Sunday, April 4, 2021

CALENDAR & NEWS ~ April 2021

Check event info against original posts; details can change, and I've been known to miss stuff 😊



EARTH

New Erie Earth Week Events April 17-23. Erie Earth Day Planning Committee: Sarah Bennett, PennFuture, Co-Chair, Janine Fenell, Climate Reality Project, Co-Chair, Makayla Alicea, Green New Deal Coalition of Erie, Anne Desarro, PA DCNR, Colin Hurley, Mercyhurst University, Issy Lawrie, Our Water, Our Air, Our Rights, Sr. Pat Lupo, Neighborhood Art House and PLEWA, Sr. Anne McCarthy, Erie Benedictines for Peace, Matthew Ochalek, Mercyhurst Prep School, Sarah Peelman, City of Erie, Tom Rinke, Mercyhurst Prep School, John Vanco, ReLEAF, Chuck Benson, Erie Earth Day logo
New Earth Day Weekend Clean Ups and Celebrations April 23-25 Three locations, three events
Fr. Dan Horan: “Urgent Explorations of Global Climate Change and the Consistent Ethic of Life.”  Guest speaker for Mercyhurst  51st annual Sister Maura Smith Earth Day Lecture April 22, at 7 p.m., Free, public via Zoom.
ReLeaf is planting 275,000 trees (One tree for every citizen in Erie County)" "ReLeaf is the Lake Erie Arboretum at Frontier Park’s direct response to climate change and a chance for us to beautify our community spaces outside of Frontier Park." 
PennFuture Releases Report on Massive Fossil Fuel Subsidies in PA (PennFuture 2/22/2021) 
Gov. Wolf Announces Largest Government Solar Energy Commitment in the U.S. (Gov Tom Wolf, 3/22/2021) " initiative that will produce nearly 50 percent of state government’s electricity through seven new solar energy arrays" 
PA DCNR April environmental events at PI 
Allegany Nature Pilgrimage cancelled for 2021, but they are working on alternative events. 
"Nature in the Northeast" (Justin Thompson, North Coast Voice 3/10-4/7 2021) An appreciation of nature in northeast Ohio and a call to support those who are protecting it. 
Global Just Recovery Gathering April 9-11 Online climate movement event featuring interactive workshops, cultural sessions, and hands-on trainings. 
Fire Drill Fridays with Greenpeace "Visit FireDrillFridays.com to take action with Jane Fonda, Greenpeace, and the Fire Drill Friday movement." Videos with guests and movie nights.

COMMUNITY

"Downtown with dignity: New Erie rest areas planned to help homeless and vulnerable" (Kevin Flowers, Erie Times-News
Tool Lending Library  Erie-based resource "Giving neighbors the tools to build better neighborhoods." 
PSU Speaker Series: Mona Hanna-Attisha Physician, scientist and activist who exposed the Flint water crisis April 13, 7:00 p.m.
Bayfront Project Roundabout Peer Review  (PennDOT) "The roundabout peer review will review information related to pedestrian safety"
SSJ Neighborhood Network Silent Auction This year, SSJNN is converting their annual Guess That Tune Gala fundraiser to a virtual silent auction from May 12-22, which will benefit their bicycle program and other ministries

ARTS

Branching Out: A GGG + LEAF Collaborative Art Show  thru May 4 at Glass Growers Gallery, 10 E. Fifth St. 10% of the show proceeds to LEAF's ReLeaf initiative. 
GU Speaker: Sherwin Bitsui Friday, April 16 7:30PM Author and poet, he is Navajo of the Todichʼíiʼnii (Bitter Water Clan). 
Station Hope   May 1, 2021 5-9pm  Free, Livestreamed on Cleveland Public Theater's website and social media pages. "A virtual festival of performance honoring and exploring Cleveland's social justice heritage."

JUSTICE

The Publix Voice: Asian Hate Host Marcus Atkinson interviews Asian-American citizens John Park (Erie, PA) and Pastor David Cho (Boston, MA) talk about their family journeys, the incidents springing up all around the country, and how their Christian walk plays out in the backdrop of these incidents. 
NY pot legislation is "intentional about equity" (Paul Blest, Vice, 3/31/2021) “Unlike any other state in America, this legislation is intentional about equity,” said State Assembly Majority Leader Crystal D. Peoples-Stokes. “Equity is not a second thought; it’s the first one and it needs to be, because the people who paid the price for this war on drugs have lost so much.”
Undesign Erie's Redline "The mission of ERIWE is to reduce impacts of Racism and Redlining in Erie County"
Screening & Discussion of “Racially Charged: America’s Misdemeanor Problem” April 27 8:30pmErie Co. League of Women Voters 
AP: Pittsburgh area police officers’ posts to private Facebook group show hostility, hate (Meghan Schiller, KDKA/AP 3/22/2021). Also, perhaps in response, Pittsburgh police have started a new community engagement program 

ELECTIONS

PA Superior Court Candidates Forum April 6 at 6pm
Indivisibles in conversation with Bob Casey  April 6 at 5:30pm "Join Pennsylvania Indivisible and Bob Casey for a conversation about voting rights, DC statehood, campaign finance reform, the filibuster and more!" 
April 8 Millcreek Dem Candidates Forum 7pm  Erie City and County races week of April 12
Progressive Forum: Open Primaries for Unaffiliated Voters: Will it help or hurt the Democratic Party April 11 2pm. Hosted by the PA Democratic State Committee Progressive Caucus.
DemStock 21 will be held Aug. 20-21 "the biggest event for Democrats in Northcentral/Northwest PA in 2021! "

VARIOUS

Erie's Independent Alternative Publication Turns 10 (Ben Speggen, Erie Reader, March 10, 2021) A look back at the Erie Reader's beginnings and successful first decade. 
Protest and Pride at Fenton History Center History of the LGBTQIA+ community in Chautauqua County. Open to the public thru Oct. "Visit us Monday through Saturday 10-4"  $10 adults, members and under 18 free.

LOOK BACK

From 2010: "Pennsylvania Homeland Security office engaged in domestic surveillance, compared political groups to Al Qaeda" (PennLive 11/7/2010; updated 1/6/2019) "Pennsylvania's Office of Homeland Security had been tracking groups engaged in lawful, peaceful protests, including groups opposed to natural gas drilling, peace activists and gay rights groups...Regular readers of the bulletins could easily begin to view activists as a threat. The bulletins freely mixed references to actual terrorist activity abroad with warnings about the non-violent, lawful activities of Pennsylvania citizens. A July 30 bulletin that discusses 'jihadist threats in France' quoting Al-Qaeda, also warns that natural gas drilling events 'may draw unruly crowds.'"  Brandywine Peace Community was heavily tracked and did a detailed write-up on the monitoring, with background, updates, and specific alerts.

PHOTO

Photo at top: George Hodan "Stream in the Forest" Public domain


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In non-pandemic times, this is a calendar of events for people who believe "a better world is possible." Published monthly.  Focus is local/regional. Not affiliated with any organization All upcoming event listings are nonviolent. Event submissions send to moonkat2014@gmail.com




 

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