DC Metro Action is a listing of local actions, entertainment, volunteer opportunities and the occasional rant on a wide range of socially just issues.
contact me at dcmetroaction@comcast.net
Action of the Day Many of these action alerts are found on the listservs and websites of organizations listed in our "Act Locally" section (Left).
Wednesday, March 31, 2004
Liberia: America's Stepchild
Spend an evening catching up on the latest events in Liberia. On Thursday, April 1, be part of a briefing from 4 to 5:30 p.m., followed by a reception and the showing of the film "Liberia: The United States’ Stepchild" at 6 p.m. The event takes place at the UDC David A. Clarke School of Law (4200 Connecticut Ave. NW, Building 38, 2nd Floor; UDC/Van Ness Metro). For more information, call 202/274-5722 or send an e-mail.
The DC police arrested 13 students from George Washington and Georgetown universities yesterday. As part of a peaceful occupation of the lobby of their student union building, the students were demanding that George Washington University take a stand on workers' rights (see 3/26 post, below).
If GW, the second largest employer in Washington, DC, is allowed to trample on workers' rights, the rights of workers throughout the nation's capital are jeopardized. Click below to send a fax to GW President Stephen Joel Trachtenberg demanding he drop the charges against the students and support workers' rights.
The lack of affordable health insurance and access to quality health services remain of great concern to poor and working people and their communities. Employers – such as Safeway, PMI and Colonial Parking, and the State Plaza Hotel – are trying to push the rising cost of health benefits onto their employees, leaving many working people unable to afford health insurance for their families. At the same time, public health services for the uninsured are being scaled back.
To bring attention to these issues, the Workers' Rights Board is convening a hearing on the health care crisis in Washington, DC. A panel of community, political and religious leaders will gather to hear testimony from workers and community members affected by the health care crisis. The event is Wednesday, March 31, at 6:30 p.m., at the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church (1313 New York Ave. NW, near Metro Center). For more details, contact the DC Jobs with Justice office at 202/857-1011 or dc@jwj.org send an e-mail.
The George Washington University (GWU) administration has repeatedly disregarded its responsibility for the people who keep the university running. As the second largest employer in the District of Columbia, GWU must set the standard for workers' rights in Washington.
From housekeepers to dining service workers, parking workers to professors, nearly every worker on GWU's campus has been struggling for a living wage, affordable health care, respect on the job, and the right to join and keep a union. Students are demanding that GWU put workers' rights in writing and adopt a code of conduct. Additionally, students are demanding that the university affiliate with the Worker Rights Consortium, to help ensure that GWU's logo apparel is not made in sweatshops.
Rally to demand that the university adopt a code of conduct that covers the rights of all GWU workers, including direct, contracted and subcontracted employees, on Monday, March 29, at noon, at the GWU Administration Building (Rice Hall; 2121 I St. NW). For more information, send an e-mail.
Be part of and help organize a united, citywide, people’s response to the DC lead crisis – and force WASA, Washington Aqueduct, EPA, the DC Department of Health and other agencies to do the right thing!
Come to a free public forum, hosted by the Lead Emergency Action for the District (LEAD), a new and emerging coalition of community, public health and environmental groups concerned about the health and welfare of our children and all residents. Information about the severe impact of lead contamination on children’s health, seniors and other adults also will be available on Saturday, March 27, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Van Ness Elementary School (1150 Fifth St. SE; corner of Fifth and M; Navy Yard Metro). For more information, contact Andrew Fellows at Clean Water Action, 202/895-0420, ext.102, or via e-mail.
Fight to preserve affordable housing for moderate- and low-income DC residents. Come to a forum and learn how you can lobby the City Council to pass Councilmember Phil Mendelson's housing bill that would close the 95-5 loophole in the tenants' right-to-purchase legislation. Since May 2000, use of this loophole has resulted in the sale of more than 125 buildings in which the residents were not given the right to purchase.
Join the Coalition for Housing Justice, in conjunction with the All Souls Unitarian Church Housing Task Force, at a tenant empowerment and homeownership forum on Sunday, March 28, from 2 to 3:30 p.m., at the All Souls Church (16th and Harvard Streets NW). The event is free and open to the public. For more information, call 202/667-6622 or send an e-mail.
Enjoy 41 black-and-white photographs depicting women in blue-collar and public-sector jobs. The photographs are by the late Martha Tabor, a DC photographer and sculptor who compiled the photographs from several different bodies of work. After a 15-year relationship with the Meany Center, Tabor donated this collection to the center last year.
The exhibit is at the George Meany Memorial Archives (10000 New Hampshire Ave. in Silver Spring; Metro to Silver Spring and transfer to the 20 or 22 Ride-On bus to Powder Mill Road). Exhibit hours are Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Closed Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays. The shows runs through April 30. For more information, call call 301/431-5451.
Colonial Parking is a big, non-union company that runs about 25 percent of the parking industry in the DC area. Because it's so large, Colonial Parking sets the standards for the rest of the parking industry, and that includes workers' wages and health insurance costs. Colonial is the Wal-Mart of the parking industry in DC. Join HERE Local 27: Parking and Service Workers Union for a HUGE demonstration in support of parking workers who are fighting for:
* Affordable Health Care * A Living Wage * Respect on the Job
Turn up the heat on parking companies in DC on Thursday, March 24, from 7:30 to 9:00 a.m., at the Colonial Garage (1666 K St. NW; entrance on 17th Street, facing Farragut Square). For more information, call Monica at 202/545-1789, ext. 18, or send her an e-mail.
Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin and New York Rep. Maurice Hinchey invite you to celebrate the publication of John Dinges' new book, "The Condor Years: How Pinochet and His Allies Brought Terrorism to Three Continents." The event – co-sponsored by the Fund for Constitutional Government, the National Security Archive and the Institute for Policy Studies – is on Tuesday, March 23, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., at The Mott House (122 Maryland Ave. NE). For more information or to RSVP, call Stacie Jonas at 202/234-9382, ext. 258.
On the first anniversary of the war on Iraq, DC-area Quakers will renew their silent vigil, which stood weekly for more than a year during the buildup to war and the fighting before being suspended in January. Everyone is welcome to attend on Saturday, March 20, from noon to 2 p.m. on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol. Look for a blue banner that says "Seek Peace and Pursue It." For more information, call Libby Garvey at 703/820-3523.
Join former Philadelphia Enquirer reporter Russell Richford for a discussion and signing of his new book, "Betty Shabazz: A Remarkable Story of Survival and Faith Before and After Malcolm X."
From her early marriage to black liberation’s raging voice through her evolution into a powerful and outspoken African-American leader, Shabazz was engaged in a constant struggle to bring freedom and justice to her people. Yet, at times her greatest fight was struggling through personal tragedy and holding on to her faith amidst the cultural stereotypes forced on her by a culture of racism and sexism by the very people she was trying to liberate.
Richford has conducted extensive research to compile this biography, interviewing more than 70 of Shabazz’s family members, friends, colleagues and contemporaries as well as researching countless records and documents, including recently declassified FBI, CIA and New York police files. This is the first complete look at the life of Betty Shabazz and a new insight into the man who was known as Malcolm X.
Richford will be at Sisterspace and Books (1515 U St. NW; Cardozo/U Street Metro) on Saturday, March 20, from 1 to 3 p.m.
Mayor Williams plans to close the Gales Shelter on April 1. On top of that, DC will lose an additional 582 beds at other hypothermia shelters by April 1. This winter, DC shelters reported full and over-full conditions. Where will these people now go?
Come support the 150 residents of Gales Shelter and demonstrate for the right to housing. Join the residents at a rally organized by the DC Coalition of Housing and Homeless Organizations on Thursday, March 18, at 9:30 a.m., outside the John Wilson Building (1350 Pennsylvania Ave. NW). For more information, call 202/234-6855, ext. 20.
Join the Jewish community in local struggles for social justice. Jews United for Justice (JUFJ) is a community of folks of all ages and from all over the greater Washington area who weave together Judaism and local activism, and create a community in which you can strengthen your commitments to both. Learn more about JUFJ's current work for immigrant worker rights and their long-term campaign for affordable housing in DC. Learn about possible up-coming strikes at local grocery stores and an initiative to pass an inclusionary zoning bill that would ensure economic diversity in the District's evolving neighborhoods.
If you've been looking for an opportunity to connect or reconnect with the JUFJ community, attend the membership meeting on Thursday, March 18th at 7 p.m. at the JUFJ Office (2027 Massachusetts Ave. NW; Dupont Circle Metro). For more information, call 202/495-1945 or send an e-mail
The 12th annual Environmental Film Festival in the Nation’s Capital opens this week.
Running from Thursday, March 18, to Sunday, March 28, the festival spotlights documentary, feature, animated, archival and children’s films. Most screenings, which are free, will be followed by a discussion. For more information, call 202/342-2564, send an e-mail, or click the link below.
Baghdad correspondent Dahr Jamail will discuss his experience covering the missing stories of Iraqis under occupation. A journalist for the NewStandard, Jamail spent nine weeks in Iraq reporting on the privatization of the people, the resulting economic crisis, the violent insurrections against the occupation and the heavy-handed tactics of the US military against the people.
Along with a short documentary film, Jamail will share photos and stories from his work as an independent media reporter, and NewStandard editors will speak about their unique online publication. This event, co-sponsored by the Washington Peace Center, the American Friends Service Committee in DC, and Code Pink, will be held on Wednesday, March 17, from 7 to 9 p.m., at 2027 Massachusetts Ave. NW (Dupont Circle Metro).
In 1846, a young Henry David Thoreau put his beliefs into action and refused to pay taxes because of the United States government's involvement in the Mexican War, which Thoreau firmly believed was unjust. For his daring and unprecedented act of protest, he was thrown in jail. Jerome Laurence and Robert E. Lee's play, "The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail," is a celebrated dramatic presentation of this famous act of civil disobedience and its consequences.
The play will be performed by members of the DC Anti-War Network on Wednesday, March 17, at 8 p.m. at the Warehouse Theater (1021 Seventh St. NW; 202/783-3933). Admission is $5, and includes mingling and music after the performance.
Get an update from experts who have lived and worked with the Haitian people and learn how you and your organization can help the people of Haiti during this critical period at a teach-in co-sponsored by the Social Justice Committee of Shiloh Baptist Church and Brothers and Sisters International. The event is Saturday, March 13, from noon to 2 p.m., at the Shiloh Baptist Church (Ninth and P Streets NW; Shaw/Howard University Metro). For more information, call 202/232-8936 or 301/336-7913.
Political puppetry and music will spotlight the struggle against imprisonment and police repression at two local benefits:
Sunday, March 14, 4 to 7 p.m. Cafe Mawonaj (624 T St. NW; Shaw/Howard University Metro) A donation of $5 is suggested, with all proceeds benefiting the legal defense for Camilo Viveiros, who still faces trumped-up felony charges for his participation in demonstrations at the 2000 Republican National Convention in Philadelphia.
Monday, March 15, 7 p.m.
St. Stephens Church (16th and Newton Streets NW; Columbia Heights Metro) The $5 suggested donation will benefit Books to Prisoners.
As part of an ongoing workshop series, the DC Independent Media Center is holding an afternoon of media-skills sharing on Saturday, March 13, from 11:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., at the Flemming Center (1426 Ninth St. NW). Admission is free. For more information, call 202/462-3270.
Saturday, March 13, is the deadline to buy tickets for the March 20 anti-war mobilization in New York City. Dozens of people have expressed their desire to join us for our bus trip but have not yet purchased tickets. If you do not buy your tickets by March 13, you risk not getting a seat on the bus and substantially reducing DAWN's New York presence.
The bus company requires us to tell them how many buses we need by March 13 – so buy your tickets ASAP. After March 13, we may still have tickets but we cannot guarantee it. Tickets are $35 (includes a vegetarian or vegan brown-bag lunch) and can be purchased by cash or check (made out to DAWN).
Learn why working people should oppose imperialist intervention in Haiti, what Washington’s role in the unfolding military coup is, and how the example of the Cuban revolution shows the way forward at a talk by Janice Lynn of the Socialist Workers Party. Lynn will be at Pathfinder Bookstore (3717-B Georgia Ave. NW; Petworth Metro) on Friday, March 12, at 7:30 p.m. Come early and have dinner at 6:30 p.m. The dinner is $4 and the presentation is $5, but no one will be turned away for lack of funds. For more information, send an e-mail.
The 55th anniversary of Tibet's uprising against Chinese occupation is coming up. Join a protest at the Chinese embassy (2300 Connecticut Ave. NW) on Wednesday, March 10, from 2 to 4 p.m. For more information, call Raj at 240/486-3921.
The 30 parking workers and shuttle bus drivers who work for the Kennedy Center won representation with HERE Local 27, Parking and Service Workers Union, in an election on Feb. 27. The vote was 25 to 4. Local 27 organizer Alex Zwerdling credits the overwhelming victory to the extremely strong and committed worker organizing committee. Local 27 thanks the other unions at the Kennedy Center for their support and looks forward to continuing to work with the Kennedy Center Union Council.
Join Peter Yarrow, Vanessa Redgrave, former Minnesota Sen. Eugene McCarthy, and the families of 9/11 victims and Guantanamo detainees on Monday, March 8, at 6 p.m. at the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church (1313 New York Ave. NW).
More than 300 local activists raised an incredible $6,000 for the Sterling Laundry workers at a "happy hour" at Café Citron last week. More than two dozen Sterling strikers joined the fun as Joe Uehlein and the U-liners rocked out with popular tunes, while the Rhythm Workers Union and DC Guerrilla Poetry Insurgency performed powerful poetry written exclusively for the event. Many also stuck around for free Salsa dancing lessons held later in the evening.
Throughout the night, attendees drank solidarity drinks with a dollar from each one benefiting the Sterling campaign. Workers gave inspiring appeals and led chants throughout the evening.
One worker said she was overwhelmed by the display of support for her struggle. "This event will make an incredible difference in our fight. We know that we are not alone," Evelyn Thomas said.
Workers at Sterling laundry are striking against unfair labor practices and are trying to form a union with UNITE to fight poverty-level wages, unaffordable health insurance and serious health and safety violations at work. It's still not too late to be part of this event and donate to the Sterling workers' fight. Contact Ted Perez in the AFL-CIO organizing department at 202/639-6287 or via e-mail if you'd like to contribute time or money.
The new, special issue of Left Turn magazine on the 10th anniversary of the Zapatista uprising is now out on newsstands. See the website to find out where to buy it locally.
To sustain and expand the magazine, the local DC collective of Left Turn will be holding a fundraiser at 4 p.m. on Saturday, March 6, at Cafe Mawonaj (624 T St. NW; Shaw/Howard University Metro stop). Members of DC's Guerilla Poetry Insurgency will lead an open mic session open to all, and Enoch212, an "industrial, anti-capitalist hip-hop" band, will perform. The suggested donation is $5 but no one will be turned away.
Come out, enjoy the socially conscious poetry and music, and pick up a copy of the new issue of Left Turn. For more information, call 866/860-9311.
Last year, more than 10,000 people took to the streets of Washington in a show of strength for women's rights. For this year's International Women's Day, on March 8, CodePink aims higher, offering a full weekend of events in the capital. From direct action to strategy meetings to Michelle Shocked in concert, join CodePink in demanding change. For the complete schedule, click here.
Check out the New African Films Festival from March 4 to 11 at Visions Cinema (1927 Florida Ave. NW), sponsored by afrikafé, TransAfrica Forum and BET Jazz.
The 2004 festival will feature 13 films from 12 African countries. Panel discussions will include "Living with AIDS: Confronting the Crisis" with a special shorts screening on Monday, March 8, and "Africa's Digital Revolution" with the film AFRO@DIGITAL on Tuesday, March 9. Click here for the full schedule.
Scroll down to the post from Friday, Feb. 27 – "Unfair Labor Practices at Sterling Laundry" – and learn about the fight for workers' rights here in DC. Don't miss the 6 p.m. happy hour fundraiser for Sterling workers on Wednesday, March 3, at Cafe Citron (1343 Connecticut Ave. NW; 202/321-2025). There is a suggested donation of $8 ($4 dollars for students) but no one will be turned away. Best of all, $1 from every union drink you buy supports the campaign.
Saturday, March 20 Be a part of the Global Day of Action on the one-year anniversary of the Iraq war. United for Peace and Justice is sponsoring a march and rally in NYC, and the DC Anti-War Network will rent buses for a same-day round trip.
DC Metro Action is published by Michael Schlesinger, a 32-year veteran of electoral and issue organizing who is committed to social justice and to increasing participation in the political process.
All original content (C) 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 Michael Schlesinger
