Join the RaiseUp and #WageAction Coalitions as we rally at the State House for $15/hour and respect on the job!

On October 13th, the Massachusetts legislature will begin a series of hearings on several bills that could: Create a $15/hr wage for employees of fast food and large retail chain stores; Ensure fair scheduling so workers have their schedules in advance; Raise the tipped wage; Uphold rights for pregnant workers; Increase private home care agency worker pay to $15/hr; and more!

RSVP on the RaiseUp website, or on Facebook.

Tuesday, October 13th @ 11:00AM
@ Massachusetts State House
24 Beacon St., Boston, MA 02108

The #WageAction Coalition is fighting against wage inequality and is part of the growing Fight for $15 movement. For more events, please visit our calendar at WageAction.org

Help GET BIG MONEY OUT of OUR Elections! JOIN the “BATTLE OF OUR AGE” and, over the next few weeks, commit just a few hours in this “last stand” for Democracy!

48 DAYS left for voters to sign our Petition

PMA aims to collect nearly 80,000 signatures – statewide – deadline Nov 18
Download the electronic version, and start getting signers TODAY!!

Sign up HERE to help get this on the Ballot! Let The People Decide!

PMA is TOTALLY GRASSROOTS and relies on volunteers. WE NEED YOUR HELP to collect Massachusetts voter signatures in order to get our proposed amendment through two consecutive sessions of the MA Legislature AND THEN on to the 2018 ballot and THEN submitted to The People for OUR approval. Ask your colleagues, neighbors & friends.

Petitioning contact: passmassamendment(AT)gmail.com tel#: 978 808 7173

Check the Calendar and Facebook Page for EVENTS

http://passmassamendment.wikispaces.com/Calendar+of+Events
https://www.facebook.com/PassMassAmendment

• PMA will be at Springfield & Boston rallies for Bernie Sanders – Oct 3rd
• PMA will be at local farmers’ markets – check the calendar
• PMA will be at the Somerville Honk Fest – Oct 9th-11th
• PMA will be at the Boston Food Fest – Oct 24th & 25th

Call Beacon Hill – PMA Call-in Day Wed Oct 7th

Show your support and CALL your elected officials at the State House on Wed., Oct 7th , 9am-5pm Let them know that the PMA Petition & the State House Legislative Amendment are important to you. Ask them to support S.53 & H.933.

FIND your State Representative and State Senator and how to contact them here: https://malegislature.gov/People/Search

Here’s an example of what to say or write to your State Representative and State Senator:

“I am concerned about big money in our elections and I believe that bills H-933 and S-53 would clear the way for legislation that would correct the problem. These bills are scheduled for the State Constitutional Convention on October 21, 2015. I understand that they will make it “to the floor” to be voted on only if there is mass support from citizens. I am showing my support early to give you time to speak with your colleagues and encourage them to support the bills too. I am asking you to do what is necessary to keep moving H-933 and S-53 forward for a vote at the State Constitutional Convention.”

For more info see: http://passmassamendment.wikispaces.com/State+Senate+%26+House+Bills

PassMassAmendment NOON RALLY & PETITION Drive

Rally in front of the State House at Noon on Wed. OCTOBER 21st before the 1pm State Constitutional Convention.

Bills filed for a MA Constitutional Amendment in the State House this session:

• S.53 – Senator Ken Donnelly. Proposal for a legislative amendment to the Constitution relative to corporate rights and political spending. https://malegislature.gov/Bills/BillHtml/142238?generalCourtId=12
• H.933 – Representatives D. Rogers & P. Marks. Proposal for a legislative amendment to the Constitution to declare that corporations are not people, money is not speech. https://malegislature.gov/Bills/BillHtml/142161?generalCourtId=12

See the webpage: http://passmassamendment.wikispaces.com/State+Senate+%26+House+Bills
Contact us with your questions. subject: PMA State House Days passmassamendmentpsa(AT)gmail.com.

JOIN the “BATTLE OF OUR AGE” and please commit just a few hours of time over these remaining petitioning days to do YOUR SHARE to revive our ailing Democracy! THANK YOU!

The PassMassAmendment Team

www.PassMassAmendment.org
PassMassAmendment on FACEBOOK
#PassMassAmend, #PassMassAmendment
PassMassAmendment(AT)@gmail.com

This Friday, Sept. 25, 6:30-9 at Encuentro 5, 9B Hamilton Place. Come hear:

• Marjorie Kelly, author of Owning Our Future: The Emerging Ownership Revolution;
• Julie Matthaei, Co-coordinator, Boston Area Solidarity Network;
• Nancy Goldner, Co-Chair, Hub Public Banking.

Time for Discussion/Light Refreshments. Doors open at 6pm.

Sponsored by Hub Public Banking, Democratic Socialists of America, Boston Chapter, The Democracy Collaborative, The Alliance for Democracy, The Boston Area Solidarity Economy Network

October 9 through 11, 2015

A wide variety of events scheduled in Somerville, Cambridge, & Boston

ALL FREE AND OPEN TO ALL

Special attention must be paid to milestone birthdays. The HONK! Festival’s 10th year is one of those occasions. As of this writing, the roster of socio-political activist street bands totals 28! They are coming from as far away as Paris, Los Alamos, New Orleans, Montreal and Quebec City. But it wouldn’t be HONK! without some last minute surprises!

The roster also includes many Boston-area bands, including a new local School of HONK!, based in Somerville, who will be organizing “walk-in” opportunities for local musicians who are not affiliated with an existing HONK! band. The recommendation is to keep checking www.honkfest.org/2015-festival/bands-2015 early and often for updates on participating groups.

This year is quite a transformation from HONK!’s 2006 humble beginnings, when 12 HONK! bands joined forces on a mellow October Saturday afternoon in Davis Square, Somerville, immediately turning everything topsy turvy. Those initial bands gathered in response to a call sent out by the Somerville-based Second Line Social Aid and Pleasure Society Brass Band, who had a need to seek out kindred spirit music makers and invite them to gather and play their collective hearts out, while raising awareness for local and global just causes. The bands played in earnest, yet always in keeping with the bons temps rouler vibe, that became especially contagious after the Katrina disaster of 2005.

That New Orleanian spirit rising again, despite all odds, is clearly something that the initial HONK!ers wanted to emulate and perpetuate. In addition to celebrating the 10th HONK!, this year also marks the 10th anniversary of Katrina. HONK! is pleased that the New Creations Brass Band and the Original Big Seven Social Aid & Pleasure Club will again be able to join HONK!, coming up from New Orleans to help us mark their milestone of recovery efforts.

HONK! continues to thrive and spread, the phenomena rippling across the planet, with yearly HONK! festivals also being held in Providence, New York City, Seattle, Austin, and Detroit, as well as in Australia and Brazil. And every year, HONK! bands circle back to their HONK! birthplace in Somerville, to roost, squawk and strut their stuff. The shape of this year’s schedule will adhere to what has now become the HONK! tradition of holding primarily outdoor events, all free and open to the public, held rain or shine during Indigenous Peoples’ Day Weekend, this year running from Friday-Sunday, October 9 through 11.

The HONK! events will include what has become the annual favorites:

• HONK! Friday: Day of Action in Boston during the afternoon, early evening Lantern Parades throughout Somerville’s Davis Square neighborhood, and culminating in an evening band showcase at Johnny D’s;
• HONK! Saturday: main event held throughout the nooks and crannies of Davis Square, with continuous band performances taking place from noon-9pm, rain or shine;
• HONK! Sunday: the gigantic noon Parade heading from Davis Square to Cambridge’s Harvard Square, where HONK! bands will then participate in Oktoberfest, performing throughout the Square in the afternoon, and ending with a steady stream of HONK! bands showcased up on the Main Stage.

Extra HONK! curricular activities are in the planning stages, including the “Visaural: Sight, Sound and Action” art exhibit, with a “HONK! Around The World” component, hosted by the Nave Gallery Annex (www.navegallery.org) in Davis Square. An opening reception is scheduled for HONK! Friday. And the word is out that a pre-HONK! gathering will take place in Union Square Somerville on the evening of Thursday, Oct. 8th.

Keep tuning into www.honkfest.org for updates. A background video for this year’s HONK! can found at www.honkfest.org/kickstarter. The Kickstarter fundraiser runs through Wednesday, September 23rd.

HONK! ON!

Think you have a right to know what you’re eating? This is your chance to demand transparency in GMO food labeling.

The Massachusetts GMO labeling bill has the support of over 75 percent of the state legislature, but unless we make it a priority this session, it might not even get voted on! We know that the biotech and processed food industries are spending millions to keep us in the dark about what we’re eating. As I write this they are hard at work lobbying to pass the federal DARK (Deny Americans the Right to Know) Act, a bill that would prevent passage of any state or federal mandatory GMO labeling law.

This is the ONLY public hearing in 2015 or 2016, so it’s important to turn out in large numbers to demonstrate support. Please join with hundreds of other foodies, farmers and families on Sept. 22 in support of transparency in food labeling.

What: Public hearing on GMO Labeling Bill H.3242

When: September 22, 2015 at 1 pm until it ends (Meetup at 11:30 am with Press Event AND ICE CREAM at Noon)

Where: Massachusetts State House, Boston (Meeting outside Park St. T Station on the Boston Common at 11:30am with a Press Event at the nearby Brewer Fountain at Noon)

GMO-Free ice cream provided by Ben & Jerry’s! But only till 12:20 pm on the Common!

Can’t make it? You can still submit written testimony in support of GMO labeling. Even a few brief words will add up! You can submit your testimony to the committee on our website: http://marighttoknow.org/testimony

You can find all the details and RSVP at: marighttoknow.org/publichearing

Please consider joining us at the State House in Boston, and please spread the word to anyone who you think might be interested. Thank you for speaking up for commonsense food labeling.