Monthly Meeting March 2024

Addendum to March Monthly Meeting


There were a number of March events that missed the deadline for our March Newsletter. We think they are important enough that we created this addendum.



See you at our March Monthly Meeting on March 20 with Dr. Ceronne Daly, Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) for the Watertown Public Schools. See below.


Zoom webinar on Monday, March 25 at 7:00 pm with Prof. Marshall Ganz, talking about Weaponizing Anti-Semitism in U.S. universities and society. 


We’re living in a McCarthyite era where people who criticize or question the government of Israel or its assault on Gaza are being accused of anti-semitism, and some have even been fired. In October, world-renowned Professor Marshall Ganz, Instructor of Leadership, Organizing and Civil Society at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, learned that he was being investigated on charges of anti-semitism based on a complaint from some of his Israeli students who defined their project as wanting to organize Israelis “building on a shared ethos of Israel as a liberal-Jewish democracy.” Prof. Ganz will talk about his experience and how anti-semitism is being weaponized across universities and U.S. society. Visit masspeaceaction.org for the zoom link.

Insights from the new DEI Director for the Watertown Public Schools

Dr. Ceronne Daly, Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) for the Watertown Public Schools will be the featured speaker a our March 20th monthly meeting.. Dr. Daly will provide an overview of the DEI efforts in the Watertown Public Schools and will share her goals for the upcoming school year. Community members are encouraged to attend and to engage in a question and answer session following the presentation. Come see how we can all support DEI efforts in our community

Wednesday March 20 6:45 Chat 7 PM Program zoom link more info


view our February Meeting "Back from the Brink"

Calls to Action!

Weekly Vigil Peace and Common Security Working Group

Join us on Saturdays in Watertown Square from 12 noon to 1:00 PM under the banners - "Let Gaza Live" "Permanent CEASEFIRE in Gaza and Palestine". Bring a sign or make one when you arrive. If it is raining or snowing we will not gather for the vigil. 

more info



Watertown We Need Your Signatures!

The Peace and Common Security Working Group is on a mission to get Watertown folks to sign three initiatives and help get signatures from friends, neighbors and family members

 

  • Petition to Representative Katherine Clark to support the goals of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. sign online here


  • Watertown for Palestine (W4P) and Call for CEASEFIRE in Gaza. A letter to Senator Markey, Senator Warren, and Representative Clark calling for an immediate ceasefire.   link to the letter


  • Citizens Petition to the Watertown City Council.to support a call for the U.S. to lead a global effort to prevent nuclear war by, among other steps, actively pursuing a verifiable agreement among nuclear-armed states to eliminate their nuclear arsenal. 


We will be collecting signatures and sharing the on-line links and QR codes at various locations in Watertown in the coming weeks and months. Please consider joining us. We will provide talking points for each initiative. In the meantime, you are invited to sign in person by visiting 14 Bates Road where you can also take copies of the petitions and flyers to gather signatures at community meeting, social gatherings and houses of workshop.  


link to more details or scroll below.

Save these dates

Wednesday, April 17 Earth Day: Planet Vs Plastics April Monthly Meeting Panet vs Plastics

Featuring local resident, artist and Beyond Plastics activists Eileen Ryan.

6:45 Chat

7 PM Program

zoom

Saturday, April 20 Charles River Cleanup Watertown

Another way to celebrate Earth Day. Let's remove all the Winter's debris and plastic before it reaches the river.

10--Noon

700 Pleasant Street ,

Watertown Stop& Shop Parking Lot

Sunday,, May 12, Mothers Day Walk for Peace

Once again Watertown will be organizing a group of walkers and soliciting donations to support the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute and its efforts to end the cycle of violence. What better way to celebrate Mother's Day.

more at

Sunday, June 2 Our Annual Meeting is coming up and our featured speaker is Stephen Kinzer, a powerful and informed speaker, author, journalist, and Boston Globe opinion columnist with extensive and critical foreign policy experience.

First Parish 35 Church Street

Sunday,June 23 Summer Life-Friendly Garden Tour

Working Groups Meetings

PEACE AND COMMON SECURITY MONTHLY MEETING

Sunday March 10

7-8:30 Zoom


zoom

WATERTOWN FACES CLIMATE CHANGE BI MONTHLY MEETING

Sunday March 17

5-6:30 PM In-person and zoom

Church of the Good Shepherd 11 Russell Ave

zoom

FRIENDS OF BEES and POLLINATOR PATHWAYS MONTHLY MEETING

Thursday March 21

6:30 -8 PM


also Thursday April 1

more info & link

WATERTOWN FACES CLIMATE CHANGE BI MONTHLY MEETING

Sunday April 7

5-6:30 PM In-person and zoom

Church of the Good Shepherd 11 Russell Ave

zoom    

PIGSGUSSET INITIATIVE MONTHLY MEETING

Monday Mrach 25

6:30-8 PM

email for more info

REFUGEE SUPPORT GROUP MONTHLY MEETING

Monday Mrach 25

6:30-8 PM

email for more info

More Info on Petitions


WATERTOWN – WE NEED YOUR SIGNATURES!

The Peace and Common Security Working Group is on a mission to get Watertown folks to sign three initiatives and help get signatures from friends, neighbors and family members.

 

Petition to Representative Katherine Clark. We are asking her to support and endorse House Resolution 77 which calls on the United States to embrace the goals of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. H. Res 77 was introduced by her colleague Rep. James McGovern and endorsed by colleagues from across the political spectrum including Ayanna Pressley, Stephen Lynch, and Richard Neal. You can sign the petition on line at https://chng.it/JH4vDXFn8b


Watertown for Palestine (W4P) and Call for CEASEFIRE in Gaza. We are collaborating with W4P, a local group initiated by Arab-Americans, to collect signatures on a letter to Senator Markey, Senator Warren, and Representative Clark calling for an immediate ceasefire. Here is a link to the letter and the form to sign on. This initiative is spreading across Massachusetts with similar groups in Malden, Medford, Cambridge, Arlington and cities and towns in Western Massachusetts.


Citizens Petition to the Watertown City Council. We want the City Council to support a call for the U.S. to lead a global effort to prevent nuclear war by, among other steps, actively pursuing a verifiable agreement among nuclear-armed states to eliminate their nuclear arsenal. A Citizen Petition requires the City Clerk to certify that 150 Watertown voters have signed the Petition. Our goal is to collect many more signatures than required and engage voters in a discussion about the existential threat of nuclear war.

 

We will be collecting signatures and sharing the on-line links and QR codes at various locations in Watertown in the coming weeks and months. Please consider joining us. We will provide talking points for each initiative. In the meantime, you are invited to sign in person by visiting 14 Bates Road where you can also take copies of the petitions and flyers to gather signatures at community meeting, social gatherings and houses of workshop.  

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