CNY Solidarity Members and Friends,
The national movement to end violence in schools can’t become an alibi for more police violence against students in the city of Syracuse. Black Lives Matter calls on us to join a Noontime rally at City Hall today, Tues, 4/3, advocating for a young Nottingham student injured and traumatized by a police officer at school last year.
To join a broader conversation about the repressive role of police in the district and the city, check out the calendar of meetings shared by the Syracuse Police Accountability and Reform Coalition (SPAARC).
Give your input on the hiring of the new Police Chief. Please also weigh in at school forums focused on how to make city schools nonviolent spaces for children rather than sites for the new Jim Crow. Our schools may be segregated, but that’s no reason our struggle against violence should be.
The Workers’ Center shares updates, good news, and thanks for the efforts of Coalition members who have joined the struggle in recent months. These struggles include challenging Border Patrol and ICE at the Regional Transportation Center, fighting wage theft at Melrose Farms, supporting farmworkers at Slocum, and lifting up immigrant women in Batavia. These campaigns are ongoing, and the WCCNY welcomes both new members for training this week as well as sustaining contributions.
Interested in joining the Poor People’s Campaign and preparing for the May 14th action in Albany? The Syracuse Peace Council, together with the Coalition, hosts a nonviolent moral direct action training this Saturday, April 7th from 10am-5pm.
The NYCLU invites CNY Solidarity to its Kharas and Seidenberg Awards dinner on April 13 where we will celebrate local leaders engaged in defending democracy. Executive Director, Donna Lieberman will offer opening remarks, and we hope to see enough support from all of you to sponsor at least one table.
ArtRage and Refugee and Immigrant Self-Empowerment (RISE) invite us to exciting fundraisers on April the 5th and 7th respectively. Drone activists, universal healthcare proponents, and a new tenants’ association welcome our energy, voices, and legwork in coming weeks. For all of the details on these many efforts as well as forums on zoning and organizing around lead prevention, please read on.
In solidarity,
Marianna & Maureen
A silent spring wood:
A crow opens its sharp beak
And creates a sky.
– From Haiku: This Other World (1998)
Richard Wright, author of Native Son and Black Boy
COMMUNITY OUTREACH EVENT CALENDAR FOR APRIL 3 – 10
Join the CNY solidarity coalition at
The 2018 Kharas and Seidenberg Awards Dinner: Defending Our Democracy
April 13, 2018 @ 6:00 pm – 9:30 pm at the downtown Marriott Syracuse. Hosted by the NYCLU.
We are collecting sliding scale donations at this time for a 10 person table. An individual ticket is $75, however, please indicate if you would like to donate extra or if you have financial barriers to the ticket cost. We would like no one to be turned away from this event. Please email the number of tickets you need and your sliding scale donation to Marianna.kaufman@gmail.com by the end of this week. We are also taking donations for an ad in the program. Contact Marianna if you would like to contribute.
———————————————————————–
Rally for Jabari! Hosted by Black Lives Matter Syracuse
Tuesday April 3rd 12 PM – 12:45 PM Syracuse City Hall 233 E Washington St. Syracuse
Over a year ago Jabari Boykins, a ninth grader at Nottingham high school, was assaulted by Officer Vallon Smith. He was walking away when Smith shoved him against a wall, choked him, punched him, and fractured his arm. He was a kid, at school, and he was supposed to be safe.
It’s taken a lot of time, but we are making progress, we are taking this fight to City Hall. Jabari and his mother need your support. They need you to share this event, to show up, and to hear them! Sign the petition! Demand Officer Vallon Smith’s immediate and permanent removal from SCSD.
Syracuse Peace Council’s Street Heat
Tuesday April 3rd 4:15 PM to 5 PM Hancock Airbase, opposite main gate at 6000 E. Molloy Rd, between Thompson and Townline
Saturday April 7th 9 AM – 9:45 AM by Syracuse Regional Market main entrance
Tuesday April 10th 4:15 PM – 5 PM Adams and Almond St. (Rt. 81 underpass)
The Syracuse area hosts Hancock Air National Guard base where the Guard’s 174th Attack Wing conducts drone assassination and target identification missions using MQ-9 Reaper drone in Afghanistan and probably elsewhere. Syracuse Peace Council’s Street Heat holds a monthly presence outside Hancock Airbase to call for an end to the illegal and immoral killing of human beings by weaponized drones, which are piloted remotely from the base. Join us! Signs provided or bring your own progressive signs. Contact for questions (315) 478-4571
Public Forum for input on Hiring New SPD Chief
Tuesday April 3rd 5 PM – 7:30 PM
Mayor Ben Walsh and his administration is soliciting public input into the hiring of a new Syracuse Police Department Chief. This is the first for four initial public meetings. SPAARC encourages everyone, ESPECIALLY NORTHSIDE RESIDENTS, to come out and share their needs, concerns, and visions.
The Syracuse Police Accountability and Reform Coalition-SPAARC is a coalition of groups organizing around the need to hold SPD officers accountable and break the school-to-prison pipeline in Syracuse City Schools. Like and follow SPAARC for the full list of forums April 3rd – April 30th.
ReZone Syracuse Project Team Series of Public Meetings
Tuesday April 3rd 6:30 PM cafeteria of Corcoran High School, 919 Glenwood Ave. Syr
Wednesday April 4th 6:30 PM cafeteria of Henninger High School, 600 Robinson St. Syr
The Re Zone Syracuse Project team is hosting a series of interactive public meetings, which will include a presentation about the project and the current draft of a new Citywide Zoning Map. The presentation will be followed by an open discussion for questions and comments from the public. Meetings for the series were previously held at Fowler HS and Nottingham HS in the past one week.
Rapid Response Orientation Training for the Immigrant and Refugee Defense Network
Wednesday April 4th 6:30 PM 2013 E. Genesee Street
If interested in attending, please contact Julie Dragonetti at dragonettij2@gmail.com
Charlie King & Colleen Kattau in concert to benefit ArtRage Gallery
Thursday April 5th 7 PM – 9:30 PM at ArtRage Gallery 505 Hawley Ave, Syracuse
A joyous night of song with two old friends. Great tunes, sweet harmonies, incendiary lyrics! Join us for this special benefit concert to support the work of ArtRage.
$20 Suggested Donation at the Door & Cash Bar
Charlie King is a musical storyteller and political satirist. He sings and writes passionately about the extraordinary lives of ordinary people. Colleen Kattau is a bilingual vocalist, guitarist and composer of songs. Her poetic originals and charismatic stage presence inspire hope and spark imagination and audience participation!
Nonviolent Moral Direct Action Training hosted by CNY Solidarity Coalition and SPC
Saturday April 7th 10 AM – 5 PM University United Methodist 1085 E Genesee St. Syr
Want to learn more about nonviolent direct action? Thinking of participating in the May 14 civil disobedience action being organized by the Poor People’s Campaign in Albany, NY or in followup actions for the campaign?” This is a great opportunity to learn and consider how nonviolent direct action can make your social justice campaigns more powerful and effective.
Please formally RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/nonviolent-direct-action-training-tickets-43723220329. Experienced trainers from the Syracuse Peace Council will facilitate the training. There is no fee to attend the training, but we will collect donations at the event.
Healthcare-for-All Canvassing hosted by Syracuse DSA
Saturday April 7th 11 AM – 2 PM 2617 S Salina St,. Syracuse
We are partnering with the Campaign for NY Health to go door-to-door talking to people about their healthcare experiences and letting them know about the New York Health Act, which would create a single-payer healthcare system in New York State.
We are not alone in our experiences with the healthcare system. But we need collective action to change it. Let’s build this movement for universal healthcare!
RISE Presents “A Night of Nations” hosted by Syracuse RISE and My Lucky Tummy
Saturday April 7th 6 PM – 9 PM at Temple Concord 910 Madison St., Syracuse
Join us our first annual fundraiser celebrating the diverse cultures, cuisines, and communities found at RISE. “Night of Nations” will be a festive, semi-formal event that includes a happy hour and dinner with food from across the world served by My Lucky Tummy, recognition of those friends who empower Syracuse’s refugee community, an ethnic-based, Silent Auction, and more! Join us in celebrating multicultural Syracuse, New York!
Tickets are available for $65 through Eventbrite. Go to our website at www.syracuserise.org for the Eventbrite link and more details.
Within Our Gates. An exploration of lynching in America. Hosted by ArtRage Gallery
Saturday April 7th 7 PM – 9 PM at ArtRage Gallery 505 Hawley Ave, Syracuse
Within Our Gates: Site and Memory in the American Landscape
Join us for the opening reception with painter Keith Morris Washington.
Watch the interview- Basic Black: Artist Keith Morris Washington on Black History, Art and Lynching
Rally for Grad Worker Healthcare hosted by Syracuse Graduate Employees United
Monday April 9th 1 PM – 2 PM Hendricks Chapel, Syracuse
SU Graduate Employees deserve free, quality healthcare. Syracuse University administration is attempting to change the conditions of our health insurance, while not giving us an opportunity to collectively bargain over the terms of that agreement.
Join us to rally on the steps of Hendricks Chapel, so that we can demand not only a better deal for health insurance, but for the right to collectively bargain over the conditions of our employment. We want a say, and collective bargaining gives us a voice.
Community Engagement Forum at Corcoran High School by SCSD
Monday April 9th 5:30 PM – 7:30 PM Corcoran HS, 919 Glenwood Ave, Syracuse
The Board of Education of the Syracuse City School District invites the public to attend. There will be a brief presentation, followed by an open question and comment period. The Board particularly invites comments and questions regarding school climate, culture, and safety.
Syracuse Lead Prevention Coalition: April Meeting hosted by Uplift Syracuse
Monday April 9th 6 PM – 7:30 PM 500 W Genesee St, Syracuse
Syracuse has one of the nation’s highest rates of lead exposure for children. Our monthly meetings have brought together concerned citizens, non-profit workers, elected officials, and other community organizers.
This month we will be discussing this complex problem and possible solutions, and discussing the path forward with coalition building. We will be joined by Legal Services CNY, and hear about their efforts canvassing and community outreach.
Unite for Tenant Rights! Rally by Syracuse Tenants United
Tuesday, April 10th
Syracuse Tenants United is organizing a direct action and demand letter delivery for tenants in the East Genesee/East Fayette area who have been victimized and mistreated by an unscrupulous landlord. Previously, our collective action against this property owner has been successful, resulting in voided leases and reimbursement. Still the fight continues as more tenants experience dangerous and unclean conditions. We ask that you join us as we march for safe housing and decent living conditions.
Please email Syracuse Tenants United at syracusetenantsunited@gmail.com for event time and more information. Also, finds us on Facebook and Twitter @SyracuseTenants
Please save the date:
Work for Tips? Testify to End Tipped Wage
Monday April 30th 8:45 AM- 2 PM SUNY-ESF Syracuse
If you would like to be part of the WCCNY group that will have a presence on April 30’s hearing call 315-218-5708 or write to wccny@workerscentercny.org and find more info here.
And a special message from our friends at the Workers Center of CNY:
We want to thank all of CNY Solidarity members who are part of the Immigrant and Refugee Defense Network for their commitment and work to defend and show up for our immigrant community. In the last two weeks:
You showed up at the Syracuse Regional Transportation Center to protest border patrol racially profiling our communities when they take the buses and trains.
You went to Batavia and showed up for women and our friend Arely Tomas
We recovered $1600 in stolen wages for the families who worked at Melrose Farms! This was the original demand of the families and they got the money in a matter of two weeks thanks to all of your support.
Thank you to everyone who supported the Friends of Farmworkers! to make sure Slocum House stay as a place of hospitality for farmworkers! more information coming soon to support and donate to this effort.
We all continue the fight. Sí se puede!
Please continue to support the families affected by the cruel Trump’s immigration enforcement.
Become member sustainers of the workers’ center, here to make a monthly donation.
If you would like to add your event or fundraiser to the weekly community outreach event calendar, please email the information in 100 words or less to Marianna.kaufman@gmail.com by Monday mornings at 9am.