[pjw] RSVP/ PJW UPDATE: Our July newsletter & July 26 quarterly meeting

[Peace and Justice Works]

PJW supporters

Below is the text of the July 2 PJW UPDATE, our twice yearly newsletter 
that you may have received via snail mail recently. We sent the newsletter 
to a limited list of people; some folks will receive a much shorter 
postcard version in the next week or so.

Our summer quarterly meeting is coming up two weeks from this Sunday-- on 
July 26 via conference call. Please write back if you would like the call 
in information. Let us know if calling long distance is a barrier.

It's a good time for people in our different project groups, general PJW 
members and the board to meet and keep up to date. We begin with an 
informal discussion at noon with a meeting from 12:30-2:15 PM.

  http://www.pjw.info/supporters/pjwupdate0720.pdf .

It has been password protected with the phrase "peace2020july" .

Please let us know if you have any questions, and if you plan to attend.

Thanks!

dan handelman
secretary
peace and justice works

PEACE AND JUSTICE WORKS UPDATE July 2, 2020

Peace and Justice Works members, volunteers, and supporters:

Join us for the
PJW SUMMER QUARTERLY MEETING
Sunday, July 26, 2020
12 noon (conversation); 12:30 PM (meeting)
*Conference call- contact us for info*

Please join Peace and Justice Works (PJW) for our 29th Summer Quarterly 
meeting on Sunday, July 26. Due to the pandemic, we will be holding this 
meeting as a conference call rather than in person. We will start with 
casual conversation at 12 noon (eat lunch "together apart" if you like), 
followed by the business meeting from 12:30-2:15 PM. Please RSVP to get 
the conference call information.

Proposed agenda:

--updates on Affinity Group work (Copwatch, Iraq, other);

--financial and office update, fund-raising, volunteer outreach;

--set Fall Quarterly meeting.

Membership's not required to attend a quarterly meeting... call in and 
find out what we're up to!


Portland Copwatch: Policing and Racism Issues Driven to the Forefront

When Peace and Justice Works started, we created the project group now 
known as Portland Copwatch (PCW) to address the local form of the 
government using violence to enforce its (often racist) policies. The 
uprisings after the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis Police have put 
PCW's issues at the forefront. Everyday people and corporate media are 
waking up to systemic racism and violence, particularly with the overuse 
of police crowd control weapons.

As an organization mostly made up of white people, this is not the time 
for Portland Copwatch to grab a microphone and stand in front of the 
people of color leading this movement. PCW has been continuing its ongoing 
work of providing  information and analysis during the ongoing and 
exciting movement calling to re-think what policing means in America. We 
continue to work with ongoing campaigns around the Portland Police 
Association (PPA) contract, the Joint Terrorism Task Force, and promoting 
a viable police oversight system.

We also analyzed a state bill around police arbitration which limits the 
ability to lower police discipline ordered by the City, but which would 
not have affected eight past high profile cases-- including various deadly 
force cases. Prior to the stay-at-home orders, PCW testified before 
federal Judge Michael Simon about the reforms required by the US 
Department of Justice, which are allegedly "substantially" completed. We 
beg to differ. As part of the contract campaign, we helped organize a 
picket line connecting a memorial to Dickie Dow (killed by the police in 
1998) to the PPA's headquarters in March.

Copwatchers walked a "beat" on the inner east side in February. Copwatch 
monitors advisory groups such as the Citizen Review Committee and the 
Committee on Community Engaged Policing. We continue to receive complaints 
about Portland Police and Multnomah Sheriff's Deputies on our incident 
report line (503-321-5120).

Check our website (portlandcopwatch.org) for more information including 
data on lawsuits and a graphical representation of all officers involved 
in deadly force since 1992. You can also find issues of our newsletter, 
the People's Police Report. To get physical newsletters mailed to you, 
support PCW with a $20 a year subscription.

Iraq Affinity Group Highlights

Wars in Iraq/Afghanistan,

Hiroshima Day 75 Years Later

The Peace and Justice Works Iraq Affinity Group (IAG) continues to educate 
around US foreign policies connected to military violence. In March, we 
co-sponsored the Portland Peaceful Response Coalition Friday Rally to mark 
17 years since the invasion of Iraq. The following week, the Governor 
issued pandemic orders and PJW took over sponsorship of the Friday rallies 
and have been at them every week since. On June 19, we premiered a 
scrolling peace sign with messages about getting the US out of its seven 
wars and demanding justice for Black lives lost to police violence. The 
sign was funded by the Ann Huntwork Memorial Fund for Creative Action. It 
was an idea Ann talked about often before her death in 2017. We're 
limiting the size of Friday rallies to under 25 people to meet the 
Governor's orders and stay appropriately distanced.

In late June, we held a live streamed event with Zaher Wahab, talking 
about the "Fateful Partnership" between the US and Afghanistan. Check out 
youtube.com/peaceandjusticeworks to see the video of this event, the 
scrolling peace sign and other creative actions.

This year marks the momentous 75th anniversary of the atomic bombs dropped 
on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. We are once again supporting Oregon Physicians 
for Social Responsibility's annual commemoration event, which will be 
taking place online Thursday, August 6 at 6 PM.

Check our website at pjw.info/Iraq.html for more information. IAG meetings 
are usually held on the 2nd Monday each month, and we always welcome more 
members!

Money for Human Needs, Not War

The movement for police accountability is demanding to "defund the 
police," which mostly takes the form of chopping local police budgets to 
uplift Black, Indigenous and other people of color (BIPOC). These protests 
echo the efforts of PJW calling for redirecting the federal military 
budget to people and the planet, not war. The pandemic has provided some 
relief in countries who heeded the UN Secretary General's call to enact 
ceasefires, but many wars-- including ones sponsored by or directly 
involving the US-- continue. Israel announced its intention to annex 
Palestinian territories this summer, with the tacit support of the  Trump 
administration.

We've been active for over 18 years now, with an annual budget of just 
around $12,000 a year. We recognize that some people are struggling to 
make ends meet more than usual due to the COVID crisis. However, we do 
hope that if you are able to send a donation to help us keep doing our 
work you can mail a check/money order to PO Box 42456/Portland, OR 97242 
or donate online via Network for Good. To become a voting member, send a 
$20-45 sliding scale fee, or give 4 hours of volunteer time per year. Be 
sure to let us know it is for membership. We are also limiting the number 
of volunteers in the office, but if you want to help out in our physical 
space or from your home, let us know. Thanks for helping promote a more 
just and peaceful planet!