PERSONAL NEWS #124
I took Friday, May 11th, off from work to join Kevin [fellow NYDoP member] in delivering pies and the DoP message to two Brooklyn congressional offices. Without further ado, here is the update on a delightful 1 1/2 hour visit to Congresswoman Velazquez office on Court Street in Brooklyn. We both brought pies ... Kevin had an apple crumb pie and I brought a raspberry almond tart from The Garden. Our overall perception of visit was receptive, cordial, positive and friendly. We met with Dan Wiley [Community Coordinator] and Diane Febus [Caseworker]. We "broke the ice" by talking about the affordable housing situation in Brooklyn. Plus the annual DoP campaign … "Peace wants a Piece of the Pie". Kevin gave Mr. Wiley a color printout from National on Dept of Peace campaign. We also mentioned who has co-sponsored in NYC & NY state. Kevin and I inquired with Mr. Wiley why the congresswoman hasn't co-sponsored the bill this time. As she had the past three times, the last being Feb 2006. Mr. Wiley commented that since Democrats took the majority in Congress back in November Velazquez has been more active. She has a new LD [Legislative Director] in her DC office and is chairperson of the Small Business Committee.

While Kevin and I prepared the pies, Dan Wiley called the LD in DC office and brought the bill [HR 808] to his attention. While eating the delicious pies, one of the points Mr. Wiley brought up was a possibility of incorporating a portion of DoP into the State Dept. To which we responded how domestic aspect of the bill wouldn't fit into State Dept. And that we'd relate the suggestion to National. We talked more about the domestic portion of the bill, which Mr. Wiley was very receptive to. We touched on many diverse topics and talked with Diane who's very savvy on immigrant issues. [Since then I’ve sent several faxes to Mr. Wiley and the LD in DC in hopes of keeping their thoughts on DoP.] Afterwards, Kevin and I headed back to his home for lunch and discuss the meeting. Kevin and his lovely wife Irene have a lovely home they share with their two adorable daughters. Then it was off to our next congressional meeting at Kevin’s congresswoman’s office. Yvette Clarke was in DC and heading back to NYC that afternoon. While waiting to speak with one of Clarke’s staff, we conversed in the waiting area. After an hour the Chief of Staff apologized to us, said a meeting was out of the question due to an office crisis. Kevin rescheduled to speak with her on Monday. I took car service home from Kevin’s place and zonked out for a 2 hour nap. The weather was very warm, plus sunny, that day and whacked me out abit. That evening, around 6pm, I volunteered with City Harvest at the farmers market in Union Square. It was just Phil and I that evening. Not much to pick up from the vendors and farmers. By the time City Harvest truck arrived it was almost 8pm and the vendor/farmers nearly gone for the evening. It had also cooled abit in the evening and I was glad I put on my hoodie jacket. Overall it was a terrific, productive day.

On Sunday, May 13th, I joined members from CodePink and Granny Peace Brigade in a Mothers Day Peace Parade. It was a nice, warm, sunny spring day in NYC and perfect for a parade. We all converged at the fountain next to Columbus Circle and Central Park entrance. Everyone was wearing some form of pink; whether it was clothing, hats, buttons, scarves or banners. I was given a lightweight CodePink banner to carry and actually tied it around my hips. Was pleasantly surprised to see Norman Siegel there in support of the parade. Learned that he’ll be running again in 2009 for NYC Public Advocate and I firmly believe he’d do a great job. Will definitely support his new campaign and volunteer like I did in 2005. Before the peace parade set off the Granny Peace Brigade sang some great protest songs. We set off from Columbus Circle, over to Lincoln Center and then up through a street fair on Broadway. We even had police escort to help with traffic while crossing intersections. They behaved quite nicely. Along the way we received applause and thumbs up from many pedestrians. I also got to chatting with Sharon and a friend of hers. Sharon had two of her cute, sweet, little dogs [ie: Daisy & Scruffy] with her. By the time we stopped at Central Park West and Museum of Natural History we had a group of 30+. At this spot we gathered for some speeches and five minutes of respectful silence to morn the 3000+ dead American soldiers. This war and occupation of Iraq has taken a toll on our American soldiers, as well as the citizens of Iraq. As we headed east through Central Park I helped Sharon carry Scruffy. Several in the parade were handing out flyers about bringing our troops home now. We ended the peace parade at steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Which happens to be one of my fav museums in NYC. The Granny Peace Brigade again sang their protest songs and as the people on the steps watched, we did another five minutes of silence to morn the dead. The only sound around us was that of the traffic going by on Fifth Avenue.

Tuesday, May 15th, I joined my friend BC in having drink and checking out a possible location for future NYC Kucinich Meetups. The 11th Street Bar is in the East Village and were NYC Kucinich meetups were held from Nov 2003 through Feb 2004. Obtained the bar managers contact info from bartender and phoned Roger a few days later. After hanging out with BC, I hopped on the subway home to catch the season finale of “Gilmore Girls” on TV.

Wednesday, May 16th, was the NYDoP Strategy evening workshop. Sadly, not many showed up for the workshop, but those of us [ie: 8 total] that attended accomplished a lot in 3 to 4 hours. Our main goal is in regards to the September Peace building event we’ve titled CHOOSE PEACE.