2021 Calendar

2021 Calendar of Events and Projects of the Seattle/Cuba Friendship Committee:

Jan. 16, 2021: Webinar on policing in Cuba
This workshop will look at how policing in Cuba looked like before and after the Cuban revolution. We will frame the presentation and discussion on what is the connection between the Cuban revolution and policing and the current movement in the US to defund/dismantle policing and what is possible now and in the future given the example of Cuba.
(* Sponsored by Seattle MLK Coalition as part of the week-long 2021 Martin Luther King Day celebration.)
This webinar has been posted on YouTube and is available for free watching:
https://youtu.be/HwdQjx8_p1M

Jan. 19, 2021: Seattle City Council discussion and vote on resolution to support the Saving Lives Campaign
Council member Teresa Mosquera will put a resolution supporting the Campaign before the City Council on Tuesday January 19th. We are encouraged to testify before the Council vote.
(* Resolution was passed by City Council. Next steps include approaching other groups for endorsement, including King County Health Board and the University of Washington Student Physicians for a National Health Program group.)

Jan 31, 2021: Last-Sunday-of-the-month Rally and Car Caravan
For several months now in Miami, on the last Sunday of the month, there have been Car Caravans of Cuban Americans and their allies calling for an end to the 60 year old US economic blockade of Cuba, and to build bridges of love between the US and the Cuban people. On Sunday Jan 31, the Seattle/Cuba Friendship Committee, in alliance with local Cuban Americans, is organizing a picket and car caravan in support of the Miami protest, to be held in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood. First will be a street picket/rally near the Ballard Farmer’s market, followed by a car caravan.
We hope to make this a monthly event through the year.
See our Seattle Picket & Car Caravan to Protest the U.S. Blockade of Cuba

February, 2021: ACERE initiative
The Alliance for Cuba Engagement and Respect (ACERE) is a national grassroots coalition seeking normalization of US-Cuba ties and opposing intervention in Cuban affairs. This year, ACERE has launched an initiative to lobby President Biden to reverse the Trump Administration’s cruel policies against the Cuban people, and renew mutually productive dialogue with the Cuban government. To facilitate this, ACERE is encouraging supporters to contact their members of Congress (both Senators and Representatives) and request them to sign on to a letter urging the President to use his executive power to make positive changes in Cuba policy. The Seattle/Cuba Friendship Committee is actively participating in this project. Please join us!
See our: ACERE page

Feb 28, 2021: Last-Sunday-of-the-month Rally and Car Caravan
For several months now in Miami, on the last Sunday of the month, there have been Car Caravans of Cuban Americans and their allies calling for an end to the 60 year old US economic blockade of Cuba, and to build bridges of love between the US and the Cuban people. On Sunday Feb 28, the Seattle/Cuba Friendship Committee, in alliance with local Cuban Americans, is organizing a picket and car caravan in support of the Miami protest, to be held in Rainier Valley, South Seattle.
Meet 11am at the Rainier Arts Center parking lot at 3515 S Alaska St. (near the SW corner of Alaska St. & Rainier Ave. S.) Overflow parking available at Rainier Community Center 4600 38th Ave S.
PICKET for about an hour at the corner of Rainier Ave S. & S. Edmunds St., 1 block South of Rainier Arts Center.
Then at 12 noon, CAR CARAVAN! Down Rainier Avenue and then return via Martin Luther King Jr., Way S.
See our February 28 Picket & Car Caravan page

March 19 to 28, 2021: Free Facebook showing of 2019 film “Havana, from on High”
“The chronic shortage of housing in Central Havana has pushed the city upwards, where life spills out onto the rooftops. Resilient and remarkable, these rooftop dwellers have a privileged point of view on a society in the process of major transformation.“
Link to be posted.

March 28, 2021: Last-Sunday-of-the-month Rally and Car Caravan
To be held in West Seattle / plan to be announced.

2021 Cuba Brigades
The likely brigade timetable:
April/May 2021 NNOC (National Network on Cuba) Mayday Brigade has been CANCELLED due to the pandemic.
May 2021 Code Pink (tentative)
July 2021 Pastors for Peace Caravan (tentative)(we plan to offer a partial scholarship)
August 2021 Venceremos Brigade (tentative)

Saving Lives Campaign (ongoing)
The Saving Lives Campaign is a joint initiative of the U.S. National Network on Cuba and the Canadian Network on Cuba, intended to to facilitate collaboration between the U.S., Cuba and Canada in fighting the COVID-19 virus. The campaign was organized in 2020 and the Seattle/Cuba Friendship Committee held several online events to promote the project. Our efforts continue; the project is integrated into the ACERE initiative and our Congressional advocacy work.
See our Saving Lives Campaign page

Congressional Advocacy
In January 2021, the outgoing Trump administration put Cuba back on the list of state sponsors of terror. The outset of the Biden-Harris administration offers an opportunity to reverse this cynical move and return to the Obama-era rapprochement between Washington and Havana. The Seattle/Cuba Friendship Committee has been requesting meetings with local Congressional representatives who might be supportive of the Saving Lives Campaign and, more broadly, a re-set of national Cuba policy.

SCFC Meetings
We usually meet (virtually, via Zoom) at least once per month. Please contact the Seattle/Cuba Friendship Committee for an invitation:
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For more information contact Seattle/Cuba Friendship Committee:
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Website:www.seattlecuba.org
Facebook:www.facebook.com/seattlecubafriendship/