WILPF NEWS
Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom
East Bay and San Francisco Branches
Work to Advance Peace, Justice and Human Rights
APRIL 2021
WILPF US 34TH TRIENNIAL CONGRESS
AUGUST 13-15 AND 20-22
SHUT DOWN CREECH! END DRONE WARFARE!
Anti-drone protestors used large banners in the early morning Monday, April 5th to nonviolently block two entrances into Creech Air Force Base, a key U.S. Drone Base. It was the first day of a weeklong protest to oppose the illegal U.S. remote targeted killing program. At Creech, U.S. Air Force personnel, coordinating with C.I.A. officials, are, regularly and secretly, killing people remotely using unmanned armed drone planes, primarily the MQ-9 Reaper drones. Thousands of civilians have been killed and injured, in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Yemen, Somalia, Libya, and elsewhere, since 2001.
“By national and international laws, assassination is illegal,” says Toby Blomé, one of the organizers, “but it has become more normalized, rationalized and justified in American culture, politics and the media, as drone warfare has rapidly expanded. It’s an utterly barbaric and cowardly form of violence that should never have been tolerated, and has made killing way too easy,” she said.
The event is co-sponsored by CODEPINK and Veterans for Peace.
THE POWER TO HEAL
ENDING INEQUALITY IN HEALTHCARE
A film and panel discussion hosted by the California Poor People’s Campaign
Sunday, April 18 3:00pm Pacific Time
On Sunday April 18, 2021, 3:00 PM PT, there will be a screening of the documentary Power to Heal: Medicare and the Civil Rights Revolution. The film is a documentary narrated by actor and activist Danny Glover and tells a poignant story of how hundreds of hospitals were desegregated and access to health care broadened for African Americans especially in the US South. It is an incredible story of how in the 1960’s, civil rights leaders, grassroots activists and African American doctors worked together to win Medicare. This new legislation was then used to desegregate hospitals.
There will be a panel discussion following the viewing of a 30–minute version of the film. Panelists will include Barbara Berney, the filmmaker; a low waged health care worker; and a representative from the Indigenous People’s Contingent. The California Nurses Association will present info on CA AB1440 Guaranteed Healthcare for All.
BANNING THE BOMB, SMASHING THE PATRIARCHY
a new book by WILPF Reaching Critical Will director Ray Acheson
With so much at stake, from climate change, reproductive rights, threats from weapons of mass destruction, to police brutality, the last decade has seen ordinary people take to the streets to challenge and change the way our governments and institutions legislate our future. Movements like #BlackLivesMatter and #MeToo have had an incredible impact on public understandings and political commitments, showing the meaningful change that social movements and popular resistance can have on our world.
The story in this book offers a look inside the antinuclear movement and its recent successful campaign to ban the bomb. From scrappy organizing to winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 2017 and achieving a landmark UN treaty banning nuclear weapons, Ray Acheson narrates the journey of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons and developments in feminist disarmament activism.
To preorder the book at a 30% discount, you can go to the publisher, Rowman and Littlefield.
2021 JANE ADDAMS CHILDREN’S BOOKS AWARD CEREMONY
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 28, 2021 10AM
In this time that unveils systemic injustice in raw and undeniable ways and portends an uncertain future for our planet and our children, these Jane Addams Children’s Book Award books offer inspiration, hope, and paths for action for young people and their adults.
The Jane Addams Children’s Book Award has recognized children’s books annually since 1953. Books that receive this prestigious award effectively engage children in thinking about peace, social justice, global community, and equity for all people. Books chosen for the award are selected by a national committee with expertise in children’s literature and social justice.
Register Now for links to the live ceremony and the recorded event
BEFORE ENLISTING PRESENTATION NOW AVAILABLE
For those of you who were unable to attend the February One WILPF call, but would like to know more about the counter recruitment work we are doing in local high schools and community colleges, and learn what we have been up to during the pandemic, click here. If you want to see the videos that accompanied our presentation, you can go to our Before Enlisting website and check out our Online Program.
EXPLORE WILPF TODAY
Local branch web pages
www.WILPFEastBay.org or www.WILPFSF.org
WILPF East Bay
P. O. Box 13083, Oakland, CA 94661
WILPF-San Francisco
P. O. Box 590253, San Francisco, CA 94159
https://www.facebook.com/WILPFEastBaySanFrancisco/
National WILPF www.wilpfus.org
International WILPF: www.wilpf.org