Meeting minutes for Wednesday, 16 August 2017
In attendance: Jeff, Struan, Barbara, Bob, Kara (via Skype), Alex
Welcome and Introductions
Reports
Organizer's report [Jeff]:
- AIUSA success stories: update on recently liberated prisoners of conscious for whom Amnesty International has advocated in North Korea, Russia, and Sri Lanka
- Review of three films recently viewed
- Requiem for the American Dream (featuring Noam Chomsky)
- Inconvenient Sequel (by Al Gore)
- Whose Streets? (consists largely of cell-phone videos of police interaction with unarmed citizens of color)
- Sent letter to AIUSA governance signed by attenders at July meeting. Still hoping to obtain mailing addresses of local AIUSA supporters so that he can send a personal invitation to our meetings.
Barbara:
- Report of her conversation with the manager of Ten Thousand Villages in Media regarding community shopping events
- Community shopping events are intended to be mutually advantageous to the store (by bringing in additional shoppers) and to the nonprofit holding the event (by raising funds).
- Nonprofit organization holding the event is responsible for publicizing the event among its supporters.
- Nonprofit will receive a portion of the sales proceeds if shoppers mention the organization’s name when making purchases.
- Community shopping event can last as long as a week, and the nonprofit can hold a kick-off event.
- We can further discuss if we would like to hold a CSA and if we think that we have enough supporters who will make purchases in Media and mention us. If so, Barbara will contact the manager again to set up the event.
- Are there other possible venues where we’d like to hold a Write for Rights event (independent of a fundraising effort)? K of P mall, perhaps? Exton Library?
Alex:
- Update on efforts to end forced organ harvesting in China: go to www.stoporganharvesting.org/ to ask senators to support S.Res.220: A resolution expressing solidarity with Falun Gong practitioners and condemning the practice of non-consenting organ harvesting, and for other purposes. (see resolution text here)
- Book recommendation: An Unprecedented Evil Persecution, edited by Torsten Trey, Theresa Chu, and Yang Senhong (Clear Insight Publishing, 2016), an anthology of essays on Chinese government persecution of Falun Gong practitioners and others speaking up for democratic rights.
Updates and Actions
Upcoming Events
Upcoming Events
- Malvern Harvest Festival (tabling event)
- Sunday, 10 September 2017, 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
- Marsha will send out details and schedule
- “Give a Home” concerts, organized by Sofar Sounds in conjunction with AIUSA
- Small concerts held in private homes around the world on or around 20 September to call attention to plight of immigrants
- Several in Philadelphia area.
- Limited number of tickets available at www.sofarsounds.com/philadelphia
- AIUSA Group 112 (Philadelphia) events
- 19 September: "Global Migration Crises—Local Solutions" conference with various speakers. Organized with the City of Philadelphia Refugee Department and the United Nations Association of Greater Philadelphia
- 21 September: Peace One Day Celebration and concert
- 2017 AIUSA Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference
- Saturday, 4 November, University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA
- Early-bird rate available through 1 October
Thanks for the minutes. I have done UAs 216/16 and 195/17, and I will do 192/17 today. I hope to attend the September meeting and perhaps the Mid-Atlantic Regional. I will either let you know or just show up. My sincere and best wishes to you all; I miss you all so much, Bill.
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