WILPF NEWS
Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom
East Bay and San Francisco Branches
April 2019
Get involved! Become better informed!
Work to Advance Peace, Justice and Human Rights
A good way to become involved from your home is to join our Monthly One WILPF calls on the 2nd Thursday of the month. We hope you can join us for our next call on Thursday, May 9th at 4 pm.
Pre-Register to join the call HERE http://myaccount.maestroconference.com/conference/register/NW7UOTL6KBLOV3E
PLEASE NOTE THAT OUR NEXT PLANNING MEETING WILL BE ON THE THIRD SATURDAY (NOT THE SECOND SATURDAY) OF MAY.
Saturday May 18 10-12 at Rockridge Library in Oakland.
ANTI-WAR LEAFLETING: Join us on Wednesdays 11:30–Noon at the Grove St. entrance to SF Main Library. Call Betty to confirm (415-931-1126)
EARTH DAY APRIL 22
Severe damage to the world’s water and earth is being done by the US Military both here and abroad. Earth day is a good time to learn about and protest this unnecessary damage to the environment. Some examples are: toxic chemicals in drinking water, pollution of ground water, poisoning of ground water and nuclear contamination including Hunters point. Link to
facebook.com/WILPFeastbaysanfrancisco
https://worldbeyondwar.org/photo-essay-the-military-is-poisoning-americas-groundwater/?
Pat Elder, our speaker on the February One WILPF call, has done work in Counter-Recruitment and is the author of Military Recruiting in the United States. He is now focusing on pollution of water on military bases, particularly the Air Force‘s use of chemicals to extinguish fuel fires that are polluting the ground water around the country near the bases.
Link https://wilpfus.org/news/updates/cross-country-tour-highlights-america%E2%80%99s-most-contaminated-military-bases You can see his videos at https://www.facebook.com/wilpfus/
KOREAN COMFORT WOMEN MEMORIAL
WILPF East Bay & San Francisco joins Women for Genuine Security events honoring Korean Comfort Women. One was at Mills College on Thursday, April 18 at 7pm. The second is in San Francisco on Friday April 19 at 4 pm. Supporters will gather at the Comfort Women Memorial at St Mary’s Square Park (Pine and California) to welcome the guests and hear speakers from the Korean delegation. They recently won a lawsuit against the Korean government in favor of the 122 Korean women subjected to military sexual violence working in bars and clubs around US bases in the 1960s and 70s.
http://www.genuinesecurity.org/
COUNTERING HIGH SCHOOL MILITARY RECRUITMENT
WILPF East Bay members, counter recruitment folks and veterans are growing their efforts to offer high school students a different perspective on military service, to get the full picture and learn their rights before enlisting, and to consider a range of exciting alternatives to military service. Our group, BEFORE ENLISTING, has been going into high schools in Alameda and Contra Costa Counties, showing the film called “Before You Enlist,” followed by a talk by a veteran about his or her experience in the military, and answering questions. The film runs about 20 minutes:
https://vimeo.com/275420248
WILPF FIGHTS FOR IMMIGRATION RIGHTS
Where are the children? A report by the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services estimates that thousands of children were being separated from their parents for at least one year before the administration announced their separation policy to the public. HHS officials failed to keep records of the identity or tracking of these children because they say they were not legally required to do so before the June 2018 court order. “We don’t have any information on the children that were released prior to the court order,“ says the assistant Inspector General for HHS.
Where are the children now? Are they in detention centers? Were these children old enough to even know their own names?
Link and consider aligning with the organization Families Belong Together, an international movement calling for an end to cruel and inhumane immigration policies. YOU CAN WRITE YOUR CONGRESSIONAL REPRESENTATIVES to urge that immigrant families be kept together, asylum seekers be given rapid review, and the process be given adequate resources.
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PUBLIC BANKING IN CALIFORNIA Help Us Get Assembly Bill 857, Public Banking to Governor Newsom’s Desk Randa Solick and Nancy Price for WILPF http://peopleforpublicbanking.com/ Public banks are the opposite of Wall Street banks. Public banks work for the public good — instead of giving our money to the corporate banks that put oodles of money into the pockets of their CEOs and investors; charge our cities, counties and states high interest for loans; and take hard-earned revenues out of our communities. Public Banks get the capital they loan out from public money such as taxes or reserve funds. They are run by elected Boards, and by operating as not-for-profit banks can channel the tremendous amount of money spent on fees, interest, and high salaries into needed public projects. We can direct these “public monies” to affordable housing, lower charges on student loans, climate resiliency measures for our cities and counties, and environmental needs. Public banks are governed by strict adherence to standards of racial, economic and community justice. Their very low-interest loan policies can be tailored to suit any community’s outcomes. Presently over 20 states are at some stage of instituting public banking. Many countries already have public banks: in Germany they helped the country reduce dependence on fossil fuels; and in Japan they helped reduce the national debt. http://peopleforpublicbanking.com/ Assembly Bill – AB 857 is now in the California State Assembly. Please join in getting this bill through the three Assembly committees (see below), into the State Senate and signed by Governor Newsom. The California Banking Association and others are lobbying against this bill! Call on your state representatives, in both the Assembly and the Senate, to sign on to support this bill. AB 857 adds language to current state banking regulations to permit cities, counties and the state to apply for a public banking license in California. This bill is very important to our cities, counties and the state as explained here by Sylvia Chi, a member of Public Bank East Bay and legislative chair of the California Public Banking Alliance. The Santa Cruz WILPF branch has a website where you can learn what a public bank is, how much good it can do for our communities, a map of the many states and cities considering public banking, and a wealth of related information. 1. Please call your Assembly Member and ask their support for AB 857. If you don’t know who your assembly member or senator is, enter your address here to find out. San Francisco’s Assembly members David Chu is an author and Scott Weiner have signed on. Eastbay assembly member is Buffy Wicks and state senator is Nancy Skinner. What to Say: “My name is _______, I’m a constituent, and a member of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom. I am asking your commitment to co-authoring and supporting AB 857. “I support public banking as a way to strengthen both local and state economies. We need to pass AB 857 (for my city, county and the state) to provide low-interest loans to underserved small businesses, affordable housing developers, for building needed public infrastructure, and to make our cities climate resilient. Please co-author and support AB 857. Thank you.” |
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EXPLORE WILPF TODAY
www.WILPFEastBay.org or www.WILPFSF.org
WILPF East Bay
P. O. Box 13083, Oakland, CA 94661
Http://www.facebook.com/WILPFEastBaySanFrancisco/
WILPF US: PO Box 13075, Des Moines, IA 50310 Tel: 617-266-0999
National WILPF web site: www.wilpfus.org
International WILPF: www.wilpf.org