Dear friends,
Election Day is just one month away, and Massachusetts’ Raise Up coalition is working hard for YES ON 4 — which will give earned sick time to over 1 million Massachusetts workers that don’t currently have it. There are 5 ways you can help Mass. Peace Action pass YES ON 4 — sign up here and we’ll help you find the way that is right for you!
Mid East In Flames: Israel, Palestine, Iran—and The Bomb will be a talk by our Program chair, Shelagh Foreman, this Thursday, October 9, 7:30 pm at Encuentro 5, 9 Hamilton Place, Boston, near Park Street T. Not everyone in the room agrees with Mass. Peace Action’s position on the Iraq and Syria conflict, so come prepared for some spirited debate!
Before that talk, join a rally to confront police brutality and racial profiling, and to send of a van of Boston activists to Ferguson, MO to join the Weekend of Resistance there and bear witness to the struggles for justice from Boston to Ferguson. Thursday, 6pm at Boston Police headquarters near Ruggles Station on the Orange Line.
We need volunteers to staff our outreach table at the HONK! Festival on Sunday, October 12! We’ll be at 33 Church St, Harvard Sq., in front of Starbucks. We’ll be showing off our Nuclear Globe and asking people to sign a petition to stop the US air attacks on Iraq and Syria. Can you set aside an hour or two between noon at 5pm on Sunday? Contact the office at info@masspeaceaction.org or call 617-354-2169 to sign up! HONK! is a boisterous, progressive-minded festival and parade which this year will feature 27 marching bands including one from Russia and an all-girl band from Paris. Come down and help us have a blast!
Don’t miss our first Music for Peace concert of the season on Saturday, October 18! Victor Rosenbaum, our Music Director, will perform his only Boston area solo piano recital of the season, featuring three Beethoven sonatas including the Pathetique, the Waldstein. Tickets are $25 for Mass. Peace Action members or $35 for non-members. Subscribe to the series of 3 concerts and save!
Did you make it to New York for the People’s Climate March? Award-winning journalist and author Naomi Klein did, and she will talk about her new book This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate at Cambridge Forum, Thursday, October 16 at First Parish, 1446 Mass. Ave.
Midnight Voices is a a monthly collaborative coffeehouse, spoken word, and poetry series sponsored by the veterans’ writing group, Warrior Writers. Alan Asselin is the featured reader this month on October 16 at Cambridge Friends Meeting, 5 Longfellow Park, 7pm.
Understanding China and China-U.S. Relations: A Key to World Politics will feature BC Prof. Robert Ross and the China Study Group’s Duncan McFarland. Tuesday, Oct. 21, 7pm at Encuentro 5, 9 Hamilton Place, Boston, near Park St. T.
Medea Benjamin, founder of CODEPINK, will speak at an emergency forum on our new wars in Syria and Iraq, Wednesday, Oct 22, 7pm at Cambridge Friends Meeting, 5 Longfellow Park. Just back from a trip to Iran, Medea will also speak on campus at Suffolk, Northeastern, Wellesley, and Clark during her Boston area swing; check here in a few days for schedule details.
Our biggest event of the fall will be A Foreign Policy for All: Re-Thinking U.S. Foreign Policy for the 21st Century. It will be a one-day conference at MIT on Saturday, November 8, featuring Noam Chomsky, Bill Fletcher, Phyllis Bennis, Stephen Kinzer, and Judith Leblanc, with workshops on a wide range of peace and justice topics. $25 before Oct. 29 for Mass. Peace Action members; 15% discount if 5 people register as a group.
We will continue the foreign policy discussions at local meetings around the state between November and January, then bring them to our annual meeting in early February.
Reese Erlich, author of Inside Syria: The Backstory of Their Civil War and What the World Can Expect, with a preface by Chomsky, will speak in Watertown on November 9.
Instilling Hope in Gaza: The Legacy of Dr. Eyad el Sarraj will honor the memory of the first psychiatrist in Gaza and pioneering peace and justice activist, with talks by Noam Chomsky, Sara Roy, Jess Ghannam, Nancy Murray, and Bill Slaughter. October 28, 7pm at First Parish, 1446 Mass. Ave., Cambridge; $10 at the door.
We rely on our members, both for financial support and for political power. If you pay your dues now, you will be a member in good standing through December 2015! Dues are $40/year for an individual, $65 for a family, or $10 for students and low income. Don’t forget to renew at masspeaceaction.org/donate!
Check our Events Calendar at masspeaceaction.org/events for more details and more events! Mark these down on your calendars!