Let’s Solarize Syracuse
The Peace Council has joined with Alliance for a Green Economy and several other local organizations in a grassroots community solar initiative called Solarize Syracuse. The project is a way for us to work together to build solutions to the problems of climate change, wars for oil, fossil fuel and nuclear dependency, and volatile energy prices. Solarize Syracuse will make putting solar panels on our homes and businesses easier and more affordable through a series of community workshops and a bulk buying program.
Join us at one of our workshops in July, August and September to learn about how solar works and how you can save money putting solar on your home. Residents and businesses in the City of Syracuse and the Towns of DeWitt, Manlius and Onondaga are eligible for the program. Contact Jessica or visit www.solarizesyracuse.org for more details.
Still Resisting Nuclear Weapons 69 Years Later
SPC and Peace Action of CNY are gearing up for the annual Hiroshima Day Dramatic Procession. Each year we gather to solemnly commemorate the tragic nuclear bombings of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, and to look hopefully toward a future with no threat of nuclear disaster, whether from weapons or power plants.
This year’s procession steps off at noon from the City Hall Commons on Wednesday, August 6. Participants are asked to arrive at 11:30 to find your place in the procession. A short gathering at the MOST Museum (the Procession’s end point) will follow. To help with promoting the event or developing new props, contact Amelia.
Additionally, Peace Action will host a follow up event, the Peace Potluck at the Park, on Sunday August 17 from 3-7 pm at the Thornden Park Lily Pond. Contact Diane at 479-5658 for more information.
Don’t Build on the Wastebeds
This summer, Neighbors of the Onondaga Nation is mobilizing public opinion to say “not good enough” to Honeywell’s clean-up of Onondaga Lake. In particular we are concerned that the lake bottom clean-up plans will leave 80% of the mercury and other hazardous contaminants in the lake.
Right now we are focusing on the proposed amphitheater on the west shore of the lake. If approved, the amphitheater will be built on top of hazardous wastebeds up to 80 feet deep, which have had minimal clean-up. Aside from grave concerns about human and environmental health, citizens are objecting to the plans for financial and other reasons. Visit peacecouncil.net/noon/amphitheater for more information. Please consider submitting comments on the Environmental Impact Statement and attending the public meeting about the project on July 23 (see page 9). This is part of advocating for a real clean-up of the Lake.
Voices We Need to Hear
On Tuesday, August 12, Central New York Working for a Just Peace in Palestine and Israel will screen Voices Across the Divide, a powerful documentary and oral history project exploring the Israeli/Palestinian conflict through rarely heard personal stories. The film was produced and narrated by Alice Rothchild, an American Jew raised on the tragedies of the Holocaust and the dream of a Jewish homeland in Israel. Through interviews with Palestinians living in the US, she helps the viewer to understand the Palestinian experience of loss, occupation, statelessness, and immigration to the US. The free showing is at 7 pm at ArtRage Gallery, 505 Hawley Ave.
The next meeting of the committee is Thursday, August 14, 1:30-3 pm at SPC. Contact Carole at 315-471-6431.
Win a Great Bike!
It’s time again for SPC’s Bike Raffle fundraiser. This year’s bike is a Bianchi Cortina hybrid, valued at $450 from Mello Velo Bike Shop (550 Westcott St.). Tickets are $2 for 1, $5 for 3 and $10 for 7, and are available at SPC, Mello Velo, Syracuse Real Food Co-op and from SPC volunteers. The drawing is September 21 at the Westcott Street Fair. To help with selling raffle tickets, contact Michael.
Michael Filling in for Ursula on Leave
Ursula Rozum, energetic SPC staff organizer for several years, has taken a leave of absence through the fall to manage Howie Hawkins’ Green Party campaign for New York governor. Filling in for Ursula will be longtime community activist Michael Messina-Yauchzy.
Michael first came to Syracuse in 1981 to study cooperatives and economic democracy and was a founder of the Cooperative Federal Credit Union and a former food co-op on the south side. As his interests broadened, Michael organized in the worker health and safety movement, worked with organizations to end violence against women, completed a doctoral thesis on students organizing against rape on campus, and conducted research on college admission of former prisoners. He was affiliated with SU’s Program for the Analysis and Resolution of Conflict and has taught sociology for many years. Most recently, Michael has been a lead organizer locally of the Move to Amend campaign, which organizes for a constitutional amendment to establish that a corporation is not entitled to the rights of persons. He is also a member of the DREAM Freedom Revival “social justice musical theatre” troupe, the Syracuse Community Choir and Syracuse Friends Meeting (Quakers). Michael lives in Syracuse with his partner, Carolyn, and daughter, Sierra.
Downtown Outreach: No New War in Iraq and More
SPC was in the streets in June responding to preparations for the US to militarily intervene in Iraq after the Islamic State (formerly known as ISIS) captured much of the northern and western regions of the country. The US and other western military powers have played a significant role in deepening sectarian divisions in the region during the past decade and before. We do not believe further military intervention can bring desperately needed peace and stability to the people of Iraq.
SPC recently hosted a “No US Military Intervention in Iraq” phone booth in downtown Syracuse, prompting dozens of passersby to call their representatives and tell them not to support military mobilization. Additionally we handed out hundreds of leaflets and interviewed with local reporters.
These efforts were part of our weekly outreach at the Downtown Farmers Market. We are tabling on different issues each week on Tuesdays throughout the summer. To learn more, contact Brianna at brianna@peacecouncil.net.
Summer Hours at SPC Office
The summer is our time to be educating, agitating and organizing outside in the streets and on the sidewalks, as well as a time for staff vacations. So, our July and August in-office hours will be Monday–Thursday from 11–5 pm. Someone is often in the office later than 5 pm (as I type this it’s 7:30), so if you’d like to drop in after 5, feel free, but call first (472-5478).
NOON Booklet Is Available
The (very) long-awaited 2014 version of the NOON booklet is out! Titled Neighbor to Neighbor, Nation to Nation: Readings About the Relationship of the Onondaga Nation with Central New York, USA, it is the result of a labor of love by members of Neighbors of the Onondaga Nation and the Onondaga Nation. A substantial 79 pages, there are sections on Haudenosaunee culture, Haudenosaunee/US history, the environment and more.
If you are interested in receiving a copy, please stop by the SPC office or give us a call. The booklet is an excellent resource for high school and college classes, and we are eager to have it used as an educational tool. We are happy to offer the booklet as a gift, but we accept contributions ($5 suggested donation, more if you can, less if you can’t). If larger orders are needed for groups, we are happy to talk with you regarding cost.
Thanks to the Syracuse Cultural Workers for including the booklet in their Fall Catalog for national distribution. See syracuseculturalworkers.com.Contact Carol.
Two Row Campaign Ends
Following two and a half years of sharing the powerful history of the Two Row Wampum and engaging thousands of people in the work of renewing that first treaty between the Haudenosaunee and European newcomers, the Two Row Wampum Renewal Campaign has come to the end of its journey. While the campaign ends, the treaty and work continue.
Aspects of the campaign will continue in the work of Neighbors of the Onondaga Nation (NOON), which initiated the project. The Onondaga continue advocating through their appeal to the Inter-American Human Rights Commission, work to clean-up Onondaga Lake and more. Spinoff efforts include the new group Neetopk Keetopk, a Two Row-style group in the Hudson Valley and plans for a Two Row paddle down the Grand River initiated by Haudenosaunee people of the Six Nations Territory next summer. The campaign website, www.HonorTheTwoRow.org continues as a legacy of the project.
Bikes 4 Peace
Many people do not have access to adequate transportation. Bikes 4 Peace hopes to alleviate that need by helping those who can, to ride a bike. Bicycling is inexpensive, healthy and above all fun!
We hold bicycle repair clinics in various locations in Syracuse throughout the summer. Bring your broken bike, and even if you don’t have one, come to one of our clinics to learn how to fix a bike. Those who need a bike can earn one of our bikes in need of repair and fix it for themselves. We provide parts, tools and guidance in bike repair. You provide the labor. So, don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty this summer and join us at one of our bike repair clinics.
The July clinics are on July 16 and 23 from 5-7 pm at Brady Faith Center (404 South Ave.). August clinics are August 6 and 13 from 5-7 pm at La Liga (700 Oswego St.)
For more information, see us online at facebook.com/groups/bikes4peace or peacecouncil.net or call Dave Kashmer at 315-350-7642. See you this summer!
Activist Apprecation: Ann Jamison
SPC thanks to Ann Jamison for her long time support and hard work in so many ways. Currently Ann distributes Peace Newsletters to the West Side of Syracuse every month, an indispensable role. Ann is also well known for regularly bringing a large group of enthusiastic bowlers to the annual Bowlathon. Her National Organization for Women bowling teams consistently place in the Pledgers’ Hall of Fame for their generous support of SPC. We also applaud Ann’s work for law enforcement justice through the ACTS Justice Taskforce, of which SPC is a member. Thanks for everything you do to further peace and social justice in our community, Ann!
Phonathon a Success
On three recent evenings, SPC activists gathered to share a meal and make fundraising phone calls for our vital programs and activities. We had a great time talking with SPC supporters, collecting donations, and getting feedback and ideas about SPC’s work. We received over $1,300 in contributions and pledges, as well as a number of unspecified promises of support. Thanks to Syracuse Cultural Workers for allowing us to use their space and phones.
If you received a call, please respond with the most generous contribution you are able to give. Your donation will help us keep organizing for peace and social justice. And if you didn’t get a call, we will be happy to talk with you or send information. Contact Michael.
Drones Summer Plans
Members of SPC’s Ground the Drones, End the Wars Committee participated in Upstate Drone Action’s recent retreat. People attended from all the major Upstate cities and NYC. We discussed our local as well as regional plans. Being nearest to Hancock Air Base, SPC’s local plans include providing hospitality for people on trial and their supporters, jail support, downtown tabling, organizing a tableau/street theater to stage at the NY State Fair, performing The Predator play, exhibiting the Drones Quilt and organizing Street Heat.
One outcome of the retreat was the formation of an Order of Protection (OOP) Committee to clarify the legal issues, help people with OOPs, and come up with strategies to combat the OOPs. See page 8 to learn more about how this important legal tool used primarily in domestic violence situations is being used against nonviolent civil resisters at Hancock Air Base. Contact Carol.
SPC Summer Interns
SPC is excited to welcome a new group of interns this summer. Holly Reedy is involved with Bikes 4 Peace, puts together our e-newsletter each week and works on creative projects around the office. Sharon Dellinger brings her extensive experience working with systems to her work on clean-up of the SPC database and the online PNL archives. She also participates in anti-drones work and the weekly Downtown Outreach. Brianna Shetler joins us for a third semester, this time coordinating the Downtown Outreach, soliciting PNL ads, helping with Hiroshima Day planning and staying connected to anti-drone work.
We’re having a great summer so far and looking forward to the rest of it! Please join us. Contact Michael.
