Sep
23
12:01 PM12:01

EMERGENCIES IN ACTIVISM: FREE WEBINAR THIS SUNDAY

Mental-health therapist Robin Chancer, & Taggart Long, Firefighter/Paramedic, will discuss mental health, first-aid & other intervention strategies based on research and real-world experience.

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You’re invited Sunday the 23rd at noon, Eastern Standard Time. Join the webinar here.

Among the topics Robin and Taggart (Frontline’s training director) will cover this Sunday at noon Eastern Standard Time (in the United States):



• Robin will discuss research on trauma in the aftermath of 9/11.

Specifically, she’ll focus on studies of those who participated in debriefing sessions right after a traumatic event (“critical incident stress debriefing”) and fared worse than those who did not. What we’ve learned from debriefings can inform how we respond to people undergoing a highly stressful event. The focus now is on “psychological first-aid” for victims.


• How to promote a sense of safety: initiate contacts in a non-intrusive, compassionate manner. Help the person become as safe as possible, and state as much.

• How to promote calming: comfort, grounding, stabilization.

• How to gather info on current needs and concerns

• Offer practical assistance, meet basic needs

• How to promote a sense of self-efficacy: offer positive coping ideas, notice things the person is doing or has done well.

• How to improve connectedness with activists: linking social supports & resources

• Instilling hope, protecting activists from further harm. Taggart and Robin will discuss particular struggles they have encountered among activists, including:


*elevated fear and stress associated with crackdowns
 on activists—fear of consequences


*handling trauma, unexpected injury (tear gas,
violence, etc.) & intense emotions that may result


*managing anger, grief, disillusionment, emotional
 sustainability


*dealing with the stigma that surrounds mental
illness, seeking help

Taggart and Robin will also cover strategies that increase chances of success as we intervene. Bedside manner matters. We begin with, “How can I help you today?”

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May
12
2:00 PM14:00

Applications are open for Frontline's Board of Directors

Per our By-Laws, elections are held beginning June 1 each year. If Frontline members want to apply for a Board member position, the form is online here.

This is our first election, which means eight of nine seats are open. The only carry-over person (from the current Board) will be Duck Bardus, Board Treasurer, who’ll finish her term as Frontline’s first Board member March 31, 2019. Under our current By-Laws, Board members serve for 18 months before their position is up for election.

See below for a general position description—what it means to be a Board member. We hope, for those who want to get more deeply involved in Frontline's work, that you'll consider applying for the Board.

Some of the duties of Board members include making decisions at the policy-level regarding: communications, operations, recruitment, finances, security (both physical security and cybersecurity), legality, and general program development as they pertain to Frontline members and the activists we serve.

Eight of the nine Board positions are open for election. Meredith ‘Duck’ Bardus, who serves as Board Secretary, is the only carry-over member. She currently serves as the only full Board member. All others currently serving on the Board are interim members. That means that each Frontline member who votes in the election can cast up to eight votes (one vote for each member you’d like to see elected), including a vote for yourself, if you’ve announced your candidacy by completing the required application.

If you have questions about the process, email your Frontline contact, or use the contact page here.

This is a timeline of the elections process:

• May 11, elections announcement by email/ online

• May 28th application period closes; instructions for voting will be emailed

• May 31st we send out candidate profiles

• June 1-7 time to register your vote

• June 11 we announce Frontline’s new Board of Director

Good luck to all our candidates!

Frontline Board Member Position


Minimum Qualifications:


- Current Frontline member

- Demonstrated commitment to social-justice work

- Dedication to nonviolence as a civil resistance strategy

- Previous collaboration with Frontline Directors and/or Board highly preferred

Duties:

- Make decisions at the policy-level regarding communications, operations, recruitment, finances, security, legality, and general program development as they pertain to Frontline members and the activists we serve

- Oversee, evaluate, and manage projects and partnerships that contribute to the development of Frontline’s reach and impact of our mission statement


Executive Committee duties

- Secretary: Responsible for formal written communications to the Board (internal) and formal written communications to affiliate agencies (external); creates weekly agendas and records minutes and attendance for Board meetings; general record-keeping duties; other duties the Board may require


Treasurer

- Manages bank account; manages grants/funding criteria; files tax documents and other financial paperwork; responsible for financial updates at Board meetings; financial record-keeping duties; other duties the Board may require


Vice President

- Responsible for assuming the duties of the President at their request or in their absence; other duties the Board may require


President

- Be the public face of the Board; work closely with Frontline directors; chair the Executive Committee; other duties the Board may require

Expectations for Board members:


Communication

- Board members are expected to respond to Frontline communications (phone calls, emails, and electronic messages) within 36 hours. Daily examination of and response to Frontline communications is highly encouraged.

- Board members are expected to be up to date on all information communicated and honor commitments made to attend and participate in conference calls and electronic communication.

- Board meetings are weekly conference calls/video chats with mandatory meetings every other week. Board members are expected to attend all mandatory meetings unless prior notice of an absence has been given.

- Failure to meet these expectations may result in dismissal by the Board, per Frontline’s By-Laws.


Confidentiality

- Board members will have access to sensitive information belonging to activists, members, and other Board members and are expected to use extreme caution and follow applicable laws when handling any personally identifiable information (PII) or sensitive personal information (SPI).

- Board members will be asked to sign a legal document pertaining to confidentiality and nondisclosure before joining the Board.

- Board members with medical credentials are expected to adhere to HIPAA guidelines where applicable.

- Board members are expected to install and use encrypted calling/texting apps, encrypted email, and be the sole person with access to those accounts.

- Board members are expected to behave and communicate in ways that show a commitment to maintaining the safety of individuals affiliated with Frontline and the integrity of Frontline as an organization.

- Failure to meet these expectations may result in dismissal by the Board, per Frontline’s By-Laws.


Culture

- Board members’ words and actions should align with Frontline’s operating principles and commitment to nonviolence.

- Board members are asked to be action-oriented and take ownership of their own ideas and suggestions.

- Board members are encouraged to engage with each other in collaborative and creative ways. This environment is maintained through a commitment to being solutions-focused and accountable to each other.

- Board members are encouraged to work through conflicts with each other through direct and respectful communication.

- Board members are encouraged to live our mission and stay committed to their own health and wellbeing through the duration of their service to Frontline (and, we hope, forever). This involves being comfortable asking for help, having honest awareness of our own limitations, and actively communicating with the Board about external commitments (family, work, school, and other priorities).


Please consider the following when voting for candidates for the Board:


- Minimum requirements (outlined above) are met and exceeded

- Previous engagements with Frontline Board and Directors have shown this candidate to be reliable, dedicated, and motivated.

- Candidate brings an area of expertise and enriches the Board (public health, medical, legal, mental health, and fundraising are all fields that need more representation on our Board currently).

- Frontline is a women-led organization. As such, preference should be given to applicants who are women/women of color.

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May
10
to May 28

Frontline Wellness United Board of Directors Application

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Apr
14
to Apr 22

FREE WEEKEND CLASS IN MEDIC CERTIFICATIONS

Training Director Taggart Long certifying medics in Salt Lake City, Utah Feb. 4, 2018.

Training Director Taggart Long certifying medics in Salt Lake City, Utah Feb. 4, 2018.

Frontline Wellness United is holding a free 2-day class April 14-15 for those who want certifications in First Aid, CPR and AED (Automated Electronic Defibrillator) use.

The class runs from 9 a.m. - 6 p.m. each day at the Veterans Building, 401 Van Ness Ave. (at McAllister), San Francisco, California 94102.

The workshop is primarily intended for veterans and street medics, and is co-hosted by Veterans For Peace San Francisco Chapter 69. Students who attend the full workshop will receive a basic medical kit with First-Aid supplies, courtesy of MedShare: http://www.medshare.org/
Registration is required. Just send a brief message noting which days you’d like to attend. Write to Frontline here:

https://www.frontlinewellness.org/contact/
The training will be especially useful for those who want to provide medical support at public gatherings, during humanitarian missions and other social-justice work.
Taggart Long, paramedic/firefighter & training director for Frontline Wellness United will teach the course. Please note, students can attend the full two days, or attend only specific modules.

The class is broken down this way:

Saturday, April 14 from 9 am - 12:30 pm

• Patient Assessment
• Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) &
• Automated Electronic Defibrillator (AED)
• Rescue from Choking

Lunch: 12:30 - 1:15 pm

1:30 - 6 pm
• Stopping Bleeding
• Tourniquet Use
• Wound Management
• Preventing/Treating Shock
• Treating Athletic Injuries
• Head Injuries & Neurological Disorders
• Patient Packaging for Emergency Transport
Sunday, April 15 from 9 am - 12:30

• Treating Chemical Exposures (tear gas,
pepper spray, etc.)
• Environmental Conditions (Heat Illnesses &
Hypthermia)
• Gear Recommendations/Demonstrations

Lunch 12:30 - 1:15 pm

1:30 - 6 pm
• Treating Cardiac Arrest and Acute Coronary
Syndrome Disorders
• Treating Respiratory Distress & Disorders
- Asthma
- Anaphylactic Shock (bee stings, allergic
reactions)
• Treating Seizures
• Treating Diabetic Shock
• REVIEW

The training is scheduled for Room 221 in the Veterans Building, which is wheelchair accessible.

Transportation: The Veterans Building is about a 4-block walk from the Civic Center BART station; it’s served also by VanNess bus lines #47 & #49.

Lunch: Bring one (snacks are suggested, too).
For more info use Frontline’s contact page:
https://www.frontlinewellness.org/contact/

Frontline Wellness United is a nonprofit medical-aid society that provides no-cost medical care, wellness services and training for social-justice activists and nonviolent civil resistance movements.

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Apr
3
8:00 PM20:00

Reframing Health in War: An Update from Occupied Palestine

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Join Jewish Voice for Peace's Health Advisory Council for a webinar April 3 from 5-6 pm Eastern Time with Dr. Alice Rothchild and Professor Rita Giacaman. The webinar will discuss the challenges of maintaining health services in a conflict zone.

Professor Giacaman is a professor of public health at the Institute of Community and Public Health, Birzeit University, West Bank, occupied Palestinian territory. She is a founding member of the Institute, and has worked there for over three decades. During the 1980s, she participated as a researcher and practitioner in the Palestinian social action movement, which led to the development of the Palestinian primary health care model. During the 1990’s, she also participated in building the Palestinian community-based disability rehabilitation network.

Since 2000, Professor Giacaman has sought to understand the impact of chronic war-like conditions and excessive exposure to violence on the health and well-being of Palestinians, especially their psychosocial health; and ways in which interventions could generate the needed active and positive resilience and resistance to ongoing war-like conditions, especially among youth.

She has published extensively, in scholarly journals (such as the European Journal of Public Health), edited volumes, as well as several volumes and reports published locally. She recently co-edited Public Health in the Arab World: Towards a Multidisciplinary Perspective, with colleagues from the Faculty of Health Sciences at the American University of Beirut.

Register here. 

Jewish Voice for Peace is a national, grassroots organization inspired by Jewish tradition to work for a just and lasting peace according to principles of human rights, equality, and international law for all the people of Israel and Palestine. JVP has over 200,000 online supporters, over 70 chapters, a youth wing, a Rabbinic Council, an Artist Council, an Academic Advisory Council, and an Advisory Board made up of leading U.S. intellectuals and artists.

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Mar
2
6:00 PM18:00

War, Journalism and Whistleblowers Speakers' Panel

Book cover featuring Katharine Gun, whistleblower.

Book cover featuring Katharine Gun, whistleblower.

The Nation Union of Journalists in the United Kingdom invites you to a speaker's panel on War, Journalism and Whistelblowers, hosted by Birkbeck, a public research university located in Bloomsbury, London. 

The featured speakers include: Katharine Gun (former GCHQ translator responsible for the 2003 leak); Thomas Drake (former senior executive of the US National Security Agency); Duncan Campbell (award winning journalist, author and TV producer); Matthew Hoh (former US Marine and State Department official serving in Afghanistan and Iraq); Jesselyn Radack (national security and human rights attorney representing Ed Snowden and other whistleblowers); Silkie Carlo (Director of Big Brother Watch and leading voice in the campaign against the UK's repressive surveillance and official secrecy laws).

Hearing Katharine Gun alone would make the panel worth attending. Gun blew the whistle on a U.S. effort to gather personal information on UN delegates in order to blackmail them into voting in favor of a UN resolution supporting an invasion of Iraq in 2003. There's a film in the works—Official Secrets—to portray Gun's act of conscience, which led to her dismissal as a translator of Chinese within the British intelligence community. 

For those who can't make the event, but would still like to learn about Gun's sacrifice, there's the nonfiction book "The Spy Who Tried to Stop a War: Katharine Gun and the Secret Plot to Sanction the Iraq Invasion."

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Webinar: Youth, Civil Resistance and Elections in Eastern Europe
Feb
28
12:01 PM12:01

Webinar: Youth, Civil Resistance and Elections in Eastern Europe

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It's a great time—with young people leading gun-reform movements in the United States—to get some inspiration and some know-how from youth movements in eastern Europe where (for one), young Serbian activists brought down that nation's dictator in 2000. 

Hosted by the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict, this webinar features Olena Nikolayenko, Associate Professor of Political Science at Fordham University, talking with participants about what makes student-led movements successful. Nikolayenko is the author of Youth Movements and Elections in Eastern Europe, her work focuses on (among other issues), anti-government protests in contemporary Russia, and women’s engagement in high-risk activism in Ukraine. 

You can register for the webinar here. 

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From the Pentagon to Paradise: 40+ Years of Whistleblowing
Feb
28
to Mar 4

From the Pentagon to Paradise: 40+ Years of Whistleblowing

  • Stadtpark 1, 8010 Graz Austria (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS
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Frontline members Lisa Ling and Diani Barreto will be speaking at the ELEVATE festival in Graz, Austria, focused heavily on discussions about whistleblowing and hacktivism. Lisa was a U.S. Army nurse, and then a drone-warfare technician in the U.S. Air Force, but came to prominence in the documentary film National Bird, speaking out against the U.S. drone program. 

Diani is a researcher for ExposeFacts (and launched the agency's Berlin, Germany office) and for the Courage Foundation. She is one of the world's most ardent defenders of whistleblowers. 

The 2018 ELEVATE festival theme is Risk/Courage, with an obvious emphasis on whistleblowers who's acts of conscience come at great peril, and for which they often pay a heavy price—imprisonment, loss of financial security, enormous mental and physical burdens associated with work driven by high ethical standards, and punished by repressive governments whose corruption is exposed by whistleblowers' revelations. 

The festival's promoters note, "Civil disobedience and non-violent resistance again become the leitmotif for those citizens who get involved. Some activists even risk their lives to fight for their cause.

This is exactly where the upcoming Elevate Festival comes in: We want to focus on the concepts of risk and courage, look at concrete examples and discuss the pros and cons. What risk are we personally willing to accept for our beliefs? What courageous ideas do we consider important and where do we see the most urgent need for action? What strategies and methods do activists and artists from around the world use to assess the risks of their actions? And when does the end no longer justify all means?

Together with many guests from all over the world these questions and more will be discussed at the Elevate Festival. A lot of inspiration and an exciting exploration of new ideas and strategies are in the foreground, over five festival days at the beginning of March 2018 in Graz." 

Bios for Ling and Barreto are available on Frontline's profiles page. 

 

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Feb
24
11:10 AM11:10

From Cointelpro to Tiger Swan: Legal and Tech Tactics for Protecting Human Rights Defenders

Lisha Sterling, chief executive officer, Geeks Without Bounds, and volunteer (cyber-security and vetting processes).

Lisha Sterling, chief executive officer, Geeks Without Bounds, and volunteer (cyber-security and vetting processes).

Lisha Sterling, chief executive officer of Geeks Without Bounds and a Frontline volunteer is speaking at Amnesty International's Annual Meeting in Rockville, Maryland Feb. 24 from 11:10 a..m. to 12:50 p.m. She's part of a panel that will focus on infiltration of social-justice movements. 

Lisha, who set up and managed Internet services for the Dakota Access Pipeline resistance camps in North Dakota, will focus on cyber-security for activists. Other panel members will emphasize how to deal with the legal issues that arise from nonviolent civil resistance work. 

She's going to talk in depth about threat modeling—how to assess the degree to which an activist might come under the scrutiny of governments and third parties (security contractors, for example) who'd like to diminish the effectiveness of social-justice workers and movements. "I'm going to talk about how do you know when you're under surveillance," she says. 

"I'll talk about how 'paranoid' you should be. If you're showing up once a year to a women's march, then your threat model is probably not that high. It's not something you'd probably need to worry about. But if you're attending meetings regularly, and you're effective, then that's a different story." 
 

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Free Class: Civil Resistance Struggles: How Ordinary People Win Rights, Freedom, and Justice
Feb
4
to Mar 18

Free Class: Civil Resistance Struggles: How Ordinary People Win Rights, Freedom, and Justice

This is a participant led course designed by the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict in Washington, D.C. The ICNC is an amazing resource for activists who want to study nonviolent civil resistance, both as a concept and as a tool for social change. 

One of the best things about ICNC courses is the exposure you get, and the connections you make with activists around the world. The agency's last public course—People Power: The Study of Nonviolent Strategic Resistance—connected 60 students from 29 countries, most of whom were actively engaged in nonviolent civil resistance movements. 

Among other activities planned for the course, participants will “study scheduled modules of selected readings, videos, and pre-recorded experts and practitioners’ input on key aspects of nonviolent resistance campaigns and movements.”

The online class is limited to 50 participants, and the deadline is Feb. 4, so apply here ASAP! 

*Note: ICNC's People Power course is offered annually, in conjunction with the Rutgers International Institute for Peace. 

 

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Feb
4
9:00 AM09:00

Frontline First Aid & CPR Training

Photo by David Goehring. Used with permission under a Creative Commons license. 

Photo by David Goehring. Used with permission under a Creative Commons license. 

Frontline is offering a free First Aid & CPR certification class Feb. 4 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Mestizo Coffee House, 631 W North Temple, Salt Lake City, UT 84116. Taggart Long, Frontline's training director and a firefighter paramedic in St. Louis, Missouri, will lead the workshop. 

The class is aimed at Utah activists who'd like to work with Frontline as street medics at protests and other events focused on social justice and nonviolent civil resistance. Taggart will cover wound management, burn care, how to treat mace/pepper-spray exposure, basic First Aid/CPR and additional skills. 

The training is part of a series of events focused on self-care and improving the health of the activist community in Utah, organized by massage therapist and Frontline interim Board member Nina Giardinelli.

The class is by invitation only. If you'd like to be added to a waiting list for for future trainings/Frontline events in Utah, please feel free to contact us through our online form here. 

A special thanks to the owners/managers of Mestizo for providing Frontline with a free (as well as welcoming and beautiful) space to hold this training. 

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Feb
3
2:00 PM14:00

Frontline Wellness Day

Frank and Leslie stop unpacking supplies at Rosebud Camp, anti-Dakota Access Pipeline protest, to show some mutual appreciation. Rosebud is part of the Standing Rock Sioux Indian Reservation in North Dakota, USA. 

Frank and Leslie stop unpacking supplies at Rosebud Camp, anti-Dakota Access Pipeline protest, to show some mutual appreciation. Rosebud is part of the Standing Rock Sioux Indian Reservation in North Dakota, USA. 

We're offering a free training day for activists in Salt Lake City, focused on helping the community build resiliency and protect social-and-environmental justice workers. Want to learn how to better cope with the stress of human rights work? Learn how to be a more effective activist? Learn some of the essential things you’d need to do as a street medic to support protestors?

Join us for a series of activist workshops Feb. 3 at the Salt Lake City Art Hub, 663 W 100 S, Salt Lake City, Utah 84104. Featuring classes on self-care, mutual care, street-medic essentials, finding joy, building resiliency for yourself and your work ... along with other essential tools for maximizing your impact & protecting yourself & others.

This is a great time to step up your skill level in nonviolent civil resistance and wellness care, with groups around the U.S. organizing to counter threats against the integrity and beauty of Bears Ears and Grand Escalante monuments in southern Utah. 

Cost? None. It's free, but donations are appreciated. Please bring a yoga mat or pillow to help make yourself comfortable in the training space. The event is located near a Trax station. 

Brought to you by coordinator Nina Giardinelli, assisted by Jenny Baird and Taggart Long, training director for Frontline Wellness United. 

Opening and closing ceremonies will be led by PANDOS, Peaceful Advocates for Native Dialogue and Organizing Support.

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Jan
11
11:59 AM11:59

ICNC Webinar: Can People Power Movements Strengthen International Human Rights Law?

This is a live webinar featuring Elizabeth A. Wilson, hosted by the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict. Wilson will speak about the impacts of civil resistance movements on human rights and human rights law. Wilson is a visiting faculty member of the S.I. Newhouse Center for Law and Justice at Rutgers University, Newark, N.J. 

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Dec
13
3:00 PM15:00

Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Webinar: Sharing Lessons Learned from Recent Disasters

The webinar is a learning resource for activists who might like to apply some of the principles of disaster management (and lessons learned); students/activists can apply the info toward managing support systems for large-scale protests or encampments (particularly for sustained protests). 

You'll need to register for the webinar through Adobe Connect, here. 

People who've gone through CERT or NET (Neighborhood Emergency Teams) training will be very familiar with the terminology, but if you don't have direct experience with either CERT or NET, the links below will provide you with a quick overview. 

Please note that both CERT and NET are related to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which is a function of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. If you'd like to visit such sites without undue concern about being tracked online, consider downloading the TOR (encrypted) browser here (and you'll need to follow TOR's instructions about safe browsing). 

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Prisoners for Peace Day
Dec
1
1:00 AM01:00

Prisoners for Peace Day

Today is International Prisoners for Peace Day. According to War Resisters' International, South Korea leads the world in imprisoning people of conscience; all military conscientious objectors in that nation receive a mandatory 18-month sentence, with no options for alternative service. 

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