Welcome to this week’s edition of the White Rose Political Calendar. The calendar takes its name from the White Rose, a resistance group in Nazi Germany that worked to educate and organize opposition to the horrifying agenda of the Third Reich. In the spirit of the White Rose, WPKN offers its weekly Political Calendar in order to give voice to the struggles for political, social, economic and environmental justice. Here are some of the listings for the week of April 14, 2013.
The CT-based group Promoting Enduring Peace is awarding the 2013 Gandhi Peace Award to activist Bill McKibben for his longtime work on behalf of the environment and his founding of the grassroots group 350.org. The award ceremony and a talk by Bill McKibben will take place on April 18, 7:00 p.m. at the Unitarian Society of New Haven, 700 Hartford Turnpike, Hamden, Connecticut. More information is available at pepeace.org
New Haven’s Annual Earth Day Rock-to-Rock Bicycle Ride will take place on Saturday, April 21st. Teams, individuals, and families can follow routes of varying lengths and difficulty as they travel between New Haven’s West and East Rocks. Food and entertainment will be available along the way, and the registration fees and pledges benefit 20 different environmental and social justice groups in the New Haven region. More information is available at rocktorock.org.
To commemorate Sexual Assault Awareness Month ,the Women’s Center of Danbury presents “The Invisible War” at The Palace Danbury on Thursday, April 25th, at 7:00 p.m. The Palace Danbury is located at 165 Main Street in Danbury, Connecticut. A Panel discussion will follow the screening of this 2012 Sundance Film Festival winner about rape in the U.S. military. The Event is FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. Registration can be made by calling 203-731-5200 or e-mailing womenscenter@wcogd.org
The Unitarian Society of New Haven is sponsoring a panel discussion on Michelle Alexander’s acclaimed book The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness on Wednesday, May 1, at 7:00 p.m. This free event will feature a wide range of community activists, legal experts, and local politicians. For more information, call 203-288-1807
A letter-writing campaign has been started to save thirteen Depression-era murals by Ben Shahn, renowned for his social-realist art, painted at the Bronx Post Office in 1937. Titled “America at Work,” the murals were inspired by a Walt Whitman poem and include an image of the white-haired poet standing alongside a blackboard that features some of his verse. The building is for sale, and there is an effort to establish landmark status for the murals. The e-mail address for Landmarks Preservation Commission Chair Robert Tierney is info@lpc.nyc.gov.
The next meeting of New Haven Green Drinks will be on Wednesday, April 17, at 6:00 pm at Box 63 American Bar and Grill, 338 Elm Street, New Haven, Connecticut. The discussion will center around creating a GMO-Free Connecticut. For more information, go to greendrinks.org/CT/NewHaven
CONECT, C-O-N-E-C-T, is a non-partisan, multi-faith organization of 25 diverse congregations in Fairfield and New Haven Counties CT, who have come together as one community, to effect change in the areas of social and economic justice and policies for the common good. They train leaders in the art of public life to give power to our voices and create strong congregations and community partnerships.
CONECT’s first three initiatives are access to affordable health care, equity in education financing and predatory lending practices as they relate to consumer debt. For more information, go to www.weconect.org or call 203-787-1090
The Sierra Club has created a website that allows you to Get Out! for Earth Day. Go to sierraclub.org/earthday for more information about hundreds of outdoor events taking place around the United States.
To list your group’s local, regional or national events, send announcements, one week in advance when possible, to the White Rose Political Calendar, at whiterosewpkn@gmail.com. This week’s calendar was produced by Rod and Valerie Richardson.