May 5, 20238 min read

WNPJ member group events and action alerts for the week of May 7th! Check them out! Lots going on...

Updated: May 8, 2023

WNPJ + Peace Action Annual Mother’s Day Celebration, with WNPJ Board member Debra Gillespie as speaker + Volunteers needed for Madison ‘Memorial Mile’ VFP Display + other statewide events…

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SPOTLIGHT on Peace Action Wisconsin

PEACE ACTION WI Mother’s Day Peace Event - Milwaukee

Sunday, May 14, 3 - 4:00 pm

Art Bar, 722 E Burleigh St. (near Fratney St)

Featuring: Singer Dorothy James & Debra Gillespie of Mothers Against Gun Violence on creating a more peaceful Milwaukee. $25.00 per person- Make your reservations today for the buffet lunch. Call 414-269-9525 or email pamrichard35@gmail.com

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Volunteers Welcomed!

MADISON VFP'S MEMORIAL MILE.

This year Madison Veterans for Peace "Memorial Mile" tombstone display will move to South Park Street, on the lawn of the South Central Labor Temple. If you are interested and able to help set up and/or take down the tombstones, please come help! Installation will be Saturday May 27 at 9 am and we should be done by 11 am. Take-down will be Saturday June 3 at 9 am.

Thank you. John Fournelle 608-438-7480. https://madisonvfp.org/

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Upcoming Events this week for WNPJ groups:

(Read about more upcoming events here: https://www.wnpj.org/event-calendar)

MADISON Mon May 8th, 7 pm Free Screening of the film ‘The Right to Read’ - Madison College, Goodman South Campus Rm 205, 2429 Perry St. Sponsored by MOSES. We also invite you to partner with us in the work of ensuring that all children in Madison and surrounding communities receive screening for dyslexia. Whether or not you can attend the film screening please reply to let the Education Advocacy Group of MOSES know if you would like to be a part of the collective effort we are building. Contact: Shel Gross <shelgross3@gmail.com .More about this program:

The Education Advocacy Group of MOSES invites you to join us in the work of improved literacy education in our community. We have made literacy and specifically the issue of dyslexia a top priority. The reason we have determined this to be our top priority is, in part, because of statements like the following: When a child can’t read, their chances of incarceration, homelessness, and unemployment increase. That’s why Oakland-based NAACP activist Kareem Weaver believes literacy is one of the greatest civil rights issues of our time and is fighting for better reading instruction. “What good is winning the right to vote if we can’t even read the ballot?” Fed up with the bleak reading scores in his own community, Kareem files a petition with the Oakland Unified School District demanding change. You can learn more about MOSES here: https://mosesmadison.org/ Note: This event sent to WNPJ by Shel Gross, a member of Madison Friends Meeting

VIRTUAL - MADISON Tues May 9th, 7 pm May Distinguished Lecture Series Event - UNA USA Dane County.

Please join us for a very timely discussion/lecture on the issue of gun violence. Lizzy Weber, Students Demand Action Midwestern Organizer and Megan Egstad, Students Demand Action Leader will present on the scope of gun violence in Wisconsin and its impact on various communities. They will speak about how Students Demand Action work towards ending gun violence in Wisconsin and nationwide and give an overview of the group's accomplishments thus far. Finally, they will offer some options for how to get involved with the gun violence prevention movement. https://www.facebook.com/unadaneorg

zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88119820715?pwd=Ym1UR0o3NThsc01YY0hJNW82TVpJZz09&fbclid=IwAR2pvTehDrKivwbFW3KMnNX3aw-3C7a0rMk6d1q-IQ9DPQa_Qrt8t3uUvVg#success

VIRTUAL Tues May 9th, 7 - 8 pm Building Unity Evening “Drop-in” meeting. Zoom at https://zoom.us/j/99245031795 Meeting ID: 992 4503 1795. Contact: Timothy Cordon BuildingUnityWi@gmail.com

MADISON Wed May 10th, 6 - 7:30 pm Wisconsin Democracy Campaign Annual Gathering and Celebration. Lussier Family Heritage Center, Lake Farm Road. Did you know Executive Director Matt Rothschild is retiring from the WI Democracy Campaign? Come hear Matt speak one last time about the fight to save our democracy, and to wish him well. Also, we will hear Madison Poet Laureate Angie Trudell Vasquez!

Go here to register by no later than Sunday, May 7: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdxJbW439riT-9uEayJuD6AmtA8l-UGMYqwU_YlZn4kfaHHeg/viewform

VIRTUAL Sat May 13th, 10 - 11:30 am UNA USA Milwaukee webinar: “Foreign Policy, International Peace, & the Role of US Military Spending” with Dr. Joseph Gerson. The United Nations Association of Greater Milwaukee invites you to participate in an informative virtual Zoom forum. Co-sponsored by Peace Action WI & the Milwaukee Chapter of the Women’s International League for Peace & Freedom

Free & Open to the Public. Participate virtually through the following Zoom link https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87829732649?pwd=Tmg0amRBUnE5eGFta09MRE4rZWNWQT09

Dr. Joseph Gerson is President of the Campaign for Peace, Disarmament, & Common Security (CPDCS), Co-chair of the Committee for a Sane U.S.-China Policy, and Co-Convener of the International Peace & Planet Network. He was co-founder of the National United for Peace and Justice. Dr. Gerson helped to launch the 1980s Nuclear Weapons Freeze movement and is currently coordinating peace movements planning to impact the November 2023 Second Meeting of States Parties in New York City to the Treaty for Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

His books include: Empire and the Bomb: How the US Uses Nuclear Weapons to Dominate the World; The Sun Never Sets – Confronting the Network of U.S. Foreign Military Bases; The Deadly Connection: Nuclear War and U.S. Foreign Military Intervention; and With Hiroshima Eyes: Atomic War, Nuclear Extortion and Moral Imagination. For more information, contact:

Pam Richard at 414.269.9525 or pamrichard35@gmail.com

GREEN BAY Sat May 13th, 11 an - 1 pm Planning Meeting: Creation Walk planned for May 27 - 29 in Green Bay. Meet at Women Gathering Place at 641 Comanche Ave. #H. This is a potluck lunch. Calling all Water Walkers and Water Protectors to the Creation Water Walk on May 27-28-29 (Memorial Day weekend)! Donations are needed and greatly appreciated. Please see the donation link on the Wise Women Gathering Place website at: www.wisewomengp.org. * WE DO THIS FOR THE WATER 📷 *

CHASEBURG Sat May 13th, 12 noon - 3 pm Erosion and Water Management Field Day and Farmers Union Potluck. At Coon Creek Watershed, Seelow Farm,E5052 Embr Ln. (street formerly known as Schultzs Lane - nearby intersection of Hwy B and Hwy KK near Esofea Park). Potluck Lunch-and-Learn starts at noon and will feature WFU staff discussing state policy and organizing efforts around water quality, and Forest Jahnke of Crawford Stewardship Project will talk about the effects of the Driftless region's unique hydrogeology and topography. During the field walk, starting at 1pm, we will view cover crops on the Seelow Farm in addition to structures that were built in the 1930s by the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corp) to help slow down water flow and prevent erosion. Incredibly, those structures are still in operation and helping manage water 90 years later! Structures include five water drops with two side drops from levees that control the water flow, and a dam that has a cement water tunnel that drops 20 feet and is 60 feet long. After the field walk, guests are welcome to join the Vernon-Crawford WFU Chapter Meeting at 2pm. https://www.facebook.com/events/263650322872081/?ref=newsfeed

VIRTUAL Sat May 13th 3 - 4:30 pm Wisconsin Working to End the War in Ukraine! Invitation to the 2nd WI Organizing Zoom call. We invite you to a statewide zoom meeting for WI peace people to discuss the war in Ukraine, get the latest news on negotiations, and see what we can do to "stop the bleeding" ASAP. Please share this with your friends. We hope participants will come away with ideas they can use for local action. Please register in advance for this meeting at: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZclc-qhrzwsE9axmZgIhFn6zzxeO2wok-AB

The zoom meeting will feature WI folks who can describe lobbying Congress, organizing public events such as stands and marches for peace, petitioning, speaking to groups, supporting national media work, actions at political party meetings, statewide communications, and more. We are seeking people to describe what peace tactic worked for them.

We will have an update from a resource person who can answer detail questions. Former CIA officer turned political activist Ray McGovern had this role on the first zoom 4/15.

Our place in the peace movement is that we want the U.S. government to change policy to promote peace talks now and mutual ceasefire, and to take no actions to escalate or prolong the war. We will discuss the thorny issue of what to say about sending more U.S. weapons.

This project, "Uniting Wisconsin to End the War in Ukraine," is sponsored by the Milwaukee End the Wars Coalition and Peace Action-WI, and co-sponsored by the WI Network for Peace and Justice, Building Unity WI, the Interfaith Peace Working Group, Madison for a World BEYOND War, and Veterans for Peace Madison Chapter. Thanks for assistance from the Fellowship of Reconciliation.

The need: the war in Ukraine grinds on with daily death and destruction, plus danger of nuclear escalation, while voices for peace have not yet moved U.S. policy toward serious negotiating and de-escalating. To make our contribution to peace, WI activists need to find some unity and then organize more work on Congress, public opinion, the media, etc., and not just in Milwaukee and Madison.

Organizers of this project also support humanitarian aid to victims of the war, U.S. acceptance of refugees, the brave individuals in Ukraine and Russia who use non-violent tactics to oppose this war, and funding for our domestic needs instead of war.

To endorse or help with this effort, or ask questions, please contact Steve Watrous at wius.senateforum@gmail.com or 414-429-7567. More info at Peace Action WI - info@peaceactionwi.org

CUSTER Sat May 13th, 9 - 5 pm Move Some Earth! Volunteer Day at MREA. Midwest Renewable Energy Association, Deer Road. This annual event invites volunteers to help prepare the grounds for The Energy Fair. Join us for this all-day, energizing outdoor event. Light breakfast and lunch will be provided. Tasks may include: •Washing windows•Tending to the gardens•Landscaping •Organizing or preparing Energy Fair materials. RSVP here: https://www.midwestrenew.org/volunteer-rsvp-form/

APPLETON Sat May 13th, 9 am - 2 pm Indigenous Peoples Blanket Exercise. At First English Lutheran Church, 6331 N. Ballard Road. Sponsored by First English Lutheran Church’s Racial Equity Team, The Green Sanctuary Justice Action Team of the Fox Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, the Indigenous Peoples’ Allies Committee (IPAC) of the First Congregational United Church of Christ and ESTHER. The blanket exercise is a kind of simulation designed to help participants understand how colonization of the land we now know as the United States of America has impacted the people who lived here long before Columbus and other settlers arrived. A traditional Talking Circle is included in the exercise to allow participants to debrief. In addition to the exercise, a traditional indigenous meal will be served. Register here: Cost per person is $30 which includes the meal. See more on the Facebook event page

MILWAUKEE Sat May 13th, 12 noon to 1 pm Weekly Peace Action "Stand for Peace". Meet at Wisconsin/Prospect (by orange sunburst): Focus on Palestinian rights . Each week, a different vigil site in Milwaukee. Bring your signs for peace! Questions? Contact Peace Action WI - info@peaceactionwi.org or see https://www.peaceactionwi.org

MILWAUKEE Sun May 14th, 3 pm PEACE ACTION WI Mother’s Day Peace Event - See the SPOTLIGHT above for details!

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And if your group would like to get your events posted in the weekly e-bulletin – JOIN US!

https://www.wnpj.org/membership

WNPJ member groups can sign up for a Saturday opportunity to TABLE at the Madison Farmers Market – this Spring and summer at the Capitol Square. The Farmers Market opening date is April 15th – 7 am to 1 pm …and runs through the Fall on Saturdays. Sign up for your spot today! Bring your own table and hand-outs to the King Street corner of the Square, next to the VFP #25 table! Questions? Contact info@wnpj.org

Interested in a yard sign? WNPJ has yard signs available! yardsigns@wnpj.org