MAPA Update, August 4

Dear friends,

With the anniversaries of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki nuclear bombs, Nuclear-Free Future Week is here. As Tony Palomba so eloquently put it in Watertown last night, it is our country that first invented nuclear weapons and first used them on civilian populations, and it is also we who have the responsibility to push our leaders for worldwide abolition of nuclear weapons. We begin that work with two events:

Nuclear Savage: Film Screening and Potluck: tells the story of the U.S. H-bomb tests in the Marshall Islands in the 1950s which devastated the islanders living there.  This screening also welcomes the walkers participating in a Walk for Peace and Non-Violence  organized by New England Peace Pagoda. This gathering initiates a series of events in relation to the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings.  Tuesday, August 5, First Church in Boston, 66 Marlborough St.  Potluck at 6pm, screening at 7pm, discussion after film.

“Boston Remembers Hiroshima and Nagasaki: Moving from Violence to Unity” will be a memorial procession through downtown Boston with music, dance, talks and action on Wednesday, August 6 from 3:00 -5:30pm. Gather at the First Church in Boston, 66 Marlborough St and walk to Boston City Hall.  

The ceremony will be held at City Hall Plaza with talks by Tina Chery, president of the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute; presentation of the city council’s proclamation by councillor Charles Yancey; Elaine Scarry, author of Thermonuclear Monarchy; Anna Baker, founder of the Pilgrim Coalition; folksinger Evan Greer; Taiko drumming, and “Soran Bushi” Japanese folk dancing.  Please join us for this walk to remember!   Can you volunteer on Wednesday afternoon?  Contact the office!

We Protest the Israeli attack on Gaza!  Following “Boston Remembers Hiroshima” we will join the Interfaith Vigil for Peace in Israel/Palestine organized by Boston Workmen’s Circle, Wednesday, 5:30 pm at Park Street Station. Read our Appeal to Congress to declare a cease-fire in its relentless support for the murderous Israeli assault on Gaza.  And stand by for a Gaza protest to be scheduled on Monday, August 11; the planning meeting will be tomorrow night, Tuesday, 6pm at SEIU 615,  26 West Street.  

Raed Jarrar will give a firsthand report from Palestine and analysis of Iraq and Syria, Thursday, August 7, 7pm at Cambridge Friends Meeting, 5 Longfellow Park.  Jarrar, policy impact coordinator for AFSC, was in Jerusalem July 10-17 as Israel launched the attack on Gaza.  The presentation will describe overarching US policy in the Middle East including Syria and Egypt, and how the peace movement can take action.  Sponsored by UJP.

We Need Volunteers on Friday, August 15 and Saturday, August 16 when we will set up an outreach table at Boston Green Fest. We’ll be showing off our Nuclear Globe,  inviting people to join us at the People’s Climate March, and asking people to sign our petition, “Funding for Education – or for Nuclear Weapons”.  Can you take aside an hour or two between noon at 5pm on either of those days?   Contact the office at info@masspeaceaction.org or call 617-354-2169 to sign up!   

Following Green Fest, Our next outreach table will be Monday, Sept. 1 in Lawrence.

Rebecca Gordon will speak on her new book “Mainstreaming Torture” on August 28 in Bristol, RI and on September 2 in Walpole, MA.  Check the schedule for details.  We look forward to seeing you there!

The People’s Climate March is scheduled for Sept. 21 in New York City. Sign up to march with the Stop the Wars, Stop the Warming Contingent!  The oil monopolies and the US military defend a world economic system that is destroying the planet and creating war. Reserve your bus ticket now, before the price goes up.  There will also be a NYC Climate Convergence Friday evening, Sept. 19 and Saturday, Sept. 20 exploring the connections of militarism, racism, jobs, and inequality with climate change.

Come to an organizing meeting for Stop the Wars, Stop the Warming featuring Boston College professor Charles Derber, author of Greed to Green: Solving Climate Change and Remaking the Economy. Thursday, August 28, 7pm at encuentro 5, 9 Hamilton Place, Boston (near Park St. T).

Hot War: Climate Change, Conflict and Sustainability will feature Michael Klare,  Five College professor of peace and world security studies. Klare will talk about how climate change will provoke world conflict, and why sustainability is the only sure road to peace. This event will be held Thursday, Sept 11 at 7pm in Boston or Cambridge, location TBA.   In preparation for the People’s Climate March. Sponsored by UJP.

Helen Caldicott will speak on “Controlling our Nuclear Appetite”, Saturday, September 20, at Newton City Hall, sponsored by Newton Dialogues on Peace & War.

David Hartsough will give a book talk on Waging Peace: Global Adventures of a Life-Long Activist, October 2, 7pm at Cambridge Friends Meeting.

We rely on our members, both for financial support and for political power. Have you paid your 2014 dues? Don’t forget to renew at masspeaceaction.org/donate!

Check our events page at masspeaceaction.org/events for more details and more events! Mark these down on your calendars!