Pipeline protest

PIPELINE PROTEST IN MADISON SQUARE PARK:
On Thursday, June 30th
a day-long educational event for all ages is being held at Madison Square
Park (24th & Madison Ave.) across the street from Credit Suisse First Boston's (CSFB) NY headquarters.
Shell is currently seeking to build a massive oil extraction facility in the pristine waters off Sakhalin Island in the Russian Far East. These waters are the primary fishing grounds for communities on the island, and are also home to the world's last population of critically endangered Western Gray Whales. Credit Suisse First Boston is serving as financial advisor to this Shell Oil project even though it violates the terms of the Equator Principles, to which it is a signatory.
Take action today to tell CSFB to withdraw funding for this egregious project and to adopt comprehensive environmental standards immediately to prevent this from happening again. For more information, visit Pacific Environment
An interactive, educational display will feature over 3000 letters from children around the world, which will be hand-delivered to Credit Suisse First Boston.
Come learn about oil, human rights, and the environment!
We'll be there all day, from 9:00 - 5:00, but festivities will be at their height
between Noon and 2:00 pm.

More Information: dirtymoney.org

 

Pride Parade: Queers Against the Occupation

Come show New York City that there's no pride in
occupation!
From JATO:

Join Queers Against the Occupation (QATO) in the 2005
Heritage of Pride Parade to protest the mockery of
queer liberation by the Israeli occupation of
Palestine. Sexual liberation is incomplete until
everyone is free!

This Sunday, June 26, is Pride March 2005. Queers Against the Occupation (QATO) will be marching with Section 5, the "Bi/Trans/Political Movement/Politicians" contingent.
QATO is scheduled to line up at 11:15 a.m. on West 56th St. between 6th & 7th Avenues.

We Support the call from Palestinian, Israeli Jewish
and international queers to:
Move "World LGBTQ Pride 2006" out of Jerusalem.
Queers won't pit our freedom against Palestinians'
freedom!
* Under Israeli law most Palestinians, including Palestinian queers, are barred from entering Jerusalem.
* Israel has deported queer human rights activists working to end the violent, illegal occupation.
* The violent Israeli military occupation of the West Bank, which violates international law at all times, is tightened and intensified during Israeli
state-sponsored events in Jerusalem.

Tell the organizers of World Pride 2006: move World Pride to a place that welcomes all queers.

 

House vote on flag-burning amendment deplored

Americans United for Separation of Church and State today deplored the House of Representatives for approving a proposed constitutional amendment to outlaw desecration of the American flag.
[Yesterday] afternoon, after several hours of debate, the House voted 286 - 130 in favor of H.J. Res.10, which proposes an amendment to the Constitution allowing Congress "to prohibit the physical desecration of the flag of the United States."
"Today's vote shows it's the Constitution, not the flag that's in danger," said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United.
For full story:Americans United

Bill of Rights against corporate tyranny: July 4th

Remember the merry band of revelers at last year's Republican convention demos, well they're at it again.

July 4th, 3pm
Steps of Federal Hall
26 Wall Street at Nassau St.
(Subways 2,3,4,5 to Wall St; A,C to Fulton; J,M,Z to Broad St.)

Celebrate July 4th with the patriots ofCelebrate July 4th with the patriots of Greene Dragon. In honor of this historic holiday, we will unfurl a modern-day Bill of Rights to protect America and its citizens from the perils of Corporate Tyranny. Sign your John and Jane Hancocks to our twenty-foot scroll and heed our forebears' charge to preserve democracy and the U.S. Constitution. Join us at the spot where President Washington took his first oath of office and help us bring back a government that is truly of, by and for the people.

Post-signing toast at Washington's old watering hole, Fraunces Tavern,

then it's on to a July 4th extravaganza at theEast River Bar. (97 South 6th St. betw. Bedford & Berry, Williamsburg Brooklyn. JMZ to Marcy, L to Bedford)http://greenedragon.org

** Greene Dragon is a group of modern-day patriots celebrating the American

Photo: Elke Dehner

Pentagon waffles on bias investigation after firing whistle-blowing minister

From gazette.com (Colorado Springs)

An Air Force Academy chaplain said she was dismissed from an executive position after pointing out religious intolerance issues and contending that evangelical Christians have too much control at the school.

Capt. Melinda Morton,(above, teaching a class) a Lutheran minister, also accused academy officials of lying about faith bias issues, which arose more than a year ago but only recently have grabbed the national spotlight.

From The LA Times:

A Pentagon investigation of reported harassment by Christian cadets and teachers found that the U.S. Air Force Academy had failed to accommodate people of non-Christian beliefs but had not engaged in "overt religious discrimination," a report released Wednesday said.

The conclusions by a team from Air Force headquarters acknowledged that religious slurs, jokes and disparaging remarks directed at non-Christian cadets took place. It said Christian professors used their positions as officers and authority figures to promote their faith.

But the team said instances of religious intolerance were less malicious than misguided, and blamed a lack of guidelines that spelled out what was improper religious expression.

"Some cadets had been overly aggressive in the expression of their faith, offending some," said Lt. Gen. Roger A. Brady, Air Force deputy chief of staff for personnel. "Likewise, some members of the faculty and staff also have strong religious beliefs that have on occasion been expressed in ways that others found offensive"

For more on this story see Americans United

(Photo: Ed Andrieski, Associated Press) 

An evening of Musicians' poetry at the Brecht Forum

Friday, June 24
9:00 pm
NEUES KABARETT
An Evening of Musicians' Poetry
Roberta Berger, Roy Campbell Jr., Daniel Carter (read by Marilyn Sontag), Matt Lavelle, Ras Moshe, Matana Roberts, Steve Swell & Others TBA
Neues Kabarett Music Series will present a special evening featuring some of the free/avant jazz community's musicians who also write great poetry. The readings will be accompanied by music provided by the evening's contributing musician/poets.
Neues Kabarett's 2005 season is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts, through the Fund for Creative Communities of the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council.
Admission: $10
451 West Street, New York, NY 10014 - mail@brechtforum.org
 

Hillary up in polls; Sexism rears its ugly head. Quelle surprise.

New York Post columnist Dick Morris reminds me of Frank Sinatra (politically not musically). After Sinatra was dissed by the Kennedys because of his alleged mob connections, he became a steadfast Republican. After Morris was fired by the Clintons he has become a prime right-wing knee jerk.
His recent column "Hillary Rising" (6/21/05, p31) however takes the cake for sexism. After noting that "She now is seen favorably by 52% of the electorate and unfavorably by only 37%," he proceeds to explain this phenomenon, not by crediting her work in the Senate, but entirely by her association with Bill Clinton and a number of other male political figures.
He says, "Hillary's move to the center--including her frequent association, in public with the likes of Newt Gingrich, Bill Frist and Rick Santorum--is clearly paying dividends." As if these associations by any logic wouldn't mortally wound her popularity, he goes on to say, "It is also likely that Bill Clinton's constant appearances with President Bush Sr. and his highly visible efforts for the tsunami victims are helping rehabilitate his wife's image.
So, what is Morris' brilliant solution to this right-wing problem? He says, "President Bush needs to get his father to pull back on his public bobsey-twins identification with Bill [no matter how many lives they may be saving] and Republicans need to let Gingrich et al know of their displeasure with his newfound best-buddy relationship with Hillary."
I guess that means that the 52% of the people who see Hillary favorably, don't know anything about one of the Senate's most prominent figures except the men she is associated with. It's possible to be for or against Hillary, I'm not sure where I stand on that, but I assure you that when I do make up my mind, unlike Morris, it will be based on what she says and does, not on the men she is connected with by the right-wing media.  

M. I. A.? Positive Black LGBT Images in Media

The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD)
Presents in conjunction with New York Black Pride
M. I. A.? Positive Black LGBT Images in Media
Friday, June 24th; 6:30pm
New York University
KIMMEL CENTER FOR UNIVERSITY LIFE
60 Washington Square South-Rm #909
(BTW Thompson St. & La Guardia Pl.) (A, C, E, B, D, F, V to West 4th Street)

come early: 6pm FREE REFRESHMENTS & MIXER
FEATURED PANELISTS
RAY DANIELS: National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC)
KAI WRIGHT: Black AIDS Institute
RILEY SNORTON: Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN)
SAMIYA BASHIR: Freedom to Marry
JASON COOPER: National Gay & Lesbian Task Force

FOR MORE INFO E-MAIL KATINA PARKER: parker@glaad.org
212.629.3322
 

The Downing St. Memo & finally the I-word

(from The Downing Street Memo) On Thursday June 16, 2005, Rep. John Conyers, Jr., Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, and other Congress Members held a hearing on the Downing Street Minutes and related evidence of efforts to cook the books on pre-war intelligence.
After the hearing, Congressman Conyers delivered his letter to the President with the signatures of over 540,000 Americans and 122 members of Congress. Not content to stop there, Conyers has pledged to keep his campaign going, and to personally see to it that every additional signature is delivered to the White House.

• The American people have been had,
from the St. Petersburg Times, June 12, 2005

“Johnson used a North Vietnamese attack on U.S. vessels in the Tonkin Gulf to ask Congress for a blank check he used to dramatically escalate the war in Vietnam. Bush used the post-9/11 fear of terrorism and slanted intelligence to claim Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction that threatened our security.

In both cases, the American people were had.

Some will ask: What's the point of bringing up the Downing Street memo now, two years after the invasion and at a time when terrorist suicide bombers are making life hell not only for U.S. troops but the Iraqi people? The point is this: President Bush didn't level with the American people before going to war. And he still hasn't."

A coalition of citizen activist groups running the gamut of social and political issues will ask Congress to file a Resolution of Inquiry, the first necessary legal step to determine whether President Bush has committed impeachable offenses in misleading the country about his decision to go to war in Iraq, RAW STORY has learned.
The formal Resolution of Inquiry request, written by Boston Constitutional attorney John C. Bonifaz, cites the Downing Street Memo and issues surrounding the planning and execution of the Iraq war. A resolution of inquiry would force relevant House committees to vote on the record as to whether to support an investigation.

Jazz for Peace benefit concert

Jazz For Peace
featuring Rick DellaRatta
performing a special benefit concert in MONTCLAIR , NEW JERSEY for:
MU-JERES
on
Sunday June 26, 2005 at 4:00 PM
at
Luna Stage
695 Bloomfield Ave
Montclair ,New Jersey
Tickets $25.00
or visit Jazz for Peace for advanced purchase discount tickets

"MU-JERES is a non-profit organization seeking to create an international network of men and women dedicated to promoting sustainable living, access to health care and education, and raising awareness about human rights and women's issues around the globe." Currently, there are MU-JERES volunteers working in Japan, El Salvador,Ghana, and the United States."

 

Black Pride NYC Benefit Screening & Talk Back

Black Pride NYC Benefit Screening of a new film "Strange Fruit," Discussion on "Race & Homophobia" & VIP Reception

June 23, 2005
7pm

Second Screening - General Admission
June 23, 2005
10pm

Set in contemporary rural Louisiana, "STRANGE FRUIT" explores the tribulations of William Boyals, a successful Black gay New York lawyer who comes home to the life from which he escaped to investigate the lynching of his also-gay childhood friend, Kelvin. Amidst the sultry beauty of the bayou, William is forced to wade through a bog of conspiracy involving an insidious network of local law and a dangerously entrenched subculture. At the same time, he finds himself having to confront the reasons he left in the first place. The harder he looks, the deeper he gets, until the veil is pulled back to reveal a quagmire of racism and homophobia that threatens his life. The screening will be followed by a all star panel discussing Racism and Homophobia in America. LIMITED VIP and General Admission tickets available.

Tribeca Cinemas
54 Varick Street (at Laight Street) - Tribeca, NYC

Advance Tickets online
or by calling 212-613-0097
limited seats available

Protest DeBeers Diamonds

Yanomami mother & child

Protest DeBeers Diamonds' Role in the Destruction of the Gana and Gwi
Wednesday, June 22nd 2005
5:30 PM - 8:00 PM
Corner of 55th St. and 5th Ave.
Contact: info@survival-international.org
While hundreds of Gana and Gwi Bushmen from the Central Kalahari Game Reserve in Botswana have been evicted to dismal resettlement camps, De Beers is launching a glitzy new shop on New York's Fifth Avenue.
The connection? The Bushmen's ancestral lands are rich in diamonds, and all diamond mines in Botswana are run by De Beers. The Botswana government, which earns a large percentage of its revenue from De Beers's diamonds, has been determined to force the Bushmen off their lands, at the expense of their rights, livelihood, wellbeing and unique way of life. Before the international furore about the Bushmen's eviction, the government openly admitted that the Bushmen were being moved to make way for diamond mining.
The Bushmen's situation mirrors that of hundreds of indigenous peoples worldwide whose lands are being stolen by gigantic corporations and the governments that are beholden to them.
Sponsored by Survival International, London, Indigenous Land Rights Fund and the Indigenous Heritage Foundation, both in US.
Call Judy Frost, 212-663-2368
(photo by Steve Cox/Survival)
 

Right-wing cabal forms around '08 election

According to
USA Today,

Leaders of conservative Christian organizations plan to jointly interview Republican contenders for the 2008 presidential nomination, perhaps even endorsing one of them-steps that could expand their already considerable political influence.
"We'd like to try to stay together," Tony Perkins [above], president of the Family Research Council, said at a breakfast with reporters Wednesday. The ad hoc group includes "free thinkers" and "strong personalities," he says, but they might unite behind a candidate who "unquestionably" best represented their views and priorities.
Gary Bauer, president of American Values, said in an interview that the sit-down sessions, likely to begin after the 2006 elections, would be "a very effective way to nail down where people are on cultural issues." He said candidates have become "very astute" at answering written questionnaires in ways that avoid making firm commitments. Those who plan to participate include leading figures of the Christian right: James Dobson of Focus on the Family, Paul Weyrich of the Free Congress Foundation, the Rev. Donald Wildmon of the American Family Association, Perkins and Bauer. Others also would join them.
Their groups, which represent millions of social conservatives, have taken the lead in lobbying to restrict abortion, ban same-sex marriage and confirm conservative judges. Their top priority, Perkins said, is winning confirmation of conservative Supreme Court justices.
On the judicial filibuster compromise, Tony Perkins [also] said those who joined the so-called Gang of 14 risked "political repercussions."

Well, we can't say we haven't been warned

(photo by Patti Longmire, AP)

 

More on the Schiavo autopsy

Check out David R. Marks take on the Schiavo autopsy:

The Schiavo Autopsy Was Conclusive ... Except For Those Who Prefer Conservative Media's "Alternate Universe of Facts"

on his JABBS blog. He shows how the right-wing knee jerks never seem to let reality enter into their alternate dimension.

The Downing Street memorandum

The infamous Downing Street memorandum is finally getting some attention.
This is from Sen. Ted Kennedy's website:

“The contents of the Downing Street Minutes confirm that the Bush Administration was determined to go to war in Iraq, regardless of whether there was any credible justification for doing so. The Administration distorted and misrepresented the intelligence in its attempt to link Saddam Hussein with the terrorists of 9/11 and Osama bin Laden, and with weapons of mass destruction that Iraq did not have.

In addition, the Downing Street Minutes also confirm what has long been obvious – that the timing of the war was linked to the 2002 Congressional elections, and that the Administration’s planning for post-war Iraq was incompetent in all its aspects. The current continuing crisis is a direct result of that incompetence.

(for more on this)

Three Cities Against the Wall: Art Exhibit

Three Cities Against the Wall
Ramallah, Tel Aviv, New York

From ABCNoRio
Art has the possibility to unite different cultures into harmony and to create new options for individuals, in order to live and work together for justice, equality and peace.
Three Cities Against the Wall is an exhibition protesting the Separation Wall under construction by Israel in the Occupied Territories of Palestine. This project involves groups of artists in Ramallah, Palestine; Tel Aviv, Israel; and New York City. The show will be held simultaneously in all three cities in November 2005.
Through this collaborative exhibition, the organizers and participating artists will draw attention to the reality of the Wall and its disastrous impact on the daily lives of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians by the separation of Palestinian communities from each other and from their fertile lands, water resources, schools, hospitals and work places; thereby "contributing to the departure of Palestinian populations," as the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has warned.
The wall also robs and destroys the human spirit. Spiritual and cultural life cannot survive under these conditions, and we, as artists, find it necessary to fight this crime with the means which we posses.
 

Republicans party like porn stars

Porn star and former California gubernatorial candidate Mary Carey poses for photos as she attends the annual President's Dinner in Washington Tuesday, June 14, 2005. The event was sponsored by the National Republican Senatorial Committee and the National Republican Congressional Committee.

From the June 15 "Countdown with Keith Olberman:"

CAREY: I had a great time. You know, Republicans can party almost as much as porn stars.
(LAUGHTER)
CAREY: I think they can drink just as much. There were some really drunk guys by the end of the night. I was getting propositions to have threesomes with wives or mistresses. I was offered money from oil tycoons! I mean, it‘s pretty exciting. I didn‘t take any money and I didn‘t do any threesomes, but it was pretty—I was just surprised. I thought everyone would be stuck up and no one was going to like me. And everyone loved me and got drunk and took pictures with me. So I want to keep going to Republican events. I‘m a fully converted Republican now.

Honesty is so rare among Republicans.

(AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
 

Terri Schiavo: Victim of right-wing knee jerks

Dr. Jon Thogmartin, right, and Dr. Stephen Nelson,
released Terri Schiavo's autopsy results today
during a news conference in Clearwater, Fla.

So despite the continuing denials of the Schiavo family, the verdict is in, according to the New York Times,

the Piniellas-Pasco Medical Examiner, Jon Thogmartin,... said the autopsy showed that Ms. Schiavo's condition was "consistent" with a person in a persistent vegetative state. That point had become a key issue in the debate over whether to prolong Ms. Schiavo's life and whether she had a chance to recover normal brain function.

Dr. Thogmartin said that recovery was not possible because of the massive brain damage that occurred after Ms. Schiavo collapsed in 1990. ,,,,

"This damage was irreversible," said Dr. Thogmartin. "No amount of therapy or treatment would have regenerated the massive loss of neurons."

I suppose even now it would be too much to expect the right-wing knee jerks to come forward and admit that political opportunism was at the "heart" of their disgraceful actions in the Terri Schiavo case. I doubt that they have even learned that imposing a political presence between a patient and her doctor and family can't ever be for the best.
The New York Times reminds us that

At one point during the drawn-out dispute, President Bush returned to the White House from a Texas vacation late on a Sunday night solely to sign a law that allowed Ms. Schiavo's parents to seek a federal court review of the facts of the case. He praised Congress for "voting to give Terry Schiavo's parents another opportunity to save their daughter's life."

But in this case Bush was only the tip of the iceberg. Let's not forget Delay, Frist and, perhaps, worst of all right-wing activist Randall Terry. Let me remind you of what I quoted from the Nation Magazine in April:

For leaders of the Christian right, the case was only their most recent attempt to elevate to the level of national crusade issues like gay unions and abstinence-only sex education. Each invokes moral alarm (the morality determined by the self-righteous) against considered, scientifically informed public policy, and each involves a demand for state intrusion into well-established zones of privacy and civil rights.

(Photo: Chris O'Meara/Associated Press)
 

Trans Day of Action for Social & Economic Justice

The First Annual Trans Day of Action for Social and Economic Justice
Friday, June 24th, 2005
5:30 - gather at Jackson Sq.,
(the intersection of 8th Av., Greenwich Av, and Horatio St.)
6:30 - march to Union Square
7:30 - rally at Union Square


Call for Endorsers and Contingents for
The First Annual Trans Day of Action
For Social & Economic Justice
On Friday, June 24, 2005.

Trans Day of Action for Social and Economic Justice, initiated by TransJustice, a project of The Audre Lorde Project, The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Two-Spirit, and Trans People of Color Center for Community Organizing, focusing on the NYC area.

We call on all social justice activists from communities of color, lesbian, gay, bi and trans movements, immigrant rights organizations, youth and student groups, trade unions and workers organizations, religious communities and HIV/ AIDS and social service agencies to endorse this call to action and to build contingents to march in solidarity together on
Friday, June 24th.

To endorse or for more info, email ikhenry@alp.org or call 718.596.0342, ext. 18

Jackson verdict: what does it mean?

I have so far avoided commenting on the Michael Jackson verdict. Since I was neither in his bedroom nor in the courtroom, I'm not sure that I have anything salient to say about it.
But I think the reactions of other people to the verdict are worth mentioning. According to the latest Gallup poll: Overall 48% (of the 635 people polled) disagreed with the verdict, about 34% agreed and 18% weren't sure.
The more interesting results showed that whites split 54% to 28% against the verdict, while people of color agreed with the jury by a similar 56% to 26%.
What's even more interesting is how the column in the New York Daily News directly adjacent to the poll results in which right-wing knee jerk Neil Steinberg so clearly demonstrates the white reaction.
After criticizing the medias concern (almost exclusively) with the question of whether or not Jackson can regain his superstar status, Steinberg says:

A far more interesting question is this: How worrisome is Jackson's escape from punishment for society? Given that Elvis' open sexiness once seemed degenerate and now is the norm, is it possible that Jackson's skeezy strangeness will also become more common?
I think it will. Our standards have slipped, so that now criminality is our benchmark for social acceptance. So long as you don't actually commit crimes, then, hey, it's an open party?

It seems to me that whatever happened in the bedroom, according to all reports about what happened in the courtroom, the Rev. Al Sharpton hit much closer to the truth:

I think that this is a vindication for people that believe that people are innocent until proven guilty. I think that there are no winners here. I don't think that there's reason for Michael or those opposed to Michael to gloat. There's a lot of pain, a lot of hurt here -- children have been dragged into court, Michael's reputation has been damaged severely, but I think the criminal justice system worked this time.

The simple fact is that this jury believed that the prosecution has to make the case against the defendant and that in this case it simply didn't. Nonsense like Steinberg's only muddies the waters.

 

God reveals self

Who would have ever predicted that she would be a Florida State quarterback?
According to CBS SportsLine:

Suspended Florida State quarterback Wyatt Sexton was doused by pepper spray and taken to a hospital by police after he was found lying in the street and identifying himself as God.

 

June 18: Starbucks Protest

June 18: Day of Action for Starbucks Union
12:00pm to 3:00pm:

IWW and Friends Return to the 17th-and-1st Starbucks: Get an Organizer Her Damn Job Back

Join a rowdy moving picket in front of the starbucks at 17th St and 1st Ave. Bring friends, drums, whistles, and spirit. If you stop in, tip but don't buy.

Sarah Bender was "separated" for allegedly mishandling six dollars. This happened one week after store manager Noura Glenn was said to have been overheard discussing her plans to fire Sarah for union activity.

So join us as we demand the unconditional reinstatement of Sarah Bender and an end to illegal union busting! An injury to one is an injury to all.

4:00pm to 7:00pm

The picket relocates. Celebrate the starbucks workers at 2nd Avenue and 9th St. who proudly went public as an IWW union on May 27th 2005!
Showyour support.

Sarah Bender- 607-227-9355
www.starbucksunion.org
www.iww.org

 

Film showing: In the Name of Sugar: The Ongoing Strike at Hacienda Luisita

In the Name of Sugar
The Ongoing Strike at Hacienda Luisita

Thursday, June 23rd
7:00 PM
UNITE HERE Union Hall
31 West 15th St Btwn 5th and 6th Aves.
Manhattan
Subway: N/R/W/Q/F/V/4/5/6 to 14th St/Union Square

In November 2004 the farmers and sugar mill workers of Hacienda Luisita went on strike to demand just wages and benefits and to fight for the land that
was promised to them by the Philippine government decades earlier. Two weeks later their struggle for justice was met with brutality by the US supported Armed Forces of the Philippines. A massacre ensued leaving 7 dead and over 100 wounded.

Sa Ngalan Ng Tubo, "In the Name of Sugar," is a film about the history of the struggle for land and labor rights in the Philippines and the workers at Hacienda Luisita. Followed by a discussion with a NISPOP member who recently visited the picket line at Hacienda Luisita.

Sponsored by:
The Network in Solidarity with the People of the Philippines (NISPOP) &
Ugnayan ng mga Anak ng Bayan




 

Upcoming events at BlueStocking Books

Bluestockings is located in the Lower East Side of Manhattan at 172 Allen Street between Stanton and Rivington - which means that we are 1 block south of Houston and 1st Avenue.

Monday, June 20th, 7PM Free
Reading: Real Girl/Real World: A Guide to Finding Your True Self withauthors Heather Gray & Samantha Phillips

In Real Girl/Real World, young women share their experiences, showing that there's no one "right" way to navigate the twisting road of adolescence. The authors explore a wide range of topics including: beauty and the media; body image and self-esteem; eating disorders and nutrition; sex and sexuality; and feminism and today's new activists. By dispelling myths and putting issues into perspective, Real Girl/Real World gives girls a lifeline to becoming strong, well-informed women.

Tuesday, June 21st @ 7PM ? Free
Reading: The Lives of Agnes Smedley with author Ruth Price

Meticulously researched and deeply nuanced, the The Lives of Agnes Smedley is the story of one of the most significant women of the 20th century -- a flamboyant journalist, feminist heroine, political activist -- and spy -- whose liberated lifestyle stamped her as a woman ahead of her time. The book chronicles her fights for birth control with Margaret Sanger, her relationships with such literary luminaries as George Bernard Shaw and Langston Hughes, with political powerhouses including Emma Goldman, and Chairman Mao (whom she taught to foxtrot in a mountain cabin in north China), and the story behind her novel, "Daughter of the Earth," a feminist classic. It also recounts her global joustings with a roster of enemies that included Chiang Kai-Shek and General Douglas MacArthur.This is the fascinating story of a woman who seemed to live a dozen lives.

Thursday, June 23rd @ 7PM ? Free
Reading: The Molotov Mouths: Explosive New Writing

The Molotov Mouths Outspoken Word Troupe has been producing the finest non-sectarian, creatively grammarian poetry since 2001. Dubbed "politically direct, poetically correct," the collective returns to NYC reading from their book "Explosive New Writing," as well from their individual work. Come listen to the Spanglish anthems of the Pocho Nation from Josiah Luis Alderete, tales of the Chilean Diaspora of Ananda Esteva, screams from the Disabled Nation through Leroy Moore and the frenetic paced manifestos of James Tracy. Surprises will abound, come prepared.

Friday, June 24 @ 7PM ? Free
Reading: Crybaby Butch with author Judith Frank

Judith Frank's first novel Crybaby Butch traces the difficult and sometimes hilarious connection between two butches of different generations - a middle-class, thirty-something adult literacy teacher and her older, working-class student. With Crybaby Butch, Judith Frank creates a deeply human, bravely unsentimental story while at the same time investigating the meaning of butch identity as it reinvents itself from one generation to the next.

Saturday, June 25th @ 7pm ? Free
Pride Open Mic and Skill Share:
Hosted by Leah, Lissy, and Jill
March first?read after. Swap words, then stay to swap skills with dykes who
know how. You?re a Force -- Work it!

Monday, June 27th @ 7pm ? Donation
!Hasta la Victoria Siempre! -- A Critical Appraisal of the Cuban experiment in national healthcare.

James Henry Creedon spent almost three years studying under the Cuban medical model in the Latin American School of Medicine in Havana, Cuba. He will discuss his experiences in this international program and the lessons that we can learn in creating a humane competent, and egalitarian health care infrastructure here in New York. D onations will go towards supporting the Latin American School of Medicine in Havana

.

Tuesday, June 28th @ 7PM -- $3-5 Suggested Donation
Women's Poetry Jam & Women's Open Mike Feature Writers: Minnie Bruce Pratt
& Storme Webber
Minnie Bruce Pratt will read from the new Alyson edition of S/HE, her groundbreaking boundary-crossing stories about sexuality, sex, and gender.
Holly Hughes said

"I think of S/HE as a literary little black dress, perfect for any occasion. Last election got you down? Apply Pratt to the appropriate pulse points. In S/HE Pratt gives "theory flesh and breath." Did I fail to mention this book is hot? Suffice to say I ruined my first copy.

Storme Webber will be performing work from her new collection; Wild Tales of a Renegade Halfbreed Bulldagger: poetic narrative nonfiction examining histories both personal and political, survivalisms and crimes, passionate
endurance with a Blues subtext--- all in her own inimitable voice of Indigenous Soul.
Hosted by Vittoria repetto - hardest working guinea butch dyke poet on the lower east side
Open mike - sign-up at 7 pm - 8 minute limit Bring your poetry, your prose, your songs, and your spoken word.

Hugh Masekela in concert: June 23

Thursday, June 23-7:30pm
Prospect Park (B'klyn) Bandshell
All performances are free; suggested $3 donation at gate

Celebrate South Africa!
HUGH MASEKELA /
WILLIAM KENTRIDGE: 9 DRAWINGS FOR PROJECTION

This once in a lifetime event featuring two of South Africa's greatest artists begins with a performance by iconic jazz trumpeter and world fusion pioneer HUGH MASEKELA.

Following the concert, internationally renowned visual artist WILLIAM KENTRIDGE presents his astonishing film/live music project 9 DRAWINGS FOR PROJECTION -- a collection of vibrant animations accompanied by a string quartet with voice, piano, and trumpet, with music composed and conducted by Kentridge's longtime collaborator Philip Miller.

 

Poetry slam every Thursday evening

The NYC Urbana Poetry Slam
Home of the 2000 National Slam Poetry Championship Team!
... Every Freakin' Thursday Night at 7:15 ...
The Bowery Poetry Club, 308 Bowery @ Bleecker
Door open at 6:30pm.
$5 at the door. What a bargain!

For only five bucks, you get an open mic, an amazing feature and a first-class poetry slam. So come on down to the Club and see what makes Urbana so damn hot.

The Urbana Poetry Series is hosted every Thursday by Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz.

Book party & signing; June 16, 6 p.m.

Thursday, June 16th, 6:00 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.
Martin Luther King Jr. Labor Center (Home of LL 1199SEIU)
310 West 43rd Street between 8th and 9th Ave.

The 1199 Bread and Roses Cultural Project &
The Black Panther Commemoration Committee
Contact: William Johnson
212-603-1192
williamj@1199.org
www.bread-and-roses.com

The community is invited to gather and celebrate the release of "Life after Life: A Story of Rage and Redemption," a new book by Evans D. Hopkins, a former rank and file member of the Black Panther Party.
Hopkins will be in attendance to sign his book and answer questions about the book and his life as a member of the Black Panther Party, the organization founded in 1966 in Oakland, California, where Hopkins wrote for the Party newspaper.

Hopkins and other former Panthers will discuss the historical importance of
the BPP,

Party 4 Cuba

The immoral and illegal embargo on Cuba impacts the health and wellbeing of Cuban children and families.
Pastors for Peace

Party 4 Cuba
Fri June 24
6.30pm $10 advance / $12 at the door

A fundraiser to End the Blockade
benefiting the 16th IFCO/Pastors for Peace Caravan & the 36th Venceremos Brigade.

Entertainment & Food 6.30-9pm
Dancers of Afro-Cuban music: Xiomara Rodriguez & Pedro Domech
Party from 9pm til ??, Dance to DJ Carlito
@Freedom Hall, 235 W.23rd St.
www.ifconews.org 212-926-5757

 

"Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely"

Another example of the depths of disrespect to which the House of Representatives has descended under right-wing Republican (redundant?)leadership.
From DemBloggers
Friday morning Rep. Sensenbrenner, the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee was leading a committee hearing looking into the renewal of Patriot Act.
Mr. Sensenbrenner decided that he didn't like the tone of the meeting and simply got up and left but not before he criticized the witnesses who came and gave their testimony to the committee.
After he left the microphones were switched on and off while the Democratic members of the committee continued to discuss the renewal of the Patriot Act.

The Fruit of Labor really added to the evening
photo by Dan Cohen

It would not have been anywhere near as successful without the contribution of the Fruit of Labor Singing Ensemble artist-organizers from North Carolina
photo by Dan Cohen

The evening was a great success
photo by Dan Cohen

The audience responds (that's Andrew)
photo by Dan Cohen

Curtain Call
photo by Dan Cohen