PAST: Movies that Move us, Discussion of "Crash" SAT, March 15th from 3:00 - 6:00 in DC, Free

Sat. March 15, 3-6pm: Movies that Move Us, Discussion of "CRASH", sponsored by Church of the Savior Spiritual Support Group for Racial Healing, Festival Center, 1640 Columbia Road, NW Open to public and free Contact: Harold Vines or Dawn Longenecker 202-328-1102

The Festival Center is located at the corner of Mozart Pl and Columbia Rd, best reached by metro bus 42 from Dupont Circle or Mount Pleasant, also close to 16th and Columbia and about a ten minute walk from the Columbia Heights Metro.

PAST: NSP MD member Debby Sugarman leads a workshop on the "Heart of Now" TUES, March 25th, 7:15-9:45pm

Introduction to the Heart of Now - led by Debby Sugarman

Tuesday, March 25th
7:15-9:45pm

Heart of Now is a practice of awareness and honesty. When we are fully aware of what we are feeling and thinking in each moment, we can be more centered in our selves and engage in the kind of openhearted, honest communication that is crucial for creative, effective activism. Maryland location - Please RSVP to 716-479-1490 or dsugarm@efn.org for details and location.

NOTE: Debby Sugarman an active member of NSP locally, and has been trained in Oregon in a process that can help add depth and awareness to our activism. In order to be the change we want in the world, we all need practice in being present with ourselves and others. Come and share in this generous gift to our chapter, this powerful learning/practice opportunity! RSVPs requested.

PAST: Network for Spiritual Progressives MD Meets on MON, March 17th at 7:30pm

NSP in Maryland meets next on

Monday, March 17 at 7:30 pm

Paint Branch Unitarian Church,

3215 Powder Mill Road, Adelphi, Maryland

http://www.pbuuc.org/info/directions/index.html

Nearest Metro is Greenbelt, taxi or arrange for ride if needed
If you need more info, please email nspmaryland@gmail.com

We will focus on NSP's upcoming nation-wide Generosity Weekend - held on April 12-13th as our taxes are due. We are asking that our taxes support our NSP values and not continued excessive spending on militarization of our foreign policy and on-going war. We will learn more about and discuss NSP's Generosity Weekend and do some planning for activities around it - such as added emphasis on NSP's Global Marshall Plan/Consultation on the Global Commons which David Hart, NSP's new Director of Advocacy and Outreach, discussed at last month's meeting.

PAST: Silent March to the White House, Closing Ceremony, SUN, March 23rd

Poetry in the Streets Sunday's March and Cento On Sunday, March 23, Split This Rock Poetry Festival will culminate with a Silent March to the White House for a closing ceremony. After four days of poetry and learning from one another, we will take to the streets of Washington, DC. We will walk about five city blocks, from the final featured reading at George Washington University to Lafayette Park, across from the White House. Please bring signs with art and poetry. For the closing ceremony, we will create and read aloud a collaborative Cento, a form whose name is derived from the Latin word for patchwork. Please bring a favorite line from a poem (up to 12 words) in the spirit of Split This Rock, written or typed on a piece of paper. Include the name of the poet, your name (if different), and your hometown. The Cento will begin with these lines sent to us by Adrienne Rich, from An Atlas of the Difficult World: I know you are reading this poem listening for something, torn between bitterness and hope / turning back once again to the task you cannot refuse. We'll join our poetic voices together for peace and a hopeful and just future.

PAST: Split this Rock! Poetry Festival combines Activism and Poetry, in DC THURS March 20th - SUN March 23rd, see details...

Activism, poetry, affordability - Split This Rock Poetry Festival has it all! We're planning four days of poetry, discussion, and inspiration, culminating with Poetry in the Streets Sunday afternoon, March 23. Bring a line of poetry to read as we create a spontaneous oral group poem for peace in front of the White House. Details are below.

Many other activities are planned in DC next week to mark the fifth anniversary of the US invasion of Iraq. On Wednesday, March 19, activists are engaging in direct action throughout the city. We're passing on details about Soapbox Poetry, an opportunity to give heart to those risking arrest.

We also invite you to explore the special feature on Split This Rock over at Foreign Policy in Focus, the "think tank without walls."

There's still plenty of time to register for Split This Rock, the historic gathering of activist poets. We've extended the early registration rates until March 15, so register today and save!

Discount student passes are available for $40 in advance. Also, day passes are available for $25 on Friday and Saturday and some events will have passes for $8, $5 student. See website for full info.

For peace,

Sarah Browning, Melissa Tuckey, Regie Cabico, Jaime Jarvis
Executive Coordinating Committee

Split This Rock Poetry Festival

March 20-23, 2008

www.splitthisrock.org
Complete schedule is online

info@splitthisrock.org

PAST: Split this Rock! Soapbox Poets for Peace, WED, March 19th

Soapbox Poets Speak Out to End War

March 19 Direct Actions Need the Voices of Poets

Soapbox Poets for Peace is issuing a NATIONAL CALL TO ACTION for Poets of conscience to come to D.C. on Wednesday, March 19, armed only with poems of peace, witness, truth, mourning and outrage. Poets will "step up on the Soapbox" to speak truth to power and promote peace in conjunction with direct actions organized by the Five Years Too Many Coalition and other member organizations of United for Peace and Justice.

Soapbox Poets for Peace will be calling on the power of poetry to inspire change and bridge gaps between people, open lines of communication and promote understanding through free expression.

This call to action includes two options for direct action.

• The Peacemakers Soapbox action will focus on the reading of poetry promoting peace, justice and reconciliation in areas populated by both anti-war protestors and pro-war counter-protestors.
• The Truth to Power Soapbox action will focus on bearing witness, through poetry, to the injustices of war. We will be bringing poetry of dissent to war profiteers and government cronies as well as providing creative support to other groups and organizations with planned direct actions that day.

Both actions will be conducted as non-arrest scenarios.

Only when we exercise our freedoms are we truly free. Bring your poetry of peace and of dissent and make your voice heard in our Nation's Capitol this March 19th.

For more information, or to sign up to participate, contact Lori Perdue by email at gottabeme23@hotmail.com or by phone at (317)902-8221.

Split This Rock Poetry Festival
www.SplitThisRock.org
202-787-5210
info@splitthisrock.org

PAST: Event Lineup for Interfaith Peace Witness! Friday March 7th from 8:30am - 4:30pm

Friday, March 7th
In order of events:

Learn about The Global Marshall Plan

8:30 - 11:00am - David Hart, new NSP Director of Advocacy and Outreach
Dupont Circle, Church of the Pilgrims, 2201 P Street, NW
On 22nd Street, between P & Q, 3 blocks west of the Dupont Circle metro stop

Spiritual Services

12:00 Noon - 1:30, Spiritual Services, see complete list below

1:30 - 2:15, Muslim prayers will take place in Upper Senate Park

Interfaith Peace Witness

2:30 - 4:30, Upper Senate Park

Located on Constitution Ave. between Delaware and New Jersey Avenues

If you can only make one part of the Interfaith Peace Witness, please join us at 2:30 at the Upper Senate Park on Capitol Hill - on Constitution Avenue between Delaware and New Jersey Avenues. This gathering will include big name speakers and religious leaders with plenty of music and prayer. It sounds like it will be great! NSP members and supporters will be joining together by our brand new NSP banners.

Complete schedule of events and speakers are listed below or online at: http://www.olivebranchinterfaith.org/

Worship and Prayer Locations: 12:00 Noon

Shalom Service
Rabbi Arthur Waskow
Methodist Office Building, 110 Maryland Ave, NE
Near the Senate Office Building

Muslim Jummah Prayer
Dr. Sayyid Syeed Time: 12:30 – 1:15
Upper Senate Park
Constitution Ave between Delaware and New Jersey Aves

Unitarian Universalist Service
Rev. Bill Sinkford
All Soul’s Church, 16th and Harvard St, NW
Bus: S2 or S4 bus from 16th St from downtown
Metro: 3 blocks from Green Line, Columbia Heights metro stop

Ecumenical Service and Gospel Music
Mark Lomax, Sharon Delgado & Celeste Zappala
Lincoln Congregational Temple U.C.C., 1701 11th St, NW
Metro: 3 blocks from Green Line, Shaw Howard University metro stop

Ecumenical Service including the Sacrament of Communion & Taize Music
J.Daryl Byler & Beth Pyles
Church of the Brethren, 337 North Carolina Ave, SE, at the corner of 4th St.
Metro: 2.5 blocks east of Capitol South metro stop

Ecumenical Service with Susan B. Thistlethwaite, Graylan Hagler & Cliff Kindy including the Sacrament of Communion and Iona & Mennonite Hymn Singing. Location: Capitol Hill Presbyterian, 201 4th St. SE (Fourth and Independence Ave. near Capitol South metro stop)

Quaker meeting with Peter Lems, All Welcome
Friends Meeting House of Washington, 2111 Florida Ave, NW
Metro: Dupont Circle metro stop
(from metro Q St exit, walk north (uphill) on Connecticut Ave 2.5 blocks,
turn left onto Florida, walk 1⁄2 block to Meetinghouse on the right)

Episcopal Service including the Sacrament of the Eucharist, All Welcome
Michael Battle & Noah Baker Merrill
Christ Episcopal Church; 620 G St, SE
Metro: Eastern Market metro stop

Emergent worship including the Sacrament of Communion, All Welcome
with Brian McLaren, Gilda Carbonaro & The Cobalt Season band
New York Avenue Presbyterian Church, 1313 New York Ave, NW
Intersections of H St, 14th St, and New York Ave, NW
Metro: near McPherson Square metro stop

Catholic Mass, All Welcome
Bishop Martin Holley presiding
speakers Sr. Anne Curtis & Joshua Casteel
St. Aloysius Church, corner of North Capitol and I St, NW
900 Block of North Capitol St. NW; 19 “Eye” St
Metro: near Union Station Metro

10,000 Feet of Hope:

As worship participants leave their places of worship, those with sections to add to the “rope of hope” will be invited to lead the procession (walking or by metro) to Upper Senate Park. As you arrive at Upper Senate Park, please carry the sections of rope to the area near the stage, where they will be joined with others from prayer and worship services around the city and across the country. Two Ropes will be created and will fan out to either side of the crowd from the stage, creating a contained space and feeling of unity as we gather from a variety of faith traditions. As the public witness ends, the two ropes will continue our witness of unity as we process to the Cannon and Hart Office Buildings.

Interfaith Peace Witness:

Complete Schedule

2:30 - 4:30, Upper Senate Park

Located on Constitution Ave. between Delaware and New Jersey Avenues

Musical Gathering;

Musical Call to Intention – Sharon Abreu, Hawah Kasat, Native Deen

Welcoming Invocation

Rev. Dr. Michael Kinnamon NCC

Why We Are Here

Rabbi David Saperstein
Rev. James Forbes
Ms Asma Mirza
Fr. Louie Vitale, Letter to be read by Franciscan Fr. Joe Nangle
Musical Response

Lifting Up Our Spirits to the Work and its Success

Dr. Sayyid Syeed, ISNA
Rev. Bill Sinkford, UUA
Rev. Bob Edgar, Common Cause
Ms. Sammie Moshenberg, National Council of Jewish Women
Chris Montone, Director of Shambhala Center, D.C. Buddhist

Parting Blessings – Commissioning a Delegation

Rabbi Arthur Waskow, Shalom Center – OBIPP
Samina Faheem Sundas, American Muslim Voice
And other religious leaders…

Musical Closure and Send Off --

Sharon Abreu, One Common Unity/HawaH

PAST: DC Statehood event at UDC Thursday, March 6th from 7:00-9:00pm

DC Statehood Action Forum

I wanted to post this for those who may be interested in DC Statehood and ensuring equal voting rights for people living in the District, such as myself, a friend is helping to organize this and I know some of the artists as well. - Amy M.

Thursday, March 6th at UDC, 7:00 - 9:00pm
University of the District of Columbia
Building 38, 2nd Floor, Law Department
Metro to Van Ness, UDC, red line
See link below for complete list of events:
http://www.dcstatehoodgreen.org/events/

PAST: More info about getting involved March 19th

A friend of mine is helping to coordinate this effort and I thought I'd pass the info along - Amy M.

Did you all know that we first invaded Iraq FIVE years ago? Yep, it's true. March 19 marks the 5th anniversary and this year, rather than have a big march and rally, things are going to look a little different. Wednesday, March 19, hundreds (thousands?) of people will be doing civil disobedience actions on the streets of DC, primarily in the K St Corridor. Rather than sit back and wait for the (god help us) 10th anniversary of the war to roll around, use one of your personal days to march in the street this year!

My friend Trina is looking for people to help out with a variety of things:

photographers and videographers
crowd outreach (to hand out info to pedestrians)
street theatre & puppetistas
media outreach
legal support
police liaison
high-risk scenarios,
low-risk scenarios,
and everything in between!

If you want to get involved, contact Trina at trinazahller@yahoo.com to get plugged in.

There is also a meeting on Monday, March 10 at 8pm. The meeting will be at 2228 12th PLACE NW (between 12 and 13th Streets, and b/w W and Florida -- just 2 blocks from the U St Metro).

Please RSVP to Trina at the email above. If you want more info, she has a flier she can also email you with more info!

PAST: Happy Hour with Climate Change Activists, FRI , MAR 7th, Dupont Circle, 5:30 - 7:30pm, Fre

Got this invite from a friend and thought I'd post it up here in case any of you are interested:

HAPPY HOUR this Friday night, March 7th, in Dupont Circle at Skewers, 5:30 - 7:30pm, Free
Skewer's Restaurant, Corner of P and 17th St, NW
Drinks and snacks provided!

Come enjoy some free wine and nibbles on Friday night! And, in the meantime, hear from a couple of climate activists doing amazing work in Malaysia and Malawi. Hear from Meena Raman, Chair of Friends of the Earth-International from Malaysia and Joyce Patience Tembenu, a farmer and food security activist from Malawi, about their experiences and thoughts on global warming. And we'll talk about how to make climate equity a Presidential issue. Hosted by ActionAid, Friends of the Earth, Oil Change International, Oxfam, and US Climate Action Network

PAST: "Neighborhood Justice Sunday" at All Souls Unitarian Church this Sunday, March 9th at 11:15, DC Mayor Adrian Fenty will be there!

Sunday, March 9th, 2008 at 11:15am:
"The Church and the City"
All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church
16th and Harvard St, NW

Rev. Hardies. “Seek the welfare of the city” wrote the prophet Jeremiah, “for in its welfare you will find your welfare.” On Neighborhood Justice Sunday we explore the role of the church in the city. What is the role of the prophetic church in DC? DC Mayor Adrian Fenty will join us at this service.

All Souls is a non-denominational spiritual community that believes in the inherent worth and dignity of all human beings and also believes that it is our "obligation to express our faith through acts of justice and compassion." To learn more, visit http://www.all-souls.org/

Close to Columbia Heights Metro and accessible by 42 bus from Dupont Circle or S2, S4 bus on 16th St.

LINKS: The Network for Spiritual Progressives homepage, David's blog and MD NSP links!

NSP Main Page, where you can read a lot about the vision of NSP: www.spiritualprogressives.org

NSP Maryland chapter, for other area events and announcements: www.nspmaryland.org

David A. Hart, NSP's new Director of Advocacy and Outreach who lives and works now in the DC area has some postings on his blog on NSP's main website which you can view directly at: http://www.spiritualprogressives.org/index.php?topic=b_hart

PAST: Free Interactive Workshop on "The Global Marshall Plan" Thurs eve, March 6th and Fri morning, March 7th

"Interactive Workshop on The Global Marshall Plan"

The Global Marshall Plan is premised on the notion that generosity and solidarity with all peoples are better routes to homeland security than are domination and control.

The Network for Spiritual Progressives new Director of Advocacy and Outreach, David A. Hart is incredibly passionate about this and has even posted a short video on YouTube if you want to check it out! http://www.youtube.com/davos. Look under "NSPdavid" when you search.

This free workshop will be offered twice as part of the national Interfaith Peace Witness:

Thursday eve, March 6th, 6:30 - 9:00pm
by Jerry Raitzyk and Ruth Alice White, NSP MD Leaders

Friday morning, March 7th, 8:30 - 11:00am
by David Hart, NSP Director of Advocacy and Outreach

Locations are still to be determined. For current information and an overview of the entire event, please visit: http://www.olivebranchinterfaith.org/ and click on workshops and register to participate online for free.

PAST: Join the Interfaith Peace Witness! Events Thursday, March 6th - Saturday March 8th

The Interfaith Peace Witness will include remarks from top national religious leaders, inspirational fellowship, and NSP workshops on the Global Marshall Plan (GMP) and will be attended by spiritual progressives from throughout the country. The event is in DC from Thursday, March 6th - Saturday, March 8th. If you want to join together with the official Network for Spiritual Progressives, there will be a large visible NSP contingent gathered on the National Mall on Friday, March 7. If you register, please put NSP on your form and let David know you are coming by emailing him at david@spiritualprogressives.org.

Gather together in DC March 6th - 8th for a joyous celebration of active Peacemaking!
To find out more and to register please visit: http://www.olivebranchinterfaith.org/

PAST: Can you believe that March 19th Marks the Fifth Year of the US Invasion in Iraq? Join UPJ & NSP for activities March 13th-16th!

March 19: the 5th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. NSP is joining with United for Peace and Justice in supporting a set of activities on and around the 5th anniversary that will manifest the intensifying opposition to the war and help strengthen our movement. March 13-16, Winter Soldier Hearings, March 19, Nonviolent Direct Action in DC. More at: http://www.unitedforpeace.org