WILPF EB/SF NEWS NOVEMBER 2020

ELECTION 2020

With 306 Electoral Votes, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have won the 2020 presidential election and Joe Biden will become the 46th President of the United States on January 20th.

There will be a runoff election on January 5th for two Senate seats in Georgia. If you would like to volunteer to write letters or make phone calls to encourage people in that state to vote in this important election, you can go to www.SwingLeftEastBay and sign up for letter writing and phonebanking events. If you want to download letters and write them on your own, you can go to https://votefwd.org.

WILPF-US is part of Protect the Results Coalition. To learn more about what they are doing to protect the results of the election, you can go to their website.

PUBLIC BANKING TOOLKIT

Starting in October WILPF’s Women, Money and Democracy (W$D) Committee is publishing a Public Banking Toolkit that will be downloadable and printable. It is an anthology of important facts, articles, talking points, and tools to promote public banking, connect with local initiatives, or start some of your own. The toolkit can be used for study groups, advocacy work and outreach. To order the Toolkit or for more info contact mbgardam@gmail.com.

Why advocate for public banking? Because economic inequality and corruption lead inevitably to conflict and violence. Economic justice and people-centered economic policy help support peace.

Big transnational banks are increasingly wielding a huge amount of power and influence in the US and across the planet. They are using deposits the public entrusts to them in the form of savings and investments, including state and corporate pension funds. They are charging cities and states obscene account servicing fees that rob communities of funding for essential services. They use our local investments, savings, pension plans, etc.:

• to bankroll extractive exploitive industries like mining and fossil fuels;
• to exert control and to influence elected officials to gut regulation and enforcement;
• for threatening democracy and shaping policies that favor the 1 percent;
• to bankroll weapons dealers and manufacturers, fund more war-making and defeat efforts to demilitarize and make peace.

Our allies in peace activism, environmental activism, gun control, and those working against corruption in government favor public banking as an alternative to huge too-big-to-fail banks, which seek profits for a few, not well-being for all.

Divesting from holding stocks in these huge banks and refusing to maintain accounts at big transnational banks are also effective strategies.

The Women, Money & Democracy Committee meets on the third Tuesday of each month at 8:30 pm EST / 5:30 pm PST, by Zoom. See their webpage for more information about our other projects. Contact the chair to get a zoom invitation and join the committee.

WILPF US ELECTION INFORMATION

If you are a member of WILPF US, you should have received your ballot to vote for new Board members and proposed changes to the By-Laws. Two people are running, even though there are five seats open on the National Board. The candidate for Personnel Committee is Ellen Thomas, well known for many years and co-chair of the DISARM Committee. The candidate for the At-Large position is Linda Conte.

WILPF INTERNATIONAL NEWSLETTER

If you would like to read about what’s happening around the world in WILPF, you can subscribe to WILPF International Membership News. It contains excellent articles on WILPF issues and actions around the world. Check it out!

A VALENTINE’S DAY CELEBRATION FOR OUR MEMBERS

We are planning an event for our East Bay and San Francisco members on Saturday, February 13th to celebrate the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), which goes into effect on January 22, 2021! We want to acknowledge all of the hard work you have done over the years to advance the goals of peace and justice through your participation in WILPF, and share with you our plans for 2021. Mark the date on your calendar and look for more details in our December and January newsletters!

BEFORE ENLISTING

Our Before Enlisting group has been busy creating an online program for high schools to use until we can go back into classrooms. Check out our new Online Program at www.beforeenlisting.org. We’ve created a number of exciting short videos by veterans telling their personal stories, a psychotherapist talking about post traumatic stress syndrome and military sexual trauma, and a long-time activist talking to kids about rights they should be aware of before signing a military contract. The program also includes materials for teachers: lesson plans, quizzes, and possible essay questions. If you have any feedback, send to wilpf@wilpfeastbay.org.

AFRICOM AND HUMAN RIGHTS IN AFRICA

Friday, December 4th 11am

Women’s International League for Peace & Freedom-US Section, Black Alliance for Peace, & World Beyond War invite you to attend this Free Webinar on the United States African Command (AFRICOM) and Human Rights in Africa, on Friday, Dec. 4 at 11am PT, 2pm ET, 8pm Nigeria time.

The webinar will feature first-hand reports from WILPF women describing what effects AFRICOM is having on their respective nations: Joy Onyesoh, the President of WILPF International will speak about Nigeria, Sylvie Ndongmo, the Africa Region representative of WILPF will speak about Cameroon, Marie-Claire Faray, currently living in the UK will speak about the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Christine Odera, Commonwealth Youth Peace Ambassador Network – Kenya Country Coordinator (CYPAN), will speak about Kenya. Other featured speakers include writer and author Margaret Kimberley, representing the Black Alliance for Peace, and their initiative: Out of Africa: Shut Down AFRICOM, and investigative journalist Amanda Sperber who has reported widely on Somalia.

NEXT WILPF EAST BAY/SAN FRANCISCO PLANNING MEETING