Calendar Compiled by People Of Faith

The 4 justice and peace actions below, seemingly disparate, are linked together by the victims’ race/ethnicity and class. Whether it’s US foreign policy, Connecticut’s proposed criminal (in)justice policies, or US capitalism’s treatment of immigrants, the people who are targeted are almost exclusively working-class Arab, African-American, and Latino.

Christians recall this week the astrologers discovery of the new-born Christ-child in Bethlehem. They found him and his parents living homeless in poverty, ignored by those in power. Soon this family would flee state violence as they escaped into Egypt without documents. Let us take time this week to stand publicly in solidarity with our sisters and brothers who are regularly forgotten and excluded and let us not stop working for justice and peace until everyone is free.  

CONTENTS
1. Marking US and Iraqi Deaths, Mon., 1/7,
New Haven
2. No New Prisons Candlelight Vigil, Wed., 1/9,
Bridgeport
3. Shut Down
Guantanamo March & Vigil, Fri., 1/11,
Norwich
4. An Evening of Solidarity for Immigrant Workers, Fri., 1/11,
Hartford

5. January and Winter-Spring Courses at
Hartford Seminary

1. Marking US and Iraqi Deaths for December
Monday, January 7, 2008 6 PM

Intersection of Broadway, Elm and Park streets, New HavenReclaiming the Prophetic Voice will be marking the on-going cost of the continuing war in Iraq, by placing yet another stone on the Iraq Memorial Cairn. This stone will be inscribed with the December numbers of US military personnel killed and the approximate numbers of Iraqi civilians killed.Please mark you calendars for the first Monday of each month at 6 p.m. At that time, each month, until this war is ended, we will be gathering at the Memorial Cairn to place a stone for the month just passed.For those of you from New Haven there is an opportunity to give witness, an hour later that same night, at 7 p.m. on January 7th to the Board of Alders. Two important resolutions will be debated then by the New Haven Board of Alders at City Hall, one calls for the withdrawal of all military personnel from Iraq and the other calls for the abolition of nuclear weapons. A group will be walking over to City Hall from the Cairn to be a witness at this hearing.Resolution to Withdraw All US Military from Iraq

2. End the Parole Ban — No New Prisons — No Harsher Sentences
Candlelight Vigil outside Bridgeport Correctional Center
FAIRMONT AVENUE SIDE OF BUILDING, Bridgeport
Wednesday, January 9, 2008 6:00 PM

Please join People Against Injustice at a candlelight vigil to shed light on the invisible in our community and the deplorable conditions under which they exist.Connecticut lawmakers want to spend $400 million of taxpayer money to build more jails. Building more jails is not the solution for societal ills. Prisons have become warehouses for the poor, sick and uneducated. They are bursting at the seams with non violent drug offenders. We resolve to end the 4 decade old failed drug war that has devastated our families and communities.Sponsored by People Against Injustice, Committee Against the Parole Ban, New Haven Family Alliance, People of Faith, Queers w/o Borders, A.N.S.W.E.R.CT, and others.Info: Barbara (203) 503-0041; Khalil (203) 668-2698Bring signs on any of 3 topics: End the Parole Ban - No New Prisons - No Harsher Sentences

Download FlyerDriving Directions

3. International Day to Shut Down Guantanamo
Friday, January 11, 2008
Rep. Joe Courtney’s Office, Norwich
2:00 PM Gather Chelsea Parade South
(between Washington and Broadway)
2:30 PM March to 101 Water Street
3:15 - 4:30 PM Vigil at Thames PlazaRep.

 Courtney has a pretty good record opposing torture and Guantanamo imprisonment, and in support of habeas corpus and prisoners’ rights, so our action is not “anti-Courtney,” but anti-torture, shut down Guantanamo.We will present a petition for redress of grievances to Courtney to fortify his efforts for change.

Info: Emmett Jarrett
St. Francis House,
New London
860-437-8890

4. An Evening of Solidarity for Immigrant Workers in NYC’s Food IndustryFriday, January 11, 2008
1199 King-Davis Center
77 Huyshope Avenue, Hartford
5:30 PM Doors Open
6:00 PM Dinner Served 

New York City’s food industry, from the warehouses to the restaurants, are notorious for their sweatshop-like conditions. Sub-minimum wages, extremely long hours without overtime, and abusive, openly racist employers are all-too-common.But the IWW Food and Allied Workers Industrial Union has been waging a campaign to build power in these shops, force employers to obey labor laws, and create a dignified work environment for this mainly immigrant, largely undocumented workforce. In response, management has fired organizers, locked workers out and black-listed them from the industry. And despite the ever-present threat of deportation, the campaign has spread to a dozen shops around the city, with nearly a hundred members and industry-wide influence. Many fired workers have been re-hired, won back-pay, raises, overtime and humane hours. The union is at a critical point in its campaign, and its members are in dire need of financial assistance. Please come show your support, learn more about this struggle, and enjoy an evening of food, music and solidarity. The program will include rank and file workers and organizers speaking about this struggle and live music with:

Evan Greer & Ryan Harvey of Riot FolkCollective

Mista Mayday and Hired Gun of ESP

Several Local Musicians and Poets TBA

Download Registration Form 

Sponsored By: Hartford Area Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), Socialist Party of CT (SPUSA), Queers Without Borders, Socialist Action, UE Local 222 - CILU #35, UE Local 243, CT Jobs With Justice, Providence Industrial Workers of the World.More info: Matt at 860.416.4575

5. New Courses at Hartford Seminary

Cutting-Edge Social Ministries: The Future of Community Witness
With Carl S. DudleyIntroducing community leaders and interested citizens to the creative strategies of 21 st century social ministry and their impact on the Greater Hartford community.

January Intersession and Winter/Spring Semester 2008

Queers Without Borders thanks Frank O’Gorman for once again compiling this calendar of events and forwarding it to us.