Meeting notes for People for Peace, Justice, and Healing February 25, 2006

People for Peace, Justice, and Healing met at 10:00 a.m. at Associated Ministries, 1224 South "I" St., Tacoma, on Saturday, Feb. 25, 2006. Present for check-in: Sallie S., Kyle, Sheila, Mark, Sharon, Martell, Rob, and Vivi.

AGENDA

1. UFPPC list. (Sallie S.)
Help is needed for bringing the UFPPC contact list up to date: contact Sallie if you can help.

2. Wal-Mart in Fircrest. (Sallie S.)
The West End Committee on Wal-Mart, a group opposing the Fircrest Wal-Mart (Mildred & 21st) will meet on Mar. 1, 7:00 p.m.-8:30 p.m., at Tacoma Community College (Allied Health Building, Room 19-28) to move the campaign forward -- all who attend will be expected to participate. For more information, contact Jake, Jobs with Justice 253-459-5107). NOTE: The site of the Wal-Mart planned for Bridgeport Way & 67th-74th was cleared of trees this week, although a lawsuit to stop the development is still pending.

3. Northwest Detention Center Roundtable. (Sallie S.)
Does PPJH want to be on the roundtable officially? About fifteen groups are represented. They meet every other month. Sigrun Freeman, administrator of the TEACH Program of the Northwest Leadership Forum (253-272-0771 ext. 21); freeman@northwestleadership.org) leads the group. Civil liberties and human rights issues are pre-eminent. The next meeting will be on Tues., Mar. 21, 9:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m., at Shiloh Baptist, 1211 S. "I" St., Tacoma, in the E.Z. Brazill Multi-Purpose Building. Sharon, who is also involved with this issue through the Friends Meeting, will coordinate with Colleen and Martell.

4. March 19 update. (Sallie S.)
After the march through the Hilltop, the following will speak: Dexter Gordon, African- American Studies and Communication Studies; Jeannie Darneille; Lietta Ruger of Military Families Speak Out (with Joe Colgan). On MOnday evening, Feb. 27, at 7:00 p.m., there will be a logistics meeting at Bob & Pat Rudolph's in Steilacoom (call Bob at 581-8927 for directions); logistics are everything for a successful event, so please come and help! Vans are needed. There will also be a planning meeting at Associated Ministries on Tues., Mar. 1, at 7:00 p.m. PPJH agreed to donate $100 to the event, and another $100 if needed (Associated Ministries is coordinating funding).

5. Feb. 22 vigil. (Colleen)
The MoveOn (http://www.moveon.org/) Constitution vigil on Feb. 22 to focus attention on illegal government spying brought out about a dozen new people.

6. Earth Charter. (Sheila)
Yesterday Shiela and Silvia met with Centro Latino director Julio Quan, who is interested in collaborating on an event, provided there is good follow-up; he has useful connections with UWT and TCC. A booth has been reserved at the Apr. 22 (10:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.) Earth Day event at the Tacoma Nature Center at 19th & Tyler. -- Sheila read from the section of the Preamble to the Earth Charter that is entitled "The Challenge Ahead": "The choice is ours: form a global partnership to care fo the Earth and one another or risk the destruction of ourselves and the diversity of life. Fundamental changes are needed in our values, institutions, and ways of living. We must realize that when basic need have been met, human development is primarily about being more, not having more." Discussion of the passage. Discussion of the bird flu crisis as exemplary of global interconnectedness and the ability of human groups to work together effectively.

7. Freedom of Information Act request through the ACLU (Colleen).
Julia Hampton, the Legal Director of ACLU-Washington, called Colleen to see whether People for Peace, Justice, and Healing and United for Peace of Pierce County would be interested in being the basis of a FOIA request for information, to be filed by the ACLU. PPJH is interested; the request is approved.

8. Drug War Roadshow (Mark).
The Drug War Roadshow is planning to come to Tacoma in early April to conduct events designed to call attention the the failure of U.S. Drug War policy in Latin America, and is looking for community groups to provide venues. Sallie will provide Mark with a promising local reference.

9. Conversation Cafe (group).
Sharon agreed to facilitate the Feb. 28 conversation cafe at the Mandolin Cafe. The question: "What is the role of order in your life?"

ANNOUNCEMENTS

1. Two events are being sponsored on Mar. 15-16 by the League of Women Voters, together with the ACLU, the Tacoma Public Library, and the Pierce County Public Library, during "Sunshine Week" (shine light on government). The goal is to further understanding of Washington's Open Meetings law. On Mar. 15, there will be an event at the Tacoma News Tribune to focus on city issues, and on Mar. 16 (7:00 p.m.-9:00 p.m.) there will be an event at the Pierce County Library on South Hill (Peter Callaghan speaking) to focus on county issues. Many elected officials have been invited. Good publicity for this event is expected. (Colleen)

2. On Sat., Apr. 1 (2:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m.) the ACLU is sponsoring an event entitled "Who Is Listening? -- A Discussion of Government Spying." Chris Varas will be the lead speaker; the event will be held at King's Books in Tacoma. (There are now 1,200 ACLU members in Pierce County, about double the number 5 years ago.) (Colleen)

3. David Rovics and Attila the Stockbroker will perform in concert at First United Methodist Church (423 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Tacoma) on Tues., Feb. 28, at 7:00 p.m. -- tickets are $10.

4. On Feb. 27, UFPPC's book discussion group, Digging Deeper, (http://www.ufppc.org/content/view/4097/) will begin a month-long discussion of a group of books pertaining to American core values: 1) Jimmy Carter, Our Endangered Values; 2) Anatol Lieven, America Right or Wrong; 3) Chalmers Johnson, The Sorrows of Empire; 4) Cornel West, Democracy Matters; 5) Thomas Frank, What's the Matter with Kansas? Flyer available. (Mark)

5. On Tues., Feb. 28, at 7:00 p.m., in the Scandinavian Cultural Center on the campus of Pacific Lutheran University, Dr. David Swanson, Director of the Islamic Studies Program at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, MN, will lecture on "Christian and Muslim Visions of the Future." (Mark)