dancewater: Upcoming events for the week of February 5, 2017

This came from Facebook. And now Trump is joining him - he already bombed three countries on this list. It is likely that Obama also bombed two more countries (Sudan and Philippines) but that has not been confirmed yet.

UPCOMING EVENTS CALENDAR BY DANCEWATER

02/06/17 CITY OF ASHEVILLE NEIGHBORHOOD ADVISORY COMMITTEE

The Committee consists of nine members, all appointed by City Council, with representation from specific community sectors. Members shall be residents of the City or the City’s extra- territorial zoning jurisdiction, and shall reflect the socio-economic diversity of Asheville. The term of office is three years. The Committee was established to advise the City Council on neighborhoods within the City of Asheville’s zoning and planning jurisdiction. The Committee shall have the following powers and duties: (1) Develop rules and by-laws for the conduct of its business, including but not limited to meeting schedules, officers, voting, sub-committees; (2) Develop a plan to strengthen neighborhood identity and resilience, and to facilitate communication and cooperation between Asheville’s neighborhoods and City offices; (3) Develop benchmarks and standards by which progress towards implementing the plan can be measured; and (4) Work on special projects that are consistent with the goals of the committee, as assigned or directed by Council. The Committee meets on the 4th Monday of each month at 6:30 PM in Room A109 of the Public Works Building, located at 161 S. Charlotte Street in downtown Asheville. The normal length of the meeting is 2 hours.

02/06/17 DINNER WITH PROGRESSIVES

Please join us for dinner, dessert or a beverage at 5:30 PM at Green Sage cafe (Westgate) with fellow progressives. More than ever we need to be together, learn together and work together. I will do my best to have the best speakers possible to keep us informed and allow a transfer of information that will allow attendees to move forward and create change. We ask that attendees purchase either dinner, a beverage and/or dessert and RSVP so we can give our friends at Green Sage a headcount. Thank you. As always you are invited to give an announcement or ask for signatures on a petition. Please give us a quick email to let us know how much time you need. We have two speakers for February 6th. One is Jake Quinn. He is on the board of directors of Mountain Voices Alliance and the Grove Park- Sunset Mountain Neighborhood Association, and volunteers with Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity, the Asheville- Buncombe County NAACP, the North Asheville Little League, and WNCW FM 88.7. Jake will discuss our current Asheville, WNC and NC political climate and what we can do to create change in 2017. Our other speaker is Edward Peters. He will also talk about Democracy NC's upcoming events. Also, a very short report on the Women’s March in Washington and let's talk about the Asheville Women’s March a bit as well as the upcoming Moral Monday rally and march this Saturday, Feb. 11th. For information and/or to RSVP, contact Cheryl Orengo at 828-258-3327 or ctorengo@gmail.com.

02/06/17 INDIVISIBLE ASHEVILLE ORGANIZATIONAL MEETING

At Monday's meeting we plan to give a brief overview of our mission and structure and then facilitate the group into dividing into small groups based on specific issues. With so many policies coming down so fast, we believe the most efficient way to address them is to divide into smaller groups, laser focused on a certain topic. These groups will become experts on those issues, who to contact, and what action to take, and will send out action alerts for the larger group to participate in. Before you come Monday, think about the issue you are most passionate about working on. We will also need team leaders for these groups who will be organized and committed to helping us streamline the information process. Our goal is to quickly disseminate information to everyone within Indivisible Asheville/WNC and provide guidance for taking action. The next meeting will be from 5:30 to 7 PM at Lord Auditorium, Pack Memorial Library, 67 Haywood Street in downtown Asheville. Go in the main entrance and Lord Auditorium is downstairs. Contact info@indivisibleasheville.org for more information.

02/06/17 EXHIBIT AT A SHEVILLE MUSEUM

Meet the pioneer women of the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina and get a glimpse into their daily lives. This exhibit currently features Wilma Dykeman as its local heroine in history, a writer of both fiction and nonfiction and an environmentalist. While visiting this exhibit, make sure to take a seat for the award-winning video “Forever Free,” created as a collaborative effort within Buncombe County to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation. Listen to the story of Sarah Gudger, describing her experience as a slave in Buncombe County — with her family, owners, slave speculators, the Civil War, and Reconstruction. Museum is open 11 AM to 6 PM and is located at 35 Wall Street in downtown Asheville. It is a “pay as you choose” admission.

02/07/17 SHOWING UP FOR RACIAL JUSTICE EVENT

Showing up for Racial Justice (SURJ) is a national network of groups educating and organizing white people to act as part of a multi-racial majority for racial justice. Asheville SURJ hosts a weekly discussion group on risk-taking, accountability, mutual interest and how to call more white people into racial justice work. Anyone with a passion for working with white people on racial justice is welcome. Time is 10 AM and location is Firestorm Cafe & Books at 610 Haywood Road in west Asheville. Contact Firestorm at info@firestorm.coop for more information.

02/07/17 WORLD AFFAIRS COUNCIL LECTURE AT UNCA REUTER CENTER

Come to the Reuter Center for these fascinating lectures and discussions that aim to advance international awareness and foster Western North Carolina's global ties. OLLI members receive a discount on WAC annual membership fee. The World Affairs Council meetings offer a lively line up of topics and compelling presenters.The Great Decision Lecture series is scheduled for the winter and spring terms on Tuesdays at 7:30 PM. All lectures are scheduled in the Reuter Center's Manheimer Room, free to WAC members and students, all others $10 at the door. Today’s lecture will be by Maria Moreno on Latin America.

02/07/17 PEACE VIGIL AT PACK SQUARE IN ASHEVILLE

A peace rally organized in support of our local Muslim community and in response to the horrible massacre in Quebec recently. Please come join us to show our Muslim friends and community that they are welcome here. This event is open to everyone and will have speakers of many faiths (as well as those without a specific religion) who will join us to share in our love of our diverse community. It starts at 7 PM. Please bring a flashlight (phone flashlights are fine) as it will be dark. Note that candles are not allowed (no open flames). Children are welcome and encouraged to attend. Please feel free to share this information with others. Contact Andrew Celwyn at 215-589-0263 for more details.

02/07/17 CURRENT EVENTS BOOK CLUB

Host Bruce Roth moderates a lively discussion on topics of current interest, including war and peace, the economy, the environment, and other hot political topics. The next meeting of the Current Events Book Club is Tuesday Feb 7th at 7 PM. Location is Malaprops on Haywood Street in downtown Asheville. We are discussing “The Dirty War on Syria” by Tim Anderson. Contact Bruce Roth at rib0409@yahoo.com for more information.

02/09/17 HENDERSONVILLE GREEN DRINKS

On Thursday, February 9, Hendersonville Green Drinks welcomes Stan Cooper, Co-Manager at Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., who will speak about sustainability initiatives at the Mills River brewery. In June 2016, Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. was the first production brewery in the United States to be Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified, Platinum — the highest level awarded—for its Mills River, North Carolina, brewing facility. Time is 5:30 to 8 PM. Location is Black Bear Coffee at 318 North Main Street in Hendersonville. Call Gray at 828-692-0385 for more information.

02/10/17 COTHINKK: UNPACKING ALLIANCE BUILDING & COLLABORATION

CoThinkk is a “giving circle” that uses our collective time, talent, and treasure towards investment strategies that address education, economic mobility/opportunity, and leadership development towards impacting some of the most critical social issues facing African-American & Latinx communities in Asheville and Western NC. This meeting is the 2nd meeting of 2017 and builds upon the momentum from our 2016 Winter Retreat and continues to unpack our 2017 Theme: “Collaboration & Alliance-Building.” This meeting will continue to provide an opportunity for us to continue to move our collective agenda, plot out next steps, and discuss key milestones for our upcoming work over the next 12 months. CoThinkk has opted to shift its normal meeting time and date to the 10th at 5:30 to 9 PM for this meeting so that we accommodate varying schedules this month. Location is 37 Montford Avenue, Suite 201 in Asheville. We continue to look forward to having diverse voices and communities in the room to help shape this agenda. If you have any questions or concerns please free to send an e-mail to Tracey Greene-Washington at Cothinkk@gmail.com. I look forward to seeing everyone in the room. Please RSVP by February 7th 2017. We need everyone's voice.

02/08/17 JUST PEACE FOR ISRAEL/PALESTINE MEETING

This meeting will be at 9:30 AM at Black Mountain Presbyterian Church at 117 Montreat Road in Black Mountain. Contact Suchi at suchi1025@bellsouth.net for more information.

02/08/17 SHOWING UP FOR RACIAL JUSTICE EVENT

Join us for another night of roleplaying difficult conversations and practicing SURJ's core value of ‘calling in’ versus ‘calling out.’ Our leader David is especially focused on moving us into less discussion and more roleplaying. Let's practice these difficult conversations to prepare us to be better agents of change and racial justice accomplices. We meet downstairs in the main building of the UU congregation of Asheville. This is on the corner of Edwin and Charlotte Streets. Easiest to enter through the playground gate. If you enter upstairs, just come downstairs. This is part of the WUWW!?! What's Up with Whiteness Wednesdays educational series, an ongoing ASURJ series endeavoring to dismantle white supremacy. Like all Asheville SURJ meetings, this session is open to anyone who wants to participate and is interested in anti-racism work and supporting the movement for Black Lives. Time is 6:30 to 8:30 PM. This is a Facebook event.

02/08/17 STEM LECTURE AT UNCA

The STEM series of lectures is an interdisciplinary program that covers a wide range of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines. Each lecture provides the lecturer with the opportunity to share his/her work, present new ideas for feedback, learn new ideas that participants can use, and introduce students to exciting areas to explore. The lectures are all scheduled in the Reuter Center, room 102A, from 4:30 to 6 PM, and are free and open to the public. The lecture is “Climate Resilience in Asheville, NC - Moving from 'Did you know?' to 'What can we do about it?” presentation by James Fox, NEMAC.

02/09/17 LECTURE ON NATIVE AMERICAN DISPOSSESSION AT UNCA

“The Literary and Legal Genealogy of Native American Dispossession: From the Marshall Trilogy to Standing Rock” is the title of a talk at UNCA. Time is noon to 1 PM. Location is Karpen Hall, Room 139. This work offers a unique interpretation of how literary and public discourses influenced three U.S. Supreme Court Rulings written by Chief Justice John Marshall with respect to Native Americans. These cases, Johnson v. M’Intosh (1823), Cherokee Nation v. Georgia (1831) and Worcester v. Georgia (1832), collectively known as the Marshall Trilogy, have formed the legal basis for the dispossession of indigenous populations throughout the Commonwealth. Exploring the literary genesis of Marshall’s judgments, George Pappas draws on the work of Michel Foucault, Edward Said and Homi Bhabha, to analyze how these formative U.S. Supreme Court rulings blurred the distinction between literature and law.

02/09/17 DISCUSSION ON PUBLIC CONVERSATIONS IN BREVARD

The topic is “Immigrants, How do we Welcome the Stranger” from 5 to 7 PM at the Sacred Heart Catholic Church located at 150 Brian Berg Lane in Brevard. Sponsored by the Transylvania County NAACP and local congregations. Please check Transylvania NAACP on Facebook for further information.

02/09/17 DOGWOOD ALLIANCE PANEL DISCUSSION

“Beyond Logging: The Future of Our Forests” panel discussion featuring Jim Furnish, former Deputy Chief of the US Forest Service. Dogwood Alliance, along with co-hosts Defenders of Wildlife and MountainTrue, present an evening at The Collider, featuring special guest Jim Furnish, former Deputy Chief of the US Forest Service who was instrumental in the creation of the Roadless Rule that protected 58 million acres of public lands from logging and road development. Jim will read from and discuss his memoir Toward a Natural Forest: The Forest Service in Transition. Free. Held from 5:30 to 8 PM at The Collider at 1 Haywood Street, Suite 401 in downtown Asheville. The Wells Fargo building, in which The Collider is located, keeps “bankers' hours,” so the revolving doors at the front of the bank are locked after 5 PM. For this event, please use the side entrance facing Patton Avenue, directly across the street from the former S&W Cafeteria building, just a few steps around the corner. If the door is locked, there will be someone there to let you in. Call 251-2525 for more information.

02/09/17 DISCUSSION AND PRESENTATION ON MEN DOING OPPRESSION, MEN DOING OPPRESSED, MEN DOING ALLY

This is a recurring discussion / presentation at Firestorm. Sexism. Queerphobia. Racism. Who are you doing it to? Who's doing it to you? Who's saving whom? Who's doing nothing? Who are you allying with? What's happening when you act in any and all the roles of persecutor, victim, rescuer, bystander and ally with others in our world of white male privilege and domination? We gather as men to explore interpersonal, structural, economic and institutional systems of injustice and the ways each of us is the oppressed and the oppressor, and learn to serve as allies, being responsive and accountable for what we choose to brave in our own lives, and with and for all our relations. Who's welcome: all men – White, Cis, Indigenous, Queer, of Color, Trans, and Those called to do Ally. Facilitated by Duncan Tam. Time is 7 PM and location is Firestorm Coffee & Books & Books at 610 Haywood Road in west Asheville. Contact Firestorm at info@firestorm.coop for more information.

02/10/17 LECTURE SERIES AT UNCA

“Ditch Your Lawn and Dine on Your Yard” is the title of a lecture by Sheila Dunn. Imagine a lush, fascinating ecosystem, overflowing with fruits, nuts and perennial veggies. Rather than listening to lawnmowers, meander through curvy paths, pausing to admire birds and butterflies and snacking on the bounty – in your own yard! From blueberry hedges to kiwi vine covered decks, to herbs growing between the cracks of stepping stones, learn about the easiest and tastiest varieties of edible ground covers, shrubs, trees and vines. We’ll also showcase some choice edibles for shady areas, including mushrooms. Extensive handouts will be provided, so you can sit back and inspire your creativity while enjoying a colorful and informative show. Inspired by the “eat local” movement, Sheila Dunn has spent 20 years landscaping her rocky, steep Weaverville yard with edibles. Her gardens have been featured in several regional magazines, as well as the Wall Street Journal. Entertaining and irreverent, she’s passionate about taking the Eat Local movement to the next step, yet understands that not all of us want rows of tomatoes in our front yards. A Master Gardener from 2008-2015, she envisions edible yards in communities across the region, where their natural beauty contributes to our overall well-being, physically, spiritually and emotionally. Time is 11:30 AM to 1 PM and location is Reuter Center, room 102.

02/10/17 UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST SOCIAL JUSTICE FILM

On Friday, February 10th, we are screening the award-winning documentary “Do Not Resist”. Starting on the streets of Ferguson, Missouri, as the community grapples with the death of Michael Brown, “Do Not Resist” - the directorial debut of Detropia cinematographer Craig Atkinson - offers a stunning look at the current state of policing in America and a glimpse into the future. The Tribeca Film Festival winner for Best Documentary puts viewers in the center of the action - from a ride-along with a South Carolina SWAT team and inside a police training seminar that teaches the importance of ‘righteous violence’ to the floor of a congressional hearing on the proliferation of military equipment in small-town police departments - before exploring where controversial new technologies including predictive policing algorithms could lead the field next. The film screening is at 7 PM, and is open to the public. Location is the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Asheville at Edwin and Charlotte Street in north Asheville. There is no charge for viewing the film. Donations are welcome. Contact Charlie at 612-860-6628 or mnpopi@charter.net for more information.

02/11/17 11TH ANNUAL MORAL MARCH ON RALEIGH

This annual mass mobilization of the HKonJ Coalition brings together justice loving people from across the state and nation to stand against the legislative attacks on the people of North Carolina and to continue to fight for our moral agenda. Join the Asheville-Buncombe NAACP, Mountain People's Assembly, NAACP Branches statewide, and thousands of people from across NC to stand together against the repeal of healthcare and the roll back of civil rights protections! Get on the Bus to the 11th Annual Moral March on Raleigh & HKonJ People's Assembly. The bus departs Saturday, February 11th at 4 AM.. Meet at 50 Martin Luther King Jr Dr (in front of MLK Park). Please plan to arrive by 3.45 AM. We will depart promptly at 4 AM. Bring food & beverages for the trip and your charged cell phone. Park your car on MLK Jr. Dr. To reserve your seat you can: contact info@mvalliance.net or visit The Mountain People's Assembly website at http://mountainmoralmonday.org/to purchase tickets - click the donate link to get your ticket through PayPal. Tickets are $40.00 roundtrip. A limited number of subsidized tickets are available. You can also purchase tickets by check. Make check payable to Mountain Voices Alliance and mail to PO Box 8052 Asheville 28814 - deadline for checks to be received is February 9, 2017. Be sure to list the names of riders and cell phone numbers whether your purchase tickets online or by check. Questions call 828.273.1781. Tickets for the bus are sold out. Please email info@mvalliance.net if you would like to be added to the wait list. Thank you!

02/11/17 JACKSON COUNTY NAACP BUS TO MORAL MARCH

The Jackson County Branch of the NC NAACP will be hosting a bus to the 11th Annual Moral March on Raleigh and HKonJ People’s Assembly. The Jackson County NAACP Branch has rented a bus and invites anyone from WNC, including folks from Macon, Jackson, Swain and Haywood Counties to join them. The bus will depart from the Jackson Justice Center parking lot on February 11th at 2:00 AM and will return to Sylva in the early evening. Bus departs Sylva at 2 AM from the Jackson Justice Center parking lot. $50.00 round trip (scholarships are available). For more information, please contact Enrique Gomez enrique.a.gomez@gmail.com.

02/11/17 CITIZENS CLIMATE LOBBY MEETING

Citizens Climate Lobby meets the second Saturday of each month at Kairos West Community Center, 610 Haywood Road (enter in back) in west Asheville. We are advocating for a Carbon Fee & Dividend, which would impose a fee on fossil fuels at point entry; this fee will be refunded to individuals and families. There is bipartisan support in Congress as this will create jobs and help grow the economy, boosting renewables. Time is 12:30 to 3 PM. For more information, contact asheville@citizensclimatelobby.org.

02/11/16 DOCUMENTARY SHOWING IN ASHEVILLE

“13TH” is an important documentary film by Ava Duvernay, director of Selma and Own’s Queen Sugar. It is about the Amendment of the US Constitution that turned people from slaves to criminals. This documentary will be shown at 4 PM (doors open at 3:30) at Rock Hill Baptist Church (Rev. Hardaway) at 486 Caribou Road in Asheville. The church's seating capacity is 250 - first come, first serve. Community discussion will follow. Refreshments will be served. This is sponsored by Liberation Project leaders Maria Young and Cecyll Underwood.

02/12/17 DOCUMENTARY FILM IN ASHEVILLE

“Equal Means Equal” offers an unflinching look at how women are treated in the United States today. Examining both real-life stories and precedent-setting legal cases, director Kamala Lopez uncovers how outdated and discriminatory attitudes inform and influence seemingly disparate issues, from workplace harassment to domestic violence, rape and sexual assault to the foster care system, and the healthcare conglomerate to the judicial system. Along the way, she reveals the inadequacy of present laws that claim to protect women, ultimately presenting a compelling and persuasive argument for the urgency of ratifying the Equal Rights Amendment. Time is 4 PM and location is The Block Off Biltmore at 39 South Market Street in downtown Asheville. Call 828-254-9277 for more information.

02/13/17 TRANSITION ASHEVILLE SOCIAL

Working within communities to achieve change: Lessons learned the hard way about diffusing sustainability. Despite many technological advances, we still often struggle to achieve our sustainability goals. One important reason is failure to adequately account for the “people” factor in choosing and implementing our courses of action. In the upcoming February social, Dr. Annie Pearce, head of the Sustainable Facilities & Infrastructure Lab at Virginia Tech, will share her lessons learned from 25 years of working to diffuse sustainability throughout the architecture/ engineering/ construction industry. In particular, she will talk about her efforts over the last ten years to achieve change in the community of Radford, VA, where she has worked as a homeowner/DIY builder pushing the limits of local zoning and building codes, a sustainable construction professor whose students do active service learning in the community, and a planning commissioner both frustrated and inspired by the political process in local government. Bring your own stories and questions to share as we learn more about the dos and don’ts of working toward sustainability at the local level. Time is 6:30 to 8 PM. Location is St. Mary’s Episcopal Church at 337 Church Street in Asheville. Contact Rebecca Mahan at 812-334-0176 or palmtree747@gmail.com for more information.

02/14/17 VETERANS FOR PEACE MEETING

On the second Tuesday of each month, Western North Carolina Veterans for Peace meets to coordinate group activities and programs.Veterans For Peace is a global organization of Military Veterans and allies whose collective efforts are to build a culture of peace by using our experiences and lifting our voices. We inform the public of the true causes of war and the enormous costs of wars, with an obligation to heal the wounds of wars. Our network is comprised of over 140 chapters worldwide whose work includes: educating the public, advocating for a dismantling of the war economy, providing services that assist veterans and victims of war, and most significantly, working to end all wars. Time is 6:30 PM and location is the Center for Art and Spirit at Saint George, address is One School Road in west Asheville. For more information, contact Gerry at gwerhan@gmail.com.

02/14/17 SHOWING UP FOR RACIAL JUSTICE EVENT

02/14/17 WORLD AFFAIRS COUNCIL LECTURE AT UNCA REUTER CENTER

02/14/17 HAVE A HEART - VISIT TO BURR’S OFFICE IN ASHEVILLE

First, we're asking people to make post cards and drop them off at Purl's Yarn Emporium on Wall Street, downtown Asheville. The cards should ask Senator Burr to have a heart and not gut our health care. These will be delivered to Senator Burr's Asheville office at noon on Valentine's Day. If you have insurance through the ACA, and especially if you have a pre-existing condition, we want you to be there with us. Please PM Leslie Boyd on Facebook if you want more information. Then, at noon on Valentine's Day, we will deliver post cards to Richard Burr's office in Asheville. Write out your post card asking him not to vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act until there's a replacement that actually offers more people access to care. If you can’t make the event but want to have a post card delivered, there's a collection box at Purl's Yarn Emporium.

02/15/17 AUTHOR EVENT AT MALAPROPS

In 1955, a fourteen-year-old African American boy from Chicago named Emmett Till, while visiting relatives in the Mississippi Delta, violated racial taboos in a harmless exchange with a young white storekeeper, Carolyn Bryant. Three nights later, several of her kinsmen and family friends tortured the boy to death and threw his battered body in the river. Part detective story, part political history, “The Blood of Emmett Till” is an explosive reconstruction of the lynching, the trial, and their crucial impact on our history. Award winning author Timothy Tyson uses a range of sources—including the only interview ever given by Carolyn Bryant, along with her unpublished memoir—to tell the definitive story, in which black power and a mother's courage confronted the atrocities inherent in America's enduring racial caste system. Till’s mother’s insistence on an open casket, as well as African American self-assertion in Chicago, spurred nationwide protests that turned this local atrocity into a global symbol of American injustice; it transformed civil rights from a Southern issue into a national movement. Timothy Tyson is Senior Research Scholar at the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University, Visiting Professor of American Christianity and Southern Culture at Duke Divinity School, and adjunct professor of American Studies at the University of North Carolina. He is also the author of “Blood Done Sign My Name”, a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award, winner of the Southern Book Award for Nonfiction and the Grawemeyer Award in Religion, among others; and Radio Free Dixie: Robert F. Williams and the Roots of Black Power, winner of the James Rawley Prize for best book on race and the Frederick Jackson Turner Prize for best first book in U.S. History from the Organization of American Historians. He serves on the executive board of the North Carolina NAACP. Time is 6 PM and location is Malaprops at 55 Haywood Street in downtown Asheville. This is a Facebook event.

02/15/17 ‘NEW JIM CROW’ DISCUSSION GROUP

This is the last in a series of discussions of Michelle Alexander's book the "The New Jim Crow." Anyone is welcome to jump in anytime. Led by Eryka Lynn Peskin. Time is 6:30 PM and location is Firestorm Books & Coffee at 610 Haywood Road in west Asheville. Contact Firestorm at info@firestorm.coop for more information.

02/15/17 OCCUPY WNC GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Occupy WNC General Assembly will be at the Sneak E Squirrel Community Room. Dinner from 5:30 to 7 PM, meeting from 7 to 8:30 PM. The Sneak E Squirrel is located at 1315 West Main Street (on left side) in Sylva -- past Watson Park. This is on Wednesday, not Tuesday. For more information, contact Lucy at (828)743-9747 or lucy.christopher42@gmail.com.

02/15/17 SUSTAINABILITY AND SOCIAL JUSTICE MEETUP

Come early for community connections and green drink specials. Socializing is at 5:30 and the presentation is from 6 to 7 PM. Location is The Block Off Biltmore at 39 South Market Street in downtown Asheville. Call 828-254-9277 for more information.

02/16/17 KEYNOTE ADDRESS AT UNCA

Nazi Persecution of Homosexuals 1933–1945 is a traveling exhibition produced by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Through reproductions of historic photographs and documents, this exhibition explores the rationale, means, and impact of the Nazi regime’s persecution of homosexuals, which left thousands dead and shattered the lives of many more. The Center for Diversity Education is hosting the exhibit from February 12 to April 7, 2017 in UNC Asheville's Ramsey Library. Day and evening programming will include docented tours, film screenings, and lectures. Join us for the Grand Opening on February 16, 2017, featuring a keynote address from Dr. Erik Jensen, Associate Professor of History at Miami University. This exhibit is presented in conjunction with “Pioneering Voices: Portraits of Transgender” People, an exhibit traveled by the Family Diversity Projects. Together, these exhibits provide historical and contemporary perspectives on the lives of the LGBTQ community. To learn more about the exhibit or the keynote address, contact Deborah Miles at dmiles@unca.edu. Keynote address is from 5:30 to 8 PM. Location is Ramsey Library at UNCA.

02/16/17 DISCUSSION ON PUBLIC CONVERSATIONS IN HENDERSONVILLE

A study group discussion “On the Subject of Race” will be held from 6 to 8 PM at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Church located at 2021 Kanuga Road in Hendersonville. Look up Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Hendersonville on Facebook for more information.

02/16/17 CREATION CARE ALLIANCE GENERAL MEETING

Join the Creation Care Alliance of WNC for a general meeting as we inspire one another to good work and discuss our work empowering care for creation. We will connect with one another and explore ways to care for creation. Everyone is welcome. The meeting will be held in the First Baptist Church of Asheville in Room MB306, which is upstairs. Address is 5 Oak Street in downtown Asheville. Time is 5:30 to 7 PM. If you have any questions, please contact Scott Hardin-Nieri at scott@creationcarealliance.org.

02/17/17 WNC PHYSICIANS FOR SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY MEETING

Physicians, health personnel and everyone; all are welcomed at our monthly meetings held on the third Friday of each month. Bring a brown bag lunch around noon. This will be held at The First Congregational United Church of Christ, Room E205, at 20 Oak Street (just off College St. in downtown Asheville). Time is noon to 2 PM. Meeting starts at 12:30. Parking is available behind the church. Enter the church or ring doorbell at the glass doors on Oak Street. For more information contact Dr. Terry Clark, Chair, 633-0892 or Dr. Lew Patrie, 299-1242.

02/18/17 GREENWORKS CLEAN UP

Pond Road in West Asheville is super trashed due to all of the waste haulers that use this road to access the Transfer Station. The #1 source of roadside litter is generated from improperly secured loads of garbage. Time is 9 AM to noon and meeting spot is Riverbend Malt House at 99 Pond Road in Asheville. Please email volunteer@ashevillegreenworks.org if you're interested in helping out or for more information.

02/18/17 POVERTY SIMULATION EVENT IN ASHEVILLE

Carolina Jews for Justice/West invites you to participate in a thought-provoking and illuminating hands-on simulation of what it is like to live on a minimum wage in WNC today. The program will be presented in conjunction with Just Economics and will take place on Sunday, February 19th from 2 to 4 PM at Congregation Beth Israel at 229 Murdock Avenue in north Asheville. The cost is $9 per person and participation is limited to the first 44 registrants. To register, please pay through www.carolinajewsforjustice.org, go to “donate” click on “other” and enter $9. According to Vicki Meath, Director of Just Economics, the “Working Poor Simulation” is an experiential learning tool that exposes participants to the real-life struggles of the working poor in our community. Participants are assigned identities based on those of real low-income people and must complete the everyday activities of their families – like going to work, paying bills, applying for public benefits, and other community groups. There will be an opportunity for reflection following the simulation. For more information, contact goldebbie@gmail.com.

02/18/17 BLACK HISTORY MONTH EVENT

The Shiloh Community Association presents: Black History Month - Celebrating the Dreams of the Past, Present & Future. Keynote speaker is Alfred Whitesides, Buncombe Country Board of Commissioners. Music by The Delta House Jazz Band. Time is 1 to 4 PM at Linwood Crump Shiloh Complex at 121 Shiloh Road in Asheville. Bring a covered dish and join the community in sharing our history celebration and our accomplishments and looking towards the future. Sponsored by Shiloh Community Association and Asheville Parks and Recreation Cultural Arts. For more information call the Center at 828-274-7739 or the SCA Liaison at 828-277-9654.

02/19/17 SANCTUARY MEETING WORKSHOP

Next Sanctuary Meeting Workshop is at St. Eugene's Church in north Asheville. Faith communities coming together to discuss, plan sanctuary support for community members facing deportation. Parish of St. Eugene is at 72 Culvern Street in Asheville. Please call 828-254-5193 for more information.

02/19/17 MEETING TO DEFUND DAPL

Meeting of Defund DAPL (Dakota Access Pipe Line), all invited. Location is Kairos Community Center at 604 Haywood Road, below Firestorm Books (must enter from State Street to get to Kairos) in west Asheville. Let's inform the public that their banks are funding the pipeline, and invite them to move their money! Time is 3 to 5 PM. More information at defund.dapl.avl@gmail.com.

02/20/17 NAACP MEETING IN HENDERSONVILLE

NAACP monthly meeting from 6:00 to 7:00 pm at 810 North Whitted Street in Hendersonville. Call (828) 692-7180 for more information.

02/20/17 HEALTH CARE TOWN HALL MEETING

With the majority in Congress calling for the repeal of the ACA, the time has come to tell your story about how the ACA has changed your life. Both NC Senators and Representative McHenry and Meadows and the media have been invited. The purpose is for ordinary citizens to share their stories about access to health care in Buncombe county. Time is 7 PM and location is Highland Brewing at 12 Old Charlotte Highway in Asheville. For more information, contact Chris at 828-231-3704 or chris@chrispelly.com.

02/21/17 SHOWING UP FOR RACIAL JUSTICE EVENT

02/21/17 WORLD AFFAIRS COUNCIL LECTURE AT UNCA REUTER CENTER

02/22/17 MOMS DEMAND ACTION FOR GUN SENSE IN HENDERSONVILLE

Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America will meet at 4 PM at the 1st Congressional Church located at 1735 W. Fifth Street in Hendersonville. No contact information.

02/22/17 DISCUSSION ON PUBLIC CONVERSATIONS IN HENDERSONVILLE

A study group discussion “Gay and Straight Together – Why such Fear? On the Subject of Race” will be held from 6 to 8 PM at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Church located at 2021 Kanuga Road in Hendersonville. Look up Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Hendersonville on Facebook for more information.

02/22/17 LECTURE AT UNCA

Join us on Wednesday, February 22, 3:30 p.m. when award-winning author Scott Ellsworth will talk about “The Secret Game.” This well-researched work focuses on a ground-breaking but little known basketball game that took place in Durham, North Carolina, in 1944, when players from the historically black NC College (now NC Central University) and Duke’s medical school basketball team decided to play one another to see who had the best team in Durham. More than that, however, this is a story of how societies change when ordinary citizens defied Jim Crow regulations. Scott Ellsworth, who teaches at the University of Michigan, has written about race relations in the US for the New York Times, the Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times, has been a historian at the Smithsonian Institution and is the author of the first comprehensive history of the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921. This event, which is free and open to the public, is the first in OLLI’s More Than a Month series of lectures and discussions. Every month for the next year we will plan lectures, discussions and conversations that explore the issue of race locally and nationally. Time is 3:30 to 5 PM and location is the Reuter Center, room 102A at UNCA.

02/23/17 DISCUSSION ON PUBLIC CONVERSATIONS IN HENDERSONVILLE

The conclusion of the study group’s discussion “On the Subject of Race” will be held from 6 to 8 PM at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Church located at 2021 Kanuga Road in Hendersonville. If you would like to eliminate or at least mitigate the harm of racism and sexism to our society, you will benefit from the discussion even if you missed the earlier discussions. Look up Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Hendersonville on Facebook for more information.

2/24/17 JUST PEACE ISRAEL/PALESTINE

This meeting will be at 3:15 PM at Brooks-Howell Home on Merrimon Avenue in Asheville. Meet in the media room. Contact Suchi at suchi1025@bellsouth.net for more information.

02/25/17 27th ANNUAL SWANNANOA VALLEY DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. MEMORIAL PRAYER BREAKFAST

We invite you to join us in sharing the life and teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. as we strive to bring knowledge and awareness of his work to our Swannanoa Valley community. The 2017 speaker will be announced soon! Stay tuned. Breakfast is a 9 AM. You can purchase tickets online, or pay by check with a ticket order form. Please note that donations made above the cost of the ticket are tax deductible, however the tickets themselves are not. Location is Camp Dorothy Walls at 495 Fragment Road in Black Mountain, NC. Go to http://svmlk.org/mlk-prayer-breakfast.html to buy tickets.

02/26/17 WNC SOLIDARITY CONCERT SERIES

The final Sunday of each month in 2017, two groups of WNC-based musicians and their ensembles will each perform a benefit concert to rise funding for WNC non-profits. The music performed each week will fluctuate between jazz, rhythm & blues, soul, jazz funk, jazz fusion, and swing. Each event will host two groups, playing, consecutively between 3 and 5 PM with a brief intermission. All of proceeds go to the nonprofit organization. The non-profit for today’s concert is the Center for Honey Bee Research. Act I is Richard Shulman Quartet and Act II is Dan Keller Quartet. Location is The Block Off Biltmore at Eagle and South Market Streets in downtown Asheville. Suggested donation is $10, and are available the day of the event. This is a Facebook event. Please call The Block Off Biltmore for more information.

02/28/17 SHOWING UP FOR RACIAL JUSTICE EVENT

02/28/17 WORLD AFFAIRS COUNCIL LECTURE AT UNCA REUTER CENTER

02/28/17 MOVIE NIGHT AT THE COLLIDER

The Collider and Oskar Blues Brewery launch a new monthly climate and environmental film series at The Collider, open to the public. Doors open at 6:30 PM, the film starts at 7. The first four evenings will feature episodes from the award-winning series, “Years of Living Dangerously.” In May, we will screen the award-winning documentary, “The Memory of Fish.” With the exception of the May screening, all events are free with a suggested donation at the door (the May event will have an admission fee). Oskar Blues will provide beer and, of course, we’ll also have popcorn. On this evening, we will show The Uprooted, featuring “Out of Africa” with Thomas L. Friedman and “Death of the Central Valley” with Don Cheadle, and Fueling The Fire featuring “National Insecurity” with Arnold Schwarzenegger and “The Battle in the Forest” with Gisele Bundchen. This is a Facebook event.

03/01/17 STEM LECTURE AT UNCA

The STEM series of lectures is an interdisciplinary program that covers a wide range of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines. Each lecture provides the lecturer with the opportunity to share his/her work, present new ideas for feedback, learn new ideas that participants can use, and introduce students to exciting areas to explore. The lectures are all scheduled in the Reuter Center, room 102A, from 4:30 to 6 PM, and are free and open to the public. The lecture is “Accelerating Climate Innovation” by James McMahon, The Collider.

03/01/17 SIERRA CLUB MEETING

Sierra Club presents Scott Varn of Preserving a Picturesque America will present a program on how his group has been seeking the locations of the adventure artists of the 1800s and then finding ways to preserve those natural and historic places. Scott Varn, founder of Preserving a Picturesque America (PAPA), will show how his organization is using history, art and adventure to help preserve our country’s beautiful natural treasures. He will also suggest ways that the public can join in the adventure. Varn, who holds a degree in Fine Arts and Media Arts from the University of North Carolina, will show how his group is seeking out the locations of the adventure artists of the 1800s and then finding ways to preserve these natural and historic places. Early artistic representations and tales of natural wonders were key in creating the concept of conservation in 1800s America. PAPA believes that stories and art can be used again as tools for preservation. This event is free and open to the public. Location is the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Asheville at 1 Edwin Place in north Asheville (Charlotte Street and Edwin Place). For more information, contact Judy Mattox, 828-683-2176, judymattox@sbcglobal.net.

03/02/17 DISCUSSION ON PUBLIC CONVERSATIONS IN BREVARD

“Religious Bigotry, How to Respond” sponsored by the Transylvania NAACP and local congregations from 6 to 8 PM at St. Philip’s Episcopal Church located at 256 East Main Street in Brevard. Sponsored by the Transylvania NAACP and local congregations. Please check Transylvania NAACP on Facebook for further information.

03/03/17 to 03/19/17 WALK TO PROTECT OUR PEOPLES AND THE PLACES WE LIVE

The North Carolina Alliance to Protect Our Peoples and the Places We Live (APPPL) is organizing a walk along the 205 mile Atlantic Coast Pipeline route in NC, beginning on Saturday March 4 at the Virginia-North Carolina border in Northhampton County, and ending two weeks later in Pembroke and then in Hamlet. Indigenous people in North Carolina call the Atlantic Coast Pipeline the DAPL of the southeast. It's a linchpin of Dominion's plans to control energy supplies in Virginia (and to export gas to Asia from Cove Point, Maryland), and of Duke Energy's plans to build 12,000 MW of gas fired electricity in NC. This $5.5 billion project will cross many rivers, tear up mountains and national forests, go under several public water supplies, impact much farmland and miles of wetlands. We plan to participate in a Clean Energy Summit in Fayetteville (Sponsored by Sustainable Sandhills) on March 11. On March 17-19 we will to join the Lumbee in Robeson County in their traditional celebration of the Spring Equinox. We want participants to raise money from their friends, families, neighbors and others to support the walk. We suggest that donors give 50 cents a mile walked. No one will be turned away however for inability to raise money. Much other support is needed. We're looking for cultural workers and musicians; banner makers; street medics; people with counseling skills; vans and a bus; a truck that can carry a portajohn, water tank and photovoltaic array (to charge cell phones at night). Social media gurus will be essential. Photographers, videographers, storytellers too. For more information, weekly updates, to register, and to donate to the walk, please visit our website at 2017acpwalk.org or Facebook page at Walk To Protect Our People And The Places Where We Live.You can also email Steven Norris at earthsun2@gmail.com. All potential participants are encouraged to register early.

03/04/17 WALK TO PROTECT OUR PEOPLES AND PLACES WE LIVE

Walk to Protect our Peoples and the Places We Live. Join us for the walk to stop the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline. The walk will last about 2 weeks, and will pass through Northampton, Halifax, Wilson, Nash, Johnston, Sampson, Cumberland and Robeson Counties. (Possibly also: Scotland and Richmond Counties). More info to come. This came from Frack-free NC. For more information, for weekly updates, to register, and to donate to the Walk, please visit our website at 2017acpwalk.org or Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/2017acpwalk/. You can also call of email Steven Norris, earthsun2@gmail.com All potential participants are encouraged to register early.

03/07/17 WORLD AFFAIRS COUNCIL LECTURE AT UNCA REUTER CENTER

03/09/17 DISCUSSION ON PUBLIC CONVERSATIONS IN BREVARD

“The Earth is our Mother– To hurt or to heal?” is the topic and this is sponsored by the Transylvania NAACP and local congregations from 6 to 8 PM at Lutheran Church of The Good Shepherd at 22 Fisher Road in Brevard. Call 828-883-3680 for more information.

03/01/17 CITIZENS-POLICE ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING

This meeting is organized by the City of Asheville. This meeting is free and open to the public. They meet in the first floor Conference Room at the Public Works Building at 161 South Charlotte Street in downtown Asheville. Call 251-1122 for more information.

03/14/17 WORLD AFFAIRS COUNCIL LECTURE AT UNCA REUTER CENTER

03/16/17 DISCUSSION ON PUBLIC CONVERSATIONS IN BREVARD

“Economic Fairness - What would justice look like?” will be the topic for this discussion. This is sponsored by the Transylvania NAACP and local congregations. Time is 6 to 8 PM and location is Bethel A Baptist Church at 290 Oakdale Street in Brevard. Please call 828-883-2035 for more information.

03/17/17 to 03/18/17 RACIAL EQUITY WORKSHOP

Racial Equity Workshop in Asheville, NC, with exact location to be determined. Phase I will be Foundational Training in Historical and Institutional Racism and will run from 8:30 AM to 5:15 PM both days. Attendance required for entire workshop. Purpose is to educate individuals, communities, and institutions. To provide a historical analysis of race and racism in the United States. To develop common definitions and language for communities to continue to engage in anti-racism and racial equity work. The Racial Equity Phase I Workshop moves beyond individual bias and bigotry by presenting a cultural, historical, and structural analysis of racism. This workshop helps participants become clear on how race and racism have been constructed in the US and how ideas about racism live in our unconscious minds and social structures even 50 years after the successes of the Civil Rights movement. This workshop is appropriate for people who want to increase their understanding of how to eliminate racism in our systems and institutions. The trainers are active anti-racism and social justice advocates and educators with years of experience and varying backgrounds. Community members, institutional players, educators, ecumenical leaders, business owners, non-profits, and all interested individuals are encouraged to attend and/or reach out to learn more about the workshop. Cost of training is $200 per participant (includes meals and materials for both days). A limited number of sliding scale scholarships are available based on need and ability to pay. Fill out the registration form and turn in to Isabel Carson or Katie Latino. Follow payment instructions on the registration form. Payment and registration is due by February 17, 2017. Contact individuals below for registration forms and with any questions. Isabel Carson at carson.isabel@gmail.com, Bettie Council at lionessdear@yahoo.com, and Katie Latino at katie.latino@ywcaofasheville.org. (Other workshops will be held on May 19-20, September 29-20 and November 15-16.)

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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 during most of the year, but after DST kicks in, they meet at 4:30 PM.

Showing Up for Racial Justice at Firestorm Coffee & Books at 610 Haywood Road in west Asheville. 10 AM. Educating and organizing white people for racial justice. Free.

WEDNESDAY

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

French Broad Riverkeeper has a paddle-n-plant to prevent sediment erosion most Wednesdays and Saturdays. Registration required at anna@mountaintrue.org.

Green Grannies Book Club meets at noon at Firestorm at 610 Haywood Road in west Asheville.

“What’s Up With Whiteness” discussion group at 6 PM at Firestorm at 610 Haywood Road in west Asheville.

Green Drinks meets at 7 PM at The Block Off Biltmore on the third Wednesday of the month.

Sierra Club meets at 7 PM at Unitarian Universalist in Asheville on the first Wednesday of the month.

THURSDAY

Political Prisoners Letter Writing at Firestorm Coffee & Books at 6 PM on fourth Thursday of the month. Materials provided.

Political documentary film and discussion at Firestorm Coffee & Books 6:30 PM on the third Thursday of the month. Sponsored by Asheville Citizens Accountability Project.

Welcome Home Tour by Homeward Bound on the third Thursday of the month at 11 AM. Call 258-1695 for more information.

Asheville Prison Books Program is held at Downtown Books & News from 4 to 7 PM.

FRIDAY

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

SATURDAY

French Broad Riverkeeper has a paddle-n-plant to prevent sediment erosion most Wednesdays and Saturdays. Registration required at anna@mountaintrue.org.

Mountain True holds urban forest workdays on the second Saturday of the month at Richmond Hill Park from 9 AM to 1 PM. Call 258-8737 for more information.

Citizen’s Climate Lobby meeting at 12:30 PM at Kairos West Community Center on second Saturday of the month.

Food Not Bombs serves free vegan/vegetarian food every Saturday at noon at Pritchard Park.

SUNDAY

Asheville National Organization for Women meeting at 2:30 PM at YWCA of Asheville on second Sunday of the month.

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ACTIONS AND READINGS

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Please note (to all activists): I would like to recommend that you protest POLICIES (and actions and decisions) instead of PERSONALITIES, if you want to be successful. Being opposed to one person only (or one political party only) will cause two things to happen: one, you alienate anyone who does like or support that person or party and they never even listen to your concerns; and two, you never get to the root of the problem --- and therefore never have a real solution. For a recent example - look how many folks showed up for anti-war demonstrations back in 2003 and 2004. This was vastly reduced by 2006, when Democrats got control of Congress. It died out completely in 2008 with the election campaign of Obama. Turns out the anti-war protests were really anti-Bush protests. And Obama dropped 100,000 bombs while in office, whereas Bush 70,000.

None of the wars that were protested in 2003 and 2004 ended, they continue to this day. Obama was at war each and every day he was in office. And the anti-war protests today are meager. Somehow, the anti-Bush people just went back to sleep.

And, for those of you who kept on protesting this massive evil no matter who dropped the bombs: A BIG THANK YOU.

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Action Name: Update from Standing Rock: Violent Confrontations by DAPL

Action URL: http://mapm.pjep.org/actions/ Update-from-Standing-Rock- Violent-Confrontations-by-DAPL

Action Mini URL: http://pjep.org/760f4

Date: 2017-02-02 - 2017-02-28

Organization: [Minnesota Alliance of Peacemakers]

Description: This is a recent update report from a Standing Rock volunteer.

Friends,

I have returned from Standing Rock with my mind blown, my heart broken and my spirit troubled with foreboding of a deepening tragedy. Volunteering as a legal observer with the Water Protector Legal Collective I witnessed several confrontations between Water Protectors (WP) and law enforcement: national guard, sheriffs and private security (LE).

On 1/18/17 - 1/19/17 I observed WP with their hands in the air chanting "hands up don't shoot" being fired upon at a range of 10 to 15 feet. Tear gas canisters and rubber bullets ( rubber bullets are regular bullets covered in rubber) were used against unarmed WP who had been singing and praying. I observed national guard chasing WP off the Backwater bridge, firing at people running away. I heard people choking and gagging from tear gas. I saw access to the WP medic vehicles being blocked. I spoke with medics and WP who described bullets penetrating flesh and causing terrible injuries, including to one media person who nearly lost his finger when his camera was targeted.

I talked with a media person and was told of 4 media people on the bridge that night, 3 had their recording devices shot and the 4th, his hand. I saw a photo of a sheriff aiming a rifle directly at a media woman who was standing apart from the crowd. I heard testimony of the back of the medic pickup truck being awash in blood after evacuating wounded.

I watched, and then, inadvertently became a part of, WP being forced off the bridge by national guard who were hiding behind WP vehicles parked along the road and firing rubber bullets at fleeing people. Many people were shot in the back, the neck, the head. When LE fired at people at close range, many were shot in the genitals or in the face. I received information about DAPL security breaching the short wave radio channels of the WP with taunts such as "come out and fight like men you faggots or we will come to Camp and fuck your women."

There are some young warriors, who, without the support of their elders, many who want the camps cleared to mitigate the economic and social damage being suffered by the local community in having the bridge closed, have vowed to not leave the camps or to let the last section of pipeline be built.

Driving away from the area on Monday I saw a convoy of construction vehicles heading to the drill pad. Last night an indigenous website live streamed reports of drilling and construction noises coming from the drill pad.

Without the eyes of a free press these attacks and trespasses continue, with the human rights and sovereignty of indigenous peoples denied. The UN Committee on Transnational Corporations and Human Right Abuses was in Standing Rock this week to take testimony of the many transgressions against people: crop dusters spraying poison pesticides and fertilizers on the camps; hair samples indicating the presence of these chemicals; people who have been injured, beat up, arrested, strip searched; media and medics being targeted by snipers; (one medic told me he stopped wearing his Red Cross vest due to medics being targeted); praying people being attacked and the refusal of DAPL and our government to abide by the Rule of Law.

We need to stand up for our brothers and our sisters, for their way of life and, I believe, for our social contract as a democracy which is now threatened.

Please share this so word gets out what is happening, thank you.

Deborah MacKay

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Hood Tour Tickets

An interactive tour focusing on Asheville’s African American resilient history and future in the arts, environmentalism and entrepreneurship. The tour visits neighborhoods with existing and active green spaces, art, and grassroots initiatives. Tours run most Thursdays at 1 PM and Saturdays at 3 PM, and by appointment for groups by emailing info@hoodhuggers.com. Tours last approximately 1.5 hours. Cost is $25 per person. Tours begin at the Stephens-Lee Recreation Center, 30 George Washington Carver Avenue.

Hood Huggers International, LLC offers sustainable strategies for building support pillars for resilient historically African American neighborhoods, providing a framework for community capacity building while increasing the effectiveness of existing service programs. These strategies incorporate the arts, environmental education and social enterprise.

DeWayne Barton is the founder/CEO of Hood Huggers. A sculptor and poet, Barton has been involved in community improvement and youth development for over 20 years. He serves on the African American Heritage Commission, CoThinkk, and the City of Asheville Neighborhood Advisory Board.

Please call (828) 275-5305 or email blove@hoodhuggers.com for more information including how to register for these tours.

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Dear Friends of Peace and Justice,

The U.S. Peace Council and several other national peace organizations in the United States have jointly initiated a public campaign in support of Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard’s STOP ARMING TERRORISTS ACT (H.R. 608), which she originally introduced to the Congress on December 8, 2016.

H.R. 608 is a bipartisan bill, which has been endorsed by Rep. Barbara Lee (D-California), Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Kentucky), Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vermont), Rep. Walter B. Jones (R-North Carolina), and Rep. Ted Yoho (R-Florida).

Rep. Gabbard’s Stop Arming Terrorists Act is aiming “To prohibit the use of United States Government funds to provide assistance to Al Qaeda, Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and to countries supporting those organizations...”. More specifically, it demands that “Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no funds made available to any Federal department or agency may be used to provide covered assistance to Al Qaeda, Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, and ISIL, and any individual or group that is affiliated with, associated with, cooperating with, or adherents to such groups.”

We believe that Congresswoman Gabbard’s bill is a very courageous and important first step toward ending the U.S. Government’s policy of forced regime change in other countries with the help of terrorist organizations. This policy has led to endless wars in the past decades, and has cost trillions of dollars at the expense of American taxpayers.

H.R. 608 has been referred to both the House Intelligence Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Given the present state of politics in our country, the chance of these committees approving the bill seems very slim in the absence of massive public expression of support for it.

For this reason, we strongly urge all supporters of peace and justice in the United States to sign this joint petition in support of Rep. Gabbard’s bill. Your signed petition will be immediately emailed to the 65 members of both committees of the House of Representatives.

To sign the petition, please click on the link below:

http://hr608.info

We also urge you to share this link with as many people and organizations as you can and encourage them to add their signatures to the petition.

Together, we can make a difference.

Thank You!

U.S. Peace Council

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dancewater

Sunday, February 05, 2017

Upcoming events for the week of February 5, 2017

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