[pjw] PJW UPDATE: Summer Quarterly Meeting/Viet Nam Event 7/10, Hiroshima/Nagasaki memorial and more

[Peace and Justice Works]

Greetings Peace and Justice Works supporters

Those of you on our snail mail list should have received a paper copy of 
our semi-annual newsletter, the PJW UPDATE, dated June 23. Below is the 
email version of the newsletter, which gives you details on our upcoming 
summer quarterly meeting (and the event after it featuring Brian Willson 
we mentioned the other day), other upcoming events, and the ongiong work 
of PJW. The events and posters for some of them can also be found on our 
website at <http://www.pjw.info>.

If you're not on the snail mail list and want to be added let us know.
--dan handelman
peace and justice works

Dear Peace and Justice Works supporters:

PJW SUMMER QUARTERLY MEETING & POTLUCK
+ BRIAN WILLSON'S VIET NAM
Sunday, July 10, 2016
12:00 noon (potluck) / 12:30 PM (meeting)
2:30 PM presentation
Unite Oregon (formerly CIO) office,
700 N Killingsworth (near Albina)

Please come to Peace and Justice Works (PJW)'s 24th summer quarterly 
meeting on Sunday, July 10 at 12:00 noon at the Unite Oregon (formerly 
CIO) office, at 700 N Killingsworth (about 11 blocks west of MLK/2 blocks 
east of Albina). We begin with a vegetarian potluck (bring vegetarian food 
and non-alcoholic drink to share). The meeting goes from 12:30 to 2:00 PM; 
it will be followed at 2:30 PM at the same location by the presentation 
"Viet Nam Revisited with S. Brian Willson," with the famous 
veteran/activist describing how this year's trip was his first "voluntary" 
return to that country. It is OK to come to the presentation and skip the 
meeting, but we welcome your presence at both parts.

Proposed agenda:

--updates on Affinity Group work (Copwatch, Iraq Affinity Group);
--September 11, 15 years later;
--financial update, fund-raising, volunteer outreach;
--set fall quarterly meeting.

Iraq Affinity Group Pushes to Keep Guard from Undeclared Wars,
Supports Hiroshima/Nagasaki Memorial

PJW's Iraq Affinity Group (IAG) has worked and is working on a number of 
projects to educate the public and to end the undeclared wars in the 
"Middle East." The IAG is circulating a letter to groups around the state 
who participated in the 2009 Campaign to Keep Oregon's Guard in Oregon. 
The letter (which as of now has at least 14 signatories) will go to the 
gubernatorial candidates of all parties asking them not to deploy the 
Guard into conflict zones without congressional authorization. In January, 
the IAG held a demonstration remembering 25 years since "Gulf War part I" 
began in 1991. And we're gearing up for a demonstration on Friday, 
September 9 at 5 PM at Pioneer Courthouse Square to mark 15 years since 
9/11, exploring the "Casualties of Endless Wars." We will focus on, among 
other things, the impacts of post-9/11 US policy on lost lives, damaged 
economy, increases in xenophobia/Islamophobia, increased surveillance, and 
damage to the climate.

The IAG is also co-sponsoring the annual Hiroshima and Nagasaki memorial 
event on Tuesday, August 9 at 6 PM at the Japanese-American Historical 
Plaza, NW Naito Parkway/Davis. The event is once again being coordinated 
by Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility. The title for the event is 
"Remembering Hiroshima & Nagasaki: Creating a Nuclear-Free Future." For 
more information go to <oregonpsr.org>.

We also will have a table at the Vancouver Peace and Justice Fair on 
Saturday, September 10, and likely will undertake other efforts to remind 
people of the anniversaries of the ongoing wars in Iraq (August 8, 2014), 
Syria (September 23, 2014) and Afghanistan (October 7, 2001). Come to a 
meeting sometime and help us stop these wars!

Portland Copwatch Focuses on Policies, Education, Police Shootings

Portland Copwatch (PCW), which promotes police accountability, continues 
to examine Portland Police Bureau policies, making its own recommendations 
as well as examining those made by the Community Oversight Advisory Board 
(COAB). The COAB was set up to ensure Portland complies with the 2012 
Department of Justice (DOJ) Settlement Agreement. Their efforts should be 
leading the Bureau to use less force. However, since the DOJ came to town, 
the majority of civilians shot and killed by the police have been those in 
mental health crisis, the main focus of the Agreement. Making matters 
worse, in June the Bureau gave Police Medals to two officers who killed a 
man in crisis last November. In January we updated the list of statewide 
shootings and sent them to the Oregon Attorney General, who was supposed 
to start publishing information on those killed by the police in 2009 but 
hasn't done so as of June 2016.

In May, PCW was invited (back) to give a Your Rights and the Police 
seminar to the multicultural center at Portland Community College/Sylvania 
campus. PCW continues its work with the Albina Ministerial Alliance 
Coalition for Justice and Police Reform, advocating for a stronger and 
more streamlined oversight system, and fielding calls to our incident 
report line (503-321-5120) about incidents with Portland Police or 
Multnomah deputies. We also continue to publish the People's Police Report 
(PPR) three times a year (subscriptions are $15/year). Most every issue 
dating back to 2003 is now online at <portlandcopwatch.org>. PPR #69 is 
due out in September.

Every few months PCW goes out on the street to copwatch-- in February we 
were in Old Town and in May we observed the very calm goings-on at the May 
Day rally. It was a relief to see the police not using the violent tactics 
they used in 2015.

Doing a Lot with a Little-- How You Can Help Peace and Justice Works

Peace and Justice Works continues to work on issues around global 
conflicts, local paramilitary force (police accountability), the death 
penalty, and more using a mere $12,000 per year to coordinate our 
activities. As an all-volunteer group, we rely on your support both in the 
form of time and energy and/or financial donations. At our February annual 
meeting we went over the "Year in Review" handout listing 8 
demonstrations, 2 community forums, 5 Copwatch trainings, and at least 12 
other events we coordinated or co-sponsored during calendar year 2015.

Because we have no paid staff, all of your money goes to helping us 
operate our office space, maintain our internet presence, and produce 
events/fact sheets/educational programs. If you can volunteer time to work 
in the office, distribute flyers, set up events and help with mailings 
that is just as valuable as donating money, though every dollar is crucial 
to our efforts to make the world more peaceful. You can become a voting 
member by volunteering four (4) hours or sending a sliding scale of 
$15-$40. Mail us at PO Box 42456/Portland, OR 97242, call us at 
503-236-3065 or use Network for Good <http://pjw.info/donate.html> to 
donate online.

We can't keep going without your support, and appreciate all you do to end 
wars, offer alternatives to violence, and seek justice.