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PEACE CENTER ACTIVIST ALERT
JANUARY 19th, 2026
MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. DAY
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TUESDAY, JANUARY 20th,
9:30 social / 10-12 meeting
ORINDA COMMUNITY CHURCH,
FELLOWSHIP HALL
10 IRWIN WAY, ORINDA
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF UNIVERSITY WOMEN - OML (Orinda/Moraga/Lafayette) branch
GENERAL MEETING
topic:
Ice Activity/Immigrant Rights in Contra Costa:
What you Need to Know and What Can YOU Do
Please join us for a panel discussion with leaders of local organizations that support our immigrant neighbors, friends, and families in Contra Costa County. The panel will cover the challenges facing local immigrants, the impact on our communities, and what actions we can take to respond.
The panelists are as follows:
- Sergio Jaime Lopez (CCIRA - Contra Costa Immigrant Rights Alliance);
- Debra Ballinger (United Latino Voices of Contra Costa County);
- Nancy Dougherty (Indivisible ReSisters Contra Costa); and
- Lisa Hoffman (East Bay Sanctuary Covenant).
Parking is available in the upper lot, which is marked with “Event Parking” arrows. Please leave parking in the lower lot available for anyone with mobility issues. Thanks for helping everyone attend who needs closer access to the Fellowship Hall.
This meeting is open to the public. Invite your neighbors and friends!
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SATURDAY, JANUARY 24th,
9 AM - 3 PM
FIRST UNITARIAN CHURCH OF OAKLAND
685 14th STREET, OAKLAND
hosting
BAY RESISTANCE: NON-COOPERATION TRAINING
Designed to prepare our communities to stop authoritarianism through strategic non-violent non-cooperation and collective action. It is rooted in what has worked around the world to slow down or stop the rise of authoritarianism.
In the morning session, participants will get grounded in the non-cooperation framework and examine the key pillars and types of civil resistance. The afternoon will consist of hands-on sessions to develop skills, strategies, and community-based action plans, and to identify the concrete roles participants can play—whether organizing, workplace outreach, neighborhood patrols, direct action, or corporate campaign work.
This convening will bring together individuals from across the Bay Area to foster a shared understanding and strengthen relationships. By the end of the day, participants will feel connected, empowered, and ready to take action.
An activist with the Interfaith Coalition for Justice in our Jails, Micky Duxbury, has attended a previous training and confirms it is excellent! Lunch will be served.
RSVP to https://actionnetwork.org/events/non-cooperation-training.
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MONDAY, JANUARY 26th, 7 - 8:30 PM
NEWMAN HALL, HOLY SPIRIT PARISH
2700 DWIGHT WAY, BERKELEY
PEACE & HEALING IN GAZA
A thoughtful conversation as a peacemaker and healer share their experiences from Gaza and regions impacted by conflict & war.
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SATURDAY, JANUARY 31st, 4 PM
NEWARK PUBLIC LIBRARY
37055 NEWARK BLVD., NEWARK
FILM SCREENING EVENT
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SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 1st, 2 PM
ASBURY UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
4743 EAST AVE. LIVERMORE
FRIENDS OF WADI FOQUIN CIRCLE
presents:
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TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 17th, 7 PM
ST. JOHN'S PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
2727 COLLEGE AVE. BERKELEY
NORCAL SABEEL & ST. JOHN'S PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
present:
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co-sponsored by:
Mt. Diablo Peace & Justice Center, Jewish Voice for Peace - Bay Area, St. Columba Catholic Church of Oakland, Berkeley Women in Black, Beyt Tikkun, Ecumenical Peace Institute, and Christians for a Free Palestine.
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ONGOING....
IYAS SARTAWI, LOCAL PALESTINIAN-AMERICAN ACTIVIST/ORGANIZER SEEKS DONATIONS FOR GAZA
more info go to: IG projecthopepalestine
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Are you seeking out
independent media?
Mt. Diablo Peace and Justice Center is collecting a variety of media including readings, documentaries, and podcasts on the topics of the day, to be read and shared.
Our goal is to educate, encourage discussion, and inspire activism.
NEW THIS WEEK:
DEMOCRACY NOW - Daily Digest Jan. 19, 2026: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, special report
"Today is the federal holiday that honors Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He was born January 15, 1929. He was assassinated April 4, 1968, at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. He was just 39 years old. While Dr. King is primarily remembered as a civil rights leader, he also championed the cause of the poor and organized the Poor People’s Campaign to address issues of economic justice. Dr. King was also a fierce critic of U.S. foreign policy and the Vietnam War. We play his “Beyond Vietnam” speech, which he delivered at New York City’s Riverside Church on April 4, 1967, as well as his last speech, “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop,” that he gave on April 3, 1968, the night before he was assassinated."
"Every year on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, official tributes reduce a radical critic of empire, capitalism, and militarism into a safely packaged icon — while quietly ignoring the brutal reality of how the U.S. government treated him in real time. Martin Luther King Jr. was not merely monitored by the FBI; he was hunted, harassed, and psychologically terrorized by a federal agency determined to silence a man whose moral authority threatened entrenched power. In this republished interview, acclaimed filmmaker Sam Pollard exposes the depth of the FBI’s crusade against King — a campaign far darker than most Americans are ever taught. Revisiting this history is not an exercise in nostalgia, but a necessary confrontation with how the state responds when demands for justice move from rhetoric to action."
JUDGING FREEDOM podcast (Judge Andrew Napolitano) interview of Alastair Crooke: Trump's Iran Blunders and False Hopes
JEFFREY SACHS: World BEYOND War - Briefing of the UN Security Council on Venezuela
"Mr. President,
Distinguished Members of the Security Council,
The issue before the Council today is not the character of the government of Venezuela.
The issue is whether any Member State—by force, coercion, or economic strangulation—has the right to determine Venezuela’s political future or to exercise control over its affairs.
This question goes directly to Article 2(4) of the United Nations Charter, which prohibits the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state.
The Council must decide whether that prohibition is to be upheld or abandoned.
Abandoning it would carry consequences of the gravest kind."
"For most of us, Friday, Feb. 6, 2026, is likely to feel no different than Thursday, Feb. 5. It will be a work or school day for many of us. It might involve shopping for the weekend or an evening get-together with friends, or any of the other mundane tasks of life.
But from a world-historical perspective, that day will represent a dramatic turning point, with far-reaching and potentially catastrophic consequences.
For the first time in 54 years, the world’s two major nuclear-weapons powers, Russia and the United States, will not be bound by any arms-control treaties and so will be legally free to cram their nuclear arsenals with as many new warheads as they wish — a step both sides appear poised to take."
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LAST WEEK:
JUDGING FREEDOM podcast (Judge Andrew Napolitano) interview of Max Blumenthal : Trump and Rubio’s Buddies to Pillage Venezuela
DIALOGUE WORKS podcast (Nima Alkhorshid) interview of Michael Hudson and Richard Wolff
THE DURAN podcast (Alex Christoforou) Interview/discussion with Jeffrey Sachs and Alexander Mercouris: Europe-Russia, two-century failure
THE GREATER EURASIA podcast (Glenn Diesen) interviews Jeffrey Sachs: U.S. Attacks Venezuela & Kidnaps President Maduro
PLEASE READ/WATCH and SHARE!
| | ONGOING WEEKLY LOCAL PROTESTS | | |
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TUESDAY EVENINGS
NOTE WINTER START TIME!!!
4:00 - 5:00 PM
Corners of Mt. Diablo Blvd. and Moraga Road, Lafayette
A PEACEFUL DEMONSTRATION FOR COMMUNITY BUILDING - THE WORK CONTINUES!
Meet Local Activists, Bring your own signs or make one when you arrive.
AND A MESSAGE FROM THE ORGANIZERS OF THIS WEEKLY EVENT:
We are concerned with safety and have a monitor at each corner wearing an orange vest. They will help keep the crosswalks and sidewalks clear for pedestrians. If you have any questions or concerns, please let one of them or Gordon Lake, our main event organizer, know.
Our mission statement and some norms for our group: .
Mission:
We are meeting to collectively defend democracy and support and protect the institutions which are vital to the wellbeing of all of us, and which are now under attack. Our goals are to meet every week to express our values and ideas, to promote solidarity and mutual support within our protest community, and to encourage other like-minded citizens to join us.
Norms:
We are non-violent in word and deed. We will follow all laws and act in ways that ensure personal safety. We will not block crosswalks or walkways.
We will not respond to those in cars or on the street who express different views. We will contact monitors in orange vests if we have questions or concerns.
LAMORINDA PEACE & JUSTICE GROUP
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WE THE PEOPLE PROTESTS
taking place on various days
WALNUT CREEK, LAFAYETTE,
MARTINEZ and OAKLAND!
CHECK THE SCHEDULE HERE
Organized by Indivisible ReSisters Contra Costa!
Join us for a rousing honk and wave visibility action.
Bring your signs and raise your voice for democracy and to protect our rights!
This is a nonviolent event. Stay within your rights, don’t break laws, stay safe, stay peaceful, and avoid any risk you don’t feel comfortable with. Don’t obstruct traffic, impede pedestrians, or commit any acts of property damage.
If counter-protestors appear, do your best to ignore them. When people shout from cars, just remember that we are standing for their rights, too. They just don't know it.
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| | ADDITIONAL ONLINE SOURCES FOR ACTIONS and INFORMATION ON PALESTINE/GAZA and other MILITARY ACTIONS WORLDWIDE | | |
ACTIONS TO TAKE!
Continue contacting Congress to
demand they pass these resolutions:
Block the Bombs – Support H.R. 3565
Call on your member of Congress to support the
Block the Bombs Act (H.R. 3565), introduced by
Rep. Delia Ramirez, to stop U.S. weapons transfers to Israel.
https://actionnetwork.org/letters/block-the-bombs-act
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RECENTLY RELEASED!
2025 edition of Mapping Militarism
24 interactive maps to highlight
the state of war and peace on our planet.
Each map allows the viewer to spin the globe,
zoom in and out, scroll the timeline back through the years,
or switch from map view to list view.
TRY IT HERE!
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World BEYOND War has
a DIVESTMENT campaign!
About the Campaign
Grassroots-led war divestment campaigns are springing up all over the world, from students organizing to divest university endowments, to municipalities and states coming together to divest public pension funds. Divestment means organizing to remove public and private assets from weapons manufacturers, military contractors, and war profiteers.
Public pension and retirement funds especially are often invested, directly and indirectly, in weapons companies. Teachers and other public servants whose interests lie with promoting human needs have their retirement security tied up with maintaining or enlarging the war industry. Every dollar currently invested in weapons and war is a dollar that could be better spent on job creation, education, housing, healthcare, food security, and so much more.
War profiteering is largely normalized today. We’re working to stigmatize the war machine. World BEYOND War assists divestment campaigns led by our chapters, affiliates, other coalitions, and individuals around the world.
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE CAMPAIGN HERE
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This website provides comprehensive information including events & campaigns
CHECK HERE FOR LINKS TO REACH OUT TO YOUR REPRESENTATIVES!
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Includes a frequently updated
calendar of local events
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Peace work in the Quaker tradition
American Friends Service Committee
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BOYCOTT
DIVESTMENT and SANCTIONS!
CHECK OUT THIS HANDY APP!
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Peace is Possible!
Mt. Diablo Peace and Justice Center
at Creekside Commons
1035 Carol Lane
Lafayette, CA 94549
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