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Zaps - January 2011

By Various Contributors

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January 2011

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Events

HEALTHCARE - The Vermont Workers' Center has scheduled a rally and assembly on a single-payer health system for the U.S. on January 5 in Montpelier. The Healthcare Is A Human Right Rally is scheduled for 12:30 PM and the People's Movement Assembly is scheduled for 1-3 PM.

Contact: Vermont Workers' Center, 294 N Winooski Ave., Burlington VT 05401; 802-861-4892; www.workerscenter.org.

ANARCHIST STUDIES - The Second North American Anarchist Studies Network Conference is scheduled for January 15 at the Steel Workers' Hall in Toronto, Ontario.

Contact: www.naasn.org.

U.S. TORTURERS - January 11 is the ninth anniversary of the establishment of the Guantanamo Bay prison where the U.S. illegally houses "detainees" from around the world indefinitely, mostly without charge, and subjects them to physical and psychological abuse and torture. On January 22, 2009, President Obama lied when he promised to close the facility within the year. Witness Against Torture is planning events January 11-22 against this camp and others like it around the world.

Contact: www.witnesstorture.org.

MLK DAY - The Martin Luther King Day holiday is Monday, January 17. Community groups across the country will honor King by organizing a Day of Service and peace groups will highlight MLK's oft-overlooked anti-imperialist, antiwar activism. A rally and march for jobs and justice is scheduled in Detroit at noon.

Contact: MLK Day of Service, 215-665-2475; mlkdayofservice@globalcitizen.us.com; www.mlkdayofservice.org; www.mlkday.org; www.mlkdetroit.org.

SOCIAL FORUMS - The 2011 World Social Forum is scheduled for February 6-11 in Dakar, Senegal. Regional forums were held in 2010 to mark the 10-year anniversary of the WSF, but this year features another world event for discussions among citizen-activists for alternatives to the dominant corporate-military system under the banner "Another World is Possible."

Contact: www.fsm2011.org; www.forumsocialmundial.org.

THEATER - Vermont's Bread & Puppet: Cheap Art & Political Theater is doing a tour of southern and eastern states in February and March, starting in Philadelphia on February 10, but with open dates to fill as well. Check the current schedule and/or call with performance venue suggestions.

Contact: Bread and Puppet: Cheap Art and Political Theater in Vermont, 753 Heights Rd., Glover, VT 05839; 802-525-3031 or 802-525-6972; breadpup@together.net; www.breadandpuppet.org.

EVOLUTION - February 11-13 will be the sixth annual celebration of Evolution Weekend, intended to demonstrate that religious people from many faiths and locations understand that evolution is sound science and poses no problems for their faith, affiliated with the Clergy Letter Project repudiating anti-science fundamentalism.

Contact: www.evolutionweekend.org.

TEACH-IN - The 10th Annual Local to Global Justice Teach-in "Solidarity Through Knowledge & Action" is scheduled for February 26-27 at Arizona State University in Tempe. Workshops and other events are designed for sharing experiences and knowledge between scholars and activists working on a wide range of social justice, human rights, and sustainability issues.

Contact: localtoglobaljustice@yahoo.com; www.localtoglobal.org.

STUDENT STRIKE - Students in California are planning more actions this March, as with last year's mass actions, in response to draconian budget cuts affecting tuition and courses. Actions include a statewide strike and day of action on March 2, a conference on March 12, and a march on the state Capitol in Sacramento on March 14.

Contact: statewidecoordination@gmail.com; www.ca.defendpubliceducation.org.

WOMEN'S STRIKE - March 8 is the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day with events planned around the world. Global Women's Strike also organizes protest, education, and direct action events around this day to redress the ongoing oppression of women who do two-thirds of all the world's work—most of it without pay or formal benefits and often in slave conditions.

Contact: www.internationalwomensday.com; www.globalwomenstrike.net.

LEFT FORUM - The 2010 Left Forum is scheduled for March 18-20 at Pace University in New York City. This year's theme is "Toward a Politics of Solidarity" and will feature hundreds of panel discussions, art and film shows, and exhibitors.

Contact: Left Forum, c/o PhD Program in Sociology, CUNY Graduate Center, 365 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10016; 212-817-2003; leftforum@leftforum.org; www.leftforum.org.

CLIMATE - A national youth summit to strategize climate activism, Power Shift 2009, is scheduled for April 1-4 at RFK Stadium in Washington, DC with workshops and discussions about organizing and legislative campaigns.

Contact: www.powershift09.org.

Organizations

MIMUNDO - Since 2006, MiMundo.org has been providing photo essays and reports from marginalized communities in Central America, gaining increasing visibility through publication and gallery exhibits. The operation is now seeking tax deductible contributions through the non-profit Rights Action.

Contact: www.mimundo.org/contribute.html.

PUBLIC HEALTH - The Public Health and Social Justice website offers open access slide shows, articles, syllabi, and hundreds of external links relevant to numerous social justice topics, including environmental health, women's health, drug policy and privacy, war and peace, and food safety (including GMOs). It is aimed at students, teachers, and the general public; submissions welcome.

Contact: www.publichealthandsocialjustice.org.

REFUGEES - The Carol Chomsky Memorial Fund has been created in honor of the late Carol D. Chomsky, linguist, peace activist, mother, and wife of Noam Chomsky. Donations will provide humanitarian aid to Palestinian refugees in the Gaza Strip and in the Palestinian refugee camps of Lebanon. Partnerships with individuals and aid agencies in the region assure the tax-deductible contributions get to the people for whom they are directly intended.

Contact: Carol Chomsky Memorial Fund, Inc., 1102 Shorewood Blvd., Madison, WI 53705; 608-215-9157; www.chomskyfund.org.

Film/Video

FILM OPENING - The North American launch of The Economics of Happiness, a one-hour documentary about the worldwide movement for economic localization, will take place in Seattle, Washington, January 11, 2011. The screening will be followed by a panel discussion with special guests.

Contact: International Society for Ecology and Culture (ISEC), PO Box 9475 Berkeley, CA 94709; 510-548-4915; r.ovetz@isec.org.uk; www.theeconomicsofhappiness.org.

Human Terrain - The documentary Human Terrain: War Becomes Academic examines a U.S. military's counterinsurgency initiative under which social scientists are embedded with combat troops.

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

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Announcements

LABOR - May 1 is May Day. Workers of the world will celebrate the 124th anniversary of International Worker’s Day. Born out of a call for an 8-hour workday in the United States, this day is an opportunity for all workers to show their solidarity with one another, as well as to renew the call for labor rights.

FARM CONFERENCE - The Farm Conference on Community and Sustainability will be held May 24-26 in Summertown, TN, in partnership with the Fellowship of Intentional Communities. Tour green homes, see sustainable food production, learn about solar installations, alternative education, midwifery, and more.

Contact: Douglas@thefarmcommunity.com; http://www.thefarmcommunity.com/.

PALESTINE - The Conference of the Palestinian Shatat in North American will be held June 3-5 in Vancouver. The conference will examine the future of the Palestinian liberation movement.

Contact: palestinianconference@gmail.com; http://www.palestinianconference.org/.

LABOR - The Pacific Northwest Labor History Association’s 45th annual conference will be held May 3-5, in Portland, OR. This year’s theme is Labor Under Attack: Learning from the Past and Preparing for the Future. A call for presentations, workshops and papers is currently underway.

Contact: PNLHA, 27920 68th Ave. East, Graham, WA 98338; 206-406-2604; PNLHA1@aol.com; http://www3.telus.net.

MARIJUANA - On the first Saturday of May marijuana legalization activists will hold informational and educational events, rallies and marches in over 300 cities around the world.

Contact:http://globalcannabismarch.com/.

ECONOMICS - The Union For Radical Political Economics will hold its 39th annual conference May 9-11 in New York City.

Contact: http://www.ramapo.edu/eea/2013/.

RECLAIM THE DREAM - The 2013 Poor People’s Campaign & March from Baltimore to Washington D.C. will be May 11. Communities, schools and unions interested in participating are encouraged to contact the Baltimore People’s Assembly.

Contact: 410-500-2168; 410-218-4835; BaltimorePeoplesAssembly@gmail.com; Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Baltimore and the Baltimore Peoples Power Assembly, 2011 N. Charles St., Baltimore, MD 21218.

MOTHER’S DAY - The 17th Annual Mother’s Day Walk For Peace will be May 12th, in Dorchester, MA. The walk began in 1996 for families who had lost children to violence. The day has become a way for thousands of people to financially support the work of the Louis Brown Peace Institute.

Contact: http://www.ldbpeaceinstitute.org/; http://mothersdaywalk4peace.org/.

NATO 5 - An International Week of Solidarity with the NATO 5 has been called for May 16-21. Supports call on supporters to raise awareness of the NATO 5 and support funds for the defendants on the one-year anniversary of their preemptive arrests.

Contact: nato5solidarity@gmail.com; https://nato5support.wordpress.com.

MOUNTAINTOP - The 2013 Mountain Justice Summer Activist Training Camp will be held May 19-27 in Damascus, VA. It will be a week of workshops, field trips to view Mountain Top Removal coal mines, direct actions, and service project.

Contact: http://rampscampaign.org/.

FEMINIST SCI-FI - The feminist science fiction convention WisCon 37 is scheduled for May 24-27 in Madison, WI.

Contact: WisCon, ? SF3, PO Box 1624, Madison, WI 53701; concom37@wiscon.info; http://www.wiscon.info/.

ANARCHY FEST - A month-long Festival of Anarchy is scheduled for May in Montreal. The festival includes The Montreal Anarchist Bookfair (May 19-20).

Contact: http://www.anarchistbookfair.ca/; http://www.radicalmontreal.com/.

LABOR - The International Labor Rights Forum will present: Down the Supply Chain, Driving Corporate Accountability, on May 22 in Washington, DC. The Labor Rights Awards Ceremony and Reception will honor pioneers in supply chain worker organizing, working solidarity and international labor rights policy.

Contact: http://laborrights.org/.

MULTICULTURE - The 26th annual National Conference on Race & Ethnicity in American Higher Education (NCORE) will take place May 28-June 1, in New Orleans.

Contact: SWCHRS, 3200 Marshall Avenue, Suite 290, Norman, OK 73072; 405-325-3694; ncore@ou.edu; www.ncore.ou.edu.

MEDIA - The 2013 Alliance for Community Media Annual Conference will be held May 29-31, in San Francisco, CA. Participants will include educators, community leaders, media professionals, journalists, nonprofit leaders, policymakers and students.

Contact: http://www.allcommunitymedia.org/.

RADIO - The 38th Annual Community Radio Conference is schedule for May 29-June 1, in San Francisco, CA, with discussions and workshops.

Contact: 1101 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Suite 600, Washington, DC 20004; 202-756-2268; comments@nfcb.org; http://www.nfcb.org/.

BRADLEY MANNING - On June 1, a rally will be held at Fort Meade in support of Bradley Manning.

Contact: http://www.bradleymanning.org.

BIKES - Bikes Not Bombs is holding its 24th annual Bike-A-Thon and Green Roots Festival in Boston, MA on June 3, with several bike rides scheduled, music, exhibitors and more.

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

LEFT FORUM - The 2013 Left Forum will be held June 7-9, at Pace University in New York City.

Contact: 365 Fifth Avenue, CUNY Graduated Center, ? Sociology Dept., New York, NY 10016; http://www.leftforum.org/.

VEGAN FEST - Mad City Vegan Fest will be held in Madison, WI, June 8. The annual event features food, speakers, and exhibitors.

Contact: 122 State Street, Suite 405 B, Madison, WI 53701; madcityveganfest@gmail.com; http://veganfest.org/.

ADC CONFERENCE - The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) holds its annual conference June 13-16, in Washington, DC, with panel discussions and workshops on civil rights, media and other topics.

Contact: 1990 M Street, Suite 610, Washington, DC, 20036; 202-244-2990; convention@adc.org http://convention.adc.org/.

CUBA/SOCIALISM - A Cuban-North American Dialog on Socialist Renewal and Global Capitalist Crisis will be held in Havana, Cuba, June 16-30. There will be a 5 day Seminar at University of Havana, plus visits to a cooperative, urban garden, community development project, social research centers, and educational & medical institutions.

Contact: cuba@globaljusticecenter.org; http://www.globaljusticecenter.org/.

NETROOTS - The 8th Annual Netroots Nation conference will take place June 20-23 in San Jose, CA. The event features panels, trainings, networking, screenings, and keynotes.

Contact: 164 Robles Way, #276, Vallejo, CA 94591; registration@netrootsnation.org; http://www.netrootsnation.org/.

MEDIA - The 15th annual Allied Media Conference will be held June 20-23, in Detroit.

Contact: 4126 Third Street, Detroit, MI 48201; http://alliedmedia.org/.

GRASSROOTS - The United We Stand Festival will be hosted by Free & Equal, June 22 in Little Rock, Arkansas. The festival aims to reform the electoral process throughout the U.S.

Contact: http://freeandequal.org/.

SOCIALISM - The Socialism 2013 Conference is scheduled for June 27-30 in Chicago, featuring talks and panel discussions.

Contact: info@socialismconference.org; http://www.socialismconference.org.

LITERACY - The National Association for Media Literacy Education (NAMLE) will hold its conference July 12-13 in Los Angeles under the heading, Intersections: Teaching and Learning Across Media.

Contact: 10 Laurel Hill Drive, Cherry Hill, NJ 08003; http://namle.net/conference/.

IWW - The North American Work People’s College will take place July 12-16 at Mesaba Co-op Park in northern Minnesota. The event will bring together Wobblies from branches across the continent to learn new skills and build One Big Union.

Contact: http://workpeoplescollege.org/.

PEACESTOCK - On July 13th, the 11th Annual Peacestock: A Gathering for Peace, will take place at Windbeam Farm in Hager City, WI. The event is a mixture of music, speakers and community for peace. Sponsored by Veterans for Peace.

Contact: Bill Habedank, 1913 Grandview Ave., Red Wing, MN 55066; 651-388-7733; billhabedank@yahoo.com; http://www.peacestockvfp.org.

CHILDREN’S DEFENSE - July 15-19, join clergy, seminarians, Christian educators, young adult leaders and other faith-based advocates for children at CDF Haley Farm in Clinton, Tennessee, for five days of spiritual renewal, networking, movement building workshops, and continuing education about the urgent needs of children at the 19th annual Proctor Institute for Child Advocacy Ministry.

Contact: cdfinfo@childrensdefense.org; http://www.childrensdefense.org.

ACTIVIST CAMP - Youth Empowered Action (YEA) Camp will have sessions in July and August in Ben Lomond, CA; Portland, OR; Charlton, MA. YEA Camp is designed for activists 12-17 years old who want to make a difference in the world.

Contact: info@yeacamp.org; http://yeacamp.org/.

LA RAZA - The annual National Council of La Raza (NCLR) Conference is scheduled for July 18-19 in New Orleans, with workshops, presentations and panel discussions.

Contact: NCLR Headquarters Office, Raul Yzaguirre Building, 1126 16th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20036; 202-785-1670; www.nclr.org.

LABOR - The Eastern Conference For Workplace Democracy: Growing Our Cooperatives, Growing Our Communities, will be held at Drexel University in Philadelphia, PA, July 26-28.

Contact: info@east.usworker.coop; http://east.usworker.coop/.

WOMEN/LYNNE STEWART- Radical Women is asking for support letters and cards to be sent to Lynne Stewart. Stewart is a civil rights attorney and political prisoner who is currently in jail. She has breast cancer and authorities have denied her request for transfer from her Texas prison to the New York City hospital where she received medical attention during a prior bout of breast cancer. Send messages and cards to: Lynne Stewart 53504-054, Federal Medical Center Carswell, P.O. Box 27137, Fort Worth, TX 76127.

Contact: 747 Polk Street, San Francisco, CA 94109; 415-864-1278; RadicalWomenUS@gmail.com; http://lynnestewart.org/; http://www.radicalwomen.org/.

HAITI/WOMEN - Haiti’s government is considering a legal reform measure that would prohibit and punish all sexual assault, including marital rape. MADRE and the International Campaign to Stop Rape & Gender Violence in Conflict are launching a petition to raise international support for this push to address violence against women in Haiti.

Contact: 121 West 27th Street, #301, New York, NY 10001; 212-627-0444; madre@madre.org; http://www.madre.org.

SYRIA/MIDDLE EAST - The Middle East Children’s Alliance (MECA) is currently seeking funds to assist more than 200,000 refugees fleeing violence in Syria.

Contact: https://www.mecaforpeace.org.

FOLK FESTIVAL - The Falcon Ridge Folk Festival will be held August 2-4, in the Berkshires, NY.

Contact: http://www.falconridgefolk.com/; falcridge@aol.com.

WAR RESISTERS - The War Resisters League will hold its 90th anniversary conference, Revolutionary Nonviolence: Building Bridges Across Generations and Communities, August 1-4, at Georgetown University. The event will focus on the U.S.’ long history of antimilitarism.

Contact: 339 Lafayette Street, New York, NY 10012; 212-228-0450; wrl@warresisters.org; http://www.warresisters.org.

POPULAR ECONOMICS - The Center for Popular Economics is holding its 2013 Summer Institute August 4-9 at Hampshire College in Amherst, MA. No background in economics is needed for this intensive training. This year’s theme is, The Care Economy: Building a Just Economy with a Heart.

Contact: Center for Popular Economics, PO Box 785 Amherst, MA 01004; 413-545-0743; programs@populareconomics.org; www.populareconomics.org.

VETERANS - Veterans for Peace is holding the 28th annual convention August 6-11 in Madison, WI. This year’s theme is, Power To The Peaceful.

Contact: http://www.vfpnationalconvention.org/.

DEMOCRACY - The Democracy Convention will take place August 7-11 in Madison, WI. The convention brings together nine conferences including topics such as media, education, defense, race, environment and others.

Contact: https://democracyconvention.org/.

MEN - The 38th National Conference on Men & Masculinity: Forging Justice: Creating Safe, Equal and Accountable Communities, presented in partnership with HAVEN, will be held in Detroit, MI, August 8-10.

Contact: ccardinal@haven-oakland.org; http://www.nomas.org/.

OCCUPY - An Occupy National Gathering will be held in Kalamazoo, MI, August 21-25.

Contact: natgat2013@gmail.com; http://occupynationalgathering.net/.

COMMUNITIES - The Communities Conference is a networking and learning opportunity for co-operative or communal lifestyles, with workshops, events and entertainment; scheduled for August 30-September 2 at the Twin Oaks Community in Louisa, Virginia.

Contact: http://www.communitiesconference.org/.

LABOR DAY - The 29th annual Bread and Roses Festival, a celebration of the ethnic diversity and labor history of Lawrence, MA, will be held September 2, in honor of the 1912 Bread and Roses Strike. There will be music, dance, poetry, drama, ethnic food, historical demonstrations, walking & trolley tours.

Contact: PO Box 1137, Lawrence, MA 01842; 978-794-1655; http://www.breadandrosesheritage.org/.

OCCUPY WALL STREET - September 17 is the two-year anniversary of the Occupy Wall Street movement. Events are planned in New York City and worldwide.

Contact: http://occupywallst.org/.

TEACHERS - The 13th Annual Conference, “Teaching for Social Justice: The Politics of Pedagogy,” will be held October 12 in San Francisco, CA. The free event features workshops, resources, and free childcare.

Contact: 415-676-7844; teachers4socialjustice@yahoo.com; http://www.t4sj.org/.

HAITI - International Action, which brings clean water and chlorinators to Haiti, seeks office space capable of housing up to six people and their office equipment.

Contact: Zach Bremer, Zbrehmer@haitiwater.org; 202-488-0735; http://www.haitiwater.org/.

MEDIA - The Union for Democratic Communications and Project Censored are sponsoring a joint conference on media democracy, media activism and social justice to be held November 1-3 at the University of San Francisco. Proposals for presentations, workshops and panels from activists and critical scholars are invited.