My first post was June 6, 2005 ( durhamspark.blogspot.com/2005/06/about-this-blog-or-my-first-post.html ) and I'm proud to have kept this blog going for 13 years (a good prime number), though there are shortcomings; for example I wanted to have more original, journalistic content and detailed analysis, posts aren't very frequent, and I planned to post about this anniversary on June 6th. The title probably needs clarification. I was looking for a title along the lines of the Toledo Blade, Charleston Mercury, and Madisonville Meteor, but with an 'industrial' and 'political' quality, and settled on the Durham Spark. It is hard to recall now, but I don't think I intended to emulate the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party's Iskra (Russian for spark), initially run by Lenin.
Calendar:
More items will be added later on and some may be listed without full endorsement.
Plastic Free July challenges people to last a month without single-use plastic products: www.plasticfreejuly.org/ Plastic is becoming common in the oceans, killing oceanic birds and even whales that ingest it. It is predicted that plastic pollution will outweigh fish in the oceans by 2050. Plastic litter is also common along roads and in popular parks around here. I think the General Assembly repealed a ban on plastic bags on the Outer Banks a few years ago.
June is NC LGBT Pride Month ( governor.nc.gov/news/governor-roy-cooper-proclaims-june-lgbt-pride-month )
Chapel Hill Peace Vigil
Is 5 - 6pm on Fridays at the corner of East Franklin and Elliot streets (Village Plaza shopping center, near Whole Foods).
Upcoming library book sales
Friends of the Durham Library sales ( durhamcountylibrary.org/friends/ ): August 4, September 15-16, October 27, and December 1-2.
The next Friends of the Chapel Hill Public Library book sales will be September 7-9 and December 7-9 ( friendschpl.org/wp/book-sales/ ).
Like the Durham libraries, Lee County libraries have ongoing booksales at the branches.
Elected Honduran President Manuel Zelaya was overthrown June 28, 2009, with the support of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the Obama Administration. This rightist coup contributed to the violence and poverty in Honduras, for example the assassination of environmentalist Berta Cáceres March 2, 2016, and the result is high levels of unauthorized immigration to the US ( www.soaw.org/border/ ). If people in the US want to reduce undocumented immigration, a start would be to stop fomenting and abetting political and economic oppression in Latin America and elsewhere.
The Stonewall Riots began June 28, 1969.
US - Cuba Friendship Caravan event in Durham
The Pastors for Peace project will be at the Community Family Life and Recreation Center in Lyon Park (1309 Fayetteville Street) 3 - 5pm June 30th.
Mexico will have a general election July 1st, and left populist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador seems likely to be elected president.
The Battle of Gettysburg was July 1 - 3, 1863 in Pennsylvania, and was the Civil War battle with the most casualties, missing, wounded, or killed. Together with the Federal victory at Vicksburg, Mississippi on July 4th it is seen as a major turning point.
July 3, 1988 the USS Vincennes shot down Iran Air Flight 655 in Iranian airspace and while the ship was in Iranian territorial waters in the Persian Gulf, killing 290 civilians (66 children) from several countries. The US government paid restitution, but refused to apologize and the captain and crew of the Vincennes received various awards.
The 13 Colonies declared independence from the UK July 4, 1776, though the Revolutionary War/War for Independence had already begun, in 1775.
There will be a July 4th celebration in Carrboro on the 4th, 10am - 3:30pm at the Town Hall, with tablers including the Triangle branch of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom.
Eno River Festival
This 39th edition of the annual celebration will be Wednesday, July 4th and Saturday July 7th at West Point on the Eno ( www.enofest.org/#welcome ).
Emma Goldman: Dangerous Woman
Dr Sally Ann Drucker will discuss anarchist Emma Goldman's life (June 27, 1869 - May 14, 1940) and activism, July 7th at 2pm at Durham's Southwest Regional Library.
July 12 is Día del Árbol (Day of the Tree), Mexico's version of Arbor Day (see Wikipedia and www.arborday.org/celebrate/world-dates.cfm ).
The Storming of the Bastille during the French Revolution was July 15, 1789, and July 15th is an important holiday in France today.
"FIGHT FOR REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS AND DEFEATING GAG RULE Join those concerned about civil rights outside Senator Thom Tillis's Raleigh office while Population Connection's Health Empowerment Rights meets inside with Senator Tillis's staff to demand an end to Trump's Global Gag Rule. RSVP and learn more on Facebook here [ www.facebook.com/events/844998915695374/ ]. 2:30- 3:30 p.m., Monday, July 16, 310 New Bern Avenue, Suite 122, corner of Person Street. Amanda period murray at populationconnection period org]" [from the Chapel Hill activist calendar]
#NoPipelines #RiseTogether weeks of action July 16 - 31 ( www.nobayoubridge.global/risetogether )
Rally and Letter Delivery to Save Net Neutrality
It will be Thursday, July 19th at 12pm at 2741 Campus Walk Avenue, Durham 27705 and is part of a national day of action organized by Demand Progress.
Popular Resistance Classrooms Not Computers National Teach - In July 19 and December 28, 8 - 9:30pm EST ( popularresistance.org )
The Energy Crisis Inside the Greek Debt Crisis
UNC anthropologist Sandy Smith - Nonini will discuss her recent fieldwork in Greece at Recyclique (2811 Hillsborough Road, Durham; communecos.org/ ) Friday, July 20th at 6:30pm. There is a suggested donation of $5 dollars. Parking is available behind the building or at the nearby Food Lion.
National Moth Week is July 21 – 29 ( www.nationalmothweek.org/ ).
The comment period on the US Fish and Wildlife Service's proposal to reduce the protected area for the endangered red wolf in eastern North Carolina ends July 30th ( www.fws.gov/southeast/faq/red-wolf-proposed-10j-rule-and-draft-environment-assessment-announcement/ ).
Map Your Local News Ecosystem workshop
Saturday, July 21st at 1pm at Durham's Southwest Regional Library News Voices: North Carolina Director Fiona Morgan will lead a discussion of the local media network, to help participants get more from the media.
Frank Hyman talk
Durham political activist and writer Frank Hyman will give a talk titled: "The Founding Fathers Wanted to Avoid a Tyranny of the Majority, but Instead We're Stuck with a Tyranny of the Minority," on the control of the Federal government by a party with a minority of support, enacting unpopular policies, and what can be done. This will be July 21st at 10am at Durham's Southwest Regional Library.
The Farmworker Organizing Committee (FLOC) seeks volunteer drivers
FLOC needs some help getting workers from nearby farms to meetings Sunday, July 22nd and Saturday, August 18th. There is not a great need for drivers, but they could still use more volunteers and there will be future meetings.
Peacebuilding in the Holy Land
This announcement was sent out on a few email lists:
"Two speakers on Peacebuilding in the Holy Land, 11:30 July 22
Last fall, two NC graduate students traveled to Israel/Palestine in an Interfaith Peace Builders delegation. This Sunday they will reflect on their journey and their research before and after.
Melissa Gamble, African American Duke Divinity Master’s Program student, will discuss
“The Theology of Palestinian Liberation as it intersects with Black Liberation Theology."
Kylie Stephens, a student in the Peace and Conflict Resolution program at UNCG, will discuss
“The Right of Return: Moving Beyond Perceptions and Toward Peacebuilding.”
Come hear from our visitors and join in the discussion, 11:30 a.m., upstairs in the Overlook Room!
Chapel of the Cross Episcopal Church, 304 E Franklin St, Chapel Hill 27514
Free Sunday parking is available in the Planetarium lot next to the church."
First Annual Community Love Cookout
Witness for Peace Southeast is organizing this solidarity cookout to celebrate community organizers and share experiences. It will be a Shelter #4 in Raleigh's Pullen Park (520 Ashe Avenue, Raleigh, 27606), Sunday, July 22nd 5 - 8pm
July 23, 2002 British officials met to discuss US Iraq policy, resulting in the Downing Street Minutes or Memo, which seems to say that a disingenuous case for war was being presented and bombing in preparation for war was already going on, among other revelations. Several other documents illuminating the path to the war of aggression against Iraq were also leaked.
The 2018 Gardener's Fair, organized by the Durham Garden Forum, will be Tuesday, July 24th, 6:30 - 8pm at Duke Gardens. For more information, email durhamgardenforum at gmail period com.
The 22nd annual International Seminar on Problems of the Revolution in Latin America, organized by the PCMLE and the JRE youth organization, will meet July 25 - 27th in Quito, Ecuador.
Build Relationships with Local Media
News Voices: North Carolina Director Fiona Morgan will discuss how people can dialogue with journalists for better coverage, Thursday, July 26th at 6:30pm at Durham's East Regional Library.
Raleigh Fundraiser for FLOC
There will be a reading by author Sandra Cisneros at NCSU Thursday, August 2nd to benefit FLOC. I don't have further details yet. [It will be in the Hunt Library Auditorium at NCSU, 1070 Partners Way, Raleigh, at 7pm. The NC State Bookstore will sell books for signing after Cisneros' talk, benefitting FLOC. For more information, call 919 513 3481.]
Atomic bombs were dropped on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki August 6th and 9th 1945, respectively.
Fundraising Concert for the NC Farmworker Union, FLOC
Triangle Friends of Farmworkers and the National Farm Worker Ministry are organizing a fundraising event Tuesday, August 7th at 130 Hunt Street in Durham starting at 7:30pm (open at 7pm). There will be a FLOC update and a concert by folk singer and composer Rod MacDonald. Free parking is available at the Senior Center across the street. For more information or tickets, contact daustin at mindspring period com. Tickets are $20 dollars (negotiable, and larger amounts appreciated), and can be sent to Dave Austin, 130 Hunt Street, Apt 407, Durham, North Carolina 27701. To donate to FLOC directly, see: www.cmwj.org/wordpress/
German philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel was born August 27, 1770 in Stuttgart, Germany; his works were an important influence in the later development of Marxism.
Rise for Climate, Jobs, and Justice! national day of action September 8th. An event is being planned in Raleigh, details TBA: actionnetwork.org/events/rise-for-climate-action-raleigh?referrer=karen-bearden&source=direct_link
Mexico's Independence Day is September 16th, commemorating Miguel Hidalgo's Grito de Dolores (Cry of Dolores) in 1810.
Henrietta Boggs film showing
September 15th to October 15th is National Hispanic Heritage Month, and there will be a showing of First Lady of the Revolution: A Southern Belle's Journey Through Love, Exile, and Revolution September 20th at 6:30pm in the Durham Arts Council's PSI Theatre (120 Morris Street). Henrietta Boggs was born May 6, 1918 in South Carolina, was a debutante in Alabama, and married Costa Rican anti-communist liberal leader Jose Figueres Ferrer, though they divorced in 1954. She moved back to the US, where she was employed by Costa Rica's UN delegation.
The North Carolina Commission of Inquiry on Torture report will be published September 26th.
There will be a general election in NC November 6th (www.dconc.gov/home/showdocument?id=24338 ).
School of the Americas Watch Border Encuentro 2018 will be November 16 - 18 at the southern border in Nogales Arizona/Sonora ( www.soaw.org/border/2018-encuentro/ ).
The First International Conference Against US/NATO Military Bases will also be November 16 - 18, in Dublin, Ireland ( NoUSNATOBases.org ).
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