JUNE

 JUNETEENTH CELEBRATIONS

Check links for most updated info

Erie’s Juneteenth Celebration June 18 and 19. 1225 State Erie PA. Block Party, vendors, entertainment and live music.
Buffalo Juneteenth 
WPA Juneteenth Pittsburgh-Allegheny Co. Freedom Days June 18 - June 20 

PRIDE

Exhibits & Resources

"Love Makes a Family" Erie County Library Erie Public library Activity and resource pack 

LGBTQ Juried Art Exhibit Blasco Library GEAE June 1-30, 2021

“A Look Back, A history of the LGBTQ+ Community in Erie, PA” is refreshed and ready for a second run. Blasco Library, Erie PA from June 1-30. 

Protest and Pride: The LGBTQ+ Community in Chautauqua County Fenton History Center, Jamestown NY through Oct 31; artifacts and stories.

Celebrations 

Jamestown Pride June 12 at Jamestown Public Market.

NW PA Pride Alliance events Virtual Pride Online June 26 and Drive Your Pride  June 27 Presque Isle. Meet up at 1pm at TREC, step off at 2pm.  

Warren County Pride Day June 26 Betts Park 400 Ludlow St, Warren, PA "Will feature a variety of quality out-of-town speakers, entertainment, and attractions. All are welcome at this all-day festival. "

JUSTICE
George Floyd++ 

"Racial Wealth and Income Gap" workshop. June 5, 2021 at 10:00 am. Hosted by One Table Erie and Erie NETWORK Advocates Team. Online; zoom registration required  Register here

NY AG Letitia James Announces Robust Reforms to Police Use of Force Laws (Office of NY Attorney General 5/21/2021) 

Criminal justice reforms, progressive victories, and other takeaways from a historic 2021 Pittsburgh primary election (Pitsburgh City Paper 5/20/2021) Bans on no-knock warrants and solitary confinement; voters poised to elect city's first black mayor

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania Announces State Court Closure in Honor of Juneteenth  
PA citizen group is set to begin reviewing State Police use-of-force and racial bias incidents (WITF 5/20/2021)

What would a less-policed Pittsburgh look like? A community coalition offers its vision
Philadelphia's progressive DA wins big in primary, boosting momentum for reform movement (NBC News 5/22/2021)

ARTS & WORDS

Lit Fridays is a literary-focused, virtual salon presented by the August Wilson African American Cultural Center, featuring conversations and guest performances on the last Friday of each month at 6:00p via Facebook Live and Zoom Webinar. 
Great Blue Heron cancelled  "we view this as the smartest and safest direction for 2021...The good new is that we ARE starting to figure out how to offer music and family fun all summer long for you!"

REPRODUCTION

On ===

Bills to restrict abortion, expand gun rights start in PA House (AP 5/25/2021) 

PA ELECTIONS

Indivisible We Rise and Getting Along, Primaries - May 13, 2021 Interview with members of Clarion-based Indivisible chapter.
Group led by ‘kraken’ lawyer Sidney Powell hired the firm recounting AZ’s election to probe election in PA county (Capital-Star 5/24/2021) 

New videos appear to show PA Senator Doug Mastriano closer to Capitol insurrection than he said (WHYY 5/26/2021) Governor-hopeful also used campaign funds to charter insurrection buses.

Community Mapping: Get Ready for Redistricting   Fair Elections PA June 2 at 4pm

EARTH
Penn Environment Climate Lobby Day June 10, 2021 9 AM - 5 PM  online PennEnvironment facilitating video lobby meetings with state representatives and senators and their staff. Also virtual rally, webinars, and action stations throughout the day. RSVP at http://bit.ly/ClimateLobbyDay

What Comes Next in Pennsylvania's Efforts to Join RGGI? (PennFuture 5/20/2021) Update on the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) "Through this program, Pennsylvania will cooperate with other states in the northeast to cap the emissions of carbon pollution from fossil fuel electric generation because, as the Governor said at the time, “climate change is the most critical environmental threat confronting the world, and power generation is one of the biggest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions.”"

INDIGENOUS CULTURE

Connections: Understanding the truth about American and Native American history 
May 17, 2021 Response to Santorum remarks about Native American culture. with  Michael Leroy Oberg, Native American studies author and professor at SUNY Geneseo; Peter Jemison, historic site manager for Ganondogan; Gabriele Papa, member of the Seneca Nation of Indians; Michael Galban, Mono Lake Paiute/Washoe, curator and interpretive programs assistant at the Seneca Art & Culture Center at Ganondagan

SORT

After increasing wage to $15 an hour, Klavon’s says all positions are filled, morale is up, and prices haven’t been raised (Pgh City Paper 5/25/2021) 

 Virtual Pride Online event by NW PA Pride Alliance,

Drive Your Pride Presque Isle. Privately organized way to reclaim the experience of a parade. Meet up at 1pm at TREC, step off at 2pm.  
LGBTQ Juried Art Exhibit Blasco Library GEAE June 1-30, 2021

“A Look Back, A history of the LGBTQ+ Community in Erie, PA” is refreshed and ready for a second run. Blasco Library, Erie PA from June 1-30. 
"Love Makes a Family" Erie County Library Erie Public library Activity and resource pack 

Jamestown Pride June 12 at Jamestown Public Market.

Protest and Pride: The LGBTQ+ Community in Chautauqua County Fenton History Center, Jamestown NY through Oct 31. History of the LGBTQIA+ community in Chautauqua County; artifacts and stories.

Warren County Pride Day June 26 Betts Park 400 Ludlow St, Warren, PA "will feature a variety of quality out-of-town speakers, entertainment, and attractions. All are welcome at this all-day festival. "

draft2

 Check dates and times against original post; event details can change, and I've been known to miss stuff 😊

EARTH

Green New Deal Coalition of Erie County, posed important questions related to International Recycling Group  3 pages

Fr. Dan Horan: “Urgent Explorations of Global Climate Change and the Consistent Ethic of Life.”  Guest speaker for Mercyhurst  51st annual Sister Maura Smith Earth Day Lecture April 22, at 7 p.m., Free, public via Zoom.

ReLeaf is planting 275,000 trees (One tree for every citizen in Erie County)" "ReLeaf is the Lake Erie Arboretum at Frontier Park’s direct response to climate change and a chance for us to beautify our community spaces outside of Frontier Park." 

PennFuture Releases Report on Massive Fossil Fuel Subsidies in PA (PennFuture 2/22/2021) 

Gov. Wolf Announces Largest Government Solar Energy Commitment in the U.S. (Gov Tom Wolf, 3/22/2021) " initiative that will produce nearly 50 percent of state government’s electricity through seven new solar energy arrays" 

Allegany Nature Pilgrimage cancelled for 2021, but they are working on alternative events. 

"Nature in the Northeast" (Justin Thompson, North Coast Voice 3/10-4/7 2021) An appreciation of nature in northeast Ohio and a call to support those who are protecting it. 

Global Just Recovery Gathering April 9-11 Online climate movement event featuring interactive workshops, cultural sessions, and hands-on trainings. 
Environmental Voter Project 

Fire Drill Fridays with Greenpeace "Visit FireDrillFridays.com to take action with Jane Fonda, Greenpeace, and the Fire Drill Friday movement." Videos with guests and movie nights.

COMMUNITY

Tool Lending Library "Giving neighbors the tools to build better neighborhoods." 

"Downtown with dignity: New Erie rest areas planned to help homeless and vulnerable" (Kevin Flowers, Erie Times-News "'The Downtown Partnership is looking at the reality of our community.' Buchna said. 'We have a homeless and vulnerable population in downtown Erie that has needs, like food, clothing, shelter and places to go to the bathroom.'"

PSU Speaker Series: Mona Hanna-Attisha Physician, scientist and activist who exposed the Flint water crisis April 13, 7:00 p.m.

Bayfront Project Roundabout Peer Review  (PennDOT) "The roundabout peer review will review information related to pedestrian safety"

SSJ Neighborhood Network Silent Auction This year, SSJNN is converting their annual Guess That Tune Gala fundraiser to a virtual silent auction from May 12-22, which will benefit their bicycle program and other ministries

ARTS

GU Speaker: Sherwin Bitsui Friday, April 16 7:30PM Author and poet, he is Navajo of the Todichʼíiʼnii (Bitter Water Clan).

Cleveland Film Festival April 7-20, 2021 
Erie Art Museum Spring Art Show

Branching Out: A GGG + LEAF Collaborative Art Show  thru May 4 at Glass Growers Gallery, 10 E. Fifth St. 10% of the show proceeds to LEAF's ReLeaf initiative. 

Station Hope   May 1, 2021 5-9pm  Free, Livestreamed on Cleveland Public Theater's website and social media pages, details to come. "A virtual festival of performance honoring and exploring Cleveland's social justice heritage."

VARIOUS

Erie's Independent Alternative Publication Turns 10 (Ben Speggen, Erie Reader, March 10, 2021) A look back at the Erie Reader's beginnings and successful first decade. 

Protest and Pride at Fenton History Center History of the LGBTQIA+ community in Chautauqua County. Open to the public thru Oct. "Visit us Monday through Saturday 10-4"  $10 adults, members and under 18 free.

"I’m a member of the ‘Mass Shooting Generation.’ Pa. lawmakers need to pass tougher background checks on gun purchases" | Opinion (Penn Capital-Star 3/24/2021) 

JUSTICE

The Publix Voice: Asian Hate Host Marcus Atkinson interviews Asian-American citizens John Park (Erie, PA) and Pastor David Cho (Boston, MA) talk about their family journeys, the incidents springing up all around the country, and how their Christian walk plays out in the backdrop of these incidents. 

Good Friday Pilgrimage for Peace April 2   "This year’s Good Friday Pilgrimage focus on racism and the many ways that racism intersects with other issues of injustice. The shooting in Atlanta of six Asian women and two others is a recent example of the intersections of racism, sexism and violence." Online. 

Undesign Erie's Redline "The mission of ERIWE is to reduce impacts of Racism and Redlining in Erie County"

Frida Berrigan on ML King's Triad: Racism Militarism & Excessive Materialism Host: Cleveland Nonviolence Center

AP: Pittsburgh area police officers’ posts to private Facebook group show hostility, hate (Meghan Schiller, KDKA/AP 3/22/2021) 

ELECTIONS

PA Superior Court Candidates Forum April 6 at 6pm

Indivisibles in conversation with Bob Casey  April 6 at 5:30pm "Join Pennsylvania Indivisible and Bob Casey for a conversation about voting rights, DC statehood, campaign finance reform, the filibuster and more!" 

PA Primary deadlines 

Allegheny College Designated Voter Friendly Campus Through National Nonpartisan Initiative (Allegheny College, 3/9/2021) 

LOOK BACK

From 2010: "Pennsylvania Homeland Security office engaged in domestic surveillance, compared political groups to Al Qaeda" (PennLive 11/7/2010; updated 1/6/2019) "Pennsylvania's Office of Homeland Security had been tracking groups engaged in lawful, peaceful protests, including groups opposed to natural gas drilling, peace activists and gay rights groups...Regular readers of the bulletins could easily begin to view activists as a threat. The bulletins freely mixed references to actual terrorist activity abroad with warnings about the non-violent, lawful activities of Pennsylvania citizens. A July 30 bulletin that discusses 'jihadist threats in France' quoting Al-Qaeda, also warns that natural gas drilling events 'may draw unruly crowds.'"  Brandywine Peace Community was heavily tracked and did a detailed write-up on the monitoring, with background, updates, and specific alerts.

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