{news} Fw: AFSC CT Community Calendar

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----- Original Message ----- 
From: Kasha Ho 
To: Kasha Ho 
Sent: Friday, March 04, 2005 7:53 PM
Subject: AFSC CT Community Calendar


Friends,

Here is the next edition of our AFSC events calendar.  Please note especially the preparations for the statewide Anti-War Demonstration in Hartford for March 19th – we hope to see all of you there to make the connections between this unjust war being waged in Iraq and the war on our communities here in Connecticut.  Keep up the good work. 



Kasha Ho'okili Ho

American Friends Service Committee

Hartford, Connecticut

phone: 860.523.1534

fax: 860.523.1705



Message from Bob Nave about the Death Penalty: 

(see below for AFSC statement on Supreme Court decision)



The United States Supreme Court has just struck down the Juvenile Death Penalty in the United States!!!!  What an ENORMOUS VICTORY!!!!  Write letters to the editor heralding this enormous step towards abolition of the death penalty - the evolving standards of justice are on the march on our side!  For more information: robertnave at cnadp.org 203-206-9854
www.DontKillInMyNameCT.org



Every Saturday until March 19th

Person to Person Outreach for March 19 Demonstration

Also in New Haven – contact AFSC 860.523.1534 for info.

10:00am- 12:00noon

La Paloma Sabanera coffeehouse, 

405 Capitol Avenue in Hartford. 

We have had fabulous results with this effort – I highly encourage you to participate. After a brief training, we'll walk in pairs through the neighborhoods, with maps and literature, knocking on doors and asking people to march with us. The more people on the doors, the more 

people coming to the march. 

If you are planning on coming, please contact Caitlynne Palmieri at 860-547-0122 or caitlynnep at hotmail.com



Every Tuesday until March 19th
Organizing Meeting for March 19 Anti-War Demonstration

7:30 p.m. 

CT Green Party HQ, 418A New Britain Ave. Hartford

Contact: AFSC 860.523.1534

Friday, March 4
NEWS TO ME

7:30pm

Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts

359 Washington St., Hartford

Parking: The parking lot on Brownell Street 



HartBeat Ensemble: the play is about a group of Hartford kids who get the opportunity to make their own TV news program by using the corporate media's resources- they must struggle not to have their work 'white washed' - there is a talkback afterward, too- everybody should come because your ideas and suggestions will influence the creation of the play!

Fee: $5-$10 sliding scale (no one is turned away for lack of funds) 

For more information call: 860-548-9144 



Saturday, March 5
Professor Jeff Halper

Coordinating Director of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions 

7:00 p.m.

Charter Oak Cultural Center

21 Charter Oak Ave, Hartford CT 06106

Sponsored by We Refuse to be Enemies.

Co-Sponsored by: Palestine Right To Return Coalition (www.al-awda.org) American Friends Service Committee (www.afsc.org) Council for National Interest  (www.cnionline.org) Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions  (www.ICAHD.org) If Americans Knew(www.ifamericansknew.org) Connecticut United for Peace (CTUP) Middle East Crisis Committee

Driving directions: www.charteroakcenter.org/contactus.htm



Saturday, March 5
Professor Jeff Halper

Coordinating Director of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions 
"In Search of Peace and Justice in Palestine/Israel" 
2:30 PM
AFSC Peace Study Group
Living Word Fellowship Farm, Voluntown, CT



Sunday, March 6
Professor Jeff Halper

"In Search of Peace and Justice in Palestine/Israel"

9:00am

First Congregational Church, Old Lyme, CT

(See above)

Monday, March 7
New Neighborhood Policing Plan.

12:00noon

City Hall Function Room (2nd floor)

Hartford



Downtown District Community Forum on the City’s New Neighborhood Policing Plan with Mayor Eddie Perez and Police Chief Patrick Harnett.  Residents will be able to ask questions to city officials and meet the officers. For further information, please visit www.hartford.gov/police or contact the Mayor’s Office at (860) 543-8500.



Tuesday, March 8
The Opportunity For All Campaign

Call Your Senators and Rep. 

FEDERAL BUDGET ACTION DAYS!

TOLL-FREE NUMBER FOR MARCH 8:

1-800-247-2971

This toll-free number is provided courtesy of the American Friends Service Committee which has launched a new budget campaign, www.saveourservices.org  If you can't get through on that line, please call the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121, or find your Senators' direct line at www.senate.gov. 

( See below for more details)



Tuesday, March 8
No Sweat CT Student Press Conference and Legislative Hearings

1pm: Press Conference

2pm: Labor Committee Hearings

The Legislative Office Building, Hartford

210 Capitol Ave., Hartford, CT 06106.  

On Tuesday, March 8, at 2pm, there will be hearings in front of the labor committee at which supporters and opponents of the bill will testify about why they believe it should or should not be passed.  Before the hearings, at 1pm, students from throughout the state will come together in room 310 is for a press conference to alert the media and the public about our movement against sweatshop exploitation.  At least one student will testify, and it would be very powerful to have a representative from each school in the state standing beside this student while they speak.  Folks should stay at the hearings as long as they can, but it's most important that we pack the room until 4pm.  For more information, contact Kath Golub at (860) 349-6925.



Wednesday, March 9
Chris Doucot, "When Never Again Happens Again: Genocide in Sudan," 

7:00pm Harry Jack Gray Center, Room D, University of Hartford. 

Chris is a founding member of the Hartford Catholic Worker, and will present a power-point slide presentation on his recent trip to Sudan. He will be returning to the refugee camps in the Darfur area in April. 

Contact Tim Black: tblack at hartford.edu



Thursday, March 10
The Case Study of Vieques, Puerto Rico

Demilitarization, Environmental & Economic Justice Conference

Why Viequense Women Keep On Fighting

3:30pm

Central Connecticut State University

Founders Hall (Davidson)

1615 Stanley St, New Britain, CT



Women from three leading community organizations share their stories of women’s participation in the civil disobedience campaign to end the Navy’s bombing and in the present struggle for justice in Vieques.  COLADA Performance! Sponsors: Voz Latina Media Project and the Committee for the Rescue and Development of Vieques.  For more information, contact Milly Guzman 860.668.2067 or latinoscontralaguerra at yahoo.com

Saturday, March 12
Women Working in Maquilas
2:00pm Webster Hall, West Hartford Public Library
20 South Main Street, West Hartford

Nicaraguans Jaquelene Sevilla Gaitan and Maria Dolores Roblero will speak from their own experience about the dismal working conditions at sweatshops in "free trade" zones, and the threats workers face when they stand up for their rights. Together they will share stories of hope and resistance.  Katherine Stecher, representing the Nicaragua Network, a national Nicaragua solidarity organization, and Campaign for Labor Rights, a grass-roots anti-sweatshop group, will speak on supporting workers' struggles around the world. SweatFree Communities organizer Liana Foxvog will present on how to get involved in the current campaign for a State of Connecticut "sweatshop-free" purchasing policy, and how it is part of an international movement strategy. Katherine will translate. Contact Liana Foxvog: liana at sweatfree.org



Sunday, March 13
Mock Terror Attack: What Should We Fear?

3-5pm

A Community Forum
All Souls Unitarian-Universalist Congregation
60 Huntington St. New London

A Mock Terror Attack is being planned on New London by the Department  of Homeland Security. New London will be "attacked" on April 4th, the anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. Is this a $16 million "drill" or a scare tactic? Who benefits from this "mock attack"? What should we fear? What will make us secure?
Speakers: Megan Bartlett, Emergency Medical Technician in New York City, first responder on 9/11, founder of "Ground Zero for Peace," The Reverend Edward Rodman, Civil Rights Activist, Professor of 
Pastoral Theology and Urban Ministry, Episcopal Divinity School, Cambridge, Mass.
Childcare provided. Questions, call St.Francis House, 860-437-8890

Tuesday, March 15
No Sweat ConnecticutPlanning Meeting4:00pm King Davis Labor Center77 Huyshope Avenue.   Meet in the library.  Everyone is encouraged to attend so we can plan our strategy for pushing our bill through to victory. Contact Peggy Buchanan: pbuchanan at snet.net

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 16
Connecticut’s Next Voting Machines

7 - 9 P.M.

WEST HARTFORD TOWN HALL

Panel discussion, contact Rich Sivel: 860.231.7428 



Saturday, March 19
March and Rally Against the War in Iraq
Statewide antiwar march and rally in Hartford.
12:00pm.
360 Broad Street Hartford CT 06105 
 
March will begin at noon in front of the State Armory at 360 Broad St., Hartford. Rally will be at 1:00pm at Barnard Park (South Green) on Main Street in Hartford.   
Contact: Meg Scata megscata at yahoo.com 860-347-5488

Sponsored By: CT United For Peace, American Friends Service Committee, Connecticut Coalition for Peace and Justice, Volunteers of the Hartford Undercurrent, Northeast Coalition for Peace and Justice, Latinos Contra La Guerra, Middle East Crisis Committee, Al-Awda (The Palestine Right to Return Coalition), Middletown Alliance For Peace, CT Green Party, Hartford Bring The Troops Home Now Committee, CT Trans-Advocacy Coalition, C.L.A.S.H. Collective, Southern Connecticut State University Antiwar Coalition, November 3rd Coalition, Peace Action Stamford/Greenwich http://www.ctunitedforpeace.org
Week of April 4th
MOCK TERROR ATTACK IN NEW LONDON

Counter events are being planned.

VOLUNTEER GROUPS ARE NEEDED 


We hope for a large turn out for this 5 day event.  Information on pre events is there plus you can get posters via Adobe Acrobat E-mail by request from riveredgerecord at aol.com

For more information:  http://www.hometown.aol.com/riveredgerecord/index.html



Friday and Saturday, April 8,9
New England-wide AFSC Conference

“Hope and Hard Work: Another America is Possible”

Building 34, Vassar Street
MIT – Cambridge, Mass.



We have hope that another America is possible.  Together we can do the hard work to bring it into being.

Space is limited and registration will be on a first come first served basis. If you will need childcare, please contact us at (617) 661-6130 by April 1, 2005. Facilities are wheelchair accessible. Directions will be sent upon receipt of registration.

TUESDAY, APRIL 12
Nuclear Proliferation with Jonathan Schell

7 - 9 P.M.

WEST HARTFORD TOWN HALL



Will be mobilizing for May 1st rally in NYC in preparation of the signing of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.  Looking for sponsors and cosponsors now.

Contact Joe Wasserman: 860.561.1897 or Mims Butterworth: 860.521.9506




WEDNESDAY, APRIL 20

Amy Goodman

7-9pm
Conard High School Auditorium, 110 Beechwood Road West Hartford

Talk and booksigning, cosponsors needed. Contact Kathy Hucks: 860.561.8401









AMERICAN FRIENDS SERVICE COMMITTEE APPLAUDS

 U.S. SUPREME COURT DECISION

 U.S. JOINS INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY IN BANNING

 JUVENILE DEATH PENALTY



(Philadelphia, PA - March 1) – The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) today welcomed the U.S. Supreme Court decision outlawing the execution of juvenile offenders, a ruling that conforms with public opinion at home and international human rights norms abroad.



“This decision confirms what we all know and what science recently has proven: kids are different,” said Tonya McClary, AFSC national criminal justice representative. “Kids are different from adults and by their very nature cannot qualify as the ‘worst of the worst’ standard used by some to justify a sentence of death.”



McClary noted that a historically broad coalition of national civil rights groups, religious denominations, legal organizations and medical associations had urged the court to strike down the juvenile death penalty.  Late last year, the Service Committee, along with a coalition of religious groups, filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court questioning the constitutionality of executing minors.  



In addition, polls demonstrate solid public opposition against the practice.



“We applaud the fact that the court recognized the strong consensus against the juvenile death penalty,” McClary said. “This consensus is further evidence that the U.S. public does not want the death penalty applied too broadly.  We also hope that this brings us one step closer to eliminating the death penalty overall.”



In keeping with Quaker beliefs, AFSC maintains that every person has value in the eyes of God and that human life is sacred.  Therefore, taking the life of another human being is never justified.  Furthermore, we recognize the special consideration that should be given children.  They can not be held to the same standard of culpability as adults and have immense potential for change and rehabilitation.



Including Missouri, from which Roper v. Simmons sprang, 31 states ban the execution of juvenile offenders. Of the remaining states, only 12 have juvenile offenders on death row.   They are Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia. Currently there are two juvenile offenders on Pennsylvania’s death row. To read more about the juvenile death penalty and learn about a coalitional campaign to end juvenile executions, please visit http://www.ncadp.org/juvenile_action.html



During the past two decades, 22 juvenile offender executions have occurred in the United States, including 13 in the state of Texas. Nine such executions have occurred since the year 2000. Six of those nine took place in Texas and involved an African American offender. The other three executions took place in Oklahoma and Virginia. More than half of the juvenile offenders on death row are housed in two states – Alabama and Texas – and about two-thirds are people of color.



 “Today the United States takes a major step toward joining the 21st Century,” McClary said. “The U.S. Supreme Court has confirmed that standards of decency have evolved and the execution of youthful offenders is indeed a cruel and unusual practice. Today the Court sends a signal to the few states that still execute juvenile offenders that this inhumane practice is no longer an option.” 



The American Friends Service Committee Criminal Justice program works nationwide to eliminate the use of prisons, jails, and executions as a “solution” to crime and violence.  The group challenges the morality and effectiveness of the “get-tough-on-crime” mentality. It believes taking the life of another human being is never justified.  A main focus of the work has been through the Religious Organizing Against the Death Penalty Project (www.deathpenalty religious.org), which has galvanized and organized the religious community to be vocal and visible in the struggle for abolition.



The Service Committee has been integrally involved in legislative efforts against the death penalty in a number of states, including New Hampshire, South Dakota, and Wyoming.



The Opportunity For All Campaign

Call Your Senators and Rep.

FEDERAL BUDGET ACTION DAYS!

TOLL-FREE NUMBER FOR MARCH 8:

1-800-247-2971

This toll-free number is provided courtesy of the American Friends Service Committee which has launched a new budget campaign, www.saveourservices.org  If you can't get through on that line, please call the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121, or find your Senators' direct line at www.senate.gov. 



   Ask your Senators and Rep. to tell the Budget Committee they will vote against any budget that fails to protect children, older people, and families by cutting Medicaid, nutrition programs, education, job training, housing, and other vital services.



   Tell them to oppose any budget that cuts basic services now or sets rigid caps that cut more and more each year.  Tell them these cuts will hurt your state.



The House and Senate Budget Committees are expected to draft their budget resolutions starting the week of March 7.  That's why we are asking you to call and to encourage everyone you know to join in on March 2 and/or March 8. 



TOLL-FREE NUMBER FOR MARCH 8:

1-800-247-2971

This toll-free number is provided courtesy of the American Friends Service Committee which has launched a new budget campaign, www.saveourservices.org  If you can't get through on that line, please call the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121, or find your Senators' direct line at www.senate.gov. 



What's at stake:  Congress will be working off the President's budget recommendations, which made cuts in Medicaid, Food Stamps, child care, housing, and many other vital services.  



The President's budget not only proposed cuts for the coming year, but proposed a 5-year cap (not one dime more) on the total amount for programs that need annual appropriations (so-called "discretionary" programs -- like education, housing, WIC, Head Start, and many more).  Inflation alone will shrink these programs by 16 percent in the 5th year.  The House and Senate Budget Committee chairs have been talking about applying a similarly restrictive cap on basic programs like Medicaid, Food Stamps, services for abused and neglected children, child care, and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF).  (If you read about caps or cuts in "mandatory" or "entitlement" programs, this is what they're talking about.)  



PLEASE CALL IN TO OPPOSE THESE UNFAIR AND UNWISE CUTS!
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