Sunday, October 20, 2013

Upcoming events in the Asheville area this week



Color along the Blue Ridge Parkway in October 2013.

UPCOMING EVENTS

EARLY VOTING GOING ON NOW!

10/21/13 MINI-WORKSHOP AT MALAPROPS    Monday, Oct. 21, 7pm at Malaprop's Bookstore, downtown: Introducing the handy minibook, "HeartSpeak: Listening & Speaking from the Heart" by Cathy Holt & Joy Smith, along with a mini-workshop. Contact Cathy at 828-545-9681 for more information.

10/21/13 COST OF POVERTY EXPERIENCE
A ‘cost of poverty’ experience will include a poverty simulation event to educate the public on low-income issues first-hand. Held at Biltmore Baptist Church at 35 Clayton Road in Arden. Free, and time is 6 to 9 PM. Info and registration at avl.mx/01q.

10/22/13 TRAPPED BY POVERTY, TRAPPED BY ABUSE
Pisgah Legal Services will hold their Third Annual Poverty Forum featuring Kim Gandy, President and CEO of the National Network to End Domestic Violence. This forum will explore the link between domestic violence and poverty, and the importance of access to justice for victims. Cocktail reception is at 5:30 PM and forum starts at 7 PM. $50 for reception and forum and $15 for forum only. Location will be Diana Wortham Theatre in downtown Asheville. Contact Pisgah Legal Services for more information.

10/22/13 ASHEVILLE CITY COUNCIL BUSINESS
Under new business, the Asheville city council will vote on whether or not to support a resolution to start planning a transition off of the Asheville Coal Plant and supporting a clean energy economy. There will also be resolution concerning civil liberties, dealing with unwarranted oppressive behaviors on the part of police towards undocumented immigrants. Both issues need people to support them, so come to the City Council meeting and lend your support. Meeting starts at 5 PM and it is held at City Hall.

10/22/13 VEGAN FILM SCREENING AND FORUM
A panel forum and film screening will focus on vegan diets for personal and planetary health. Held at Jubilee Community at 46 Wall Street in Asheville. $5 suggested donation, time is 7 to 9 PM. Info at jubileecommunity.org.

10/23/13 HEARTSPEAK: LISTENING & SPEAKING FROM THE HEART  
HeartSpeak: Listening & Speaking from the Heart with Cathy Holt, first of 4 classes at the Jewish Community Center, 236 Charlotte St. Move from conflict to connection, learn heart coherence, hear the need behind any "no" in this highly interactive, experiential class; $60 includes private, confidential coaching session. To preregister: cathyfholt@gmail.com or 828-545-9681. Time is 6:30 to 8:30 PM.

10/23/13 GIRL RISING MOVIE   
From Academy Award-nominated director Richard E. Robbins and the award-winning producers of The Documentary Group and Vulcan Productions, strategic partner, Intel Corporation, and distribution partners CNN Films and Gathr, comes “Girl Rising” - an innovative new feature film about the power of education to change a girl – and the world. These girls are each unique, but the obstacles they faced are ubiquitous. Like the 66 million girls around the world who dream of going to school, what Sokha, Suma, Ruksana and the rest want most is to be students: to learn. And now, by sharing their personal journeys, they have become teachers. Watch Girl Rising, and you will see: One girl with courage is a revolution. Beaucatcher Theater at 7:30 PM.

10/23/13 ASHEVILLE GREEN DRINKS
Join us Wednesday October 23rd at 6PM at the Green Sage Coffeehouse and Cafe for a presentation on “Asheville Beyond Coal” by local Beyond Coal Organizer, Emma Greenbaum. 150 COAL PLANTS RETIRED! Asheville Beyond Coal is part of a national movement to retire coal fired power plants and move to clean, renewable energy. Let’s make Duke Energy’s Asheville coal plant #151! Presentation is at 6 PM.

10/24/13 CENTER FOR DIVERSITY EDUCATION LECTURE AT UNCA
I invite you to attend a lecture by Dr. Delpit at UNC Asheville with support from Center for Diversity Education and the UNC Asheville Education Department. She will be speaking, in part, about her most recent book “Multiplication is for White People” and how a teacher's unconscious bias limits the opportunities for students of color.  Time Is 7 PM and location is Mountain View Room, Sherrill Center UNC Asheville. For more information email Andrea at atamartine@unca.edu.    

10/24/13 WNC CHAPTER OF UNITED NATIONS ASSOCIATION EVENT
We hope you can attend our UN Day Event: “WATER IS LIFE!” This is a United Nations Day Benefit and Celebration. There will be music, poetry and stories of water, featuring Free Planet Radio, poet-author Laura Hope-Gill, and special guests. Location is White Horse, Black Mountain at 105 Montreat Road in Black Mountain. Time is 7 PM. Donation is $10.

10/24/13 REALLY SCARY MOVIE: GASLAND
Prepare for Halloween by seeing the FREE (and true) horror documentary about fracking.  All across America, rural landowners have received lucrative offers from energy companies wanting to lease their property. Reason? The companies hope to tap into a reservoir dubbed the “Saudi Arabia of natural gas.” Hidden beneath these offers lie massive dangers to soil, water supply, and humans. Josh Fox’s 2010 production has won multiple awards and national media attention. Location is First Congregational UCC Church and time is 7 PM.

10/24/13 MIND THE GAP TOUR
The Children First/CIS Mind the Gap tour will call attention to issues that hinder the success of families in poverty. Donations not requested. Info and registration at 259-9717. Time is 3:30 PM.

10/25/13 WNC PHYSICIANS FOR SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY MEETING
The next WNC PSR monthly meeting will be at a private home near the VA Hospital. Brown Bag lunch at noon with meeting from 12:30 to 2 PM. Everyone is welcome. Please go to www.wncpsr.org  for more information, which includes how to get there and other details. Physicians, health personnel and everyone; all are welcomed at our monthly meetings!

10/26/13 FREEDOM FUND & AWARDS BANQUET
Asheville Branch NAACP Annual Freedom Fund & Awards Banquet will be a 7 PM at Tried Stone Missionary Baptist Church at 100 Carroll Avenue in Asheville. This is a celebration of their 80th Anniversary. Cost is $45. Invited guest speaker is Rev. Dr. William Barber II, president of the NC NAACP. For more information or to purchase tickets, call 828-281-3066.

10/28/13 ASHEVILLE EARTH SABBATH CELEBRATION
The Earth Sabbath Celebrations are contemplative and experiential services which utilize community building exercises, readings from many faith traditions, music, video, ritual, movement, chant, guided meditation and other modalities to reach deep into the grief and love we feel for our Earth and help both salve and energize our spirits so we can continue the work of restoration and repair of and with the Creator and creation. Time is 7 PM and location is St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Asheville. Free.

10/28/13 TRANSITION ASHEVILLE PROGRAM
Dynamic Governance Introductory Series (Part 1) will be from 8:30 AM to 12:30 PM at Handmade in America gallery. Whether the results we want are profits for a business, solving a community problem, or more effective fundraising, when we work in groups we always use some system for steering the process toward results. Consensus often feels impossibly lengthy, and Roberts Rules leaves people feeling marginalized or unengaged. The Transition Asheville Common Table uses “Dynamic Governance” because it is an energizing and efficient method for making decisions in such a way that each participant is enabled to tale part as a unique individual on the basis of equality. The Dynamic Governance Institute founded by Tracy Kunkler and Michelle Smith has supported the Common Table in implementing this transformational means of innovating new social and organizational structures. This first session will teach you “paradigm shifting” decision-making tools and meeting formats for committees, boards, organizations, or networks of organizations to remain very organized and efficient, while inviting people from a breadth of perspectives and styles to participate effectively. The workshop will be fun and interactive; offering tools you can try right away. This information came from Facebook.

10/29/13 SOCIAL JUSTICE FILM AT UU CHURCH
On Tuesday, October 29th, there will be a screening the documentary, "The United States of ALEC", an important film about corporate political influence at the state and national level. This screening is on Tuesday rather than the customary Friday. The “United States of ALEC” reports on the most influential corporate-funded political force most of us have never heard of – ALEC, the American Legislative Exchange Council. A national consortium of state politicians and powerful corporations, ALEC presents itself as a “nonpartisan public-private partnership”. But behind that mantra lies a vast network of corporate lobbying and political action aimed to increase corporate profits at public expense without public knowledge. The location is the Unitarian Universalist Church on Edwin Street in Asheville.  The film is at 7 PM. No charge, donations accepted.

10/29/13 ASHEVILLE HEARING ON EPA’S CARBON POLLUTION RULE
Join the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, WNC Alliance, Sierra Club and WNC Green Congregations, and Climate Parents at the Cathedral of All Souls in Biltmore Village for a Citizens’ Climate Hearing from 5:30 to 7:30 PM to give testimony to the EPA in support of carbon limits on new power plants. There will be food, educational opportunities and fun as well. Come one, come all. Kids are welcome.

10/29/13 PISGAH LEGAL BENEFIT
In support of Pisgah Legal's work to end domestic violence, clothing designer Julia Monet, or "J. Monet" and Magnolia Ray Restaurant are hosting a fashion show. October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and J. Monet hopes raise awareness and "spread loving, healing, joyful energy." The event begins at 5:30 PM at Magnolia Ray restaurant just north of Asheville.

10/29/13 FORUM ON ‘AFTER TRAYVON MARTIN’
Representatives of a broad group of community organizations have come together to continue the community conversation about the law and law enforcement in our neighborhoods. "After Trayvon Martin: Where Do We Go From Here?"  Our next forum is at 6:00 PM at the Shiloh Community Center. We need your participation in this important community conversation. The program will begin at 6pm and will include both small group roundtable conversation and large group interaction with Sheriff Van Duncan and Chief William Anderson. Our focus remains community safety. What is the role of community members and what is the role of law enforcement in creating safe communities? For more information email Carol at crhesq@gmail.com. Sponsored by A-B Community Relations Council, Asheville Branch NAACP, Asheville Police Department, Asheville Parks and Recreation, A-B Institute of Parity Achievement, Baptist Minister’s Union, and more.

10/30/13 ASHEVILLE GREEN DRINKS
Join us Wednesday October 30th at 6PM at the Green Sage Coffeehouse and Cafe for a fascinating talk on “Population Issues” by President & CEO of Population Connection (formerly ZPG), John Seager. Learn what you can do by educating yourself on the root cause of this critical issue. Rapid population growth impacts all areas of human life and the environment. It intensifies water and food shortages and wreaks havoc on ecosystems through overfishing, deforestation, habitat loss, pollution, and climate change. Because of population growth the natural systems are necessary to our survival are being swiftly and severely disrupted.

11/01/13 LAST DAY FOR EARLY VOTING

11/01/13 MOVE TO AMEND EVENT - “GO, GRANNY D” PLAY
We want to let you know about an inspiring event that Move to Amend Buncombe County is sponsoring. Asheville actress Barbara Bates Smith will bring “Go, Granny D” her one-woman show about Doris “Granny D” Haddock, to the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Asheville on Friday, Nov. 1 at 7 p.m.  Smith’s performance, accompanied by musician Jeff Sebens, tells the inspiring story of 90-year-old Doris “Granny D” Haddock, who blazed a 3,200-mile trail across America in 2000 for campaign finance reform. The performance is open to the public; a suggested donation of $10 is requested, but all are welcome.  Childcare will be provided, please call Nick Andrea at cyc@uuasheville.org by October 21.  To learn more about Move to Amend, contact Lew at 828-299-1242.

11/03/13 FIFTH ANNUAL EAT AT MIKE’S DINNER AND AUCTION  
WNC Health Advocates (WNCHA) is hosting its 5th Annual Eat at Mike's Dinner! WNCHA is a 501(c)(3) organization whose mission is to offer comfort and support to people with illness and disability, to new mothers and families, and to advocate for access to quality healthcare for all. Join us for our 5th annual signature fundraiser! Ticket price of $25 includes dinner from some of your favorite local restaurants and farms. A silent auction will feature items from local crafters and artists. For more information call 828-243-6712. Time is 5:30 PM to 8 PM and location is First Congregational UCC Church in Asheville.

11/04/13 NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION MEETING IN CHARLOTTE
Nuclear Regulatory Commission will hold a public meeting for comments. The location is Hilton Charlotte University Place in Charlotte. There will be a bus from Asheville to Charlotte. This bus will leave Earthfare Parking Lot at 2:00 PM and return at midnight. Cost is $15, with some scholarships available. For reservations: Mary at 242-5621 or maryo@nirs.org; or contact Laura at 545-4443 or Lsredoak@gmail.com.  

11/05/13 ELECTION DAY

11/06/13 RESCHEDULED – DR. CORNEL WEST LECTURE
Cornel West has had to reschedule his public lecture at UNC Asheville due to a family emergency. The public lecture, originally scheduled for October 16 in Kimmel Arena, will now take place at 7:30 p.m., on Wednesday, November 6, in Kimmel Arena at UNC Asheville's Sherrill Center. For more information, visit the university's Cultural Events website or call 828.251.6674.

11/06/13 HOWARD ZINN READ-IN
Please join the Asheville branch of the International Socialist Organization on November 6th at 6:00 PM at the Pack Memorial Library (Ground Floor, Activity Room) to preserve the incredible histories of people fighting for their rights, their lives, and a better world.  “A Peoples History of the United States” by Howard Zinn has been a definitive text for educators, activists, and revolutionaries on the Left for more than three decades. For more information, contact Asheville-socialism@googlegroups.com.

11/11/13 ARMISTICE DAY

11/12/13 VETERANS FOR PEACE MEETING
Time is 6:30 PM and location is VFP HQ at the Phil Mechanic Studios: 109 Roberts Street in Asheville. VFP Chapter 099: http://vfpchapter099wnc.blogspot.com/

11/16/13 TO 11/17/13 DRONE CONFERENCE IN DC.

11/18/13 MOVE TO AMEND BUNCOMBE COUNTY MEETING
Time is 7 PM and location is North Asheville Library.

11/19/13 CONCERT AND RECEPTION TO HONOR LOCAL ACTIVISTS
Charlie King and Karen Brandow are musical storytellers and political satirists. They sing and write passionately about the extraordinary lives of ordinary people. This Perelandra Studio Concert will be held in east Asheville on November 19th.  6 PM reception with Charlie and Karen. 7 PM Concert. Both the reception and the concert will celebrate Asheville area participation in the Walk for our Grandchildren and Moral Mondays. Email hras@humanrightsaction.net or or call 314-374-7446 to arrange for tickets which are $20 (only advance tickets available).

11/19/13 HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR TALKS AT UNCA
In this talk, “From Mozart to Murder: A Holocaust Survivor Muses About Radical Evil” Professor Walter Ziffer will relate his personal encounters with such evil (genocide) to a number of attempts by scholars to explain how such monstrosities come into being, considering our human genetic potentials for such, as well as situations that trigger these potentialities to transform into acted atrocities. Time is 7 PM and location is Lipinsky Auditorium at UNCA.

11/22/13 to 11/24/13 SCHOOL OF THE AMERICAS WATCH CONVERGENCE ON FORT BENNING

11/22/13 SOCIAL JUSTICE FILM AT UU CHURCH
The November 22nd film will be the award-winning film "Chasing Ice".  More information to follow.

02/08/14 H K on J MARCH IN RALEIGH
All Roads Lead to Raleigh for Historic Thousands on Jones Street on February 8th. In 2014, Raleigh will host the largest people's assembly yet.  Thousands of people from across North Carolina, and across the United States, will assemble on Jones Street, to protest the immoral, unconstitutional, mean spirit that has taken over the Peoples House. Organized by the NC NAACP.

07/24/14 TO 07/27/14 VETERANS FOR PEACE ANNUAL CONVENTION
This will be held at UNCA.

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ONGOING EVENTS
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TUESDAY
Veterans for Peace have a weekly vigil at 5 PM at Pack Square, Vance Monument

WEDNESDAY
Haywood Peace Vigilers have a weekly vigil at 4 PM at Haywood County Courthouse in Waynesville

THURSDAY
Asheville Homeless Network meeting at 2 PM at Firestorm Cafe

FRIDAY
Women in Black have a weekly vigil at noon at the City Hall in Hendersonville

SATURDAY
Transylvanians for Peace and WNC Physicians for Social Responsibility have a weekly vigil at noon in front of the courthouse in Brevard
Third Saturdays – Asheville’s Green Grannies invites the public to “sing for the climate” at Vance Monument.

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ACTIONS AND READINGS
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
14 October 2013

For More Information:      Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, President, 919-394-8137
                                       Atty. Irving Joyner, Legal Redress Chair, 919-682-4700
For Media Assistance:      Laurel Ashton, Field Secretary, 828-713-3864

Two days ago, on Saturday morning, to the largest civil rights gathering in Eastern North Carolina in decades, Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, II presented his annual "State of Civil Rights in North Carolina" report to the North Carolina NAACP. He heaped praise on the tens of thousands of North Carolinians who participated in the 13 Moral Mondays at the Peoples House on Jones Street in Raleigh to expose the tea party's extreme legislative policies.  He thanked the local peoples assemblies that brought the Forward Together Movement into every corner of the state, at simultaneous assemblies in the 13 U.S. Congressional Districts at the same hour, 50 years ago, that Dr. Martin Luther King urged the 1963 participants to take the March on Washington back home in the South, to accelerate the long, hard work of dismantling racism back home.  And he listed the dozen Moral Mondays that have been held around the state, and several that are planned in the near future--as well as Moral Monday groups becoming activated around the nation.  

Dr. Barber did not just report to the huge crowd of NAACP leaders, representatives from the 150 partners in the Historic Thousands on Jones Street, and other state leaders attending the NC NAACP's 70th State Convention.  As is his practice, he laid out a vision for the work of the organization and the Moral Monday/Forward Together Movement it leads over the next period.

The State of NC Civil Rights in 2013 ~ by William J. Barber, II

1. Calling for a Special Redemptive Legislative Session: As the seasons of Hanukkah and Advent begin, clergy and other people of conscience will peaceably petition Governor McCrory to call a Special Redemption Session during this Season of Redemption and use the power of his office to persuade the legislators to rescind their decision to strip medicaid from 500,000 North Carolina families and unemployment benefits from 170,000 North Carolina families. The Forward Together Movement will work through Thanksgiving and Hanukkah getting signatures for the petition.

2. Mass Moral Monday on December 23rd:  The Moral Monday-Forward Together Movement will gather in Raleigh on December 23rd to either celebrate Gov. McCrory's redemptive decision or to continue our protest as witnesses to the loss of Medicaid and Unemployment Benefits for hundreds of thousands of North Carolinians.

3. Informational Pickets at Art Pope's Stores: At the Convention, NC NAACP passed a resolution to get approval from the National NAACP to set up an informational picket campaign at Maxway and Roses stores, owned by state employee Art Pope, Gov. McCrory's Budget Director. The public education pickets will connect McCrory's Budget Director's family fortune that he used to finance extremist campaigns by tea party politicians and the cuts Mr. Pope made in his state budget to harm the poor and help the rich.

4. Supporting Education Justice Lawsuits: The North Carolina Constitution guarantees all children the right to a sound basic education. The NC NAACP will join with other civil rights and education organizations to file lawsuits challenging the McCrory-Pope-Tillis-Berger cuts to public education as unconstitutional.  

5. Stepping up the Fight Against the Monster Voter Suppression Bill: The Moral Monday/Forward Together Movement will fight against the "worst voter suppression bill in the country" at our court houses, our polling  booths, and in the streets.  The goal is to make sure the Monster Voter Suppression Bill is found unconstitutional by the 2014 election.  

6. Voter Registration and Education: The Moral Monday/Forward Together Movement will do voter registration and education across the state, in rural towns and urban cities, in preparation for the November 2014 election.

7. All Roads Lead to Raleigh for HKonJ8 on February 8, 2014. In 2014, Raleigh will host the largest people's assembly yet.  Thousands of people from across North Carolina, and across the United States, will assemble on Jones Street, to protest the immoral, unconstitutional, mean spirit that has taken over the Peoples House.     

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Founded in 1909, the NAACP is the nation's oldest and largest civil rights organization. Its members throughout the United States and the world are the premier advocates for civil rights in their communities. The NC Conference of NAACP Branches is 70 years old this year and is made up of over 100 Adult, Youth and College NAACP units across the state, convenes the more the 150 members of the Historic Thousands on Jones Street (HKonJ) Peoples Assembly Coalition, and is the architect of the Moral Monday & Forward Together Movement.  


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Nuclear Regulatory Public Hearing on Waste: Monday, Nov 4 in Charlotte

Meeting 7:00 - 10:00 pm

Hilton Charlotte University Pl, 8629 J.M. Keynes Dr., Charlotte, NC 28262

A BUS from Asheville to the meeting will leave at 2pm. from Earthfare (Westgate Parking Lot), to be back around midnight-- $15 per seat.

We need your help to fill this bus!

WHY is this meeting / mobilization important?
The U.S. NRC has been told by a federal judge to do an environmental impact statement on storing the most highly radioactive waste (fuel rods after they have been removed from a reactor core). Strangely, this "look" has never been done before because NRC had always said "the Department of Energy is going to take this waste; it is only temporary here and it is safe, no impact." The judge said "Not good enough" and directed NRC to look at short term including fuel pool fires, and to look at middle term (assuming a repository is built) and also to look at what if there is NEVER a repository.   This is the best chance that the public has ever had to speak out on radioactive waste policy / regulation / generation / end of generation (5 reactors closed this year, and 5 proposed reactors have been canceled).

Contact: Mary Olson, 828-242-5621, maryo@mirs.org  (Nuclear Information and Resource Service), http://www.nirs.org/

Contact: Laura Sorensen, 828-545-4443, Lsredoak@gmailcom

Pre-register to speak at the hearing by calling 301-287-93-92 or emailing WCRegistration@nrc.gov no later than Nov 1.

If you can't attend, fax:  Secretary, US NRC, Washington, DC 20555-0001, Attention: Rulemaking & Adjudication Staff, Docket# 210-0246

or email: rulemaking.comments@nrc.com,  docket # 210-0246

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