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Posted on by Nada Khader Posted in Blogs, Communities & Focus Areas, Director's Blog, Frontpage, Movement Building, Shop Fair Trade
As we launch into the holiday season next week, please consider supporting certified fair trade items as gifts for yourselves and loved ones.
 
Here in the office, we do have a few items available that I am happy to ship to you (photo attached):
 
Certain Days Calendar – Freedom for Political Prisoners – view here  $15
Colors from Palestine Calendar – https://resistanceart.com/gallery/ $20
Soap made by women in Bangladesh – SERRV – set of two – $10
West Bank ceramics – rectangular and split dish – $22; large oval $32
Cushion covers, embroidered by refugee women in Lebanon – $25
Shawl, embroidered – $45
Handbags made in India, certified fair trade SERRV – small $40; large $70
Trivets (hot plates) from Uganda – $15
Organic Equal Exchange teas – all organic – black, jasmine green, peppermint and English Breakfast – all $4
 
Thank you!

Posted on by Nada Khader Posted in Blogs, Communities & Focus Areas, Director's Blog, Environmental and Food Justice, Frontpage, Shop Fair Trade

Join us on Thursday, November 19th at noon for an interactive conversation where we learn about the challenges and joys of being a cacao grower in today’s world.  Lalatiana Andrianarison, one of the Beyond Growers, will join us after a two day drive from his cacao farm to  the capital (where the chocolate factory is located), a journey spanning over 800km.

We will speak with a team in Madagascar, an island country off the coast of East Africa who work with Beyond Good chocolate, a company committed to purchasing premium cocoa directly from farmers so that they can receive the best prices for their heirloom crop and avoid outsourcing their impact to a third party certification. 

Posted on by Nada Khader Posted in Blogs, Director's Blog, Frontpage, Racial Justice

ARA Board Diversity Speakers

Posted on by Nada Khader Posted in Blogs, Communities & Focus Areas, Director's Blog, Frontpage, Immigration

WESPAC fully supports this campaign and we will be reaching out to our community partners to sign on.  This Town Hall scheduled for next Tuesday will be a great opportunity for us to learn more about the campaign as we move to promote this urgently needed fund for excluded workers:

“Please save the date for our Excluded Worker Organization Townhall that we will be holding in partnership with the Fiscal Policy Institute next Tuesday, Sept, 29th from 6:30pm-7:30pm. Don’t miss this statewide exploration of New York’s need. RSVP for the town hall here. For more information about the Excluded Worker Fund, visit our campaign website here. Feel free to let me know if you have any questions!
 
Thank you,”
 
Vanessa Agudelo
 
—

Vanessa Agudelo

Manager of Member Engagement- Hudson Valley

She/They

 

The New York Immigration Coalition

1132 Main St., Suite 1 & 2

Peekskill, NY 10566

(914) 482-1241 (cell)

nyic.org

Posted on by Nada Khader Posted in Blogs, Communities & Focus Areas, Director's Blog, Frontpage

Dear WESPAC Members, Friends and Supporters,

We hope this letter finds each and every one of you as well as possible in these very challenging times.  This correspondence is WESPAC’s annual membership renewal and sign-on.  Your response to this  letter is one of our most important connections to current and future members, and a crucial source of support for the justice and peace work we do together.  Membership is more than a one-time donation; it implies ongoing support  and dedication to  our cause and work.   

Together, we have supported WESPAC through its 46th anniversary!  Inspired by our rich history, and proud of our nurturing role, WESPAC continues to serve a unique role as a hub for progressive organizing in Westchester County.  We connect people with each other, support a wide range of campaigns and strengthen movement building locally by developing long term relationships with grassroots leaders, workers and environmental groups. 

We have been educating, agitating and organizing for a more just and peaceful world, an end to militarism and racism and a more fair economy that works for all.  Our members are currently involved with criminal justice reform and police accountability, food justice work, fair housing, climate justice and safe renewable energy, immigrant protection, solidarity with Indigenous Peoples, an end to militarism and drone warfare and the struggle for justice, equal rights and human dignity for all the inhabitants of Israel/Palestine.

Dues that sustain our work are $100 per person annually, or $50 for students and persons with a fixed income.  If you are able to do so at this time, please renew or sign up for your membership now by mailing your check to WESPAC Foundation, 77 Tarrytown Road, Suite 2W, White Plains, NY 10607. You may also make your online secure contribution here. 

We are grateful for all levels of support and no one is turned away for lack of funds. Volunteer hours are welcome in lieu of payment and can be arranged with the office (914-449-6514).  We look forward to seeing you virtually at our October Annual Meeting of Members (details to follow in September).  Thank you all so very much.  Contributions in any amount are crucial, sustain us and are always deeply appreciated.

Howard Horowitz, WESPAC Board Chair and Nada Khader, WESPAC Director 

Please renew your dues here

Posted on by Nada Khader Posted in Blogs, Communities & Focus Areas, Director's Blog, Environmental and Food Justice, Frontpage, Movement Building

This was a fabulous presentation today by Evan Pritchards and very well attended:

White Plains, formerly known as Quarropus, was once well known as a fossil-free transportation hub; the meeting place of three important watersheds connecting the mid-Hudson with the East River and Long Island Sound. White Plains and its neighbors today span seven strategically located waterways, and the portage routes where the Siwanoy and Weckquaesgeek peoples once carried their canoes from one to the other are still in place. By making and marking new trails, supporting local canoers with information and supplies, and a few other inexpensive and potentially lucrative changes, White Plains could add a new layer to its infrastructure that would make it the DIY “Venice of New York,” boosting business and recreational traffic in a way that makes a bold statement about America’s future. All we have to do is GET OUT THE BOAT!

EVAN PRITCHARD, guest on The History and Discovery channels, ABC and CNN, is a Mi’kmaq descendant, an award-winning historian, author of over seventy books, environmental activist, guest educator on Sloop Clearwater, founder of a Center for Algonquin Culture, and former professor of Native American Studies at Vassar, Pace, and Marist. This talk is based on his newest book Mapping Manahatoauc. (currently self published): 

https://www.facebook.com/WESPACFOUNDATION/videos/218938262894364/

Posted on by Nada Khader Posted in Blogs, Communities & Focus Areas, Director's Blog, Friends of Turtle Island, Frontpage, Movement Building, Racial Justice

Here is the recording of an important webinar with South Dakota State Senator Red Dawn Foster on the work of Return to the Heart Foundation, an Indigenous-led grantmaking organization that empowers women-led initiatives throughout Indian Country. https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=594420184612151 For Native Americans, Covid-19 has hit hard, from the growing number of infections in Navaho and Hopi Nations to the racism that the Lakota continue to face in protecting their borders. South Dakota State Senator Red Dawn goes into detail about how Native nations are staying resilient and how mutual aid can support their efforts.

 

Posted on by Nada Khader Posted in Blogs, Communities & Focus Areas, Director's Blog, Environmental and Food Justice, Frontpage

For those of you who missed the presentation today, it was recorded in its entirety (one hour) and has been posted on our Facebook page and website. We had over 80 people attend the presentation.  There is clearly much interest in this subject.  For all of you who asked questions, I am forwarding to the presenters and you should be hearing from them soon.  You can watch the presentation here. 

The three presenters were:

Patti Wood is the founder and Executive Director of Grassroots Environmental Education, Inc., an award-winning science-based non-profit organization. A Visiting Scholar at Adelphi University, Ms. Wood lectures on the environment and related health issues in the College of Nursing and Public Health. She is the recipient of the 2016 national EPA Children’s Environmental Health Excellence Award, and is the author of “Helping to Heal,” a book for parents of children with cancer and other life-threatening illnesses.

 

Doug Wood is the Associate Director & Chief Strategy Officer for Grassroots Environmental Education, Inc., and the Founder and Director of Americans for Responsible Technology.  An accomplished filmmaker, Mr. Wood’s documentary films on environmental issues and children’s health have been widely acclaimed and used by organizations around the world to promote protective public health policies.

 

Dr. Devra Davis is the founder and president of Environmental Health Trust. She is the author of more than 200 studies and publications published in the Lancet, the Journal of the American Medical Association, Scientific American and the New York Times. Dr. Davis was the founding director of the Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology of the U.S. National Research Council, National Academy of Sciences, and former Senior Advisor to the Assistant Secretary for Health in the Department of Health and Human Services. 

Posted on by Nada Khader Posted in Blogs, Communities & Focus Areas, Director's Blog, Frontpage, Militarism and Foreign Policy, Movement Building, Racial Justice

What a magnificent awards gathering the WESPAC Community had last night!  Between the awardees and our keynote speaker, we were all transported to the realm of possibility and the world that we can make happen together!  Take a listen: https://www.facebook.com/WESPACFOUNDATION/videos/747136596090336/?vh=e

Posted on by Nada Khader Posted in Blogs, Communities & Focus Areas, Director's Blog, Frontpage, Movement Building, Racial Justice

WESPAC 2020 Dinner Journal Final