious Leaders Of KC Press Conference In Opposition To The Death Penalty. In front of KC office of Governor Jay Nixon, 615 E. 13th St., KC MO September 3, Wednesday, 5:30-7:00pm, Move The Money / Listening Project Planning Meeting. At the AFSC office, 4405 Gillham Rd., KCMO September 4th, Thursday, 11:30am, Fast Food Worker Action, KC fast food workers from across the city are coming together again. Let's make sure they know we still have their backs!The Grove Park, Truman Rd and Benton Blvd. KCMO September 21, 2014, 12:00 Noon, Global Meditation on the International Day of Peace.
News and Alerts below:
Recap: Injustice in the justice system [Google Hangout]
Jon Stewart Goes After Fox in Powerful Ferguson Monologue
Ferguson Protesters File Lawsuit Against Police for Civil Rights Violations
Bernie Sanders: I Want To Know If Ordinary People Are Ready to Stand and Fight
How Did All This Surplus Military Hardware End Up in Police Hands?
Is ISIS a threat to the American homeland?
Earl Ringo set to be executed Sept. 10th--Email the Governor!
"DEADication" rally protests dedication of KC's new nuke-parts plant
Upcoming Peace and Justice Activities
September 2, Tuesday, 10:00 A.M, Religious Leaders Of KC Press Conference In Opposition To The Death Penalty: In front of The Kansas City office of Governor Jay Nixon, 615 E. 13th St., KC MO (same building as DMV) (Lobby if inclement weather) Please wear stoles or other clerical garb. And please help spread the word. TO YOUR COLLEAGUES!! Rev. Dr. Wallace Hartsfield - Rev.Dr.Robert Hill - Rev.Dr. Jane Fisler Hoffman. For more information: [email protected]
September 3, Wednesday, 5:30-7:00pm, Move The Money / Listening Project Planning Meeting. Join us in planning and conducting a community listening project on the unmet needs in our community and the impact of budget cutting. We’ve spoken with over 35 community leaders. Our goal is to listen to 40 leaders by the end of August! After we finish listening sessions we will hold forums, meeting with media and elected officials and mobilize community members in calling for budgets that meet community needs. At AFSC office, 4405 Gillham Rd., KCMO
September 4th, Thursday, 11:30am, Fast Food Worker Action, KC fast food workers from across the city are coming together again to show McDonald's and all these other billion dollar fast food companies that they are willing to do whatever it takes to win $15/hr and a union. Let's make sure they know we still have their backs!The Grove Park, Truman Rd and Benton Blvd. KCMO
September 21, 2014, 12:00 Noon, Global Meditation on the International Day of Peace. Organizations and Spiritual leaders around the world are inviting their networks to join for a massive global experience of Inner Peace- more info at https://www.facebook.com/events/1530247320527153/?ref=2&ref_dashboard_filt er=upcoming ------
EVERY Tuesday, JOIN THIS Peace Demonstration between 5PM - 6 PM in the median strip on the south corner of the intersection at 63rd & Ward Parkway, Kansas City, Mo. For more information email '63rd Street Patriots' at [email protected]
Weekly Wednesday, Noon, Jericho Walk for Immigrant Rights gather outside KansasCity Immigration Court, 2345 Grand Blvd., KCMO Info at http://www.ijamkc.org/
Every Sundays, 3:00pm, Weekly Letters to Prisoners Kansas City, Every Sunday from 3pm until we're tired (we promise to stay at least until 4pm)! Informal gathering to write letters to prisoners... Writing assistance, supplies and stamps provided. We can provide you with a pen pal, you can write one-time notes of solidarity, letters to complain to prison officials are always appreciated, or write to people you already know. Pancho's Mexican Food, 3540 Main St., fKCMO. Organized by Greater Kansas City IWW General Defense Committee Local 15
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Recap: Injustice in the justice system [Google Hangout]
AFSC staffers Joshua Saleem and Lewis Webb, Jr., joined Media Relations Director Alexis Moore for a one-hour livestreamed conversation on Aug. 26, 2014.
Our charge in the wake of Mike Brown’s death is to help Ferguson’s community heal and to recommit ourselves to dismantling systemic racism, said panelists during “Injustice in the justice system,” a Google Hangout on Air.
Two days after Mike Brown was shot and killed by police, AFSC’s St. Louis peace education director Joshua Saleem drove into Ferguson to the sight of police mobilizing in a parking lot “as if they were preparing for war,” he recalls.
Joshua described this violent transformation of the municipality he’s known his entire life:
Video> http://afsc.org/story/recap-injustice-justice-system-google-hangout ------Jon Stewart Goes After Fox in Powerful Ferguson Monologue
Video> http://thedailyshow.cc.com/videos/ufqeuz/race-off
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Published on Friday, August 29, 2014 by Common Dreams
Ferguson Protesters File Lawsuit Against Police for Civil Rights Violations
Plaintiffs say police used 'excessive force' in arresting both protesters and bystanders by Nadia Prupis, staff writer Protesters in Ferguson, Missouri filed a $40 million federal lawsuit on Thursday alleging that police in the local and county departments violated civil rights and used excessive force to falsely arrest innocent bystanders in an attempt to crack down on the demonstrations that took place throughout the month.
The death of Michael Brown, a black teenager who was unarmed when he was shot to death by Officer Darren Wilson, who is white, sparked weeks of marches and demonstrations against police brutality and racism.
The five plaintiffs, including some who were not involved with the protests but encountered officers while eating out or walking home, said they were arrested violently, shot at with rubber bullets, and subjected to racial slurs.
"The police were completely out of control," said attorney Malik Shabazz of Black Lawyers for Justice. "In those initial days, it was virtually a police riot."
The lawsuit names Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson, St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar, Ferguson officer Justin Cosma, several unnamed officers collectively identified in the suit as “John Doe,” and the city and county governments.
Early days of the protests saw the police forces dressed in riot gear and shooting tear gas and rubber bullets into crowds of unarmed protesters. After days of unrest, Missouri Governor Jay Nixon put the State Highway Patrol in charge of securing Ferguson, which initially helped ease tensions. But police brutality returned to the protests after St. Louis County police were allowed back on the ground shortly after state troopers took over operations.
More> http://www.commondreams.org/news/2014/08/29/ferguson-protesters-file- lawsuit-against-police-civil-rights-violations
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Published on Thursday, August 28, 2014 By Common Dreams
Bernie Sanders: I Want To Know If Ordinary People Are Ready to Stand and Fight By Jon Queally, staff writer US Senator from Vermont is touring the country to capture the pulse of populist sentiment and to see whether or not hunger exists for a real 'political revolution' The Independent U.S. Senator from Vermont Bernie Sanders has a hunch about the American electorate, but he says the only way to be sure is to go out and meet them. It's called the 'Fight For Economic Justice Tour,' but it's really what the self-identified Social Democrat described earlier this year as his attempt to travel the country in order to gauge the country's hunger for a grassroots 'political revolution'—couched in a possible presidential bid— to challenge the economic inequality and corporate malfeasance that have severely wounded the nation's democracy and are strangling its promise of shared prosperity. Sanders was in Raleigh, North Carolina on Wednesday night to receive an award from the American Legion, but what many understood as a political stop designed as a prelude towards a possible presidential run in 2016. On Thursday the senator is scheduled for a town hall event in Columbia, South Carolina and after that, an event in Jackson, Mississippi on Friday. "I want confirmation of what I believe is true.... that all over this country—in so-called Red States and in so-called Blue States—people are profoundly disgusted about what is happening and that they want real change." —Sen. Bernie Sanders Earlier this week, Sanders confirmed that he will also be making upcoming visits to both Iowa and New Hampshire—two political bellwether states—and he has spent the last several months making it clear that he is "strongly considering" a possible primary challenge to the expected Democratic Party front-runner Hillary Clinton. So what's the purpose of all this travel? "This is about seeing whether ordinary people are prepared to stand up and fight and create a political revolution in the sense of what we have not seen in a very long time," Sanders declared on Wednesday. More> http://www.commondreams.org/news/2014/08/28/bernie- sanders-i-want-know-if-ordinary-people-are-ready-stand-and-fight
------How Did All This Surplus Military Hardware End Up in Police Hands? August 27, 2014 |
U.S. President Barack Obama has ordered a review of the distribution of military hardware to state and local police. Great. Now can we have a review of the distribution of military influence throughout US society?
What we’ve learned so far is that under a federal program, more than $5 billion worth of military equipment has gone to more than 8,000 city and state agencies since 1997. I found out this weekend that one small town not far from me received six military HumVees for a police department where just 25 officers work.
Mine-resistant trucks aren't the only war tools showing up in US suburbs. Take those gunshot wounds. Michael Brown, the unarmed teen shot by a police in Ferguson August 9, was shot six times, twice in the head. Ever wonder why so many gun shot victims show up with multiple bullets in their flesh? It’s certainly the cop, it’s also the gun.
As the Atlantic Magazine reported this summer, every time that Congress pays a military contractor to develop a new killer weapon for the battlefield, it almost at once shows up at High Street gun shops – and in Hollywood movies, like Lethal Weapon 1, 2, 3 and 4.
Obama’s review has been sparked by public shock at images from Ferguson, but what do people think happens when war profiteers dominate the marketplace, the media and Congress?
There’s a lot of surplus out there because defense contractors lobby for it. The top five companies spent more than $65 million last year persuading Congress to cancel promised cuts. As a result the 2014 budget gave them everything they asked for, including the controversial F- 35 Joint Strike Fighter, the most expensive weapon system ever, and a tank that we already know that nobody wants. And while we're at it, how about the residents in towns with all this firepower review the program?
More> http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/how-did-all-surplus-military- hardware-end-police-hands
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Is ISIS a threat to the American homeland? Chris Hayes looks at the threat of ISIS to the American homeland with Columbia University professor Austin Long.
Video> http://www.msnbc.com/all-in/watch/is-isis-a-threat-to-the-american- homeland--322671683913
------Earl Ringo set to be executed Sept. 10th--Email the Governor! From Missourians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty
Dear friend, Despite serious questions about its justice system, Missouri is marching forward to continue to carry out the ultimate punishment. Earl Ringo is set to be executed on September 10th for the 1998 murders of Dennis Poysner and Joanna Baysinger. Please join us in emailing Governor Nixon to say there are too many concerns about justice in Missouri, and Ringo’s case in particular, to go through with this execution. Ringo was convicted primarily based on the testimony of his co-defendant, who had made a deal with the State that they would spare his life if he testified against Earl. It is undisputed that the co-defendant, and not Earl, was the actual killer of at least one of the victims. The co-defendant has since admitted that he made the decision to testify against Ringo after being removed from the jail and threatened by the police. Mr. Ringo, an African American, was convicted by an all-white jury from Cape-Girardeau County Missouri, a county which is 88.9% white and only 4.5% African American. Of the 163 people from which Earl’s jury was selected, only four were African American—none of them were selected for the final jury panel. Nationwide, statistics point to an undeniable role of race in capital sentencing decisions. In 77% of crimes in which death is the sentence, the victim of the murder was white. 34% of death- row inmates are black. In Missouri, an independent review by the American Bar Association in 2012 specifically found that Missouri’s capital punishment system is influenced by race and that racial considerations play an improper role in determining outcomes in capital cases. Justice applied unequally is not justice at all. Recent events in Ferguson have demonstrated a deep racial divide still exists in Missouri. Tell Governor Nixon to stop this execution! (http://madpmo.hoster904.com/wp-content/plugins/civicrm/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=2023&qid=520016 ) Thank you for all you do, The MADP team ------
"DEADication" rally protests dedication of KC's new nuke- parts plant
Mark Bartholomew (see video below at this link) was 1 of 3 men who crossed the property line Aug. 22 in civil resistance to the new nuclear weapons plant in south KC, Mo. Before he took that step, Mark said many young people feel anti-nuclear protests seem like yesterday's news, but issues such as Middle East conflicts, Ferguson killings, and mass incarceration, along with nuclear weapons issues, are really part of one continuous narrative, "Better them than us."
The "DEADication to Death" rally 8/22 was held on the grounds of the new KC Plant for making/procuring nuke-parts. The site for the new plant is the so-called National Security Campus, 14510 Botts Road at Mo. Hwy. 150, where officials dedicated the plant at the same time as our rally there. Our 55 participants staged a funeral procession on the jogging trail outside the new plant to mark the deaths of more than 150 employees from toxins from the former KC Plant at Bannister Federal Complex. After the procession, talks, a blessing of the earth, and the common sprinkling of sunflower seeds to heal the earth, then 3 people crossed the property line in protest: Jim Hannah & Henry Stoever (see the videos of their words before doing civil resistance). Their Municipal Court date is Tuesday, Oct. 21, at 1:30 pm, Courtroom D, at 1101 Locust St., KC, Mo. Thanks to Mike Nickells for the videos, to Ira for use of the AFSC sound system, and to y'all for your en-courage-ing words & your peace-work! Jane Stoever, 913-206-4088
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The information and events described in AFSC Peace and Justice Alerts are intended to educate and assist members of our community in becoming active in working for a more just and peaceful world. Inclusion of a listing does not necessarily imply that AFSC KC agrees with all points of view that will be represented at the event.
The American Friends Service Committee is a Quaker organization that includes people of various faiths who are committed to social justice, peace, and humanitarian service. Its work is based on the Quaker belief in the worth of every person and faith in the power of love to overcome violence and injustice
Ira Harritt KC Program Coordinator American Friends Service Committee 816 931-5256 [email protected] http://afsc.org/office/kansas-city-mo