WILPF BUSINESS MEETING
WILPF will meet Thursday January 9, 7PM, at Fresno Center for Nonviolence, 1584 N Van Ness. This meeting is open to all members.
WOMEN IN BLACK
January 1, first Wednesday of each month at noon at Fresno County Courthouse; come on the month in which your birthday falls! Wear black, bring a sign if you wish, and stand in silence for peace.
STIR IT UP – WILPF – ON KFCF 88.1 FM (LISTENER-SUPPORTED FREE SPEECH RADIO FOR CENTRAL CALIFORNIA)
January 22 3PM (4th Wednesday of each month) Jean Hays does outstanding interviews on subjects involving WILPF interests and activities. Tune in!
RAGING GRANNIES
Meetings on selected Mondays at 7PM. Call Ellie at 229-9807 for details.
WASN’ T IT A GREAT WILPF COMMUNITY PEACE CRAFT FAIRE?
1000 virtual night-blooming orchids to all the volunteers, starting with the amazing Nancy Waidtlow and volunteer coordinator Kyla Mitchell. I started to list all the volunteers, but it just looked like the WILPF directory, and the possibility of leaving someone out began to trouble me. Even though some people worked for days, weeks, and months, and some, like me, just brought a soup or dessert, let us all just stand in a circle and thank each other. You’re fantastic.
CORPORATIONS VS DEMOCRACY: MOVE TO AMEND AFFILIATE TO BE ESTABLISHED HERE
On Friday evening, November 22, 2013, David Cobb, founder of Move to Amend, presented his talk, “Creating Democracy and Challenging Corporate Rule, to an enthusiastic crowd of nearly seventy people. He reminded us of something we know instinctively, intuitively, even though we might not be familiar with the historical and legal background: corporations are not people, and money is not free speech.
We know this despite the 2010 US Supreme Court decision to the contrary in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission and earlier Court decisions, beginning as long ago as 1886 in Santa Clara v Southern Pacific Railroad. At the time of this writing, oral arguments have been heard by the Supreme Court for McCutcheon v. Federal Elections Commission, for which the Supreme Court will decide whether to uphold a law that says that no one person can contribute more than $123,000 directly to federal candidates, parties and committees, but no decision has yet been rendered. While many believe that our Democracy has already been bought and paid for by corporations and wealthy individuals such as the Koch brothers, a decision in favor of McCutcheon will remove the final barriers to complete corporate rule of the United States.
Following Cobb’s fiery talk on Friday evening, on Saturday morning, November 23, a core group of twenty people, working with Cobb and Margaret Koster, an MTA affiliate coordinator from Mendocino County, agreed to form a Fresno Affiliate of Move to Amend. The first meeting, as of this writing, has not yet taken place; it is scheduled for Wednesday, December 18.
Move to Amend’s strategy is to forge a grassroots campaign that will eventually lead to a California initiative to call for amending the US Constitution “to unequivocally state that inalienable rights belong to human beings only, and that money is not a form of protected free speech under the First Amendment and can be regulated in political campaigns,” as stated on MTA’s website (movetoamend.org).
Because Move to Amend is a grassroots campaign, diversity of representation is essential because along with diversity comes differing perspectives. We call on people from all walks of life and all ages, people of all colors, people of varying political beliefs, and people of all religions to join in building our Fresno Affiliate.
For further information, or to become involved in our efforts, email Kit Williams at georgiam@csufresno.edu or call 559 439-5268.
Kit Williams
WILPF COMMITTEES
There must be an issue that moves you. Life is better when we are doing something to help rather than just being bystanders; our sense of the power of community grows and we feel that a better world is possible. Get in touch, please, and you’ll be glad you did.
Building Beloved Community
Homeless – Bev Fitzpatrick and Lynn Graham
Dakota EcoGarden – Nancy Waidtlow
Women in Black – Joan Poss
Middle East – Maureen Walsh
Cuba Solidarity – Leni V Reeves
Earth Democracy – Jean Hays and Joan Poss
Corporations vs. Democracy – Kit Williams (formerly Georgia)
Raging Grannies – Ellie Bluestein
Disarm and End the War – Bev Fitzpatrick
Advancing Human Rights – Teresa Castillo
All contact info is in the WILPF Membership Directory.
If you don’t have a directory, get in touch with Nora and if you didn’t renew your WILPF membership at the Faire, you may send your renewal to Nora Dewitt, our Membership Chair: 3862 N. Wilson Ave, Fresno CA 93704 (noradewitt@gmail.com)
WILPF newsletter edited by Leni Villagomez Reeves
