UPCOMING EVENTS
05/25/15 ALTERNATIVES TO FEAR-DRIVEN POLITICAL CLIMATE
“Guns, Violence, and Fear: A Theological Response to the Idolatry of Security” From school shootings to terrorist attacks to world-wide epidemics, the news cycle provides a shopping list of things to fear. But what does this constant diet of fear do to our moral sensibilities? How can we distinguish fear-mongering from true danger? In a time when fear can easily be manipulated for economic, religious, or political gain, individuals and communities too often turn security into an idol that leaves little room for risky ventures of goodness or love. In this talk, author Scott Bader-Saye will address the ways communities of faith can embody alternatives to the fear-driven, risk-averse moral and political climate of the day. Location is Lenoir-Rhyne University Asheville Campus 2nd Floor Board Room at 36 Montford Avenue in Asheville. Time is 7 PM.
05/25/15 WREATH LAYING AT WAR MEMORIAL BY VETS FOR PEACE
Please join Veterans for Peace, Chapter 099, at a wreath laying at the Veterans War Memorial at the Roger McGuire Green (Pack Square) in downtown Asheville at 11:00 on Memorial Day (Monday, May 25). There will be a 10 minute ceremony (a poem and prayer reading). This ceremony honors all those tragically impacted by war without venerating the militarism and errant pride that engenders continued unwarranted conflicts. Contact Garland at gewalker@gci.net for more information.
05/27/15 GREEN DRINKS / WNC PHYSICIANS FOR SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
“Medical Ethics with an Emphasis on End of Life Issues”. WNC Physicians for Social Responsibility presents: Mary Caldwell, M.Div., MA, a Clinical Medical Ethicist at Mission Hospital in Asheville. She serves on the Medical Ethics Committee. Come at 5:30 pm for social networking; presentation 6 – 7 PM. Location is Green Sage Restaurant at 5 Broadway in downtown Asheville.
05/28/15 HOOD TALK
If you have never been to a Hood Talk before...MAY 28 is the one you need to be at...what is..."The Cycle"...this one will have you talking...you might even cry...feel anger...or who knows...your emotions will run wild but after all the emotions...we will have the conversation...and put actions with word…plan ahead. be there...this dialogue will melt hearts - special Hood Talk. Time is 6 to 8 PM and location is YWCA in downtown Asheville.
05/28/15 PHYSICIANS FOR SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY PRESENTATION
WNC PSR presents Ralph Hutchison, Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance (OREPA), with an update on the Uranium Processing Facility that would be part of the "Complex 21" nuclear weapons production line. Contact Terry Clark for details at 828-633-0892 or terryclarkpsych@gmail.com.
05/29/15 JUST PEACE FOR ISRAEL/PALESTINE MEETING
This meeting will be at 3:15 PM at Brooks-Howell Home on Merrimon Avenue in Asheville. Meet in the media room.
05/29/15 TOWNS THAT ARE REDUCING THEIR PESTICIDE FOOTPRINT
This free, four-part series will take place on the last Friday of March, April, May and June. This is the third part of the four-part series. The series runs as follows: May 29: Towns That Are Reducing Their Pesticide Footprint; June 26: It All Starts At Home: Alternatives to Chemical Pesticides. Sessions are being held at the Center for Graduate Studies of Asheville - Lenoir-Rhyne University from 6:00 to 9:00 PM on the above dates. It is our intention to celebrate Asheville as a city in transition, a city willing to take a hard look at what it’s going to take to create the kind of resiliency necessary for a sustainable future.In addition to educating our citizenry – and no doubt learning from you all as well – we want to draw attention to the need for city governments to set an example and model best practices in pest management. Light refreshments will be served each evening. We are looking for volunteers and additional sponsors to cover refreshments. Tabling is free, so please do consider sharing your passion with like-minded folk. Time is 6 to 9 PM and location is Lenoir Rhyne University on Montford Avenue in Asheville. They will be using the second floor boardroom. This is a facebook event, and since it is multi-day, you probably want to sign up if you are interested in this topic.
05/30/15 LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS ANNUAL MEETING
2015 Annual Meeting and Luncheon. We are excited to welcome Jane Pinsky from the North Carolina Coalition for Lobbying and Government Reform. Jane will be speaking about efforts to support a transparent, impartial and fair process for redistricting. We will also discuss our successes from this year and our goals for 2015-16. Time is 11:30 AM to 2 PM and location is the Lenoir-Rhyne Board Room (2nd floor of the Chamber of Commerce).
05/30/15 CLEAN UP THE FRENCH BROAD
The French Broad River is a local treasure, but lately it doesn’t look like one. Join us on Saturday, May 30 for a French Broad River Cleanup Day. Sierra Club will be joining other area groups in this effort which lasts from 10 AM until 2 PM. After our hard work is done, and her beauty is restored, we will throw a party in her honor from 2 to 4 PM featuring food, fun, beer and other libations. If you would like to join the makeover effort, please call or email Mark Threlkeld at (828) 200-6280 or email focusmdt@gmail.com. Just let him know if you would like to join a crew on the river or on shore.
05/30/15 CLEAN ENERGY FOR WNC HOSTS SOLAR SATURDAY
On Saturday, May 30th Clean Energy for WNC and the Garden Conservation Committee will host Solar Saturday at Warren Wilson College at Morris Pavilion from 11 AM to 4 PM. The event will feature free solar and energy efficiency workshops for homeowners, businesses and nonprofits. 11:15 AM for Residential Solar and Energy Efficiency Free Workshop; 1-2 PM for Birds and Climate Change Presentation by the Audubon Society; 2:30-4 PM for Faith Communities Solar and Energy Efficiency. We’ll have booths from local organizations, food trucks, and free beverages. Plus, we're going to raffle of a generous gift basket from Hickory Nut Gap Farms and more. This event is free and open to all, so bring your lawn chair and have some fun! St. Eugene Catholic Church, First Christian Church of Black Mountain and other faith communities will share success stories and the savings of their energy efficiencies. For more information please email ashley@cleanenergyfor.us.
05/31/15 ACLU OF WNC ANNUAL MEETING IN ASHEVILLE
The ACLU of WNC invites you to celebrate: Newly Engaged Movements for Racial Justice; 50 Years of ACLU Achievements in North Carolina; and 23 Years of Building Bridges in the Asheville Area. Featured speaker is Daryl Atkinson. Mr. Atkinson is a Senior Staff Attorney at the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, where he focuses on drug policy and criminal justice reform issues. In 1996, Daryl pled guilty to a first-time, non-violent, drug crime and served 40 months in prison. Since his release, Daryl completed college and law school and has become a zealous advocate for second chances for people with criminal records. The ACLU of Western North Carolina will present its 2015 Evan Mahoney Champion of Civil Liberties Award to Building Bridges for 23 years of work in the Asheville area enabling our community to confront and overcome racism through a continuing process of changing attitudes and hearts through education, consciousness raising, nurturing, and ongoing support. Building Bridges has sought to build a community that is intentional about its respect for diversity. Location is Altamont Theatre at 18 Church Street in downtown Asheville. Cash bar and snacks follow speaker and award presentation. There will also be a brief annual meeting. This is a free event. Time is 5 PM. For more information, contact hilarychiz@gmail.com.
05/31/15 MILLS RIVER DAY
The Mills River Partnership and North River Farms host Mills River Day! It is a fun filled event that takes place on a working farm to highlight how water quality and farming go hand in hand. Join us in celebrating our theme “The River Connects Us” to learn the many aspects that join the Mills River community and watershed to the greater Hendersonville/Asheville area through the use of the river’s resources. This event aims to educate participants about the river and water quality issues, help build a stronger sense of community, and raise awareness of local agriculture. This fun and educational community event for kids of all ages will have a bounce house, farm animals, wagon rides, farm equipment demonstrations and displays, fire safety house and fire truck demonstration. Ice cream and BBQ vendors are available and live music will be provided by the Lonesome Road Band. Time is 2 to 5 PM. Location is 3333 North Mills River Road in Mills River. For more information please contact MRP at 708-738.
06/02/15 DOCUMENTARIES ON FRACKING DANGERS AT AB TECH
Imagine if the water you gave your family made them sick. This is a real fear facing communities where fracking is currently taking place. Even when landowners say no to drilling, contamination from fracking nearby can still expose them to toxic chemicals against their will. Although fracking is now legal and permits can be issued by the state, there is still much that can be done to protect North Carolinians from the dangers of fracking. This requires people coming together in their own communities and taking civic action, to stand in solidarity and send a strong message that the people of NC do not want fracking and we will work to protect our families, public health, quality of life and property rights. Join us for Fracking Stories - an event featuring six short documentaries that expose the public health and environmental consequences of hydraulic fracturing, and the ways that communities are coming together to protect their land and water. Come learn about the issues, talk with community members, and find out how you can help keep fracking out of North Carolina. The Asheville screening is co-presented by The Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League, Appalachian Voices, Clean Water for North Carolina, Working Films, The Mountain Peoples Assembly, and WNC Frack Free. Time is 7 to 9 PM and location is Ferguson Auditorium at AB Tech at 340 Victoria Street in Asheville. This event is free and open to the public. For questions, contact Andy at amyers@workingfilms.org.
06/02/15 MOUNTAIN TRUE VOLUNTEER WORLD CAFÉ
Join Mountain True staff and volunteer leaders to hear what we’re up to in Henderson, Transylvania and Polk counties and how you can be part of protecting the places we share. Location is Southern Appalachian Brwery at 822 Locust Street in Hendersonville, and time is 5:30 to 7:30 PM. Go to https://wnca.cp.bsd.net/page/signup/mountaintrue-volunteer-world-cafe to RSVP.
06/03/15 SIERRA CLUB MEETING
Britten Cleveland will talk on “The EPA’s Clean Power Plan and North Carolina”. Join Sierra Club on June 3 as Britten Cleveland, North Carolina’s Sierra Club organizer, discusses the Clean Power Plan and what you can do to help North Carolina reduce its carbon pollution. Under this plan North Carolina is required to develop a strategy to reduce its carbon emissions by 2030. Socializing begins at 7 PM and program begins at 7:15 PM. Location is the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Asheville on Charlotte Street and Edwin Place in Asheville. Contact: judymattox@sbcglobal.net, or 828-683-2176 for more information.
06/04/15 ACTIVIST TRAINING AND STRATEGY SESSION
The NC Sierra Club is working to make sure that our state develops a plan that increases our use of clean energy and energy efficiency to meet the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s new rules for reducing climate-disrupting emissions under the Clean Air Act. We need your help to get the cleanest and most just “Clean Power Plan” possible from the McCrory Administration. We are holding a training session here in Asheville on Thursday, June 4th from 5:30 to 7:30 PM at the Sierra Club Office at 45 Wall Street, Suite 709, and food will be provided. Please plan to attend to find out how you can help. Contact Britten at britten.cleveland@sierraclub.org or 941-979-2948 to sign up or for more information.
06/06/15 CITIZENS CLIMATE LOBBY
Save the date for our next monthly meeting which will always be the first Saturday of the month. In this meeting we will review the REMI report, our congressional members' bios, appoint a message day organizer, look at the laser talks and plan our lobby meetings for the DC conference June 21-24. Time is 12:30 PM to 3 PM and location is Kairos West Community Center at 742 Haywood Rd in west Asheville. For more information, contact Steffi at 828-242-3752 or asheville@citizensclimatelobby.org.
06/08/15 MOVE TO AMEND BUNCOMBE COUNTY MEETING
Next meeting is a general meeting will be held at the North Asheville Library on Merrimon Avenue. If you have any questions please contact Diana at dianakrukmta@gmail.com.
06/11/15 PHOTO ID HEARING IN SYLVA
NC State Board of Elections Public Hearings on Voter ID Rules will be held in Sylva at 876 Skyland Drive, Suite 1. Time is 5 to 7 PM. This is one of only two hearings in our area (the other one in Boone on 6/10/15) that will occur on the “Voter ID” (HB 589) rules that will come into effect in 2016. Some key facts are: the bill not only requires government-issued ID at the polls, but takes away one week of early voting, eliminates pre-registration of 16-17 year olds,terminates out-of-precinct voting, and eliminates same-day voter registration during the early voting period. If you know of an individual who has encountered problems with getting an ID, please urge them to speak- as these are the stories we need the SBOE rule-makers to hear. Democracy NC is seeking individuals to attend the hearing and make public comments. Democracy NC will organize a carpool from the Asheville area. Please email Darlene@democracy-nc.org or call (828)216-3430 for more information or to find out how to RSVP.
06/14/15 ASHEVILLE N.O.W. MEETING
Asheville NOW meeting is at 2 PM at the YWCA at South French Broad Street in downtown Asheville. Email ashevillenow@live.com for more information.
06/15/15 to 06/19/15 CREATION CARE ALLIANCE OF WNC CONFERENCE
“Wake Forest Food & Faith Intensive in Asheville: A New Heaven, A New Earth: Food Justice, Ecology, and Revelation” will be held at Warren Wilson College in Swannanoa. This transformative five-day course is designed for non-profit leaders, pastors, faith-based activists, gardeners and farmers, and anyone interested in the intersection of Christian spirituality, ecological restoration, and redemptive agriculture. Go to website for Creation Care Alliance of WNC for more information.
06/16/15 JUST ECONOMICS GENERAL MEETING
Just Economics hosts a general meeting on the second Tuesday of every other month where our members and supporters join us, share a meal, talk about some general updates about our work and our community, and then break out into committees to strategize and create plans to bring about a more just and sustainable local economy. This is a great time to get engaged with JE! Everyone is welcome. We will have food, however anyone able to bring a dish to share is encouraged to do so. For more information visit justeconomicswnc.org. Time is 6:30 PM and location is United Way building in Asheville.
07/13/15 DRONE QUILT PROJECT IN ASHEVILLE
The Drone Quilt Project has been approved by the Asheville Area Arts Council and will be exhibited at their Grove Arcade gallery from July 13 to July 25. Veterans for Peace Chapter 099, WNC Physicians for Social Responsibility and Just Peace for Israel/Palestine will be co-sponsoring this event.
07/18/15 SIERRA CLUB ANNUAL PICNIC
Location is the Blue Ridge Parkway sheltered picnic grounds (Bull Mt. Rd. off Riceville Rd.) Time is noon to 4 PM. Directions: Exit 7 on I-240; go east on Tunnel Rd for 2 miles; turn north on Riceville Rd; go 1.3 miles and turn west on Bull Mt. Rd. The fenced-in, sheltered picnic area is on the left about ½ mile up the road. Please bring a potluck dish to share and your own settings. Drinks will be provided.
11/12/15 to 11/15/15 PEACE CONFERENCE AT LAKE JUNALUSKA
This will be November 12-15, 2015 at Lake Junaluska. Theme will be “Longing for Peace/Exploring the Heart of God”. Keynote speakers are Rabia Terri Harris, founder of the Muslim Peace Fellowship; Rabbi Or Rose, founding director of the Center for Global Judaism at Hebrew College and Dr. Sam Wells, vicar of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, London. Special music by Yuval Ron and Ensemble-- a world-renowned musician, composer, educator, peace activist, and record producer. The Yuval Ron Ensemble has been actively involved in creating musical bridges between people of the Jewish, Muslim and Christian faiths. They will perform Saturday eve. Registration is $120 before Sept. 1 and $145 afterward. Packages which include registration, lodging and meals are available. Register via Lake Junaluska website or call 828-454-6682 for more information.
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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 Pritchard Park 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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Contributions of African Americans to Buncombe County
This is a petition to help honor African Americans contributions to local history. Please sign and forward to your networks.
The petition will be submitted to County Art Board later in summer.
https://www.change.org/p/asheville-public-art-board-create-a-monument-at-pack-square-to-recognize-and-honor-the-contributions-of-african-americans-to-buncombe-county
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Top Ten Activist Errors
by David Swanson
www.davidswanson.org
The number one error, engaged in by the majority of people, is failing to be an activist. The world’s going to hell, countless situations can be easily improved, lives can be saved, and most people just sit there and do nothing. Others actively work to make matters worse. So, if you’re working for peace and justice, you’re among the tiny minority that’s pretty much got the big stuff right. If constructive criticism drives you into despair, please stop reading this article right now and just continue what you’re doing with your life. You have my gratitude.
If you’re open to hearing some suggestions, for whatever they may be worth (and yes, of course, this list of errors will exclude those that I am myself guilty and unaware of), read on:
1. ELECTIONISM. We need elections but do not now have them in the United States, not at the federal level. Working for election reforms is one of the most important things anyone can do. But taking time off from activism to focus on elections is the biggest waste of resources we engage in. Election reform will come through creative nonviolent activism, education, organizing, media, disruption, resistance, and protest. It won’t come through elections. Registering voters is not activism. Creating automatic registration, as just done in Oregon, is activism. Please stifle your compulsion to ask me who I’m voting for. You don’t ask me if I want to win the lottery. (I do, but I will not buy a ticket or devote my life to staring at one.)
2. OBAMANISM. As bad as taking a break from activism every election cycle, is thinking and acting like a voter and a campaigner rather than an activist every day of every year, cheerleading for a team of corrupt officials rather than for policies, reforms, and actions that you support. “The nationalist,” said Orwell, “not only does not disapprove of atrocities committed by his own side, but he has a remarkable capacity for not even hearing about them.” Nationalism is a huge problem, and its language, which has peace activists using the word “we” in saying “We are bombing Afghanistan,” may contribute to identification with crimes. But the problem of managing not to even hear about them applies to partisanship as well. If a Republican were picking men, women, and children to murder on Tuesdays, you’d see protests.
3. TOKENISM. “Black people are dumb.” “Muslims are violent.” These are understood to be ignorant hate speech. But “Women make better presidents” is not frowned on quite so much, despite its exactly equal idiocy. The problem is not the demographic characteristics of the president. The problem is having a single individual with the powers of a god, in debt to sociopathic billionaires, in a system dominated by militarism and corruption. We won’t change it with a female or gay or Latina corporatist warmonger.
4. STRATEGISM. Winning a first and a second and a third step down a path to peace or justice is not best achieved through the means that many activists think of as “strategic.” If you tell someone that they should halt one war so that the military can be better prepared for other wars, you weaken your argument against the one war, and you provide an argument for future wars. If you oppose the weapons that don’t work, you give legitimacy to the far worse weapons that do work. If you object to a gimmick that boosts weapons spending over a mandated limit by transferring funds from a war budget, you shouldn’t do so in a way that suggests either budget is acceptable at all, or in a way that suggests war spending is preferable to non-war-spending or budget trickery. Pre-compromising doesn’t get you a compromise result; it gets you incoherence and lack of believability. A young woman pointing out to Jeb Bush that his brother (and Hillary and a few hundred others) created ISIS does a lot more to move people against war than do the strategies coming out of DC peace groups. War is counterproductive on its own terms, immoral, illegal, and catastrophic. Its funding should be eliminated. Our job is to demand that. A small reduction is a first step toward our goal.
5. IMPOTENTISM. The most pervasive and powerful propaganda is that of powerlessness. Telling yourself and each other that you are powerless is no different than Judith Miller repeating CIA lies about WMDs. It’s exactly as ridiculous and exactly as damaging. We are not powerless. We quite easily have an impact frequently and could quite easily have a much bigger one. Expecting fairness won’t help. We have to work uphill, but it’s perfectly doable. Being impatient won’t help. We have to keep working however long it takes and however few help out. Self-flagellation won’t help. The money is against you and money is powerful. It’s not your fault you haven’t saved the world, but it might be thanks to you that your grandchildren save it.
6. PAROCHIALISM. We have to form uncomfortably large coalitions, and we really don’t want to. I’m not advocating what I critiqued above as strategism. Don’t sell your soul. Don’t promote destructive ideologies for short-term gain. But don’t be scared of guilt-by-association. Be willing to stand with people on an issue whose views and actions you deeply oppose on other issues.
7. LOCALISM. It’s far more satisfying to find peace in your heart or sustainability in your backyard than to take on the military industrial complex. But if the earth dies, so will you. There are local and hyper-local angles that contribute to the greater cause. Cities and states can change nations. But individual action alone is not enough. Even small group action aimed too near is not enough. If everybody with solar panels on their roofs had put half the money into a movement to create public solar arrays, we’d have them.
8. FREUDISM. In a popular, simplistic notion of nonviolent communication, one never persuades anyone through rational argument. This is a claim, by the way, that comes out of an ideology supposedly dedicated to respecting people and their “needs.” Apparently among those needs is not the need for a good reason to believe something. It would of course be equally simplistic to assert that all one ever needs are facts, or to ignore the age-old wisdom that it is hard to get someone to believe something they are paid not to. But when I tell people that college is free in other countries, their jaws drop, and it’s not 30 seconds before they’re saying it should be that way in the U.S. When I talk to non-self-selected groups about ending war, the majority say at the end that they have been moved toward believing that war can and should be ended. Facts are not enough, but they are one of the main things the corporate media deprives us of, and one of the key components of activism. They do nothing to help us see another’s point of view if we’re unwilling to look. They do nothing to alleviate high levels of fear. But it would be a mistake for us to become inversions of Edward Bernays working to manipulate people in a kinder, gentler manner.
9. FETISHISM. Here’s a little secret. The people who speak the viewpoints that serve big money are not smarter, wittier, pithier, or better at framing a topic. They’re on the air because they speak the viewpoints that serve big money. They may be more eloquent than you. They may be less so. But trying to think and sound like them in general is a quite risky proposition and completely unnecessary. There is nothing we need more than better media and better use of existing media by its readers, listeners, and viewers. There is no smarter place to invest as activists. But what we lack is not spokespeople. What we lack is microphones.
10. PINKERISM. “But haven’t you heard? War is going away on its own? I heard it from someone who read a review of a book by Steven Pinker.” War is not going to go away on its own. It is not even going away with our help. But it could go away if we really get our act together.
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