May 2007 Announcements

topic : Announcements

Community Sustaining Fund grant cycle

The Community Sustaining Fund of Thurston County is pleased to announce our Spring 2007 grant cycle. Grant applications are now available to groups and individuals interested in progressive community oriented activities. The deadline for submitting grant applications is Friday, May 25, 2007. Grant criteria and application forms are available on request from Traditions Fair Trade (5th and Water Street, Olympia) or at http://www.traditionsfairtrade.com .

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BRICK 4th Annual May Day Hoe-Down

Friday, May 4, 7 -- 11 pm, at the South Puget Sound Community College Student Union Building

Yeehaw! It's time for BRICK's 4th annual May Day Hoe Down. Come celebrate International Worker's Day, springtime, and the 40 hour work week with good music, good food and good times. Featuring music by The Tune Stranglers, Head For The Hills, The Grizzle Grazzle Trashcan Band, Square Dance caller Chris Dizmang, and DJ Okie, plus games, squaredancing, a history of May Day, information from student clubs and community social justice organizations, free food and more!

BRICK is an activist student club at South Puget Sound Community College. BRICK is dedicated to social justice, world peace, and anti-imperialism. For more information, visit http://www.spsccbrick.org .

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America in Solidarity May Day program

Tuesday, May 1, 6 pm

King's Books, 212 St. Helens Ave, Tacoma

America In Solidarity, the Tacoma-based grassroots working families' advocacy group, will present a special May Day program to honor the sacrifices of workers throughout American history. The show will feature Frank Blair and Traci Kelly of Tacoma's favorite progressive talk show, Equal Time for the Progressive Side. There will be labor songs, a few special guest appearances by local politicians, and an advance screening of a brand new film about a labor strike in West Virginia that paralyzed a town and galvanized a generation. The Battle of Local 5668, a new documentary by Shawn Bennett and Kevin Jones, tells the harrowing story of workers locked out of their jobs at the Ravenswood Aluminum Plant in Ravenswood, West Virginia.

For more information: http://www.americasolidarity.org , info@americasolidarity.org, or call 253-461-1123.

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Voices of a People's History

Dramatic readings celebrating the enduring spirit of dissent

Saturday, May 5, 7:00 pm

(doors open at 6:15 pm, music begins at 6:40 pm)

The Washington Center for the Performing Arts

512 Washington St SE, Downtown Olympia

Voices of a People's History at the Washington Center for the Performing Arts is a presentation of readings from the book of the same name edited by Anthony Arnove and Howard Zinn. Other Voices performances have occurred in New York, San Francisco, Chicago, and Berkeley to great acclaim. The Olympia performance will be narrated by Anthony Arnove and will feature readers presenting true-life narratives from American history -- from Sojourner Truth, Tecumseh, and Eugene Debs, to the present day -- including an email from Gaza from Rachel Corrie.

Featuring Anthony Arnove, Dennis Brutus, Nomy Lamm, Nina Laboy, Brian Jones, Cindy Corrie, Chanan Suarez-Diaz, Erica Lord, Holly Gwinn Graham, and special guests. Plus music performed by Hugo Flores, Miguel Perez-Gibson, and Daniel Perez Gibson. The event will be wheelchair accessible and ASL interpreted.

$10 general admission. Tickets available through the Washington Center (360-753-8586), Rainy Day Records (360-357-4755), and Orca Books (360-352-0123).

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Washington NOW 2007 Conference

Sat. May 5 at TESC Long House, 9am -- 4:30pm

The National Organization for Women (NOW) will hold its annual state conference at the Longhouse at the Evergreen State College. This year's theme is Building Bridges and Alliances. The keynote speaker is State Senator Rosa Franklin from the 29th District in Tacoma.

The conference includes a series of workshops addressing challenges facing women today, family/community concerns, and social justice topics such as immigration reform and empowerment, reproductive respect, obstacles to multicultural education, trafficking of and violence against women, and more.

The NOW conference is open to the public and hosted by Thurston County NOW. The registration fee is $35 sliding scale. While this is payable at the door, pre-registration is advised to ensure lunch availability. No NOW member will be denied participation based on inability to pay registration fees.

Details, workshop schedule and directions are available at the WA State NOW website. Contact: Linda Malanchuk-Finnan, WA NOW Board & Conference Coordinator, http://www.wanow.org , lryh@hotmail.com, 360-357-7272

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Drumbeat for Darfur

Sunday, May 6, 12:30 pm at Olympia Unitarian Universalist Church, 2200 East End St NW, off Division and Elliott

David Lynn, photojournalist par excellence, and humanitarian, brings us remarkable stories of tenacity and tenuous hope in the midst of pending starvation for Darfurians in refugee camps.

Come hear David talk about working with Mia Farrow, the amazing people he met, and 10 actions we can take to stop the genocide in Darfur -- Chad, and where to send money for food supplies. Dave's presentation is in collaboration with the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee's Drumbeat for Darfur campaign. UUSC's president, Charlie Clements, is an old friend and fellow humanitarian of David's.

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Picket Ralph's Thriftway

Wed, May 9, 5 -- 6:30 pm and Tues, May 22, 5-6:30 pm

Ralph's Thriftway, 4th Avenue between Fir and Wilson St.

Please join us in protesting Ralph's Thriftway Pharmacy's misogynistic policy of refusing to stock emergency contraception. Signs will be provided on site, but feel free to bring your own.

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Utilizing the ballot to get what we want

Sat, May 12, 9am -- 5pm

The Evergreen State College, Lecture Hall 3

The Green Party of Washington State is holding its Spring Convention. Registration for the morning session is $5 -- $25, sliding scale, though no one will be turned away due to lack of funds.

Headlining the event will be Elaine Brown, a former national chair of the Black Panther Party and current candidate for the Green Party nomination for President. Other speakers joining Brown include: Malik Rahim, co-founder of the Common Ground Collective; Aaron Dixon; TJ Johnson; and Dr. Muhammad Ayub, an area physician and active member of the Green Party of South Puget Sound.

Dr. Ayub will start the festivities at 9:30 am with an opening address, "A Muslim Perspective of Green Party Organizing." The morning session will include work on party business.

Starting at 2 pm, the afternoon session -- which is free and open to the public -- will feature speeches and panel discussions with Ms. Brown providing the keynote address. For more info: http://www.wagreens.us , info@wagreens.us, (360) 532-0949

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"Haiti: We Must Kill the Bandits"

A new film by Kevin Pina, Flashpoints correspondent for haiti. Sunday, May 20th, at 7:30 PM

The Capitol Theater, 206 E. 5th Ave, Olympia

Proceeds will benefit the Haiti Information Project. Spend the evening with filmmaker Kevin Pina as he presents his latest work chronicling the determined and inspiring struggle for democracy by Haiti's desperately poor masses. This provocative and lively film takes the viewer into parts of Haiti where few Western journalists dare to tread, and includes shocking footage of unreported human rights abuses, some which have been astonishingly conducted by UN forces. Pina's film stands out because it connects the tragic events in Haiti with what he assesses as foreign intervention designed to deter democracy. Learn the side of the Haiti story not seen in the corporate media.

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Constitution in crisis: the case for impeachment

Olympia Public Library: Tue, May 29, 6:00 -- 9:00 pm

Tumwater Public Library: Thurs, May 24, 6:30 -- 8 pm and Tue, May 29, 6:30 -- 8 pm

See the documentary of the February 20th Town Hall Meeting, featuring David Lindorff, Ray McGovern, Elizabeth de al Vega. Open discussion to follow.

impeachbush@riseup.net, http://www.citizensimpeach.org

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Summer School for Union Women and Community Activists

June 27 -- July 1 at The Evergreen State College

The TESC Labor Center is hosting its 17th annual Summer School for Union Women and Community Activists. The Summer School is a unique leadership program that helps women find their passion and voice. Discussions/brainstorming sessions happen in small groups, enabling participants to share their knowledge and skills. The School provides a space for women to draw from their diverse viewpoints that they bring to the movement.

Come develop creative organizing and leadership skills! Learn how women can build a grassroots labor movement from the bottom up by discovering common ground, forging alliances, and sharing strategies. We are all the leaders we have been looking for!

Registration costs are $500, including meals and on-campus lodging; $425 if you need to pay for childcare while you are away at the school; and $400 for commuters (meals only). There are a limited number of scholarships available.

For further information or for help on obtaining scholarships, contact Nina Triffleman, at (360) 867-6525; email, trifflen@evergreen.edu