Sunday, May 18, 2014

Upcoming events for the week of May 18, 2014



UPCOMING EVENTS

05/19/14 FIRST MORAL MONDAY FOR 2014 IN RALEIGH

05/19/14 to 05/23/14 STRIVE NOT TO DRIVE WEEK

05/20/14 ASHEVILLE RADICAL MENTAL HEALTH COLLECTIVE
Please join the Asheville Radical Mental Health Collective and co-founders of The Icarus Project (Sascha Altman DuBrul and Jacks McNamara) for an open community workshop and skill share on radical mental health, mutual aid, and strategies for forging practices that support individual and collective liberation and transformative recovery. We are bringing together a couple of really amazing mutual aid community members who have a distinctive set of experiences and insights re: radical activism, madness, social justice, and explorations of the role of liberation in individual and collective healing. ‎The Icarus Project helped to publish Mindful Occupation about sustainable radical organizing and trauma-aware support within direct action communities. This will be on Tuesday, May 20th, from 4 PM to 6:30 PM at Eagle Street Coffee, 39 S. Market St. Please email Faith for more information at radmadasheville@theicarusproject.net or call her at 828-545-8321.

05/20/14 AUDUBON SOCIETY MEETING
The mission of the Elisha Mitchell Audubon Society (EMAS) is to promote an awareness and appreciation of nature, to preserve and protect wildlife and natural ecosystems, and to encourage responsible environmental stewardship. EMAS hold meetings at the Reuter Center (Room 102) on the third Tuesday of the month at 7 PM. The meeting is free and open to the public.  Contact Lew at olli@unca.edu for more information.

05/20/14 FUNDRAISER FOR HOMINY CREEK GREENWAY
Join Friends of Hominy Creek Greenway for a gathering at Unity Church (130 Shelburne Road, Asheville) to support YOUR greenway! Food, beer, raffle, slackline, cornhole, scavenger hunt! Come celebrate, find out what improvement projects we're working on and help us to raise money for those projects! We look forward to seeing you there! Time is 5 to 8 PM.

05/20/14 THE ICARUS PROJECT
Please join co-founders of The Icarus Project and the Asheville Radical Mental Health Collective for an open community workshop and skill-share on practices, projects, and perspectives that empower individual and collective healing in a crazy world. Come explore alternatives to the traditional language and worldviews of biological psychiatry and learn about The Icarus Project, a radical mental health support network, online community, and alternative media project by and for people struggling with extreme states that often get labeled as mental illness. Time is 4 to 6:30 PM and location is Eagle Street Coffee Emporium at 39 South Market Street in Asheville. For more information, contact radmadasheville@theicarusproject.net.

05/20/14 HEART SPEAK & EMPATHY PRACTICE GROUP
HeartSpeak & Empathy Practice Group with Cathy Holt. Share giving and receiving empathy, and practice communicating feelings & needs in a supportive space. Every third Tuesday from 7:30-9 PM. Drop in; love offering appreciated. Location is 386 Kenilworth Road at Digges. For more information, call 828-545-9681.

05/21/14 ASHEVILLE GREEN DRINKS
Join Asheville Green Drinks at 6 PM at the Green Sage Coffeehouse and Cafe (5 Broadway in downtown Asheville) for a presentation on Strategic Transportation Initiatives. Come hear about North Carolina’s new system for ranking and funding transportation projects – from highways to rail to transit to sidewalks and greenways. This system has major implications for I-26 improvements and other transportation projects in and around Asheville. Paul Black, French Broad River MPO Director of the regional transportation planning agency and member of the statewide work-group that helped craft the law, will explain the new system and tell us what kinds of projects are likely to rank high and which ones are not. Socializing starts at 5:30 PM.

05/21/14 TRANSITION ASHEVILLE SOCIAL
Topic is “Resiliency! Your Story” and time is 6:30 PM. Location is Community Action Opportunities. What IS resiliency? Is it a frame of mind? A set of skills? An overall game plan? And….how does it show up in YOUR life? Come and share your own story of resiliency and hear from others. Let’s talk together and see why resiliency is one of the CORE concepts in the Transition movement. How can we develop it in ourselves, our neighborhood, and our community? And why is it so vital for our future? The Transition Potluck series has been renamed: The “TA Monthly Social Get-together” and no more will you be asked to bring a shared dish. Instead, the light dessert-type refreshments and beverages are on us! Note the later starting time (6:30) and that the date is a WEDNESDAY, not the usual Tuesday. We are meeting at the usual place: Community Action Opportunities, lower level, 25 Gaston Street.

05/22/14 FRACKING PRESENTATION IN BREVARD
A 45 minute presentation on fracking by Clean Water for NC, at the Unitarian Universalist Church, 24 Varsity Ave. Email sally@cwfnc.org for more info. Free and open to the public. Time is 7 PM.

05/23/14 CLEAN ENERGY TOUR OF THE ENERGYXCHANGE CENTER
Time is 11 AM to 2 PM. Join the Western North Carolina Alliance for a clean energy outing and tour of the EnergyXChange Renewable Energy Center in Burnsville, NC followed by a sustainable potluck style lunch. In 1994 the Yancey and Mitchell County landfill closed and local leaders went to work on ways to use the space and harness the landfill gases. While two of North Carolina’s most rural counties, Yancey and Mitchell County is home to some of America’s most creative artists and beautiful native plants. This led to the idea to turn the former landfill into a place where developing artists could work and grow while at the same time supporting greenhouses that cultivate endangered flora while utilizing the landfill gas. So, what exactly is EnergyXChange doing with the landfill gas it captures? Well, they are harnessing the gas and using it as an energy source to run their facilities. Methane gas from the decommissioned landfill powers a hot shop for glass blowers, a pottery kiln, and supplies radiant heat for the studios, greenhouses, education center, offices and art gallery. The tour of the EnergyXChange will consist of an explanation of how the Landfill Gas is extracted from the landfill, the clay studio and kiln, the glass studio, greenhouses and an explanation of how the Landfill Gas provides heat for our buildings, and an outdoor green potluck picnic, please bring a sustainable dish to share with others! For questions, please contact Education and Outings Coordinator: Isabelle at isabelle@wnca.org or by calling her at 828-258-8737 ext. 201.

05/23/14 GLOBAL DAY OF ACTION TO CLOSE GUANTANAMO
This is the first anniversary of the second time President Obama promised to close Guantanamo prison camp. A few individuals have been released in the past year, but more than 150 prisoners remain - none of whom have been convicted of a crime in a court of law.

05/23/14 STRIVE NOT TO DRIVE TRANSPORTATION STORY SLAM
This is at Clingman Café at 242 Clingman Avenue in Asheville. It begins at 7 PM and goes until 8:30 PM. No further information.

05/24/14 DIALOGUE IN THE PARK ON DIGNITY AND MENTAL HEALTH
On Saturday, May 24th, the Magnetic Minds and Asheville Radical Mental Collective dialogue-in-the-park on Dignity and Mental Health (that was rescheduled from 05/10) will be held from 4 to 6 PM at Aston Park in Central Asheville at the corner of Hilliard and S. French Broad. ‎The Dialogue on Dignity and Mental Health is an experimental collaborative organizing endeavor between a couple of different local support groups which is part of a national movement to raise awareness of dignity as an integral aspect of experiences of mental health and, as a community, address the impact of stigma and discrimination on individual and collective mental health. The event will be facilitated by members of Magnetic Minds and the Asheville Radical Mental Health Collective and materials to support dialogue will be made available. The dialogue will be followed by a brief vigil of remembrance and commitment to hope in honor of those who may not be able to be there. For more information, contact radmadasheville@theicarusproject.net or call Faith at 828 - 545 8321.  

05/24/14 BENEFIT FOR ASHEVILLE HOMELESS NETWORK
Location is Adam Dalton Distillery at 251 Biltmore Avenue in Asheville. Time is 7 to 8 PM. Peace Jones and The Klmberley White Project will be playing.



05/24/14 MARCH AGAINST MONSANTO
More Citizens of Planet Earth are waking up to the deadly threat of GMOs/Biotech, but There is still much work to be done to have them labeled and BANNED! Meet with us again to March Against Monsanto through downtown Asheville and celebrate our local food, farmers, craftspeople, and music at the World Food Festival afterwards. Time is 12 Noon and location is Pack Square.

05/28/14 SACE’S OPEN HOUSE IN ASHEVILLE AND ASHEVILLE GREEN DRINKS
The Southern Alliance for Clean Energy invites you to join us at our upcoming Open House featuring our energy efficiency improvements and 6.9 kW solar photovoltaic installation. We hope you'll take this opportunity to learn about clean energy, energy efficiency retrofits and the "power" of solar energy. Visit our office and see what energy choices we've made to help support a cleaner, healthier and safer Asheville community. We will be offering tours throughout the evening starting at 5:45 p.m. Please park on the street or in either parking lot at 7 Orchard St. Time is 5 PM to 7 PM. This event is weather dependent. Location is 46 Orchard Street in Asheville. Open to the public. Organized by cleanenergy.org. Please RSVP by May 21, 2014 by contacting Jennifer at jennifer@cleanenergy.org or call 828-254-6776.

05/29/14 ADVOCATING WITH CHILDREN
Hosted by Just Economics WNC. Supporting Kids and Their Families in being part of the movement for change, advocating for affordable childcare, & sharing free and low cost local kid friendly activities. Dinner, New Friends, & Action. Location is United Way of Asheville and Buncombe County at 50 S. French Broad Avenue in Asheville. No time or contact information given on this event, which I found on Facebook.

05/29/14 WNC PHYSICIANS FOR SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY EVENT
Nuclear Abolition at Ground Zero, - an effort to abort the U. S. plan to stockpile of H-bombs for 100 years. Learn about the proposal to build a $19 Billion Uranium Processing Facility at the at Oak Ridge. 7 PM, Thursday, May 29, 2014 at the First Congregational Church, 20 Oak St., Asheville. Our speaker, Ralph Hutchison, Coordinator, Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance, has been engaged in a 25 year history of peaceful protest against the use of and dependence on nuclear weapons. There is no charge - There will be refreshments. For more information, contact Terry at 633-0892 or Lew at 298-1242.

05/29/14 FILM SCREENING IN BRYSON CITY
“Gasland II” will be screened at Mountain Perks in downtown Bryson City. Hosted by the Canary Coalition, Occupy WNC, and Move to Amend. Contact info@canarycoalition.org  for more information. Time is 5:30 PM.

05/29/14 MORAL MOVIE FILM SERIES
The NC NAACP in partnership with Working Films and The Mountain People's Assembly presents: The Moral Movies Film Series.  From April through July, film screenings will occur once a month in at least 8 cities across the state including Asheville. The series will help build the energy and maintain the momentum of the Moral Monday/Forward Together movement. On Thursday, May 29th, we are screening the documentary, “American Winter” - the second of the four films in the series. Please join us and representatives of the NC AFL-CIO for the screening and discussion. “American Winter” is a documentary feature film that follows the personal stories of families struggling in the aftermath of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. Years after the recession began, millions of families are struggling to meet their basic needs and many formerly middle class families are finding themselves in financial crisis, and needing assistance for the first time in their lives. Meanwhile, the social safety net that was created to help people in difficult times has been weakened by massive budget cuts, creating a perfect storm of greater need and fewer resources to help vulnerable families. The film is at 7 PM. Location is the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Asheville at Edwin Place and Charlotte Street.

05/30/14 WESTERN CAROLINIANS FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE IN THE MIDDLE EAST MEETING
Time is 3:15 PM and location is Brooks Howell House on Merrimon in Asheville. Contact Beth at elizakeiser@aol.com for more information.

05/31/14 ASHEVILLE SHARE FEST
Please join us for a day filled with stuff swaps, skill shares, entertainment, workshops, repair cafe, Seed Exchange, Collaborative Art Projects, Pay it Forward Healers and much more. REAL Cooperative and Share Asheville are teaming up with local organizations and projects with support from Sharable and Center for a New American Dream to host Asheville's first ShareFest to celebrate and support local sharing initiatives, collaborative consumption and the preservation of the commons! This event will be completely sourced from the community and we welcome you to participate in shaping it from start to finish. We are looking for: Partners, coordinators, volunteers, workshop presenters, activity facilitators, and more! Got questions? Contact tom@realcooperative.org. Time is 11 AM to 5 PM and location is 76 Biltmore Avenue in Asheville.

06/02/14 DINNER WITH PROGRESSIVES
For Those Who Want to Move Forward. Next Dinner With Progressives is Monday, June 2 2014, from 6 PM to 8 PM, Location TBA. All are welcome who want to learn how to make life better for everyone! This is a big year for elections vital to NC.  

06/10/14 VETERANS FOR PEACE MEETING
Time is 6:30 PM and location is VFP HQ at the Phil Mechanic Studios: 109 Roberts Street in Asheville.

06/12/14 13TH AMENDMENT TOUR
Tour of Fragile 13th Amendment Document Ending Slavery
Many African Americans consider Juneteenth (June 19) the date in 1865 when the last slaves learned that the 13th Amendment had been passed—and they were free. As part of the observance of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, North Carolina’s copy of the 13th Amendment is traveling to six historic sites between June 5 and 21, 2014, under the auspices of the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources (NCDCR). The U.S. Congress passed the 13th Amendment on Jan. 31, 1865, and ratified it on Dec. 6, 1865. Southern states had to ratify the amendment to be readmitted to the union, and it took the NC legislature exactly ten years to do so, on Dec. 6, 1875. The state’s copy of the document is stored in a climate-controlled vault of the State Archives of North Carolina. It was on exhibit last summer at the N.C. Museum of History, but this will be the first time the document has traveled outside of Raleigh.  “As we approach the 150th anniversary of the creation of this important, nation-changing document, [the Department] feels it is only appropriate to carry it from Raleigh to exhibit in very symbolic locations,” explained NCDCR Secretary Susan Kluttz. “I think it is especially important that we are showcasing this freedom document in slave cabins at three of the state historic sites.” Local showing will be at Vance Birthplace in Weaverville from 11 AM to 7 PM. For more information (including information on other sites that will exhibit this), call (919) 807-7389.

06/14/14 TRIP TO THE INTERNATIONAL CIVIL RIGHTS MUSEUM IN GREENSBORO
This trip departs from the Housing Authority of the City of Asheville Central Office, 165 South French Broad Avenue, rear parking lot. Boarding the bus will happen at 6:30 AM, leaving at 7 AM. We will returning to Asheville at 6PM. There will be one stop for breakfast on the road and lunch at Williams Cafeteria on A&T’s campus for the afternoon meal. $60 Per Person – transportation and admission only, meals at your expense. May 30, 2014 is the full payment deadline. This is sponsored by The A&T University Alumni Association of Asheville. Send Check or Money Order to: A&T Asheville Alumni Chapter, PO Box 2272, Asheville, NC 28802. For more information contact: William Edward Young, Jr., Chapter President at 828.251.2964.

06/14/14 to 06/22/14 MOUNTAIN JUSTICE SUMMER CAMP IN KENTUCKY
The 10th Annual Mountain Justice Summer Camp is scheduled for June 14 to 22 on top of beautiful Pine Mountain in eastern Kentucky near Whitesburg.  Registration for the summer camp is now live and everyone concerned about the future of Appalachia’s forests, water systems and mountains is invited!  Registration at mountainjustice.org is low cost and includes all meals, tent camping and workshops and activities for the week. The camp will be followed immediately by a cool festival called Supermoon Music and Arts Festival. The Mountain Justice Summer campsite will be at Wiley’s Last Resort. Mountain Justice Summer camp will offer a wide variety of speakers and workshops related to mountaintop removal and building a new economy in the mountains.  Evening panel discussions include Mountain Women, a History of Resistance in Appalachia, Appalachian Youth and Appalachian Culture.  Evening entertainment includes live music, dancing and documentary films about Appalachian history, music and culture.

07/23/14 TO 07/27/14 VETERANS FOR PEACE ANNUAL CONVENTION
This will be held at UNCA. Registration for the convention and information at this link:



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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 1 PM at A-Hope on North Ann Street in Asheville.  
Youth Outright Poetry Night at United Church of Christ in Asheville at 5 PM

FRIDAY
Women in Black have a weekly vigil at noon at the City Hall in Hendersonville
Women in Black have a monthly vigil at 5 PM at Vance Monument in Asheville (first Friday only)

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 at 5 PM.

SUNDAY
Youth OUTright meeting from 4 to 6 PM at First Congregational United Church of Christ at 20 Oak Street in Asheville. Ages 14 - 23 only.

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ACTIONS AND READINGS
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'BE THE CHANGE THAT YOU WISH TO SEE IN THE WORLD'

Greetings fellow Veterans For Peace and all who seek peace in our world.  That quote above, attributed to Mahatma Gandhi, isn't the theme of the 2014 Veterans for Peace convention in Asheville this July but I'm using it as an invitation to action in support of the convention. The actual theme of the convention is “PEACE OR PERISH – ABOLISH WAR ON PLANET AND POOR”.

No doubt the week of July 23 - 27 will be yet another tragic week of worldwide institutional and militaristic mayhem causing death, destruction, impoverishment and oppression, all in the pursuit of preparing for war, waging war and profiting from war. That same week in Asheville, however, will be the one place on earth where so many peace-seeking people will be gathered in community for learning, discussion, contemplation and action in direct opposition of that mayhem.

Will you be the change that you wish to see in our world?  Opportunities to act in support of this event are varied and numerous.

Could you/would you make available some space in your Asheville area home to house one or more kindred souls wishing to attend the convention, who cannot afford any other form of available housing? Let me know if you would and I'll contact you to gather some information and let you know how that would work. (Contact Gerry at gwerhan@gmail.com.)

Could you/would you serve as a volunteer in one or more of the following roles? Please note: There will be a need to fill multiple shifts and multiples of each role and there will be orientation provided to ensure you are knowledgeable and comfortable in filling the roles you volunteer for. The more volunteers we have, the more time each will have to attend the convention program events. There will also be a limited number of opportunities to volunteer for a full day and attend selected program events at a reduced rate. Please mention that if interested.
*Pedestrian Traffic Guide on campus, helping attendees get to the right places at the right times to get the most out their time among us.
*Merchandise Table Assistant, keeping items organized and secure. National VFP Representative would handle the money.
*Registration Table Assistant, warmly greeting attendees, distributing registration packets, providing information. National VFP Representative would handle money and related registration details.
*"Go-fer"
*Workshop Assistant, helping presenters with some clerical tasks to free them up to do their work as effectively as possible.
*Driver - We'll have two 15 passenger vans in use during the convention to help meet the various transportation needs of our attendees as best we can and when other transportation options won't do.

Could you/would you serve on our Person-to-Person Contact Team? As we receive registrations (already happening) we'd like to have Chapter 99 members, and others in the local progressive community, send an email as soon as possible to each registrant in the spirit of welcome, assistance and fellowship that we'd hope would build community leading up to the convention, during the convention and beyond. Please note: I will provide you with the basic content of the email, to which you can add your personal touch. All of these opportunities offer the potential for personal demonstration of a commitment to peace in our world in meaningful and practical ways. It's my hope that I'll be overwhelmed with responses and have the opportunity to work with you to help you show that commitment, especially as representatives of the Asheville area, progressive and VFP community. Please email me to let me know how you want to help. For those reading this that have already volunteered, please let me know if you have a preference for any of the roles described above. Also, please forward this email to your like-minded friends, family and organizational contacts to ensure that they, too, have this singular opportunity to “Be the Change That They Wish to see in the World”.

Thanks,
Semper Fidelis et Pacificus
Gerry Werhan
gwerhan@gmail.com
Volunteer Coordinator
704.957.2924

Registration for the convention and information at this link:

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I just signed a declaration of peace!

All individuals and organizations, all over the world, are invited to sign a short statement in support of ending all war, and to join in the planning of a new movement to be launched on September 21, 2014. This is the whole statement:

“I understand that wars and militarism make us less safe rather than protect us, that they kill, injure and traumatize adults, children and infants, severely damage the natural environment, erode civil liberties, and drain our economies, siphoning resources from life-affirming activities. I commit to engage in and support nonviolent efforts to end all war and preparations for war and to create a sustainable and just peace.”

To sign this, and to get involved in many different ways, or to see the case against war explained clearly for anyone who has doubts, go to http://worldbeyondwar.org.

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