RI has a Peace and Justice Rally Happening on Saturday

I tried 4 times to download the flyer, but without success...

Here is the info from a recent message about the speakers and schedule...

Speakers list announced! Down Town Meet up pointed added!

Saturday, March 19th: TWO DAYS AWAY

1:00 PM: Rally at Armory Park/Dexter Field: Music, Poetry, Speakers (Located at the corner of Division St. & Dexter St.)

2:00 PM: March For Peace from Armory Park to downtown: Anti Weapons Manufacturing Demo at Textron, Inc!

3:00 PM: Meetup point at City Hall: "Money for Teachers Not For War Demo!" Then to Recruitment Center for Victim's Of Occupation/Bradley Manning Vigil.

4:00 PM: Community Dinner at DARE Community Action Center *(Located at 340 Lockwood Street)

5:15 PM: Workshops: “From Activism To Organizing” with Camilo Viveiros! “Boycott, Divest, Sanction" with Students for Justice in Palestine!

6:30 PM: “Know Your Rights” Legal Clinic with members of the National Lawyers Guild and the D.A.R.E. Behind The Walls committee *Childcare available during workshops & clinic.

Note: Those who wish to attend the Armory Park rally but not the march are welcome to meet at DARE (340 Lockwood Street) for the Community Dinner at 4:00 PM.

RIMC has released the following updated list of speakers:

*Alysha Aziz: Brown Students For Justice In Palestine

*Shaun Joseph: Rhode Island Mobilization Committee to Stop War and Occupation

*Mary Kay Harris: Lead Organizer at Direct Action for Rights & Equality

*Dia Barghouti: R.I. Student raised in occupied Palestine. "Dia has lived through the immediacies of occupation of a people and her current work supports all movements that reinstate human dignity in the face of injustice."

*Rev. Duane Clinker: Open Table of Christ

*Steve Rabson: Brown Coalition Against Special Privileges for R.O.T.C. / Retired Brown University Professor / U.S. Veteran of War

*Chris Murphy: International Socialist Organization

*Joyce Katzberg: RI folk legend / singer-song writer

*Roz Raskin: 2010 Best Local Act in Providence Phoenix Music Polls

*Laura Brown-Lavoie: 2010 Brown University College National Slam

*Fatimah Asghar & Amina Sheikh: WORD Poetry Crew


*Additional anti-war / peace poems from Brown University WORD crew & the Providence Poetry Slam

MARCH ROUTE (From Dexter Field)
*Left down Cranston St., Right on Fricker, Left on Broad St., Over Highway to Weybosset, Downtown, Left to Kennedy Plaza, Left to City Hall, Straight on Washington St., Left on Empire, Right on Weybosset, Over the highway, Straight on Broad Street, Left on Lockwood to D.A.R.E.

The chief sponsor is
the Rhode Island Mobilization Committee to Stop War and End Occupation.

WTF. Oy Vey. Providence Plans To Register Protesters

Good grief.

From the Providence Journal

Here's one response from Seth Yurdin.

Teabagging the Independent Man

Yes, those rumors you've heard are true -- conservatives are planning to teabag the Statehouse on Wednesday, April 15. The teabagging is due to take place between three and six in the afternoon, when conservative protestors will put their mouths where their money is and teabag state legislators, passers-by, and if possible the entire city of Providence.

Meanwhile, Michelle Malkin worries that "ACORN may try to send in ringers and saboteurs to usurp the anti-tax, anti-reckless spending, anti-bailout message." We certainly wouldn't want anyone to think that Michelle Malkin was being paranoid, so we'd better do what she says and send in some ringers and saboteurs. If you'd like to usurp the message at the Statehouse on Wednesday afternoon, dress warmly: forecast calls for partly cloudy skies and temps in the mid-50s. To let the teabaggers know that you are, in fact, a ringer and/or saboteur from ACORN, be sure to decorate yourself with some acorns. If you're carrying a sign, decorate it with some acorn drawings. A few suggested sign ideas are TEABAG A LIBERAL TODAY, TEABAG THEM BEFORE THEY TEABAG YOU, and BREATHE THROUGH YOUR NOSE (always useful advice when teabagging).

The teabaggers have been making a lot of noise about how if they don't get any media coverage that just proves that the media has a liberal bias, so there's sure to be one or two news cameras there. Try to look your best, and avoid throwing acorns at the teabaggers, because that's probably illegal.

UPDATE: Some more sign ideas -- TEABAGGING IN DEFENSE OF LIBERTY IS NO VICE, ASK NOT WHETHER YOUR COUNTRY CAN TEABAG YOU, THE ONLY THING WE HAVE TO TEABAG IS TEABAGGING ITSELF. Also, every protest needs a good chant. I suggest "Read my hips, no new taxes".

Thank You, Patricia Raub and the P.C.L. Movement

A few days late, but here's more about the Providence Community Library and the press conference on Monday, January 5...

Dear library advocates,

The press conference on Monday went very well. People from over two dozen community organizations were on hand to listen and speak, and NINE City Councilors participated. Here is a slide show on the press conference: http://media.umb.edu/pclpressconf/

The ProJo covered the conference in Tuesday's paper (see below), and the story was picked up by the Los Angles Times book blog, Jacket Copy: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/jacketcopy/2009/01/providence-libr.html (Thanks to Matthew Lawrence for bringing this to our attention.)

Here is the text of the article in the Providence Journal:

Group says it can cut costs at Providence library branches and maintain quality
01:00 AM EST on Tuesday, January 6, 2009
By Philip MarceloJournal Staff Writer



PROVIDENCE -- A new nonprofit organization that is proposing to take over the city's nine neighborhood library branches says that it can save more than $2 million and still offer the same services and the same number of union jobs as under the current leadership.

Providence Community Library treasurer Ellen Schwartz said at a news conference in City Hall yesterday that the organization is proposing a $4.8-million operating budget for fiscal 2010.

"Our budget cuts administrative costs and waste out of the library budget," said Schwartz. "It also calls for dramatic, aggressive fundraising."

The nine branches currently represent $7.5 million of a total $9.7-million operating budget, according to Robert Taylor, vice president of the board of trustees of the Providence Public Library, the private nonprofit organization that runs the city libraries.

The PPL, last month, proposed closing the Fox Point, Smith Hill, Olneyville, Wanskuck and Washington Park branches, but keeping open the downtown central library and the Mount Pleasant, South Providence, Rochambeau and Knight Memorial branches.

The Providence Community Library, which does not seek to take over the central library on Empire Street, will submit its alternative budget and organizational plan to Mayor David N. Cicilline on Friday.

Cicilline, who has already said he opposes closing any library branch, says the city will look at "all possible options" for the future management of the branches, and that his administration was still scheduled to meet with PPL board members at the end of the month about their proposal.
"For 100 years, the city and the PPL have had a very strong partnership," he said yesterday. "Before even considering dissolving that partnership, we would have to be really certain that we examine how we may be able to strengthen and preserve it."

He declined to say whether he considered the PCL a viable alternative: "It's premature. There is a lot more work that needs to go into this."

Under an agreement reached in November, the city has the option of accepting the PPL's plan; seek to take over the branch libraries itself; assign their stewardship to another entity; or choose to maintain the current library system intact for one year and cover any deficits incurred.

Any decision would be effective July 1, the start of the next fiscal year, but the city needs to notify the PPL by March 1 if it intends to fund the library system as is for another year, according to the agreement.

Ultimately, said Cicilline, that decision rests with the City Council, which appears to be largely in favor of a branch system under the new nonprofit PCL.

"There are nine [councilors] here" in attendance and in support of the plan, Councilman Nicholas Narducci observed at yesterday's news conference. "We already have the majority we need to do what we have to do."

Council President Peter S. Mancini, who was not in attendance yesterday, said he was "very encouraged" by the PCL's proposal.
"Historically, I've felt that the PPL did not want to deal with the branch libraries, that they have not done much fundraising for the past four or five years, and are not willing to spend their endowment on the branches," he said.

The PCL proposes a board of trustees of up to 25 members, with representatives from all nine branches, the United Service and Allied Workers of Rhode Island (the union for library employees), neighborhood groups and delegates from the mayor's office and the City Council.

The board members would be limited to six consecutive years of service. Marcus Mitchell, a local entrepreneur who runs a business strategy consulting firm and is a member of the Friends of the Rochambeau Branch Library, a nonprofit entity, will serve as the first board chairman.

Next year's budget calls for $3.5 million from the city, which currently allocates $3.4 million to the PPL, $750,000 from the state, and $500,000 to be raised in donations and grants, according to Schwartz, the organization's treasurer.

The proposed budget would keep the same 50 union workers employed at the branches at their contractual salaries, as well as eight nonunion, administrative staff. Meanwhile, the PPL is proceeding with the next steps in enacting its proposal, which involves greater detail on how the PPL might turn over the five branch libraries to the city for use as community learning centers, according to Taylor, of the board of trustees.

PPL spokeswoman Tonia Mason declined yesterday to comment on the specifics of the PCL's alternate proposal, which she said had not been made available to the PPL.

"We don't know that the new organization has the infrastructure capable of administering the branch system, including business, human resources, building management and professional librarians," Mason said in an e-mail. "As with any new organization, we would be concerned that it has the financial ability to steward the library for future generations."

pmarcelo@projo.com

I have not looked at the slide show, but if you see any woman in a bright red coat clapping emphatically, well that's me. I was impressed with the presence of Bill Simons, President of the Board of Trustees of the infamous PPL. He stood quietly and listened to many speakers berate the Board... Miguel Luna thanked him publicly for his support. He has not been President of the Board (or I think even on the Board) for that long, perhaps if he'd been on hand sooner, this Tension would not have Escalated to the point of Schism...

12/12 Action of Rhode Island's I.W.W. is Canceled

The following is an email I've just received:

The Republic Window workers of Chicago's UE local 1110 have requested that all solidarity events for them be canceled this week. The Providence IWW has called off the solidarity rally scheduled for 4pm today. We respect the wishes of our brothers and sisters in local 1110 and wish them all the luck for the future. The Providence IWW regrets inconveniencing anyone with this last minute cancellation.
Sincerely,
Providence, RI General Membership Branch of the Industrial Workers of the World

BoA Is Not Off The Hook In Rhode Island

Below is the email I received from Jason:

Yes, Nomi, the event is certainly still on. We are celebrating the victory in Chicago and still demanding a Peolple's Bailout in RI and across the US. Thanks for your support, and hope to see you there.
New Press Release below and attached.

Friday Dec. 12
4 PM
Bank of America Building 111 Westminster Street

Jason F.
Providence IWW
Branch Delegate, IU 330

Late last Wednesday night marked the end of the factory occupation at Republic Window and Door, a momentous victory for both the striking workers and the working class and working poor across the nation. The 260 Republic workers of UE local 1110 voted "yes" unanimously to accept a $1.76 million offer covering eight weeks salary, severance pay, extended health benefits and legally due vacation time. Bank of America spokespeople assured these funds were specifically for the workers and not for Republic management and owners' "bonuses" and "luxury cars."

The Providence branch of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) has made a call to action this Friday Dec. 12 in solidarity with the striking workers at Republic and to condemn Bank of America's actions. The event will be a victory celebration for the Republic Window Workers, for their noble direct actions which they themselves have called "an example for many workers, if companies treat them unfairly." At 4 pm this Friday at the Bank of America building at 111 Westminster we will salute our brothers and sisters in Chicago.

Those two paragraphs are from the press release of today...

Washington Park Branch Library: "Guarded Good News"

Washington Park library branch, shuttered 2 years, to reopen

01:00 AM EST on Tuesday, December 9, 2008

By Philip Marcelo

Journal Staff Writer



A new lease will pave the way for reopening the refurbished Washington Park library branch, which was closed in 2006.

The Providence Journal / Mary Murphy

PROVIDENCE -- A lease between the city and the nonprofit Providence Public Library Foundation, which runs the public library system, will be in place this week, paving the way for the reopening of the Washington Park branch, according to Mayor David N. Cicilline.

But community groups, who have been vocal in the two years since the building, owned by the city, was closed due to structural deficiencies, say they are holding off on celebrating just yet.

"It remains to be seen," said Duane Clinker, pastor of Open Table of Christ Church. "It has been a very long time and we have not had the courtesy of a reply from either the mayor or the library. … We hope that the doors do open."

Clinker and church members protested in front of the Central Library, on Empire Street, and staged a "read-in" in front of the Washington Park branch, on Broad Street, on Saturday.

About 30 people holding banners or drumming red plastic pails stood outside the Central Library, before entering the library and checking out dozens of books to bring back to Washington Park. Outside the library branch, about 80 people gathered, some reading to children from books that were checked out earlier.

Clinker said that the actions were meant to draw attention to the apparent inaction from the city and library since renovation work was completed at the end of the summer.

Cicilline says that the city spent $225,000 renovating the branch building, which is in a former firehouse.

Work included a new roof, repointing of exterior brickwork, a new entrance, upgraded electrical systems, a new fire alarm system, new carpeting and a fresh coat of paint for interior walls and a renovated bathroom.

The city has identified needed improvements for the second floor and allocated an additional $175,000 for the work, but the building is ready for use, according to Cicilline.

A proposed lease for the city-owned space is currently under review by the city law department. Cicilline says that the two sides are still negotiating min! or detai ls of the contract language.

Tania Mason, a spokeswoman for the library foundation, said it anticipates moving back into the building once the city signs off on the lease. Mason says that once open, the branch library would have the same three- to four-member staff as before and will operate Monday to Friday for a total of 31 hours a week, like other branches.

The building has been maintained by the city since the foundation was forced to close the branch in 2006.

At the time, it was reported that building contractors found serious structural problems and considerable water damage from a leaking roof.

After the closing, the foundation relocated its after-school program to the home of the Washington Park Foundation, a local nonprofit organization housed in a former Benny's auto parts store at 1380 Broad St. That temporary library site closed earlier this year.

The news of the branch library's likely reopening comes about a month after the city and the library foundation reached an agreement to have the foundation operate the library system as is -- with the Central Library downtown and nine neighborhood branches -- until July 1, 2009 -- even if it means running an operating deficit.

The city, under the agreement, will contribute $3.4 million to the library system this fiscal year, about the same as in previous years.

pmarcelo@projo.com

Below is the foreword from Patricia Raub:

Dear library supporters,
It's too soon to celebrate, but there's guarded good news about the Washington Park Branch Library! Thanks to the hard work of the Open Table of Christ youth group, the City Councilors, and everyone else who exerted pressure to get things moving.
(See photos of Dec. 6 branch library events, including Washington Park Read-In here:

http://media.umb.edu/december6/

Patricia

Washington Park Read-In on Sat. 12/06/08

From Patricia Raub comes the reminder:

Before you go to the Washington Park Read-In at 12:15 p.m. this Saturday, stop by the Smith Hill Branch Library for the 2nd Annual Christmas Bazaar sponsored by the Smith Hill Library Friends' Group. This family event will feature a book and bake sale, presents and games for kids and informational booths from area community organizations. It starts at 10:00 AM and continues until 2:00 PM.

For more information, consult the Smith Hill Community Development Corporation's Library page at http://www.smithhillcdc.org/sh-library (And check out the rest of the Smith Hill CDC's new website while you're at it.)

Here is some background information also from Patricia:

Washington Park

Washington Park is STILL closed! It seems that the City and PPL both are willing to reopen the branch, but the City is requiring that PPL sign a lease before it moves back in, and the lease seems to be stuck in the office of the City's lawyer. The Washington Park community is way beyond feeling impatient. They have decided to hold another Read-In in front of the closed library building on Saturday at 12:15. I hope you can attend and help support people in Washington Park, who have been without a full branch library for nearly three years and who have been without ANY branch library at all since the end of the summer.

Anti-Sarah Palin Rally in Anchorage, Alaska!!!

*
Alaskans for Obama!
______________________________________________

This morning, a friend forwarded this anti-Sarah Palin email from Alaska, with this message:

Psssst...pass it on!

So I'm passing it on! Here goes:

Voted for Her Once: Never Again!
_________________________________________________
[The] Alaska Women Reject Palin rally was to be held outside on the lawn in front of the Loussac Library in midtown Anchorage. Home made signs were encouraged, and the idea was to make a statement that Sarah Palin does not speak for all Alaska women, or men. I had no idea what to expect.

Palin Protesters Gather in Anchorage!
______________________________________________
The rally was organized by a small group of women, talking over coffee. It made me wonder what other things have started with small groups of women talking over coffee. It's probably an impressive list. These women hatched the plan, printed up flyers, posted them around town, and sent notices to local media outlets. One of those media outlets was KBYR radio, home of Eddie Burke, a long-time uber-conservative Anchorage talk show host. Turns out that Eddie Burke not only announced the rally, but called the people who planned to attend the rally "a bunch of socialist baby-killing maggots," and read the home phone numbers of the organizers aloud over the air, urging listeners to call and tell them what they thought. The women, of course, received some nasty, harassing and threatening messages.

Palin Reckless * Inexperienced!!! Hockey Mama for Obama!!!
___________________________________________
I felt a bit apprehensive. I'd been disappointed before by the turnout at other rallies. Basically, in Anchorage, if you can get 25 people to show up at an event, it's a success. So, I thought to myself, if we can actually get 100 people there that aren't sent by Eddie Burke, we'll be doing good. A real statement will have been made. I confess, I still had a mental image of 15 demonstrators surrounded by hundreds of menacing "socialist baby-killing maggot" haters.

Pro-woman, Anti-Palin: Beware of Tricksters
______________________________________________
It's a good thing I wasn't tailgating when I saw the crowd in front of the library or I would have ended up in somebody's trunk. When I got there, about 20 minutes early, the line of sign wavers stretched the full length of the library grounds, along the edge of the road, 6 or 7 people deep! I could hardly find a place to park. I nabbed one of the last spots in the library lot, and as I got out of the car and started walking, people seemed to join in from every direction, carrying signs.

Hey!!! Hockey Mom, Keep the Puck Out of DC!
___________________________________________
Never, have I seen anything like it in my 17 and a half years living in Anchorage. The organizers had someone walk the rally with a counter, and they clicked off well over 1400 people (not including the 90 counter-demonstrators). This was the biggest political rally ever, in the history of the state. I was absolutely stunned. The second most amazing thing is how many people honked and gave the thumbs up as they drove by. And even those that didn't honk looked wide-eyed and awe-struck at the huge crowd that was growing by the minute. This just doesn't happen here.

Palin is a Dangerous Northern Extremist!
___________________________________________
Then, the infamous Eddie Burke showed up. He tried to talk to the media, and was instantly surrounded by a group of 20 people who started shouting O-BA-MA so loud he couldn't be heard. Then passing cars started honking in a rhythmic pattern of 3, like the Obama chant, while the crowd cheered, hooted and waved their signs high.

The Alaska Disasta'!
____________________________________________
So, if you've been doing the math… Yes. The Alaska Women Reject Palin rally was significantly bigger than Palin's rally that got all the national media coverage! So take heart, sit back, and enjoy the photo gallery. Feel free to spread the pictures around to anyone who needs to know that Sarah Palin most definitely does not speak for all Alaskans. The citizens of Alaska , who know her best, have things to say.

Elect Obama-Biden, Keep Palin in Alaska, Retire McCain!
________________________________________

Signed "hs"

More pictures of that rally:

Great Performance, But We're Not THAT Stupid!
______________________________________________

Sarah Palin: Bush in a Skirt!
___________________________________________

Polar Bear Moms Say: NO PALIN!
____________________________________________

Like the Palin KoolAid?
__________________________________________

No Sarah Palin
_______________________________________

McBush/Palin Equals More Exxon JusticesI'm a PROUD Community Organizer
_________________________________________

McSame!
______________________________________

We Can't Bear Palin!
_________________________________________

Palin Equals G.W. Bush with Lipstick
______________________________________

America Should Not Sleep if Palin is Veep!
___________________________________________

Vote Issues, Not Gender: "NO" to McCain/PalinNO to Palin! She'll Take Away My Freedom of Choice!
________________________________________

God's Will is Not a Foreign Policy!!
__________________________________________

[Palin] Doesn't Speak for Me!
___________________________________________

Flip Flop Sarah: Not ALL Alaska Women Support Palin!
___________________________________________

Eddie Burke, Give Us Your Phone Number
___________________________________________
UPDATE: Although I received this text and these photos in an email with a "Pass it on" permission, I just want to give proper attribution to the Mudflats blog. Thanks, all!*