[Peace] minutes of weekly AWARE meeting 2009-04-26

[Randall Cotton]

                                **REMINDER**

This month's "Main Event" street demonstration has been postponed until
Saturday, May 9 (same time, same place) in recognition of the conflict
with the Central Illinois Social Forum being held all afternoon and
evening of May 2.
                                **REMINDER**

Minutes of 04/26/2009 AWARE meeting are below, but first, AWARE Volunteer
Opportunities and the Upcoming Events Calendar:

AWARE Volunteer Opportunities
----------------------------------
(various ways to volunteer in AWARE's work)

AWARE is considering moving our monthly demonstration venue from Main &
Neil in Champaign to a higher-traffic site. It would be helpful for us to
discover which intersections in Champaign/Urbana have the most traffic to
help us in that decision. A volunteer is needed to contact the appropriate
city department/official in both Champaign and Urbana to obtain a list of
and available statistics on, say, the 10 busiest intersections in each
city. It's probably a fair assumption that this is tracked by both cities
and that it's public information. For assistance, contact Randall Cotton,
recotton at earthlink.net, 351-8644/722-8470.

AWARE is helping search for locations to set up
a portable electronic LED display that reports (in a loop) various
statistics on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan (casualties, financial
cost, etc.). Here's a video of the sign going through a typical loop:
http://dart.ncsa.uiuc.edu/stuffed/slevy/costofwar-sign.mp4 Dimensions of
the sign are: 50.3" L x 6.3" H x 1.7" W and it weighs 12 pounds. Full
specifications are at: http://www.bigbrite.com/product.aspx?id=78 . The
display could be set up anywhere indoors - home, business, event - where
it will be seen by many, for as long or as little as you like. If you can
volunteer to display the sign somewhere or have any ideas where it could
be set up, contact Barbara Kessel, barkes at gmail.com, 365-9473 or Randall
Cotton, recotton at earthlink.net, 351-8644/722-8470. As of March 2009, the
sign is installed in the lobby of the Urbana/Champaign Independent Media
Center, right next to the Post Office there in the building (202 S.
Broadway, Urbana).

Help is needed with content creation and maintenance for AWARE's website,
anti-war.net. Technical experience (UNIX/HTML/CSS) required for
maintenance work (but not content creation) Contact: Stuart Levy,
slevy at ncsa.uiuc.edu, 351-9264/244-1543 or Randall Cotton,
recotton at earthlink.net, 351-8644/722-8470.

Meeting minutes: Someone is needed to share or take over meeting minutes
duty (preparing these notes each week). Help will be provided (as much as
necessary). Contact: Randall Cotton, recotton at earthlink.net,
351-8644/722-8470

AWARE publicity: Someone is needed to maintain AWARE publicity documents
(and arrange for copies, as needed). This includes our business card,
intro sheet for new meeting attendees and our general information sheet
for tabling events). All reproduction costs reimbursed, Help provided as
needed. Contact: recotton at earthlink.net, 351-8644/722-8470

Upcoming Events Calendar
----------------------------
Apr 28 (TODAY, Tuesday) 1PM, Urbana City Council Chambers, 400 S Vine St
Taping of "AWARE on the Air" for UPTV to be broadcast later the same day
(see below)

Apr 28 (TODAY, Tuesday) 10PM, UPTV (cable channel 6)
Broadcast of "AWARE on the Air", taped earlier in the day (see above)

Apr 29 (Wednesday) 7PM, 106 Lincoln Hall, 702 S Wright St, Champaign
"A Historical Look on the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict"
Speaker: Professor Farhad Malekafzali
Sponsor: Students for Justice in Palestine, CSAMES, CAIR-UIUC

Apr 30 (Thursday) 5PM, Tang Dynasty (in Lincoln Square Mall)
Dinner event for AWARE folks with Paul Street. Meals will be ordered
individually at the event itself.

Apr 30 (Thursday) 7PM, Urbana City Council Chambers, 400 S Vine St
AWARE Presents: Obama, The First Hundred Days
Keynote Speaker: Paul Street, journalist, researcher, author of "Barack
Obama and the Future of American Politics"
(see http://www.zmag.org/zspace/paulstreet )
Panel Discussion (beginning 8PM), featuring:
Carol Ammons, Local Community Activist and Champaign County Board Member
Bob Naiman, National Coordinator, Just Foreign Policy
Brian Gaines, Associate Professor, UofI Political Science
Paul Diehl, Professor & Chairman, UofI Political Science
This event will be broadcast *LIVE* and also recorded for future broadcast
on UPTV

Apr 30 (Thursday) 7PM, 407 Illini Union, 1401 W Green St
"Red States, Blue States and the Jewish State: The Israeli View of the New
Administrations in Washington and Jerusalem and their Impact on Israel's
Future."
Speaker: Gil Hoffman, Chief Political Correspondent and Analyst for the
Jerusalem Post. Sponsor: Hillel

May 1 (Friday) 10AM, WILL AM580 Interview with Paul Street.

May 2 (Saturday) 8AM-noon, first Farmer's Market (Urbana Market at
the Square) of the year. AWARE will have our usual booth throughout the
season, which lasts until Nov 7.

**UPDATED** May 2 (Saturday), start time 12:30PM, IMC (Independent Media
Center), 202 S Broadway, Urbana
Central Illinois Social Forum.event arising out of the recent monthly
"People's Potluck" activity. Events last throughout the day.

May 5 (Tuesday) 1PM, Urbana City Council Chambers, 400 S Vine St
Taping of "AWARE on the Air" for UPTV to be broadcast later the same day
(see below)

May 5 (Tuesday) 10PM, UPTV (cable channel 6)
Broadcast of "AWARE on the Air", taped earlier in the day (see above)

**RESCHEDULED** May 9 (Saturday) 2-4PM Main St & Neil St, Champaign
The Main Event - AWARE's monthly street demonstration event. Usually the
first Saturday of each month, but pushed back a week this month due to
conflict with the Central Illinois Social Forum. Largely focuses on
opposing U.S. occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan, but is open for anyone
to join us either using one of our signs or one of their own. We try to
have a topical flyer to distribute to motorists and passers-by each month.

*****
Minutes of 04/26/09 AWARE meeting:

About 12 in attendance

News of the week was reviewed jointly
-----------------
Finance report:
AWARE balance minus anticipated expenditures: approximately $1216
Recent expenditures:
- $189 for full season of Farmer's Market
- $75 for ICJPE (Illinois Coalition Justice Peace and the Environment)

Anticipated expenditures:
- Notes n Quotes expenses for Main Event flyers
-Mid-may $320 quarterly rent
- $350 for "Obama: The First Hundred Days" event

NOTE: AWARE funds remain low and are in need of replenishment

Contribution jar passed around

Working group reports:
******************
Main Event:
========
(AWARE's monthly street protest held at the intersection of Main & Neil
2-4PM on the first Saturday of each month).

>>>>>>>>>>>>>> TAKE NOTE <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
>>>>> MAIN EVENT RESCHEDULED THIS MONTH <<<<<
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> TAKE NOTE <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Since key folks will be out of town on the weekend of May 2nd AND due to
the direct conflict with the Central Illinois Social Forum, May's Main
Event is being rescheduled for May 9. Location will be the traditional
Main & Neil site in Champaign. See details above in the Upcoming Events
Calendar.

Flyer possibilities suggested include UFPJ material on Afghanistan
(for instance, see:
http://www.unitedforpeace.org/article.php?id=4044
and
http://www.unitedforpeace.org/downloads/UFPJ%20Peaceful%20Alternatives%20Fact%20Sheet.doc )
Mention also made of the idea to use Glen Ford's piece on the "defeat" of
the anti-war movement:
http://www.blackagendareport.com/?q=content/first-black-president-defeats-us-antiwar-movement

**NEW** Suggestions for new custom flyer: focus on "Afpak" instead of just
Afghanistan OR focus on opposing the $83 billion spending bill that
includes funding for continued war and occupation. Backup suggestion:
reproducing Glen Ford's piece on the current defeat of the anti-war
movement (see above).

Mention made a few weeks back that we could use more Afghanistan signs and
probably should make some.

Stuart has volunteered to create an AWARE Facebook page.

No new information yet on Champaign/Urbana's busiest intersections.
Volunteer opportunity posted for this.

AWARE Presents:
=============
(Organization of AWARE-sponsored events in the community)

Current AWARE Presents event lineup:

1. Panel on the occasion of the first 100 days of the Obama Administration
(April 30) at Urbana City Hall (already reserved). UPTV
recording/broadcast planned. Confirmed: Paul Street, Robert Naiman, Carol
Ammons, Paul Diehl (UofI Political Science) and Brian Gaines (also UofI
Political Science). Event title finalized: "Obama: The First Hundred
Days". Flyer finalized and ready for posting/distribution. Event will be
broadcast live and also recorded for future broadcast. Event to be
submitted for Daily Illini and News Gazette community event calendars.
Conrad can record a WILL AM-580 Public Square spot if someone else writes
it up (3 minute limit). Full event details above in Upcoming Events
Calendar.

**NEW** Discussion of who to invite to the Tang Dynasty dinner

Paul Street scheduled to appear on Focus 580 May 1st 10AM.

Additional ideas under consideration for the future:

- Invitation to Stephen Kinzer to appear again.

- Invitation to William Blum

- Jeremy Scahill event: previously contacted, currently in a "wait and
see" pattern.

Anti-Racism:
=========
(AWARE's efforts to keep apprised of and provide support for
anti-racism/anti-discrimination efforts, including efforts of CUCPJ -
Champaign-Urbana Citizens for Peace and Justice)

**NEW** Attention drawn to the case of Oluwatofunmi Kaiyewu, medical
student shot to death by police on I-74. UofI Police and Champaign County
Sheriff's police were on the scene and both may have fired shots. Many
details are missing. Reported details so far are incongruent and
confounding. A wide range of possible scenarios are not yet ruled out,
including racial profiling, police harassment and a snowballing chase
resulting in unnecessary killing by the police. A chronological compendium
of articles so far was distributed to those interested in staying abreast
of the case.

AWARE on the Air
==============
(AWARE's weekly television show on public access cable channel 6 - UPTV,
Urbana Public Television)

Discussion on who can make it this week. Some volunteered, more always
welcome.

Many "Aware on the Air" recordings are now available on-line. See the
AWARE home page at anti-war.net .

Taping typically occurs each Tuesday at 1PM and is broadcast later the
same day at 10PM. AWARE members (and friends) invited to participate - the
more the merrier (see details above in upcoming events calendar). Program
quality is always better with more participants.

There is always room for more participation in AWARE on the Air - prepared
statements OK. Arriving late/leaving early is OK.

Farmer's Market
===========
(AWARE's weekly seasonal presence at the Urbana "Market at the Square" AKA
"Farmer's Market")

**NEW** Sign up sheet passed around for first few weeks.

**NEW** Mention made that bumper sticker and button supplies may be
adequate for the first week, but will need to be replenished.

Blackwater
========
(Activism regarding notorious domestic policing and international
mercenary contractor Blackwater, including coordination with
Illinois-based activist group Clearwater: see:
http://www.noprivatearmies.org )

**NEW** Mention made of anticipation regarding news from the 4-day
Blackwater activism events in Northwest Illinois going on all weekend.

Student Groups
===========
(AWARE's efforts to keep apprised of and provide support for local
chapters of student-affiliated progressive and anti-war groups such as
Campus Anti-Network, International Socialist Organization, and Iraq
Veterans Against the War).

(nothing new this week)

Monthly Message
============
(Efforts to propagate the content of the Main Event monthly flyer through
various media channels)

**NEW** Mention made of recent published letters in News-Gazette, thanks
to Carl. More planned for the future.

AWARE Films:
===========
(Organization of film and video showings in the community)

AWARE Films may be shown within an IMC Film series.

**NEW** Efforts underway to show "The Take" (see http://www.thetake.org )
at Champaign Public Library.

Other possible future showings:

1. "On White Privilege" (see
http://www.mediaed.org/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?preadd=action&key=137 )

2. Another showing of Naomi Wolf's "The End of America".

Old Business
**********
(new developments regarding ongoing issues)

Pursuit of meeting with Senator Durbin regarding his letter in support of
Israel during Gaza attack: Follow up attempts are planned to contact
Durbin after initial non-response. 3/1/09 update: Written response
received from Durbin, but making no reference to the meeting request.

Sweet Corn Festival application has been received. Some folks wonder
whether early submission will help us get a choice booth.

New Ideas
*********
(never before discussed ideas brought up during this meeting)

**NEW** Idea proposed that AWARE meet less than once a week. Resounding
opposition voiced. Counterproposal: meet twice a week 8-)

**NEW** Idea proposed to join the growing movement to oppose the
astonishing dehumanization of prisoners at the TAMMS supermax prison (see
http://www.yearten.org/ )

**NEW** Host a showing of Howard Zehr photo/interview project "When a
parent is in prison". Zehr presented in town not too long ago. See
http://www.emu.edu/personnel/people/show/zehrh .

(from last week) Introduction provided on "Bring the Guard Home, It's the
Law", a national movement of state campaigns to end the state National
Guard deployments. Dan Kenney (of Clearwater fame) is the Illinois
coordinator. Handout provided to all in attendance. Support expressed
without objection for endorsement of this campaign. Stuart will facilitate
this.

Events of the past week
******************
(comments/reviews of recent events since the last AWARE meeting)

**NEW** Anna Baltzer event last Saturday was praised highly as an
excellent, strong program. Good turnout. Artist performance also
appreciated. Mention made that Anna's presentation is available on DVD,
largely as was presented on Saturday. Karen has a copy. All agreed it
should be shown on UPTV.

Other Upcoming Events
******************
(events of note which aren't listed in the upcoming events calendar above)

Apr 28 (TODAY, Tuesday)  6-7:30PM Free Community Veterans Clinic at
Urbana-Champaign Friends Meetinghouse, 1904 E Main St, Urbana
As an outcome of AWARE's panel on PTSD in 2008, this free acupuncture
clinic was started in February 2009 and is held the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays
of each month. Credentialed professionals insert acupuncture needles into
both ears while recipients remain seated for 20-40 minutes. Much research
has shown the effectiveness of this treatment for stress reduction. This
free clinic is open to U.S. military veterans, current members of the
Armed Forces, or their immediate support network. Sponsored by
Acupuncturists Without Borders, www.acuwithoutborders.org .

May 12 (Tuesday)  6-7:30PM Free Community Veterans Clinic at
Urbana-Champaign Friends Meetinghouse, 1904 E Main St, Urbana
As an outcome of AWARE's panel on PTSD in 2008, this free acupuncture
clinic was started in February 2009 and is held the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays
of each month. Credentialed professionals insert acupuncture needles into
both ears while recipients remain seated for 20-40 minutes. Much research
has shown the effectiveness of this treatment for stress reduction. This
free clinic is open to U.S. military veterans, current members of the
Armed Forces, or their immediate support network. Sponsored by
Acupuncturists Without Borders, www.acuwithoutborders.org .