Change Links cannot publish without your support. Send events, articles or poetry to changelinks2@gmail.com or via http://change-links.org/submit/ Please subscribe as well. Subscriptions to the print edition are $12/25/50 a year, low income, regular or sustainer (sliding scale), Payable to “AFGJ,” our fiscal sponsor, with “Change Links” in the memo. All events announced are encouraged to donate $5 (per event), payable to AFGJ, mail to Change Links, PO Box 34236, LA 90034. It helps keep this publication solvent. Thanks in advance.
In light of the current COVID-19 global pandemic, and quarantines in California, the Change Links Calendar has also been affected by cancellation of events and closure of venues. Consequently, we will print fewer copies and mail out more until further notice. You’ll notice there are empty dates on this calendar. Most have turned to virtual meetings via teleconferencing, etc. Therefore, we strongly suggest that you contact any event listing of interest in this Calendar before you attend, as the ones listed herein were posted prior to actual circumstances reaching a heightened level of awareness..
Please contact the event by phone, email or website for updates.
Change Links urges all our subscribers and readers to administer all necessary precautions, to insure their safety. You will find a number of related articles to COVID-19 in this May print and electronic issue. We will continue to update you going forward. We advise you as well to do your personal research for updates from all available sources to you. We face a difficult time, and wish you and yours good health and tranquility as we weather this together.
Peace vigils: http://change-links.org/ongoing-peace-vigils-and-community-programs/
Other Calendars: http://ocprogressiveevents.info/,
http://la.indymedia.org/calendar/,
https://www.facebook.com/pg/ieprogressivealliance/events/,
http://www.activistsandiego.org/event, https://vcpjn.org/calendar/,
https://echoparkfilmcenter.org.
On-Going & Continuing Events
3rd Sunday, KPFK Local Station Board meeting, 10:30a-1:30p. Open to the public with 3 opportunities for short public comments. Check http://www.kpfk.org for other meetings, including LSB committees. The meetings will be conducted via Zoom or a Maestro conference audio conference call. Further info announced over KPFK 90.7 FM air waves and kpfk.org
Sundays, RAC-LA Food Program (El Programa Comida) Revolutionary Autonomous Communities, 1-5p, SE corner of Wilshire Bl & Parkview St, LA 90057, free produce distribution. https://www.facebook.com/raclosangeles/
Sundays, Serve the People LA, 4-6p, Mariachi Plaza, 1817 E 1st St, LA 90033. STPLA free food & clothing distributions (along with books, shoes, etc). We also engage the community on happenings around the neighborhood and city, learn about grievances and provide legal services with help from the LA Ctr for Community Law & Action. https://servethepeoplela.wordpress.com/
3rd Sunday, SoCal350 monthly meeting, 3-5 p, Physical meeting cancelled, virtual “meeting” scheduled. http://bit.ly/SoCal350Updates; facebook.com/SoCal350 Climate Action.
Mondays, Support Honduran Refugees, 6-8p, Central American Resource Center (CARECEN-LA), 2845 W 7th St, LA. Respond to Trump’s zero tolerance policies on Refugees and Asylum and to prepare to receive the Refugee Caravan from Honduras and other immigrants from Central America. Offices are closed, called for details: (213)-385-7800. In the San Fernando Valley: 213-385-7800 ext. 122
Tuesdays, Join Black Lives Matter, Stop LAPD Spying and allies at LA Police Commission meeting at LAPD HQ, 9:30a, 100 W. 1st St to speak out against racist police murders with impunity. Police Commission meetings are being held via Zoom call, with option to call in by phone to observe and (occasionally and arbitrarily) to comment. They have been keeping a lot of people from being heard, and seem to be messing up the topics that people want to be heard on. http://www.lapdonline.org/police_commission for official information http://www.stoplapdspying.org for movement talking points
Tuesday eves, Stop LAPD Spying Coalition meetings have been changed to teleconference. LA CAN, 838 E. 6th St. LA, CA 90021, is closed to the public. http://stoplapdspying.org – see website for meeting topics. https://www.facebook.com/stoplapdspying
Tuesdays, 8:30-10p, Second Draft LA, open mic cold read of writing and acting at Art Share-LA, 801 E 4th Pl, LA 90013. https://artsharela.org (213) 687-4278. Website now describes virtual galleries and at-home “concerts” so this has probably been canceled. https://zoom.us/j/9103444651 Pwd: artshare
Wednesdays, 4-6p, Black Lives Matter-led vigil vs. DA Jackie Lacey with families who have lost loved ones to police & sheriff’s deputies succeeded in denying DA Lacey immediate re-election and forced her into a November run-off. Has been converted to an Instagram Live action. http://www.blmla.org
Wednesdays, 6-7:30p, LA CAN Legal Clinic, LA CAN, 838 E. 6th St. LA, CA 90021. Suspended until further notice. Call 213.228.0024 for information about how to address needs of unhoused people during the COVID-19 outbreak and beyond.
3rd Wed, 7p, Community Alternatives to 9-1-1 training, Chuco’s Justice Center of Youth Justice Coalition. 7625 S. Central Ave, LA 90001. Check for status: 323-235-4243 action@youth4justice.org/
Last Wed, 7p “Socialism Now!” Peace & Freedom Party monthly meeting, 2617 S. Hauser Bl., LA, 90016 (Steps South from Adams Ave.(just East of Fairfax Ave.) http://www.Peace&Freedom Party.org-LA Chapter. Presumably not happening in-person until physical distancing demands can be lifted.
1st Thursday, 6-8p, Justice Not Jails, has switched to a virtual meeting. https://zoom.us/j/529548178
You can also call in by dialing: 301 715 8592 US Meeting ID: 529 548 17. RSVP to Larry Foy at: Lfoy@im4humanintegrity.org.
Fridays, Interfaith Communities United for Justice & Peace forum, 7-9a, has switched to a virtual meeting on zoom or dial in by phone: 669-900-6833 For details and to prevent zoom-bombing, contact communications@icujp.org for an invitation and instructions.
Fridays, Vigil for Peace & Justice, 5-6p, sponsored by KPFK LSB Outreach Committee & friends has been suspended until further notice.
Fridays, Montrose Peace Vigil, 5:30-7p, since 2006! NW corner of Ocean View Bl and Honolulu Av, Montrose, CA 91020. http://montrosepeacevigil.proboards.com/
1st & 3rd Fri, LA Poverty Department Movie Nights, 7p, Skid Row History Museum & Archive, 250 S. Broadway, LA 90012. movienights@lapovertydept.org. 213-413-1077. Suspended for the duration.
3rd Fri: Lawyers in the Library, 1-4p, http://www.lalawlibrary.org/classes, 213-785-2516, 301 W. 1st, LA 90012. Not happening. All libraries in the city and county, as well as Santa Monica and other cities are closed.
Saturdays, Crenshaw Farmers Market, 10a-3p, 3650 Martin Luther King Blvd. offers fresh produce and artisan goods. Ties into the mall’s health initiative promoting wellness in the Crenshaw community. Closed until further notice. Contact Sustainable Economic Enterprises: http://www.seela.org Some other farmer’s markets are continuing with physical distancing.
Every 1st and 3rd Sat: End Homelessness Now-LA, 2-4pm, a grassroots campaign to pressure LA city and county officials to use vacant public properties for large, permanent, supportive public housing to end the homelessness catastrophe. Call or email for information on how or whether meetings will continue.. 323-723-6416 endhomelessnessnowla@gmail.com https://www.facebook.com/endhomelessnessnowla/
Every 2nd & 4th Sat, SOLA Food Co-Op http://www.solafoodcoop.com/ Baldwin Hills Farmers Market is closed. SOLA Co-Op has been taking some orders for pick-up.
2nd and 4th Sat, Chuco’s Justice Center legal clinic: 10a-12n, 7625 S Central Ave LA 90001, 323-235-4243. Prepare for Court – Build a Participatory Defense Strategy, Petition to Have Your Name Removed from a Gang Database or Gang Injunction, Expunge Your Criminal or Juvenile Record Prepare for the Parole Board / Commutations and Pardons / Get Prop 47 Relief Immigration Law / Deportation Defense. Contact to find out how information is being made available: info@youth4justice.org 323-235-4243 http://www.youth4justice.org/
Every Sat, JVP – CodePINK Vigil for Palestine & Migrant Rights, 2-4p, 3rd St. Promenade at Arizona Ave., Santa Monica suspended until further notice.
Last Saturday, Move to Amend Local Meeting, 1-3p, Holy Grounds Coffee & Tea, 5371 Alhambra Ave, LA 90032, 323-255-1279. Call to check, venue probably closed.
All Laughtears.com events are semi-postponed, new dates TBA. We’ll be meeting in the clouds a la
Richard Brautigan, who said, “Everyone has a place in history. Mine is clouds.” Feel safe! Call Gerry Fialka for weekly zoom & video chat sessions 310-306-7330, email: pfsuzy@aol.com. See article by Gerry Fialka elsewhere in this issue.
UndocU 2.0 Conference postponed until the Fall of 2020. http://www.cla.csulb.edu/departments/gms/undocu-2-0/
Certain Days Call for Submissions for 2021 calendar, The Certain Days: Freedom for Political Prisoners Calendar collective will be releasing our 20th calendar this coming autumn. The 2021 theme is “A Generation of Support Through the Bars,” reflecting on the roles of political prisoners in social justice movements, historically, currently, and as we look to the future.
We are looking for 12 pieces of art and 12 short essays to feature in the calendar, which hangs in more than 6,000 homes, workplaces, prison cells, and community spaces around the world. We encourage contributors to submit both new and existing work. We especially seek submissions from people in prison, so please forward to any prison-based artists and writers.
Deadline: Sunday, May 17, 2020. http://www.abcf.net/blog/certain-days-call-for-submissions-for-2021-calendar/
MAY 1 – FRI International Working Peoples’ Day AKA May Day
Peoples’ Strike, Global May Day, & GenStrike 2020 among others all planning May Day virtual actions, (see article on page 1) with some physical components. #M1GS #May1GeneralStrike. Pacifica radio is planning 24 hours of programming from workers’ movements and struggles around the world, some broadcast on Pacifica stations and affiliates, including KPFK 90.7 FM locally (www.kpfk.org), and webcast with livestreaming and pre-recorded segments on facebook and the Pacifica Foundation TV YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPXZti4TjusmwuiS_6HB4QA
6th Annual May Day Car Protest in Boyle Heights 2020, 4-6p, 1. Assemble BEFORE 4:00 pm on Chavez/Lorena @5 Puntos 4p caravan begins, Cesar Chavez towards DTLA. Left on Chicago St. Right on 1st Street. End at 1st & Boyle
OUR DEMANDS:
- No deportations, legalization for ALL!
- Free medical care for all Covid-19 patients
- Save public education
- Jail killer Cops, Community Control Over the Police!
https://www.facebook.com/events/229014625125996/ Organizer: https://www.facebook.com/CentroCSO/
May Day 805 Santa Maria, 4:30-6:30p, 120 E Jones St, Santa Maria, CA 93454. Santa Maria, join us for #MayDay805 on Friday May 1st to uplift International Workers’ Day! Every year we celebrate workers and immigrants for their contributions to our communities on May Day. This year, millions of working class families are struggling for survival during this pandemic. Join our car caravan this May Day where we will be asking to Bail out the Working class and cancel rent while honoring our essential workers. Meet us at the parking lot of 120 E. Jones St. at 4:30p (please remain in your cars). Caravan heads out at 5p. https://www.facebook.com/events/595387924410055/ Organizer: Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy (CAUSE) https://www.facebook.com/cause805/
MAY 2 – SAT
35th Annual UCLA Pow Wow, (May 2-3, 2020) UCLA Wallis Annenberg Stadium, Parking is $13 per day in lots 4. uclapowwow@gmail.com https://www.aisc.ucla.edu/events/powwow2020.aspx Please check to make sure if any in-person event is happening (which seems unlikely as we go to press).
MAY 3 – SUN
Committee for Racial Justice presents: HOW IS COVID 19 IMPACTING THE BLACK COMMUNITY? 6:30-8p zoom meeting with Will Gordh and Nana Gyamfi. Will is a freelance filmmaker and the director of the ongoing YouTube news commentary Some More News. Nana, a social justice movement attorney, is executive director of Black Alliance for Just Immigration. She is also the host of the radio show, Conversations on the Way, the Asafo Edition. They will address questions like: In what ways are Black people being hit harder than other demographic groups by the Coronavirus Pandemic? What false narratives are being spun by opponents of racial justice? What are the best responses to these? What remedies should anti-racists be demanding? There will be Q and A and discussion after the presentations. If you’re not on the CRJ email list and are interested in joining us for a program that could not be more timely, call Joanne at 310-422-5431 to have the zoom contact information emailed to you.
MAY 4 – MON
50th Anniversary of Kent State Massacre of anti-war protesters in Ohio, 1970.
Follow-up national call for #PeoplesStrike2020 9a-12n PDT, after May Day for continuing actions and coalition/alliance building. See https://generalstrike.mayfirst.org/ for details or email mayday2020generalstrike@gmail.com
MAY 5 – TUE
Cinco de Mayo – anniversary of Mexican defeat of French invaders in Battle of Puebla, widely celebrated by Chican@/Mexican@ community in the US.
MAY 6 – WED
MAY 7 – THU
MAY 8 – FRI
MAY 9 – SAT
The Sanctions Kill Coalition Webinar, 1p PDT, Speakers include: Venezuela — Carlos J. Ron Martinez, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs; Syria — Dr. Bashar Ja’afari, Syrian Ambassador to the United Nations; Nicaragua — Francisco O Campbell, Nicaraguan Ambassador to the U.S.; Cuba — Representative; Zimbabwe — Representative. The US has imposed economic sanctions against 39 countries. In many cases, this denies them access to medicine and medical equipment as well as access to world markets for food and other necessities. During the coronavirus crisis the US, with the highest death count in the world, has upped the sanctions against countries like Iran and Venezuela, and has tried to weaponize COVID-19 to bring down governments that will not follow the dictates of Washington and Wall Street.
The UN has asked that sanctions be loosened during this crisis but the US has done the opposite. Many US allies have broken with them and sent medical aid to some of these countries. Now is an important time for the people in the US to come out strongly against these sanctions, which are simply war by other means.
Register here: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_guql-H2qS22fnXY4u_1afA
For more information: https://sanctionskill.org/
MAY 10 – SUN
Mother’s Day (As occasionally occurs, the US Mother’sDay on the second Sunday in May coincides exactly this year with Mexican Mother’s Day, also celebrated in some Central American countries, on May 10)
MAY 11 – MON
MAY 12 – TUE
Immigrant Defense Forum, 5p, on-line. Alliance to Defend Im/migrants voted to transition the Day School/Forum to an online format, and rather than organizing one large event, we would have the plenary meeting online for our next meeting, with the hope that we can do regular online educational/political/and activist presentations that will be public so that we can further the cause of immigrant rights during the stay at home order. RSVP VIA ZOOM HERE: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJ0sduCuqjopHdB1yFnIHq3kHJkcQHd-uvfB
CLICK HERE TO SIGN ON THE COALITION: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XOIQk5SN8f0KjurrAAzjP00Ykmrk7JrcPupmst36Fgg/edit
Two speakers, one activist in the Inland Empire fighting against the Adelanto detention center, and a Chicano Studies professor and Immigrant Rights activist out of San Diego. We need help with outreach & online promotion and translation. If anyone can help, please email Victor C at canek1917@gmail.com.
MAY 13 – WED
MAY 14 – THU
Change Links monthly planning conference call, 7:30p, to develop June issue. Contact changelinks2@gmail.com for details or to volunteer and join the call.
MAY 15 – FRI
Nakba Day (Arabic for “catastrophe,” marking the israeli occupation and expulsion of many Palestinians from their own land in 1948; many still remaining in refugee camps, and in the open-air prison of Gaza.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nakba_Day
50th Anniversary of Jackson State Massacre in Mississippi, 1970, in which 2 protesting Black students were killed and 12 were injured by state and local police. The white dominated anti-war movement paid little attention at the time; no famous rock musicians recorded “Two Dead in Mississippi”, unlike “Four Dead in Ohio”.
MAY 16 – SAT
MAY 17 – SUN
KPFK Local Station Board meeting, probably by teleconference — see http://www.pfk.org or http://www.kpftx.org for details on calling in for public comment. May be livestreamed on kpftx.org
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Day_Against_Homophobia,_Transphobia_and_Biphobia
May 17-24
8th Annual No Youth in Prison Week
PROBLEM: The three step oppressive punishment process targeting youth is:
1) Criminalization of youth stigmatizes youth through laws and norms targeting their behavior, dress, socializing, identity, and community they live in.
2) Policing of Youth is the surveillance and social control of youth by law enforcement and those in disciplinary roles.
3) Punitive Discipline of Youth is the punishing youth, including detention, school suspension or expulsion, incarceration, home arrest, and probation.
These three steps need to be eliminated in the juvenile justice system, the prison part of the school to prison pipeline.
The National Week of Action Against Incarcerating Youth is a fully-volunteer project organized by hundreds of groups and individuals around the US. We are looking for groups and individuals around the US to organize events.
The juvenile justice system targets four youth groups for incarceration; they are the following, in no specific order: (1) Youth of Color, (2) Youth with Disabilities, (3) Economically Disadvantaged Youth, and (4) LGBT+ Youth.
Incarceration is not the solution, but the problem. Once youth are forced into the juvenile justice system, it is hard for them to get out of it. Youth are not at risk, they are targeted and trapped. Please support youth and their futures and demand no youth in prison no matter the crime/harm they have committed. Incarceration does nothing to address the needs of the youth who have committed the harm.
Another world is possible, and it begins with community based programs and alternatives such as rehabilitation, therapy, counseling, job readiness workshops, tutoring, more community programs and centers, and transformative justice programs in the community and in schools to address conflicts.
https://www.facebook.com/noyouthinprison/
Chelsie Joy Acosta, National Coordinator, National Weeks of Actions, chelsieacosta@hotmail.com, 801-865-2982 #NoYouthInPrison #StopIncarceratingYouth
Official Website: https://savethekidsgroup.org/8thnoyouthinprison/
Facebook Fanpage: https://www.facebook.com/noyouthinprison/
2020 Event Facebook event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/184353196261150/
MAY 18 – MON
MAY 19 – TUE
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malcolm_X_Day Observed by Berkeley, CA. Official events in San Jose and San Francisco
May 19 is the shared birthday of Malcolm X, Ho Chi Minh, Yuri Kochiyama, Lorraine Hansberry, and possibly Augusto Cesar Sandino (Nicaraguan namesake of the FSLN). It is a day for international resistance against imperialism and inter-communal solidarity for liberation.
MAY 20 – WED
MAY 21 – THU
MAY 22 – FRI
Harvey Milk Day
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quds_Day
MAY 23 – SAT
MAY 24 – SUN
MAY 25 – MON Memorial Day holiday commemorated
Help Veterans for Peace dismantle “Arlington West” installation if the beaches have been re-opened by the Memorial Day weekend. Arlington West is the installation of crosses and other symbols representing war dead in the US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan (still going on and no end in sight).
MAY 26 – TUE
MAY 27 – WED
MAY 28 – THU
Change Links distribution – and/or
MAY 29 – FRI
MAY 30 – SAT
MAY 31 – SUN
Fundraiser: CovidMD drive-thru testing for Covid-19, Hosted by Shared Harvest Fund and Shared Harvest Foundation, 9a–6p, Free COVID-19 tests will be available for under and uninsured Angelenos this Friday courtesy of Shared Harvest Foundation’s myCovidMD® initiative. Participants will be screened by licensed medical professionals using the CDC screening tool and given a rapid Covid-19 test if needed. myCovidMD® is a task-force initiative of the Shared Harvest Foundation, a nonprofit 501(c)3 and Shared Harvest Fund social enterprise technology. myCovidMD® is an application developed by
Shared Harvest that will meet the need for community-based testing, will provide free telehealth services, and will match residents with critical Crisis Buddies amidst the rapidly scaling COVID-19 global pandemic.
Tickets: mycovidmd.org https://www.facebook.com/events/545273409450820/ https://sharedharvestfund.org/ Shared Harvest Fund links volunteers to non-profits on the basis of using volunteer hours in socially-useful work to reduce student debt burdens. More information: 925 N. La Brea Ave., Ste# 5059, LA 90038. 323-880-0121, people@sharedharvestfund.org
