Present: Peter Smith, Caroline Domingo, Keith Kimmel, Ed Jensen, and Lois Clark.
1. We decided to continue the Monday evening vigil every week for the foreseeable future. To help us survive the cold, Peter will turn some of the signs into Sandwich Boards so people can walk up and down the sidewalks with them. We won't try to plan a special public event for Jan but will attend events planned by others -- see below.
2. We confirmed plans for the nonviolent training session 1-6 on Saturday, January 4th at Haggar College Center on the campus of Saint Mary's College. We hope that groups of 6-8 people will form affinity groups where some in each group will do civil disobedience and others will maintain the action to the point of arrest and then support those arrested by raising bail, taking care of pets, notifying relatives, etc. We need everyone to pass the word. If you need names to contact let Peter know. It was suggested that we ask Rich Meyer of CPT to help with the training. Caroline will make the phone numbers of our members available to Peter. Kay will add a sign-up form to the web site.
3. We reported on the Jan 18th Music for Peace event which we are cosponsoring with the Center for Peace and Nonviolence. It will be held at St. Joseph Church, LaSalle and Hill, from 1-3 on Saturday, Jan 18, followed by a walk to an outdoor site for a closing vigil.
4. A coordinating committee is making plans for a demonstration the first weekday after the day on which the war in Iraq begins. MPJC will hold its own meeting the evening (7pm) of the attack to prepare a press release and plan other public actions, but we will participate in the city-wide event. This will start at the green in front of the Morris Civic near St Joseph street from 4 to 4:30. Then walk down past St Margaret's house to the Federal Building for closing activities 5-5:30. As the schedule gets better arranged, we will keep everyone posted.
5. Kay Westhues was appointed local coordinator with the Indiana Peace and Justice Group. This is a state-wide coordinating group for peace and justice actions throughout the state.
6. On Jan 20th the community will celebrate MLK's birthday. We are all encouraged to bring our signs to the noon walk from the County-city building to century center, and also participate in other events of the day. Lois will send us a complete report on what is planned.
7. Jobs with Justice has invited us to join their coalition. All the members present at the meeting agreed that this was very worth while since justice for workers is a key ingredient in ensuring peace and justice for all. Since it was not on the agenda, we agreed that Lee would post a more complete explanation of the invitation and we would take comments for two weeks thereafter. If anyone of our group has a concern, we will revisit the topic at a later meeting. Please respond to the posting of the invitation.
8. Some cities are passing anti-war resolutions. Ed will research the wording and recommend text for such a resolution we could take to the City Council for passage in the near future. Even if it does not pass, it should trigger some publicity about our anti-war beliefs.
9. Keith brought up the idea of us preparing our own Cable Access TV show once a month on Channel 3. He is going to sign up for training and encourages others to do so. As soon as they have a full class they will start the training. The web site is http://www.accesschannel.com/. contact Keith if you are interested. Caroline will contact Jade so she can alert her friends about this opportunity.
The meeting closed at 8:10pm. We did not set a time or date for the next meeting.
Respectfully Submitted
Peter
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