[WPC] The WPC ACTIVIST ALERT for August 13 - August 20, 2008 is updated!

[Washington Peace Center]

Greetings Friends,

The Washington Peace Center Activist Alert for the week of August 13 - August 120, 2008, is now updated! You can view it on our website at:
http://www.washingtonpeacecenter.net/civic/activist_alert
where you'll find many listings of peace and justice actions, community and cultural events, job postings and more.

Also, please check the website for updates, polls, and new additions to our center-column blog (or to add your own!):  www.washingtonpeacecenter.net

Meanwhile, some upcoming events are highlighted below.  See you in the streets!

"You can't separate peace from freedom because no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom."
- Malcolm X (1925-1965)


** SUNDAY ** AUGUST 17 **  DNC/RNC CONVENTION CROSS-COUNTRY PEACE CARAVAN KICK-OFF CONCERT
3-6pm  Peoples MEDIA Center Back Patio  4132 Georgia Ave, NW  WDC  (4 blocks north of Petworth METRO - Green/Yellow Lines)
Come inaugurate the back patio of the Peoples MEDIA Center, and pour some DC activist energy into the Cross-Country Peace Caravan, while rocking with Evil Empire (Rage Against the Machine covers), Johnny Bonneville, and other special musical guests.  Donation Requested - Proceeds benefit the Washington Peace Center, the Peoples' MEDIA Center, and the All-Purpose Peace Vehicle (the "APPV" - What is it? Peacemobile? Justicemobile? Impeachmobile?  Help decide!) heading to Denver, the Twin Cities, and Points Beyond. . .
For more info: 202/234-2000 or wpc at igc.org.

THURSDAY ** AUGUST 14 **  TENAC CANDIDATES FORUM
6:30 - 9pm  Foundry United Methodist Church  16th and P St., NW  (Dupont Circle Red Line Metro)
Please join the DC Tenants Advocacy Coalition for their bi-annual Candidates Forum.  This critical event involves five out of 13 Council seats, choices which will determine the course of tenant issues for the next two years and possibly far beyond.  Critical issues face tenants and the stakes are high for the entire city.  Tenants comprise two-thirds of the District's population, yet their voice is often not heard, and their interests ignored.  The best time to lobby for affordable housing and tenants’ rights is at election time.  You still have lots of electoral clout, but only if you come and participate. "Rev up" your questions for the candidates!  
TENAC has fought hard for affordable rental housing for a long time, formed dozens of tenant associations, and the Hotline (now in its 14th year) has answered thousands of landlord-tenant questions for tenants.  Housing is not a commodity.  We are not talking about oil futures, pork bellies, or Reebok sneakers; we are talking about the roof over people’s heads.   Your contribution and participation are vital.  If you attend no other forum, you should come to this one. 
More information, contact Jim McGrath, D.C. TENANTS’ ADVOCACY COALITON, tel. 202/628-3688, e-mail: tenacdc at yahoo.com.
www.tenac.org  

** FRIDAY ** AUGUST 15 ** FILM: APOCALYPSE AFRICA - MADE IN AMERICA
7pm  Emergence Arts Collective  733 Euclid St. NW, Washington, DC 20001
Apocalypse Africa - Made in America is the most controversial documentary ever produced about Africa. It is about blood diamonds, and uranium, and oil. It explores the role racism in US foreign policy played in the destabilization of an entire continent. It contains never before heard audio tapes, never before seen films, and interviews from the people who watched it all unfold. Discussion to follow with filmmaker Del Walters (also author of the book "The Race," a novel about a man poised to become the first Black president struggling to stay alive). He will have copies of the book and the movie for sale at ECAC. Cost: $10 suggested donation 
For more information, email sylvia at ecacollective.org or call 202/462-2285.

"Peace-making is a healing process and it begins with me, but it does not end there."
- Gene Knudsen Hoffman

** SATURDAY ** AUGUST 16 **  GIRLS ROCK! DC CAMPER SHOWCASE
11:00am-1:00pm  (EARLY SHOW) 9:30 Club  815 V St. NW, corner of 9th and V.
Girls Rock! DC, an entirely volunteer-run collective, is holding the DC Metro Area's first all-girl rock camp from August 11-15, 2008! Local youth have instrument instruction on electric guitar, electric bass, drums, keyboards, turntables, and vocals. Campers form bands, write an original song and perform at DC's 9:30 Club on Sat. Aug 16. Don't miss your chance to see DC's newest young rockers take the stage!  WPC is proud fiscal sponsor for Girls Rock! DC.
More info: www.girlsrockdc.org or info at girlsrockdc.org. 

** SATURDAY ** AUGUST 16 **  PROTECT FRANKLIN SHELTER - ORGANIZING MEETING
10am  New York Ave. Presbyterian Church - Radcliffe Room  1313 New York Ave., NW
Be part of the community that will stand with the men as they call for Franklin to remain open until an appropriate place is found downtown and the Mayor's housing initiative has been implemented.
Please RSVP if you can come to Mary Ann Luby, OP - Outreach - Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless
Call 202/328-5505 (direct) or email maryann at legalclinic.org.
Contact: Lucy Duff, 301-577-2350 

** SATURDAY ** AUGUST 16 **  SPEAKOUT AND READ-IN FOR THE NEW SHAW LIBRARY
Noon to 2pm  Shaw GIANT Market Entrance  8th and P St., NW
FREE BOOKS – Music – POETRY – Friends!  Get information about the new Shaw Library and give feedback about the new library designs.  Ward 2 residents want and deserve more from the design & plans of our new library.  Come out and be part of it!
For more information: 202-387-8030  Sponsored by the DC Library Renaissance Project  www.districtdynamos.org

** MONDAY ** AUGUST 18 ** GUERILLA POET INSURGENCY 
6:30-9PM  Dupont Circle, near the fountain  19th and P St., NW  
Guerrillas again gather!  Come join another amazing evening of music and poetry -- created by YOU!
August's musical feature will be the amazing singer/songwriter Lea -- check our her myspace page for a preview: http://www.myspace.com/listentolea.  Mo Alem will host.
Join in!  Bring your rhymes and beats -- create, relate AND participate.
In case of rain, call (800) 886-6157 for cancellation or late start information.
For more information, dcguerrillapoet at gmail.com.


"Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding."
-Albert Einstein (1979-1955)

"Peace is the only battle worth waging."
- Albert Camus (1913-1960)

ANNOUNCEMENTS: 

VIGILERS NEEDED - WHITE HOUSE PEACE VIGIL   
"The price of freedom is eternal vigilance."
The Proposition One Committee, which has maintained the 24/7 anti-nuclear peace vigil outside the White House since 1981, seeks help from DC’s peace and justice community during the month of August. "We need vigilers!"  Under US Park Service regulations, the signs in Lafayette Park must be wo/manned at all times.  Volunteers are sought now who can spend one to four hours (during evenings, between 5 and 11pm) with the signs in front of the White House, on either an occasional or regular basis.  Meet and talk peace with American and International tourists, stand vigil against war and against nuclear weapons, and become part of the longest uninterrupted vigil in the country and a front line of defense for the First Amendment!  Those who recognize the contributions to peace by Thomas and Concepcion over the last 27 years are especially asked to respond.  Please call Ellen at 202/682-4282 or Jay at 202/234-2000 to find out more, and to schedule a time to represent publicly for 
peace and abolition of nuclear weapons.

Please Know: The Washington Peace Center has a color-capable photocopier that we are happy to make available to activists to make black and white or color copies at a fraction of the corporate cost. Please call our office for more information: (202)234-2000.

We are preparing the next issue of the Washington Peace Letter--and we need your help! Please send your submissions (photos, art, letters, articles under 2000 words) to wpc at igc.org, and include PEACE LETTER in the subject line. Issue Theme: "Eye on DC."

Thank you for everything you do for peace!

= = =

"Peace is not an absence of war, it is a virtue, a state of mind, a disposition for benevolence, confidence, justice." 
— Baruch Spinoza
 
The True Peace
"The first peace, which is the most important,
is that which comes within the souls of people
when they realize their relationship, their oneness, 
with the universe and all its powers,
and when they realize that 
at the center of the universe dwells Wakan-Taka (the Great Spirit),
and that this center is really everywhere, it is within each of us.
This is the real peace, and the others are but reflections of this.
The second peace is that which is made between two individuals,
and the third is that which is made between two nations.
But above all you should understand 
that there can never be peace between nations 
until there is known that true peace,
which is within the souls of men."
~ Black Elk, Oglala Sioux & Spiritual Leader (1863 - 1950)

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Washington Peace Center
PO Box 50032
Washington, DC  20091
wpc at igc.org / (202)234-2000
www.washingtonpeacecenter.net