[pjw] RSVP/ PJW UPDATE: Our recent newsletter & Feb 26 annual meeting

[Peace and Justice Works]

Hello again PJW supporters

This email serves many purposes, but among them are:

1) to get you the text of the December 28 PJW UPDATE, our twice-a-year 
newsletter that many of you should have received via snail mail in the 
last week or so;

2) to remind you again of Friday's event about Guantanamo being open for 
21 years;

3) to let you know, in that regard, that 150 international organizations 
signed a letter calling to shut Guantanamo down:

https://theintercept.com/2023/01/11/guantanamo-bay-letter-biden/

and

4) to give you the first invitation to our annual meeting on Sunday, 
February 26 from 12-2:30 PM.

Let us know if you have any questions, including making sure whether your 
membership is up-to-date if you want to vote on the Board, and if you plan 
to attend the meeting.

Thanks!

dan handelman
secretary
peace and justice works

-----------------

PJW UPDATE December 28, 2022

Dear Peace and Justice Works members, volunteers, and supporters:

PEACE AND JUSTICE WORKS' 31st ANNUAL MEETING
Sunday, February 26, 2023
12 noon (conversation); 12:30 PM (meeting)
*Conference call-- contact us for info*

We hope you will attend Peace and Justice Works' 31st annual meeting on 
Sunday, February 26. With the various respiratory illnesses around and 
unpredictable, we will once again hold the meeting by conference call-- 
contact us to get login information. We hope to meet in person soon! We 
begin with casual conversation at 12 noon, followed by the business 
meeting from 12:30-2:30 PM.

The proposed agenda includes:

--updates on 2022/2023 activities from Affinity Groups (Iraq, Copwatch, 
Flying Focus Video);

--election of board of directors and officers*
(Nominees: Shelley Bedell, President/Authorized Check Signer [ACS]; Dan 
Handelman, Secretary/ACS; Linda Tomassi, ACS; Jocelyn McAuley, ACS; and 
Luke Anavi);

--financial report, office updates, volunteer outreach.

PJW's general meetings help newcomers and longtime members learn about the 
group and find out how to plug in.

Iraq Affinity Group: Guantanamo at 21, Iraq War at 20

The Iraq Affinity Group (IAG) has been coordinating Portland's weekly 
Friday Rally for Peace and Justice for nearly three years now. As we have 
in the past, we're co-sponsoring a special event on Friday, January 13 
with Amnesty International Group 48 seeking to shut down America's 
notorious prison. Join us that night at 4:30 PM for "30+ People, 21 Years, 
and Many Human Rights Violations in Guantanamo." The Friday Rally is held 
at SW Yamhill/Morrison and generally begins at 5 PM. On March 17, the 
rally will focus on the 20th anniversary of the US invasion of Iraq and 
the unnecessary F-35 fighter jet program (in global solidarity with groups 
around the world). The October 7 Friday Rally marked exactly 21 years 
since the war on Afghanistan began, as well as the eighth anniversary of 
the ongoing US military intervention in Syria. Our policy remains at all 
PJW events for people to wear a face covering and stay safely distanced.

We continue to augment Friday rallies (and police accountability events) 
with the Ann Huntwork Peace Memorial Sign, a digital readerboard with 
messages against military interventions and police violence. In August, 
the IAG again cosponsored Physicians for Social Responsibility's Hiroshima 
Day, which was in-person this year.

Working with Oregon allies, the IAG sent a questionnaire to candidates for 
governor asking them to keep the National Guard away from undeclared war 
zones. Only one candidate (not one of the "major" three) responded. We can 
always use more people at our meetings, please attend on 2nd Tuesdays at 7 
PM!

Portland Copwatch Finds Record Officer Deadly Force in Oregon,

21-Year High in Portland

Since 2010, our police accountability project Portland Copwatch (PCW) has 
tracked statewide officer deadly force incidents. This year there have 
been 40 shootings, the highest number ever. In Portland, officers shot at 
nine people this year; the last time there were this many incidents was 
2001. PCW has updated its infographic of Bureau officers who used deadly 
force (portlandcopwatch.org/deadlyforcepdx.html) and its top 25 
settlements page.

Meanwhile, PCW members continue to push for a strong and functional 
accountability system both from the outside and the "inside," as PCW 
member Dan Handelman has now been meeting for over a year as a member of 
the Police Accountability Commission designing Portland's new oversight 
board. Others from PCW attend meetings, make public comments and write 
about progress in our newsletter, the People's Police Report (PPR). The 
PPR comes out three times a year, with issue #88 available now.

Members also monitor the Training Advisory Council, Portland Committee on 
Community-Engaged Policing, and the Citizen Review Committee (CRC), the 
current version of a community oversight board. The "Independent" Police 
Review, the agency housing CRC, became a little more independent in July 
when the Auditor cut them loose from her office. Handelman also serves on 
the steering committee of the Albina Ministerial Alliance Coalition for 
Justice and Police Reform, which since 2012 has had a seat at the table 
for the US Department of Justice Settlement Agreement. PCW members 
testified in Court in both July and November to alert federal judge 
Michael Simon to ongoing problems with police use of force, oversight, and 
how the city undercuts its own advisory bodies.

PCW also continues to network on issues such as keeping the police out of 
the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force, and runs its incident report line 
(503-321-5120 call/text) to help people navigate filing complaints. PCW 
requires orientations for those joining its monthly meetings. Learn more 
at portlandcopwatch.org.

Flying Focus Video: Remembering Yvonne Simmons, Making Video that Matters

Since Flying Focus Video Collective (FFVC) became a PJW affinity group in 
July, they've continued to produce a weekly show, the Video Bus, which 
airs on cable access and streams live three times a week. FFVC produced a 
program from the memorial for PJW / FFVC member Yvonne Simmons, who died 
on July 2. Yvonne was a force of nature; her peace work and video clips of 
shows she made with FFVC are featured. The Video Bus turned 31 in November 
and FFVC celebrated with its annual retrospective, the "Busiversary," 
which includes clips of shows from the past year focusing on war and 
peace, animal rights, police accountability, environmental justice, and 
other issues of interest. See flyingfocus.org for more info.

Make a Contribution, Make a Better World!

Many people have contributed to PJW in our 31 years through volunteering, 
showing up at events, and donating funds or supplies. As a result we've 
been able to continue as an all-volunteer group with a budget that's now 
around $20,000 a year, and to keep educating the public about the 
connections among the state's use of violence in war, policing and the 
death penalty. (Quick shout out to Gov. Kate Brown for commuting the 
sentences of all 17 Oregon Death Row inmates!) We're glad to have found 
ways to do this despite nearly three years of COVID concerns, and are 
grateful to those who keep supporting us financially.

If you are able to make a general donation or request an annual membership 
($20-45 sliding scale or 4 hours volunteering), send a check or money 
order (and/or items from portlandcopwatch.org/ wishlist.html) to PO Box 
42456, Portland 97242. You can also make one-time or recurring donations 
online through Network for Good and use the "designation" field to direct 
that money to a specific Affinity Group-- see pjw.info/donate.html. Thanks 
for all you do to support our efforts to promote nonviolence and the 
spending of tax dollars on human needs, not war!