Due to the snowstorm, our speakers for ”Immigrants under President Trump’s Enforcement Regime”, scheduled for tomorrow night, March 15, have asked that we postpone the talk. We will let you know when it is rescheduled.
SAVE THE DATE: The Walpole Peace and Justice Group is sponsoring a Walpole People’s Climate march and rally on Saturday, April 29, 2017 at 1:00 PM at the Walpole Common.Join us in Walpole if you cannot attend the major march in Washington, DC or the march in Boston. We will be marching in Walpole, united in solidarity with marches in Washington, DC and communities across the country. Marking 100 days of the Trump Administration, we will rally for climate justice, calling on our elected leaders to protect our environment. Our country needs to take bold action to address climate change by supporting the Paris agreement, moving to renewable energy, and opposing any attacks on our air, water, atmosphere, economy, health, and families. We will be standing together to bring awareness to climate change as well as various justice and equality issues facing our nation today.
We will gather at the Walpole Common at the corner of Main and Common Streets at 1:00 pm, march around the center of Walpole, and end back at the Walpole Common for speeches. The plan is tentative. You can RSVP and get more information at the link below:
Gabriel Camacho, of the American Friends Service Committee, and Liza Ryan, of the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition, will give a talk, “Immigrants under President Trump’s Enforcement Regime” on Wednesday, March 15, 2017 at 7:30 pm at the Walpole Public Library. President Trump’s immigration policies and executive orders are not new. His cabinet appointees and advisors have long influenced the debate on immigration policy. Mr. Camacho and Ms. Ryan will describe the situation of immigrants in Massachusetts, where they came from and why they came to the United States. They will show the impact of the harsh policies of the Trump Administration, through the Executive Orders and the expansion of existing enforcement programs, on immigrants and their families. Throughout the nation a grassroots movement has been growing and successfully pushing back on these policies. Many municipalities in the Commonwealth are on the forefront in protecting immigrant families and the civil rights of all residents.
Gabriel Camacho has served as the Immigration Programs Coordinator for the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) in New England for over a decade. His work includes grassroots organizing within immigrant communities, leadership development, wage recovery campaigns for undocumented workers, policy analysis, and promoting humane immigration policy at the local, state, and federal levels. Liza Ryan is the Organizing Director at the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition (MIRA). She has over ten years of experience working with refugees, immigrants, and foreign/public policy everywhere from sub-Saharan Africa to throughout the Middle East and Europe.
The talk is sponsored by the Walpole Peace and Justice Group and is open to the public. The Walpole Public Library is located at 143 School Street in Walpole.
The Walpole Peace and Justice Group is sponsoring twotimelytalks at the Walpole Public Library on important issues:
“Fixing Our Broken Democracy”- February 22, 2017 at 7:00 PM at the Walpole Public Library: A slide show chronicling the ordinary citizen’s loss of political power, will be presented by Sharon resident Paul Lauenstein. The talk shows how corporations and wealthy citizens have thwarted the democratic process, and how “We, the People” can regain our rightful control of our government.
“Climate Change Study Finds N.E. May Face Rapid Warming” – March 8, 2017 at 7:30 PM at the Walpole Public Library: Professor Ambarish Karmalkar will talk about the conclusions of a recent study by the Northeast Climate Science Center that New England is likely to experience significantly greater warming compared to the global average warming as well as warming in the lower 48 states.
See below for more details on these talks.
Fixing Our Broken Democracy
A slide show chronicling the ordinary citizen’s loss of political power, will be presented by Sharon resident Paul Lauenstein in the Walpole Public Library’s Community Room on Wednesday evening, February 22, at 7:00 p.m. Sponsored by Walpole Peace and Justice Group, this talk shows how corporations and wealthy citizens have thwarted the democratic process, and how “We, the People” can regain our rightful control of our government.
In his immortal Gettysburg Address, Abraham Lincoln wished that, "this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom – and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” However, according to a 2014 study by political scientists from Princeton and Northwestern, we now live in an oligarchy controlled by corporations and billionaires. A series of Supreme Court decisions culminating in Citizens United v. FEC (2010) have opened the floodgates to money in politics, allowing an economic elite to pressure our politicians to serve their interests rather than those of the general public. How can "We the People" assert our constitutional sovereignty over powerful special interests, and live up to Lincoln’s vision of government that serves all the people?
Paul Lauenstein is a retired business owner from Sharon who volunteers for We the People Massachusetts overturn the Supreme Court’s Citizens United v. FEC decision with a constitutional amendment affirming that artificial entities are not people and money is not speech.
Climate Change Study Finds N.E. May Face Rapid Warming
On Wednesday, March 8, at 7:30 PM in the Walpole Public Library’s Community Room, UMass Professor Ambarish Karmalkar will talk about the conclusions of a recent study by the Northeast Climate Science Center that New England is likely to experience significantly greater warming compared to the global average warming as well as warming in the lower 48 states. As the lead author of the study, Ambarish will speak about the science behind climate change and the methodology used to predict its impact at a regional level. Understanding the projected climatic changes specific to the northeast US holds great importance for our regional planners.
Ambarish is a research fellow at the Northeast Climate Science Center (NE CSC) and the Adjunct Assistant Professor at the Department of Geosciences, UMass Amherst, and the lead author of the study on the regional consequences of global warming in the United States. At the NE CSC, he is working on understanding observed and projected climatic changes in the northeastern US relevant to hydrological and ecological impacts. The main focus of his work is communication of information on climate change and associated uncertainties for impacts assessment.
The Walpole Peace and Justice Group is holding a vigil in Walpole on Saturday, February 11, 2017, from 9:30 AM to 11:00 AM to protest the Trump Administration’s Executive Orders on immigration. It’s so important that people continue to speak out. The vigil will be held at the corner of Main and West Streets in the center of Walpole across from the Walpole Cooperative Bank. We will have a six foot banner and several 3 foot banners. Please join us even if it is only for a short time.
The Walpole Peace and Justice Group is holding a vigil in Walpole on Thursday, February 2, 2017, from 7:30 AM to 9:00 AM to protest the Trump Administration’s Executive Orders on immigration. It’s so important that people continue to speak out. The vigil will be held at the corner of Main and West Streets in the center of Walpole across from the Walpole Cooperative Bank. We will have a six foot banner and other signs.
The Massachusetts Safe Communities Coalition is sponsoring a Boston Rally in Support of the Massachusetts Safe Communities Act at the State House on Wednesday, February 1, 2017, at 12:00 noon. “The Safe Communities Act would protect the civil rights of all state residents by making sure our tax dollars are not used to help the Trump administration deport immigrant families or to create a Muslim registry.” See below for a summary of the Act.
Massachusetts Safe Communities Act Summary – Extracted from the Coalition Fact Sheet
No state support for Muslim registry. Prohibits access to information in state databases for use in any federal registry program based on national origin, religion or other protected characteristics.
Ensures Basic Due ProcessRights for people detained in state and local facilities for civil immigration violations. Requires informing detainees that they have the right to decline an interview with ICE agents, and to have their own attorney present (at their own expense) if they so choose.
Ensures that police resources are used to fight crime, not separate families. Ensures that state, local and campus police don’t participate in immigration enforcement activities, including inquiries, investigations, raids, arrests or detentions that are based solely on immigration.
Prohibits agreements with DHS that deputize local officers as immigration agents, including county officers in Bristol and Plymouth sheriff's departments.
Concerned people “Stood Together for Climate Action” at a vigil on Monday morning, January 23, 2016 in Walpole. It was sponsored by the Walpole Peace and Justice Group and joined with the People’s Climate Movement and other environmental and faith groups in holding a vigil in the first 100 hours of the presidential inauguration to draw attention to the issues of climate justice, show support for bold action, and to oppose any attacks on our air, water, atmosphere, economy, health, and families. Climate change is not a partisan issue, and the vigil was to recognize that all of our beliefs and faith traditions call us to be stewards of the earth. The vigil was calling people to join together to bear witness to the destruction of our climate and to call for responsible action at all levels, from individual through federal government.
During the First 100 Hours of the New Administration
Stand Together for Climate Action on Monday Morning, January 23, 2016 from 7:30 to 9:00 AM
The Walpole Peace and Justice Group is joining with the People’s Climate Movement and other environmental and faith groups in holding a vigil to “Stand Together for Climate Action” on Monday, January 23, 2016 from 7:30 to 9:00 AM in Walpole at the corner of West and Main Street. It is one of many vigils being held in the first 100 hours of the new administration to draw attention to the issues of climate justice, show support for bold action, and to oppose any attacks on our air, water, atmosphere, economy, health, and families. Climate change is not a partisan issue, and we stand together in recognition that all of our beliefs and faith traditions call us to be stewards of the earth. We are responsible for urgent action on behalf of the planet and our most vulnerable frontline communities. The vigil is an opportunity for all of us to join together to bear witness to the destruction of our climate and to call for responsible action at all levels, from individual through federal government.
