[FLPERMACULTURE] Celebration of Ben Nichols Life

[Michael Burns]

Celebration of Ben Nichols Life

Dear Friends and Comrades--

We have organized a celebration of Ben's life for Friday, December  28, at 7pm
at the downtown Holiday Inn, in the ballroom, for all the  folks who consider
themselves part of the progressive community we  shared with Ben.  We will
have a short video and a short slide presentation on Ben's life, music from
the Burns Sisters, group singing led by John Simon and Ken Zeserson, and hear
from a small  number of people close to Ben in his personal and political
life.  There will be time after the program for people to eat, drink and 
share memories of Ben.  We will also have a scroll for people to  sign or
write statements about Ben.  I hope you can join us.

Whether or not you can make it to the celebration, if you wish you  to provide
support for the causes Ben was most concerned about in  these last few years,
I suggest three possibilities, but of course  any contribution to a
progressive cause of your choice in his name  would be welcome.  Locally, we
have organized a Ben Nichols Fund for  Staffing for Equity, which will provide
scholarships for
paraprofessionals of color with roots in the community to become  credentialed
teachers and teach in our schools.  Checks can be made  out to Social
Ventures, Inc. with "Ben Nichols Fund" on the memo  line, and sent to      124
Westfield Road, Ithaca, NY 14850.  In the  last few years Ben had increasingly
focused, as many of you know, on  issues of racial and class bias in our local
schools, and this fund  carries out that commitment.  Nationally and
internationally, Ben  had been focused on two causes/organizations in these
last years,  The Center for Constitutional Rights, particularly for its
challenges to Guantanamo and other human rights violations, 666 Broadway, New
York, NY 10012, or <www.ccr-ny.org>, and the organizations that are trying to
mobilize progressive U.S. Jews to  oppose the occupation of Palestine and
provide assistance to Palestinians suffering from that occupation, End the
Occupation  and  Trees for Life.  Donations can be made and more information
found at  their websites, <endtheoccupation.org> and
<treesforlifepalestine.org>.

Thanks to all of you who have offered your support and help to me.  As my
friends from the ANC struggle put it, when a comrade falls,  you pick up his
spear and carry on the fight. Let that be our continuing celebration of Ben's
memory.


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