Zaps - April 2010

Events

MUMIA - A one-day conference, "Live From Death Row: Mumia at the Crossroads in the Age of Obama," is scheduled for April 3 at Columbia University, Barnard College Campus, in NYC. Workshops are scheduled during the day, with speakers (Vijay Prashad, Kathleen Cleaver) in the evening.

Contact: Educators for Mumia Abu-Jamal, www.emajonline.com.

PERMACULTURE - Eco Homo: A Queer Co-Creative Permaculture Gathering is scheduled for April 3-11 at Wolf Creek Sanctuary in Oregon and will feature a hands-on ecological exploration of sustainable living and culture preservation, from wildcrafting to grey water harvesting.

Contact: Nomenus Wolf Creek Sanctuary, PO Box 312, Wolf Creek, OR 97497; 541-866-2678; farmerzakk@hotmail.com; www.nomenus.org/permaculture.html.

ABORTION RIGHTS - The annual CLPP conference "From Abortion Rights to Social Justice: Building the Movement for Reproductive Freedom" is scheduled for April 9-11 at Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts. The event features more than 40 workshops and trainings.

Contact: Civil Liberties and Public Policy Program, Hampshire College, 893 West Street, Amherst, MA 01002; 413-559-5416; clpp@hampshire.edu; clpp.hampshire.edu.

GREENFEST - Green festivals are scheduled for San Francisco (April 10-11) and Chicago (May 22-23). A joint project of Global Exchange and Green America, Green Fests feature speakers, workshops, displays, music, and other events.

Contact: www.greenfestivals.org.

HUMAN RIGHTS - The 15th annual Get On The Bus for Human Rights, scheduled for April 16, draws upwards of 1,200 participants riding buses, commuter trains, and carpooling to New York City to take peaceful action in front of embassies, consulates and corporate headquarters in support of human rights. Sponsored by Amnesty International USA Local Group 133 of Somerville, Massachusetts.

Contact: kelly@amnesty133.org, www.gotb.org.

BOOKFAIR - The 4th Annual NYC Anarchist Bookfair is scheduled for April 17-18 at the Judson Memorial Church in Manhattan. There will be an exposition of books, zines, pamphlets, art, film/video, and other media productions, plus panels, presentations, workshops, and skillshares).

Contact: info@anarchistbookfair.net, www.anarchistbookfair.net.

PEOPLE'S LOBBYING - Educating, organizing, and lobbying, sponsored by SOA Watch, are scheduled for April 17-19 in Washington, DC. The School of the Americas Watch works in solidarity with the people of Latin America and the Caribbean to close the U.S. military's infamous death squad school and to change oppressive U.S. foreign policy.

Contact: School of the Americas Watch, PO Box 4566, Washington, DC 20017; 202-234-3440; info@soaw.org; www.soaw.org.

CLIMATE CONFERENCE - The Peoples' World Conference on Climate Change is scheduled for April 19-22 in Cochabamba, Bolivia. The conference was announced by President Morales in response to the failure of the UN Copenhagen conference to address the underlying causes in the capitalist model, and instead offer real solutions and plans.

Contact: www.cmpcc.org.

EARTH DAY - April 22 is Earth Day, with diverse local actions around the world promoting a sustainable ecology, and a festival scheduled for Santa Barbara, California on Saturday and Sunday, April 17-18.

Contact: www.earthday.net; www.SBEarthDay.org.

BENEFIT - A fundraiser for the Maia Project for clean drinking water and the Middle East Children's Alliance is scheduled for Sunday, April 25 from 3-6 PM at UMass Boston Campus Center, with speakers Laila Farsakh, Noam Chomsky, Nancy Murray, and Ziad Abbas; plus a slide show, music, and a benefit sale.

Contact: water4gazaboston@gmail.com; www.justicewithpeace.org/upcoming-events.

NUKE TREATY - Anti-nuclear groups and activists from around the world are coming to New York City for a two-day conference, "For a Nuclear Free, Peaceful, Just and Sustainable World," on April 30 through May 1, and to celebrate an International Day of Action Against Nuclear Weapons on May 2 with a march from Times Square to the UN for a Peace Festival. The events are timed to coincide with a meeting of government leaders for the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference starting in May.

Contact: International Planning Committee, C/o Peace Action New York State, PO Box 600, JAF Station, New York, NY 10116; 646-723-1749; info@peaceandjusticenow.org; www.peaceandjusticenow.org.

MAY DAY - A May Day Unity Coalition is planning events for May 1, 2010 in NYC.

Contact: May 1st Coalition for Worker and Immigrant Rights, 55 West 17 Street, #5C, NY, NY 10011; 212-633-6646; MayDay2010@peoplesmail.net; www.may1.info.

MEDIA - The Making Media Public Conference is scheduled for May 6-9 in Toronto, Canada, focused on focused on four interrelated themes: history, labor, policy, and alternative/independent and community media.

Contact: mmp2010@yorku.ca; www.makingmediapublic.wordpress.com.

SPACE WEAPONS - The annual membership meeting of the Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space is scheduled for May 9 in NYC, in conjunction with other international events centered around the UN's Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference.

Contact: Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space, PO Box 652, Brunswick, ME 04011; 207-443-9502; globalnet@mindspring.com; www.space4peace.org.

CLASS CONFERENCE - The Center for Study of Working Class Life is hosting its 2010 conference How Class Works June 3-4 at the State University of New York at Stony Brook.

Contact: Center for Study of Working Class Life, Department of Economics, SUNY, Stony Brook, NY 11794; 631-632-7536; michael.zweig@stonybrook.edu; www.stonybrook.edu/workingclass.

BIKING - Join Bikes Not Bombs Sunday, June 6 for their 23rd annual Bike-A-Thon and Green Roots Festival in Boston, Massachusetts.

Contact: Bikes Not Bombs, 284 Amory St., Jamaica Plain, MA 02130; 617-522-0222; mail@bikesnotbombs.org; www.bikesnotbombs.org.

RADIO - The 35th Annual Community Radio Conference is scheduled for June 9-12 in St. Paul, Minnesota, with discussion, affinity groups, and dozens of workshops.

Contact: National Federation of Community Broadcasters, 1970 Broadway, Suite 1000, Oakland, CA 94612; 510-451-8200; conference@nfcb.org; www.nfcb.org.

LABOR - The Pacific Northwest Labor History Association's 42nd annual conference, "The Union Makes Us Strong: Inspiration, Guidance, and Hope During Hard Times," is scheduled for June 11-13 in Portland, Oregon.

Contact: PNLHA, 27920 68th Ave. East, Graham, WA 98338; 253-875-9498; pnlh1@aol.com; www.pnlha.org.

SOCIALISM - This year's annual Socialism Conference (with two sessions) is scheduled for Chicago (June 17-20) and San Francisco (July 1-4), featuring talks and panel discussions.

Contact: Socialism 2010, c/o Center for Economic Research and Social Change, PO Box 258082, Chicago, IL 60625; 773-583-7884 info@socialismconference.org; www.socialismconference.org.

MEDIA - The 12th annual Allied Media Conference will be held June 18-20 in the McGregor Conference Center at Wayne State University in Detroit. Participatory workshops and skillshares will emphasize DIY alternative media to advance visions of a just and creative world.

Contact: Allied Media Projects, 420 Cass Ave., Detroit MI 48201; www.alliedmediaconference.org.

SOCIAL FORUM - The second United States Social Forum is scheduled for June 22-26 in Detroit, Michigan. The social forum movement has brought together thousands of people around the world working for participatory grassroots alternatives to a hierarchical system of corporate exploitation of peoples and the environment. The theme of the USSF is Another World Is Possible, Another U.S. Is Necessary.

Contact: USSF Detroit 2010, 877-515-8773; detroitinfo@ussf2010.org; www.ussf2010.org.

CARAVAN - The 201st annual Pastors for Peace Caravan to Cuba is scheduled for July 3 through August 3. Through mid-July, volunteers will travel across the U.S. and Canada collecting aid and educating about the unjust blockade against Cuba, before an orientation in Texas July 18-20, followed by travel to and from Cuba until August 3. People can participate by attending or hosting local events, donating materials, or traveling along.

Contact: IFCO/Pastors for Peace, 418 W. 145th St., New York, NY 10031; 212-926-5757; cucaravan@igc.org; www.pastorsforpeace.org.

NUKE-FREE - The Nuclear Resister, Nukewatch, and the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance (OREPA) are hosting a national gathering July 3-5 at Maryville College in Maryville, Tennessee to declare independence from nuclear weapons and power, culminating with nonviolent direct action at nearby Oak Ridge, where OREPA has sustained a nonviolent campaign for over 20 years.

Contact: Felice and Jack Cohen-Joppa, The Nuclear Resister, 520-323-8697, nukeresister@igc.org, www.nuclearresister.org; Bonnie Urfer and John LaForge, Nukewatch; 715-472-4185; nukewatch1@lakeland.ws, www.nukewatch.com.

DIRECT ACTIONS - The Campaign to Legalize Democracy has called for communities to declare their independence and demonstrate against corporate rule and "personhood" on July 4, from floats in town parades to sit-ins and giant Monopoly boards. Info sheet with suggestions available at the DUHC website.

Contact: Democracy Unlimited of Humboldt County, PO Box 610, Eureka, CA 95502; 707-269-0984; info@DUHC.org; www.duhc.org/deepDemocracy.html.

COMMUNITY MEDIA - The Alliance for Community Media 2010 National Conference is scheduled for July 7-10 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Hands-on workshops and skillshares will be offered by this grassroots coalition of community media groups.

Contact: ACM, 1100 G Street, NW, Suite 740, Washington, DC 20005; 202-393-2653; www.alliancecm.org.

LA RAZA - The annual National Council of La Raza (NCLR) Conference is scheduled for July 10-13 in San Antonio, Texas, with workshops, presentations, and panel discussions.

Contact: NCLR Headquarters Office, Raul Yzaguirre Building, 1126 16th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20036; 202-776-1718; www.nclr.org.

DEMOCRACYFEST - The 7th Annual DemocracyFest will be held July 23-24 in Las Vegas, Nevada. DemocracyFest is a political festival for liberal and progressive activists, which features training, speakers, and entertainment; teaching people how to make a difference and have fun doing it.

Contact: DemocracyFest, info@democracyfest.net; www.democracyfest.net.

EDUCATION FORUM - The Rouge Forum 2010 conference, "Education in the Public Interest," will be held at George Williams College conference center in Williams Bay, Wisconsin from August 2-5.

Contact: fwilson@aurora.edu, www.rougeforumconference.org.

CO-OPS - The 2010 National Worker Cooperative Conference is scheduled for August 6-9 at Clark Kerr Conference Center at UC Berkeley in California.

Contact: U.S. Federation of Worker Cooperatives, PO Box 170701, San Francisco, CA 94117; 415-379-9201; info@usworker.coop; www.usworker.coop.

COMMUNITIES - The Communities Conference is a networking and learning opportunity for anyone interested or involved in co-operative or communal lifestyles, with workshops, events, and entertainment scheduled for August 13-15 at the Twin Oaks Community in Louisa, Virginia.

Contact: Twin Oaks Communities Conference, 138 Twin Oaks Road, Louisa, VA 23093; 540-894-5126; conference@twinoaks.org; www.communitiesconference.org.

URPE - Each summer, the Union for Radical Political Economics (URPE) holds a 4-day workshop/retreat with papers and workshops, formal and informal. This year's event is titled "Capitalism and Global Climate Change" and is scheduled for August 15-18 in Camp Deer Run in Pine Bush, New York.

Contact: Union for Radical Political Economics, Gordon Hall, University of Massachusetts, 418 N. Pleasant St., Amherst, MA 01002; 413-577-0806; urpe@labornet.org; www.urpe.org.

VETERANS - Veterans for Peace celebrates its 25th anniversary at this year's annual convention August 25-29 in Portland, Maine, with workshops, talks, and strategy sessions, with a final day rally and march.

Contact: Contact Veterans For Peace, 216 S. Meramec Ave., St. Louis, MO 63105; 314-725-6005; www.vfpnationalconvention.org.

Resources

TAX RESISTERS - Find out more information about the huge costs of militarism and the war tax resisters who courageously oppose it. Learn the facts to counter the coming spin by the right and corporate media.

Contact: War Resisters League, 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012; 212-228-0450; wrl@warresisters.org; www.warresisters.org. And the National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee, PO Box 150553, Brooklyn, New York 11215; 800-269-7464; nwtrcc@nwtrcc.org; www.nwtrcc.org.

Wanted

ESSAYS - The Daniel Singer Millennium Prize Foundation invites submissions to the 2010 Daniel Singer Prize competition, up to 5,000 words, on the topic: "Given the devastating effects of the present crisis on working people, what proposals for radical reform can be raised which are both practical to the vast majority while moving us towards the goal of socialism?" Deadline is July 31.

Contact: The Daniel Singer Millennium Prize Foundation, PO Box 2371, El Cerrito, CA 94530; danielsingerfdn@gmail.com; www.danielsinger.org.

PROPOSALS - The 2010 Rouge Forum for progressive educators is scheduled for August 2-5 in Chicago, and proposals for papers, panels, or performances are being accepted through mid-April.

Contact: fwilson@aurora.edu; www.rougeforumconference.org.

Videos

ANIMATIONS - Political cartoonist Ted Rall is producing, along with David Essman, political animations available online.

Contact: www.rall.com; www.youtube.com/user/tedralltoons.

BLACK RADIO - In Disappearing Voices: The Decline of Black Radio offers a history of African American radio and suggestions for a revival.

Contact: Black Waxx Multimedia, Inc., PO Box 349, Rockefeller Center, New York, NY 10185; 212-696-8562; disappearingvoices@blackwaxx.com; www.disappearingvoices.com.

FISH - The End of the Line delves beyond the surface of the seas to reveal a troubling truth beneath: an ocean increasingly empty of fish, destroyed by decades of over-fishing; based on the book by Charles Clover.

Contact: Bullfrog Films, PO Box 149, Oley, PA 19547; 800-543-3764; info@bullfrogfilms.com; www.bullfrogfilms.com.

LAW - In William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe, filmmakers Emily Kunstler and Sarah Kunstler explore the life of their father, the late radical civil rights lawyer.

Contact: www.disturbingtheuniverse.com; New Video, 212-206-9001; www.newvideo.com.

YES MEN - The Yes Men Fix the World is the true story of two conscientious mischief-makers who pose as the representatives of companies they despise, with bitingly humorous results.

Contact: www.theyesmenfixtheworld.com; Docurama Films, 800-314-8822; www.docurama.com.

Books

CAPITALISM - In Low Wage Capitalism, Fred Goldstein describes this economic approach as demonstrably unfair, irrational, and prone to intermittent crises—available online or in print.

Contact: www.lowwagecapitalism.com.

COAL - In Climate Hope: On the Front Lines of the Fight Against Coal, Ted Nace reveals the organizing methods and political tactics that enabled underdog activists in state after state to take on and defeat Big Coal.

Contact: CoalSwarm, 1254 Utah St., San Francisco, CA 94110; 415-206-0906; info@cmNOW.org; www.climatehopebook.com.

COOPERATION - In Transforming Power: From the Personal to the Political, activist Judy Rebick advocates for methods of co-operation and consensus over confrontation and partisanship in achieving political goals.

Contact: Penguin Group, 375 Hudson St., New York, NY 10014; www.us.penguingroup.com.

HEALTHCARE WORKERS - Labor's Civil War in California: The NUHW Healthcare Workers' Rebellion by Cal Winslow documents the grassroots rise and struggles of a new healthcare union.

Contact: PM Press, PO Box 23912, Oakland, CA 94623; 510-658-3906; info@pmpress.org; www.pmpress.org.

GAZA - In This Time We Went Too Far: Truth and Consequences of the Gaza Invasion, Norman Finkelstein shows how the massive destruction visited on Gaza was not an accidental byproduct of the Israeli invasion but its barely concealed objective.

Contact: OR Books, orders@orbooks.com; www.orbooks.com.

HUMAN RIGHTS - In A Shameful Business: The Case for Human Rights in the American Workplace, James A. Gross issues a call for the transformation of the American workplace based on genuine respect for human rights, instead of the terrible conditions that exist today.

Contact: Cornell University Press, Box 6525, 750 Cascadilla St., Ithaca, NY 14851; 607-277-2211; cupressinfo@cornell.edu; www.cornellpress.cornell.edu.

IRAQ - The graphic novel Iraq: Operation Corporate Takeover, written by Sean Michael Wilson and illustrated by Lee O'Connor, outlines how present day Iraq is a classic example of how corporations reap profit from conflict.

Contact: War on Want, Development House, 56-64 Leonard St., London EC2A 4LT UK; www.waronwant.org.

LYND - From Here To There: The Staughton Lynd Reader offers a new collection of the longtime left activist and author's writings, edited and with an introduction by Andrej Grubacic.

Contact: PM Press, PO Box 23912, Oakland, CA 94623; 510-658-3906; info@pmpress.org; www.pmpress.org.

MELTDOWN - In And Out Of Crisis: The Global Financial Meltdown and Left Alternatives by Leo Panitch, Sam Gindin, and Greg Albo analyzes the relations between politics and economics and the possibility of left alternatives within the current recession.

Contact: PM Press, PO Box 23912, Oakland, CA 94623; 510-658-3906; info@pmpress.org; www.pmpress.org.

ORGANIZING - Creative Community Organizing: A Strategy Manual for Rabble-Rousers, Activists, and Quiet Lovers of Justice by Si Kahn offers an inspirational biography and educational motivation to act.

Contact: Berrett-Koehler, 235 Montgomery Street, Suite 650, San Francisco, CA 94104; 415-288-0260; bkpub@bkpub.com; www.bkconnection.com.

ORIENTALISM - In The Pen and the Sword: Conversations with Edward Said, David Barsamian offers five wide-ranging interviews with the internationally renowned Palestinian scholar and critic Edward Said from 1987-94; re-released with new preface.

Contact: Haymarket Books, PO Box 180165, Chicago, IL 60618; 773-583-7884; info@haymarketbooks.org; www.haymarketbooks.org.

RELIGION - In God and His Demons, Michael Parenti explores the evil created in the name of "god," and the threat posed by fundamentalists.

Contact: Prometheus Books, 59 John Glenn Dr., Amherst, New York 14228; 800-421-0351; www.prometheusbooks.com.

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