Luce Givins of the RNC 8 will be leading a discussion about their case which has wide-ranging implications for anybody organizing for social change. She, along with seven other individuals, where charged with conspiracy for organizing food, housing, and support for protesters coming to voice their opposition at the 2008 Republican National Convention. Come support the RNC8 and learn about how you can fight against government repression.


April 5th 5:00PM
Lecture Hall One
The Evergreen State College
(FREE!)


The RNC 8 are a group of Twin Cities residents facing felony charges related to their organizing against the 2008 Republican National Convention. They are charged with “Conspiracy to riot in the second degree in the furtherance of terrorism” in an attempt by the authorities to criminalize dissent and make open organizing against the status quo illegal. Indeed, the entire concept behind conspiracy charges is that the accused need not have actually taken any illegal actions, it is thoughts and relationships alone that could send these individuals to prison for years. Come support the RNC8! Flyer at: mynetblog.com/rnc8flyer.pdf

Contact: Melanie Kincaid, Student Coordinator Graduate Association for Environmental Action Student Organization The Evergreen State College Cell: 440-623-4114; Other: 360-918-8708 Email: kincaidm@evergreen.edu FREE ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVISM & CONSERVATION EVENT • Evergreen Celebrates the 20th Anniversary of the Rachel Carson Forum • Evergreen Master of Environmental Studies Program Celebrates 25th Year • Environmental Educator & Advocate Estella Leopold speaks on “Becoming a Conservationist” Olympia, WA – The Graduate Association for Environmental Action at The Evergreen State College is celebrating its 20th Anniversary of the Rachel Carson Forum with free workshops and keynote speech dedicated to environmental conservation and activism on April 10th, 2010 from 9am – Noon at the Evergreen Longhouse. The first part of the morning, 9am – 11am, will be devoted to break-out sessions that host a range of facilitators presenting demonstrations on environmental issues. Event participants are able to choose three of the five breakout sessions that include: • “Being Frank” about the Environment, presented by Billy Frank of the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission • Sparking Political Progress, presented by Fuse Washington • Ethnobotanical Garden Walk, presented by Teaching Gardens • Homemade Bike Panniers, presented by the Evergreen State College Bike Shop • DIY Composting, presented by the Evergreen Organic Farm The finale of the event will be a keynote speech entitled “Becoming a Conservationist” by long time environmental educator and advocate, Estella Leopold. Her families’ commitment to the environment starting with her father, Aldo Leopold, and onto herself and her other siblings has been a dramatic influence to environmental conservation throughout the United States.

Date: Wednesday, March 3, 2010 Location: The Evergreen State College 2700 Evergreen Parkway NW Olympia, WA 98505 The keynote speaker is Captain James Yee, former Fort Lewis chaplain who served at Guantanamo Bay. Yee, a third-generation Chinese American, West Point graduate, and convert to Islam, served as Muslim chaplain at the Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp in 2003. He was arrested, accused of spying, espionage, and aiding alleged Taliban and Al-Qaeda prisoners there, and held in a U.S. Naval prison for 76 days in solitary confinement. He was later cleared of all criminal charges. Since resigning from the U.S. Army in 2005 with an honorable discharge, he has detailed his experiences at Guantanamo and his struggle to prove his innocence in his book For God and Country: Faith and Patriotism Under Fire. The Religion and Wartime forum will also include a panel discussion by clergy from local faith communities. Panelists include Cyndi Pollard, associate pastor and principal of the Evergreen Christian School, Olympia; Fred LaMotte, Quaker chaplain of The Evergreen State College’s interfaith student group, Common Bread, Olympia; Seth Goldstein, rabbi of Temple Beth Hatfiloh, Olympia; and Captain Kelly Hansen, chaplain at Joint Base Lewis-McChord. The forum will be held from 7 to 9 pm in the Longhouse at The Evergreen State College in Olympia. The event is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served. The forum is sponsored by the Evergreen academic program Religion and Society, and co-sponsored by the Evergreen Foundation, the Academic Deans, the Cultural Landscapes academic program and Common Bread. Info: Suzanne Simons, (360) 867-6710 or Stephen Beck, (360) 867-5488

Iran: The Green Movement
The New Civil Rights Struggle
A panel discussion

with:
Hamid Dabashi
Shadi Mokhtari
Trita Parsi

Feb. 25, 7:30 PM, at The Evergreen State College, Lecture Hall 1

Iran remains in the headlines: Popular protests, human rights abuses, and threats from the West.

Confused? Intrigued? Frightened?

A panel of prominent Iranian and Iranian-American voices will help you sort it out:

HAMID DABASHI: Columbia professor and author of Iran: A People Interrupted will give a brief history of the Iranian civil rights movement.

SHADI MOKHTARI: Author of After Abu Ghraib: Exploring Human Rights in America and the Middle East, will speak on the state of human rights in Iran.

TRITA PARSI: President of the National Iranian American Council and author of Treacherous Alliance: The Secret Dealings of Iran, Israel and the United States, will speak on US foreign policy toward Iran and how the civil rights movement will influence greater Middle East politics.

CYNTHIA McKINNEY:
"Don't Get Tired When Working for Justice"

at The Evergreen State College Longhouse

2008 Green Party Presidential Candidate, first African-American woman to represent Georgia in the House of Representatives, and relentless activist for social justice.

Cynthia McKinney has been active in the Free Gaza Movement and was the subject of the documentary American Blackout, on voter disenfranchisement. She was recently awarded the Peace Through Conscience Award by the Munich American Peace Committee.

Price: $5 general admission. FREE for all students, staff, and faculty of any high school, college, or university (just bring school ID).

Doors open at 4:30

Sponsored by the Black Student Union and the Mideast Solidarity Project.

(Panel on Iran's "Green Movement" immediately follows at 7:30 in Lecture Hall 1)

The Rachel Corrie Foundation and Break the Silence Mural Project co-present

Peace Works 2009

A day-long salute to those who work for peace through justice – from hometown roots to global communities.

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Event Schedule 11:00am – 5:30pm at United Churches (110-11th Ave SE, Olympia)

The Rachel Corrie Foundation and Indigenous Youth Delegations’ Report Back on their recent trips to the West Bank and Gaza plus Art & Activism workshop with lunch provided (tickets: $25/$15 students and low-income)

6:30 – 7:00 pm: Mural Walk to the Unveiling w/ Samba drummers (The Walk starts at the Procession of the Species Studio, 311.5 Capital Way North)

7:00 – 9:00pm at the corners of Capitol & State streets, Olympia: Unveiling the Olympia-Rafah Solidarity Mural Project ~ A Celebration of our progress. This is a free event with live musical entertainment.

more information: Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice

(360) 754-3998 and

olympiarafahmural.org

 

I was alerted to this Derrick Jensen article in Orion Magazine by a post on the Envirotalk listserve (which is part of SPEECH and South Sound Green Pages.)

I think it's an important article because it breaks up some of the prevailing and problematic thinking about how to get out of this economic/ecological/environmental/sociological mess that we are in. Instead of laying the blame at the feet of individuals (for not bicycling, or growing their own food, for example), Jensen lays the blame squarely where it is due - at the feet of decision-makers.

So, here's a link and a couple of excerpts from this lucid, rational, and well-written article. Thanks to Jerry for passing it on.

Forget the Shorter Shower | by Derrick Jensen | Orion Magazine

WOULD ANY SANE PERSON think dumpster diving would have stopped Hitler, or that composting would have ended slavery or brought about the eight-hour workday, or that chopping wood and carrying water would have gotten people out of Tsarist prisons, or that dancing naked around a fire would have helped put in place the Voting Rights Act of 1957 or the Civil Rights Act of 1964? Then why now, with all the world at stake, do so many people retreat into these entirely personal “solutions”?

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Come see a Great movie during the Olympia Film Festival, "Great Speeches From A Dying World", AND help support EGYHOP, a shoe-string-budget, direct-service-providing, all-volunteer-run, non-profit group serving homeless and low-income populations in downtown Olympia.

First, about the movie (quoted from the festival guide):

• "Filmmaker Linas Phillips spent nearly two years getting to know nine of Seattle’s homeless population. The result is a unique and compassionate exploration of the hard luck, wrong turns, and broken dreams that reside on the city’s streets. This film uncovers circumstances that have landed (and keep) these people lost and penniless—most involving abuse, addiction, and mental illness. But it also finds kindness and hope. Each subject was asked to recite a famous speech from history that they felt related to their lives. The words of Shakespeare, Lincoln, JFK, and others are reinvested with meaning as they’re tied to these personal stories. From atop the Space Needle high above the parking garage in which she lives, Deborah delivers a speech by former slave Sojourner Truth asking, “Ain’t I a woman?” Jose’s recitation poses a question that most in the film have pondered: whether it is nobler to suffer outrageous fortune or to die. We’re reminded that the authors of these canonized speeches, the downtrodden folks reciting them, and each of us are all part of the same human endeavor. With beautiful photography and a musical score by Lori Goldston, Great Speeches is one of the most intimate encounters with homelessness on film and a moving meditation on the fragility of life.
• Director will be in attendance for Q & A following the screening. " 

And, then, a short description of EGYHOP:

Join author and actor Mike Farrell (of TV's M*A*S*H and Providence) for a reading, Q&A and book signing of his bestselling title, "Just Call Me Mike: A Journey to Actor and Activist." Copies of the book will be available for purchase and signing. Pick up free tickets at the library's information desk beginning Monday, September 8. Questions? Call 360-352-0595

One of the things that is evident from all the discussions on this blog about the Port Militarization Resistance group and their activities in Olympia and Tacoma is that there is a huge difference in the underlying assumptions that people hold. Folks within the PMR use words like "empire" and "militarization," and I think that many who read this blog don't have the same context for understanding the meaning they are intended to convey. I wonder if would be possible to bring to the surface some of the context surrounding the meanings of those words through a shared set of documents, videos, podcasts, maps, etc. So, if you know of a good article, interview, analysis, or graphic, please put a link in the comments. After we've collected some material, we may be able to ground our discussion a bit more, and perhaps achieve a better understanding of the arguments, if not agreement on the positions.