Cleveland activists to speak on systemic racism and police brutality

Posted on March 13, 2016 by josievs
Cleveland Tamir Rice vigiljustice for tamir - Chris 1white supremacy banner 1
People for Peace and Justice will host two police accountability activists from Cleveland at our March 16th meeting at First UCC in Fremont.
Chris Knestrick and Bishop Chui, two Cleveland residents and activists, will discuss the work being done in Cleveland to end systemic racism and its manifestation as police brutality. The conversation will begin with seeking to understand systemic racism in general and then focus the discussion on the work being done in Cleveland to end police brutality.
Chris Knestrick is a member of Cleveland Catholic Worker Community and Witness Against Torture. He helps run a drop in center in Cleveland and organizes to end state sponsored violence.

Bishop Chui is a community organizer in Cleveland’s Glenville neighborhood, a protester against police brutality and a longtime advocate for police accountability.

The schedule for the evening is:
6:30pm –  Potluck and conversation with our guests
7:30 – 8:30pm –  Program: Cleveland activism to end systematic racism and police brutality
First UCC Church, 1500 Tiffin Rd., Fremont
All are welcome for both the potluck and the program!  We hope you’ll make plans now to join us and bring a friend!
Top photo: Cleveland Action  Justice for Tamir demonstration.
Middle photo:  Witness Against Torture rally at the Department of Justice in Washington to demand justice for Tamir Rice, a 12-year old boy shot by police on a Cleveland playground.
Bottom photo: Washington, DC police officer photographs activists banner at the DOJ.
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Roundtable discussion on Campaign 2016 at our February meeting

Posted on February 16, 2016 by josievs
People for Peace and Justice Sandusky County
Next meeting Wednesday, Feb. 17
6:30 pm Potluck dinner, announcements, and business
7:30 pm – 8:30 pm  Roundtable Discussion on Campaign 2016
First UCC Church, 1500 Tiffin Rd., Fremont

With the Ohio primary coming up on March 15, PPJ is holding a roundtable discussion about the presidential campaign at our February meeting.  Please join us as we explore the issues surrounding the election and the extent of our own roles in creating political change that supports a more peaceful and just world.

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Overturning Citizens United is the topic for our next meeting

Posted on November 10, 2015 by josievs
Move to Amend
The guest speaker at our November 18th meeting will be Doug Jambard-Sweet of Toledo Move to Amend. 

Doug will update us on the pro-democracy movement to overturn Citizens United, allow campaign contributions to be regulated, and establish that corporations are not persons.  Doug will answer our questions about where the movement is headed, how we can continue to participate, and more.  See http://www.movetoamend.org.

Wednesday, Nov. 18

6:30 pm Potluck and business meeting
7:30 pm Speaker and discussion

First United Church of Christ, 1500 Tiffin Rd., Fremont

All are welcome!

P.S. We’ll have our Stamp Stampede rubber stamps available to stamp your cash, envelopes, stationary, etc.!  See http://www.stampstampede.org
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PPJ Meeting Sept. 16 – Speaker on Israel/Palestine

Posted on September 14, 2015 by josievs
Little boy in Hebron

Tiffin University professor Matt Bereza will speak at our next PPJ meeting this Wednesday, Sept. 16.  Matt will talk about his trip last year to the Palestinian West Bank and Israel.  He’ll highlight how his conception of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict developed when he took the trip with Sr. Paulette Schroeder and Project Peace, learning firsthand from both Palestinians and Israelis. Look forward to a very engaging discussion with Matt!

Meeting details:

Wednesday, Sept. 16

6:30 Potluck

7:30 Program with Matt Bereza on Israel/Palestine

First United Church of Christ

1500 Tiffin Rd., Fremont, OH 43420

We hope you can join us!
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International activist to speak on drones in Fremont Oct. 8

Posted on August 28, 2015 by josievs

brian by sea (2)

Murder by Remote Control: Ground the Drones

Brian Terrell  
International activist
Co-coordinator of Voices for Creative Nonviolence

Thursday
October 8, 2015
7:00 pm

St. Bernardine Home
1220 Tiffin St., Fremont, O

Free and open to the public

Download the flyer here.

Brian Terrell lives and works on a Catholic Worker farm in Maloy, Iowa. From there he travels, speaking and acting with various communities working for peace. His work has taken him to many places in the US, Europe, Latin America, and Korea. He has also visited Palestine, Israel, Bahrain, and Iraq and returned from his second visit to Afghanistan last February.  A lifelong peace activist, Brian has been arrested and jailed many times in actions for peace and human rights. In 2012-2013, he served a six month prison sentence for protesting drone killing from Whiteman Air force Base in Missouri.

Ground the Drones

The use of armed drones is expanding far beyond the battle field. Drones rarely engage in combat, but are used in assassinations and extrajudicial executions, almost always resulting in “collateral damage.” In “signature strikes,” unidentified suspects and those in their vicinities are killed by drones firing hellfire missiles based on the suspects “patterns of behavior,” similar to the domestic “racial profiling” by increasingly militarized police.

Sponsors:

People for Peace & Justice Sandusky County –  http://www.FremontPeace.com

Project Peace  – http://www.ProjectPeaceTiffin.com

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Aug. 19th Picnic Potluck Meeting and more

Posted on August 18, 2015 by josievs

August 19th Monthly Meeting

Summer Picnic Potluck

Home of Dave and Deb Johnson, 727 S. Main St., Fremont

6:30 pm   Picnic Potluck

Following the picnic, we’ll get a chance to see Deb’s new beehive, which she acquired after attending our meeting about bees last spring!  We will also be discussing fall plans, the possible sale of WBGU’s airwaves, and more.

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Fall Meeting Schedule:   Sept. 16, Oct. 21, Nov. 18, Dec. 16.  All  meetings are held at First UCC, 1500 Tiffin Rd., Fremont.  Meetings begin at 6:30 pm with a potluck dinner.

Sept. 16th meeting:  Tiffin University professor Matt Bereza will speak on Israel/Palestine after his trip to the West Bank with Project Peace.

Oct. 21st meeting:  Joyce Bower will speak about her work with the postal workers union and related labor union issues.

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Fall Speaking Event:

Anti-drone activist Brian Terrell

Thursday, Oct. 8, 7:00 pm

St.  Bernardine Home, 1220 Tiffin St., Fremont

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Peace Vigils, every Wednesday (except the third Wed.), 5:00 – 6:00 pm, corner of State and Front, downtown Fremont.  Join us to stand for peace and justice in our community and the larger world!  On the third Wednesday of the month, our monthly meeting replaces our vigil.  Call Dave Pasch to receive phone messages about vigil cancellations, 419-419- 8625.

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Next PPJ Meeting – From Ferguson to Guantanamo

Posted on May 14, 2015 by josievs
Sr. Paulette Schroeder (from Project Peace in Tiffin) and Josie Setzler will present at the next meeting of People for Peace and Justice Sandusky County, Wednesday, May 20, First UCC Church by the Ballville Bridge, 1500 Tiffin Rd., Fremont.  A potluck starts at 6:30, followed by the program at 7:30 pm.  Their presentation is entitled:

From Ferguson to Guantanamo: White Silence = State Violence

Paulette and Josie spent a week with Witness Against Torture in Washington, DC earlier this year.  A week of community building and reflection led the group to adopt the above theme for their nonviolent direct actions at week’s end . They’ll show several short video clips of performances by young street poets/performers from New York City who joined them and profoundly challenged them.

Three members of the Peace Poets, pictured below, spent the week with them.
ThePeacePoets-800x500
From their website: “We are a collective of artists that celebrate, examine and advocate for life through music and poetry. Our art can take you on a journey from the Boogie Down to Berlin, from the border to the bodega. Our style emphasizes lyricism, rhythm and authenticity. We hail from the Bronx and have been rocking the mic since 2005.”

We’ll also hear a short poetry performance given with the Witness Against Torture group outside the DC jail by poet, rapper, and civil rights attorney, Shahid Buttar, who describes himself as “rhyming to stop NSA spying” and a whole lot more!

Josie said, “These men shared their artistry and their deep compassion for the lives of people of color to teach us about our own responsibility to pay attention and speak out.  Paulette and I look forward to sharing with you on Wednesday.  We hope you can join us!”
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Faith in Action in Palestine-Israel—The Woman’s Day March on Kalandia Checkpoint.

Posted on March 11, 2015 by josievs

Photographer Skip Schiel who spoke in Fremont last year is back in Israel/Palestine. Here are his photos and stories about his experience with a Woman’s Day action at Kalandia checkpoint.

skip schiel's avatarSkip Schiel & Teeksa Photography

Excerpts from my journal as I explore the situation in Palestine and Israel

Palestine_Israel_Women_s_Day_Kalandia-1417

PHOTOS

March 8, 2015, Sunday, Golden Gate hostel, Old City, Jerusalem, Israel-Palestine

(Warm, low 60s, sunny, calm—other than the temperature this might be the usual report.)

Yesterday [March 7, 2015], one day before the official International Women’s Day, I arrived at the checkpoint, the site of the march and demonstration well, before the slated start time of 11 am. Thanks to Sahar V, a Jewish Israeli woman with the American Friends Service Committee in East Jerusalem, who told me about the demonstration and suggested I participate on the Palestinian-West Bank side, I met an extraordinary Israeli Jewish woman, Tamar. I’d noticed her talking with Palestinians—short blond hair, jeans, lightly built, she reminded me from a distance of Lynn. Believing she was present for the demo I walked near her to possibly strike up a conversation. She invited me to…

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Bees in Peril: Topic for PPJ’s March 18th meeting

Posted on March 6, 2015 by josievs
Bee-apis
Why are bee colonies in decline around the world? What is the threat to our food supply? What bee-friendly steps can each of us take?
Learn more at our next meeting of People for Peace & Justice Sandusky County.
Wednesday, March 18
First UCC Church, 1500 Tiffin Rd., Fremont
6:30 pm Potluck and business
7:30 pm  Program
Speaker: Richard Brutsche, President of the Sandusky River Valley Beekeeping Association

Bees and other pollinators, essential for two-thirds of the food crops humans eat everyday, are in great peril, and populations are dwindling worldwide, according to BeeAction.org.

We will share information that you can use this spring:
  • Bee-friendly plants you can introduce into your garden
  • Pesticides to avoid
  • A letter you can share with your local garden center, asking them to avoid certain pesticides on the plants they sell

Thanks to our steering committee and especially Dave Johnson for planning this meeting!  It’s been a while since we’ve featured an environmental topic.  This one has far reaching implications, yet there are small steps that each of us can take.  Hope to see you on the 18th!

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Urging Senator Brown to oppose bills which negate diplomacy with Iran

Posted on March 4, 2015 by josievs

Let’s let our senators know that we support diplomacy with Iran. We are not willing to follow a foreign leader down a path to war. This blog post contains a phone number and simple script for contacting the offices of Senator Brown and Senator Portman.

pauletteosf's avatarProject Peace

Dear sr. Paulette Schroeder,

Today, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and more than fifteen thousand advocates are on the Hill pressing Congress for anti-diplomacy legislation and new sanctions on Iran. Netanyahu just finished his speech on the floor of the House, where he spoke out against the current negotiations.

Your members of Congress are hearing a lot of opposition to diplomacy. They need to hear that their constituents support the ongoing talks with Iran. Please call Congress today, and urge them to let diplomacy work.

You’ve already done so much to protect delicate negotiations around Iran’s nuclear program. Thanks in large part to your calls, emails and lobby visits around the country, anti-diplomacy sanctions legislation that was intended to pass in January is currently shelved until at least the end of this month.

What’s more, dozens of members of Congress spoke out before Prime Minister Netanyahu’s speech. They question the…

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