Here’s this week’s rundown of ways to connect with the liberation movement in Pittsburgh!
Please let us know if there there’s an event that is not listed that you would like us to promote through our Facebook, our blog, our Twitter, and through flyers or email.
Wednesday – 2.15
Protest General Martin Dempsey
War is not entertainment. Join activists from Veterans for Peace, Ch 47, the AntiWar Committee of the Thomas Merton Center, and other justice groups as we tell those attending this event that war is not entertainment; war is not fun; war is hell! Protest against the Military Industrial Complex and its spokesperson, Army General Martin Dempsey, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff as he speaks at Heinz Hall on Feb. 15. Join us across the street from Heinz Hall; bring signs, bring your passion; bring your voice. Peace is Possible.
[ https://www.facebook.com/events/121315105044505/ ]
Talking about Environmental Privilege with CCJ
Come hang out this wednesday as we hear about environmental justice and environmental privledge by Center for Coalfield Justice, an organization doing work in frontline communites. It will be interactive, informative and inspiring! I hear they may be looking for an intern for this summer too…
[ https://www.facebook.com/events/1850328678545718/ ]
Thursday – 2.16
A Day Without Immigrants: Rally & March
En todo el país, los inmigrantes no van a ir a trabajar, los niños no van a ir a la escuela, no van a consumir.
Todos van a salir a las calles para decir,
Aquí estamos y no nos vamos,
Aquí estamos y aquí nos quedamos,
Aquí estamos porque nosotros hacemos que este país funcione.
Marcha con nosotros este jueves, 16 de febrero a las 10:30 am para mandar el mensaje de que los inmigrantes están aquí y que pertenecen aquí, y que el poder de ellos es crucial para la supervivencia de este país.
Trae a tu familia, tus amigos y a tus hijos.
Sin nosotros y sin nuestra contribución este país se paraliza.
*************************************************************
In cities across the country, on February 16th, immigrants are not going to work, their kids are not going to school, they are boycotting all stores that exploit undocumented immigrants.
They are going out to the streets to say,
we’re here and we’re not going anywhere,
we’re here because we belong here,
we’re here because we make this country run and operate.
March with us this Thursday, February 16th at 10:30am to send a message that immigrants are here, and they belong here, and the power they hold is crucial to society’s survival.
Bring your families, bring your friends, bring your kids.
Without us and without our contribution this country is paralyzed!
#SiSePuede
[ https://www.facebook.com/events/370632803320422/ ]
Socialism Beats Trump – First Meeting
Room Number: 527 of William Pitt Union Building.
Address: 3959 Fifth Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15213
Join the Pittsburgh International Marxist Tendency for a three-part discussion series. We need a socialist revolution to defeat Donald Trump and the rest of the billionaire ruling class. Bigotry and oppression, police brutality, poverty, union-busting, imperialism, and more are fundamentally hard-wired into the capitalist system, and decades of “lesser evil” establishment politics have set the stage for the rise of Trump.
Readings for discussion:
http://socialistappeal.org/about-us/documents/1746-perspectives-for-the-us-revolution-2016.html
http://socialistappeal.org/news-analysis/us-politics/1813-america-s-brexit-to-fight-trump-fight-capitalism.html
Friday – 2.17
Let us know what’s happening today, we’ll help spread the word!
Saturday – 2.18
Pittsburgh Poster Project: Story Jam w College Student Activists
Learn about the Pittsburgh Poster Project here:
https://www.pittsburghposterproject.org/
There’s been a lot of inspiring organizing and activism coming out of Pittsburgh campuses. We’d like to use the Pittsburgh Poster Project as a tool to draw out stories and ideas from yinz in this historic moment to incorporate into the narrative and also to help facilitate a shared vision for the ongoing student activism. Also, attending college/university is by no means a requirement; using the term loosely to capture the student activism that a lot of people are contributing to. Please feel free to reach out to Kai or Emily with any questions!
[ https://www.facebook.com/events/1374062905983452/ ]
PITT: Radical Valentine’s Day Contest, with Prizes!
In the aftermath of Hillary Clinton’s embarrassing loss to Donald Trump — someone who had widely been regarded as the most un-electable candidate in the history of presidential politics — millions of liberals have stepped out of their yoga classes and re-emerged in our social movement spaces. And they brought their bad politics with them.
– Return of the Liberals : The Tactic Police Strike Back
CLICK HERE to learn more about the contest!
Time to Organize!
Pittsburgh Science March! Science is a vital feature of a working democracy, spurring innovation, critical thinking, increased understanding, and better, healthier lives for all people. By marching in Washington, DC and around the world, we take one of many steps to become more active in our communities and in democratic life. We hold our leaders — both in science and in politics — accountable to the highest standards of honesty, fairness, and integrity. We gather together to send a message: we will all work to ensure that the scientific community is making our democracy stronger.
[ https://www.facebook.com/events/443694142629011/ ]
Roboto Punk Rock Flea Market
The February edition of the Roboto Punk Rock Flea Market! There will be 13-15 vendors that could be anything from a local record label to a local artist or photographer, a band trying to sell off some leftover merch to some rando trying to sell off their record collection.
[ https://www.facebook.com/events/688551461322482/ ]
Sunday – 2.19
Down with the Trump Agenda: Rally on 1 month anniversary of inauguration
Join us for a rally against Trump’s program on the one month anniversary of Trump’s inauguration.
We must continue to build the resistance to the Trump regime of racism, sexism and bigotry.
Join us as we build a united front in defense of all those who are under attack from bigoted policies meant to divide us, protect the environment from a cabinet led by corporate CEOs and defend our important social programs from being gutted to enrich Trump’s capitalist cronies.
This is a movement, not a moment! Join us!
———————————————-
Únete a nosotros en un mitin contra el programa de Trump en su primer mes como presidente. Debemos continuar construyendo resistencia contra su régimen racista, sexista, fanático e intolerante. Únete a nosotros para construir un frente unido en defensa de todos aquellos a quienes ha atacado con sus políticas intolerantes para dividirnos, únete para proteger a nuestro pueblo de un gabinete liderado por presidentes corporativos y para defender nuestros programas sociales de ser destripados para seguir enriqueciendo a los amigos capitalistas de Trump. ¡Esto es un movimiento, no un momento! ¡Únete a nosotros!
[ https://www.facebook.com/events/254202971671761/ ]
UE Local 667 presents: Benefit for Proud Haven at Venus Flytrap
Proud Haven’s mission is to provide resources and shelter to the often neglected population of homeless LGBTQ+ youth in Pittsburgh According to national statistics, 40% of homeless youth identify as LGBTQ+ and there are not many service providers that they can turn to that provide the specific care they need. Proud Haven works to not just provide shelter, but also resources to help those youth displaced from their homes develop the skills they need to live independently.
[ https://www.facebook.com/events/929629677171483/ ]
Local News and Calls for Support
Police Believe Taggers Targeting East Side As Attack On Gentrification
(What gave it away? Was it the “STOP GENTRIFYING PITTSBURGH” throwie?)
Brunch and big ideas: Bookstore raises funds for arrested protesters
The national movement for the establishment of Sanctuary Universities responds to President-elect Donald J. Trump’s intention to deport up to three million (goo.gl/zCCXcU) undocumented persons from the United States, abolish the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, and establish a national registry for the surveillance of Muslim persons. Following the November 8 election, university and K-12 campuses around the country report threats directed against people of color, trans* people, disabled people, indigenous people, queer people, and all people without the privilege of U.S. citizenship; the appearance of swastikas and other hateful imagery on school property; and bullying of Muslim, Latinx, and LGBTQIA+ youth. And peaceful demonstrators on Pitt’s Oakland campus have experienced violence at the hands of University police.
Given the xenophobia that characterizes our local and national climate, we cannot have confidence in our shared institutional commitments to inclusion, integrity, freedom of expression, and diversity without at minimum concrete policy statements from the University of Pittsburgh in support of “immigrants who study, live, and work in and around our University” (as stated in a November 16 sanctuary campus letter from Pitt student leaders, viewable atgoo.gl/LupvgG).
Demands:
Unless required by a warrant or other valid legal process, University of Pittsburgh officials will not cooperate with any deportation or other immigration enforcement actions directed against Pitt students. Specifically:
1. Pitt will prohibit University police and campus security from “inquiring about or recording as to an individual’s immigration status” (goo.gl/LupvgG).
2. University of Pittsburgh police officers will not cooperate with deportation or other immigration enforcement actions by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Customs and Border Protection (CPB), or U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
3. The University of Pittsburgh will not allow ICE, CPB, or USCIS officials on Pitt campuses or other property.
4. The University of Pittsburgh will not share information related to immigration status about any Pitt student or employee with ICE, CPB, USCIS, or other law enforcement agencies.
5. The University of Pittsburgh will cease any use of E-Verify in student application or employee hiring procedures.
6. The Deans of Students Offices will coordinate a specific and transparent program to assist DACA students and all other students who are not U.S. citizens with any issue related to immigration or visa status, financial aid, housing, or related concerns.
7. Pitt will revise its Notice of Non Discrimination (goo.gl/IUmjjQ) and related policy statements (e.g. goo.gl/qsNOsa) to include “immigration status” as a protected category alongside “disability, race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, familial status, sex, age, sexual orientation, veteran status or gender identity and expression.”
We, the undersigned, also affirm the statement in the November 16 letter to Chancellor Gallagher that “immigrants are not the only group who [have] found themselves targeted” by recent expressions of racism, xenophobia, heterosexism, cissexism, and misogyny on our campuses (goo.gl/LupvgG). We therefore support the Pitt United Students Against Sweatshops, Pitt Student Solidarity Coalition, Pitt Students Against Debt, and the Pitt Students for a Democratic Society’s call for additional actions Pitt can build toward, in the words of poet Muriel Rukeyser, “a world that will hold all the people.” Further, we stand in solidarity with Pitt students who demand an end to University of Pittsburgh police harassment of student activists in campus spaces.
Our University motto is Veritas et Virtus. Fidelity to these values requires that we not simply declare our campuses safe and welcoming spaces for all people. We must realize the truth of these statements through concrete action. By establishing ourselves as a Sanctuary University, we can take a significant step toward the realization of these commitments as facts in the life of the University of Pittsburgh.
Awaiting your action.
SIGN THE CALL FOR A SANCTUARY CAMPUS HERE
Donate to the Pittsburgh Anti-Fascist Legal Defense Fund!
If you can, please DONATE to the legal defense of the 10 Pittsburghers arrested in DC.
We stand in unconditional solidarity with the arrested comrades.
Drop the charges! Only the State is guilty!
On January 20th 2017 Border-guards, modern day slave catchers, paramilitary, military, and armed vigilante groups converged to protect the swearing in of a new leader to the White Supremacist State known as The United States of America.
Tens of Thousands of bravehearts also converged upon our nations capital in collective defense, in resistance to oppressive everyday reality. Arm in arm, in solidarity, hundreds from our beloved Rustbelt city manifested beautiful acts of resistance and aligned themselves with fellow renegades and insurgents to strengthen vocal messages and make bold gestures of revolution.
Pittsburghers gathered in mass to protest our country that was never great and to unmake fascist America.
Efforts were made to end segregation and bring about emancipation in much the same way those who have came before us have – in the streets.
During the demonstrations many were arrested. We, the organizers of this fundraising campaign, pledge to supporter our local comrades. Regardless their perceived guilt or innocence, we have solidarity with them and their trajectory.
The confines of laws are set up against those who dare to dream and act upon another reality.
We ask you to take a moment and pause, to consider we are in this together, and that our sisters and brothers, our neighbors who grew up and live on the same streets as us, who pass over the same bridges as us, are under attack.
Contributing to this bail fund is an act of love and an attack on the proponents of a segregated society that would have us all rotting in jail cells or slaving away as subservient women and barbarish men.
We are not divided and we will not leave anybody behind. For some the thin vale of American Racism has been taken off, for others we have always known it to be true and we are glad you have joined us.
[Pictured below: Over 100 dedicated anti-fascists, including our Pittsburgh friends, kettled by armed agents of the state. “We love you, stay strong, the revolution lives on!”]
PITTSBURGH STUDENT SOLIDARITY COALITION 