March 2008 Announcements

topic : Announcements

Exploratory committee formed to unseat Dicks

Grays Harbor College professor Dr. Gary Murrell and other grass-roots community activists have formed an exploratory committee to “test the waters” in Washington’s 6th Congressional District. The committee will assess the support for a challenge by Dr. Murrell as a Green Party candidate to long-time Democratic Congressional hawk, Representative Norm Dicks.

Murrell’s exploratory committee recently put up a web site at http://www.garymurrell2008.com to supply more information about the potential candidate’s stands on issues and to introduce Dr. Murrell to potential voters in the 6th District. Dr. Murrell’s exploratory effort will attempt to determine whether there is enough interest, enough volunteers, enough staff and enough money to challenge the entrenched, corporate, Bush-Democrat.

---

Thanks to donors!

Once again the local TV airing of Pacifica’s Democracy Now! on TCTV is secure for another year! Great thanks to the individuals below who have contributed financially (for most, again) toward achieving this yearly goal for this sixth year for 2008!

Media Island continues to sponsor DN! on TCTV, and that still requires funding the down-link of the show to the TCTV station for airing; this is where community contributions are needed (DISH Network). This collaboration of progressive thinking people makes this show with it’s valuable, independent, global, public interest information available to over 55,000 cable subscribers here in Thurston County!

Democracy Now! on TCTV – Channel 22, twice a day, 5 am and 4 pm, Monday–Friday.

Thank you: Jeanie Mykland, Lyn Hertz, Bob Jacobs, Gita Moulton, Margery Sayre, Stanley Stahl, R. Jay Hershey, Becky Liebman & Charlie Stephens, Janet Swanson, and Peggy Bruton!!!

---

The occupation continues, the resistance continues

Olympia Port Militarization (PMR) will be meeting on Sunday, March 2 at 4:30 and again on Sunday, March 16 at 4:30 at the Olympia Free School (610 Columbia St, downtown).

PMR expects to see movement of the 5th Stryker Combat Brigade this spring from Ft. Lewis to Iraq through one of our Ports in the greater Puget Sound area. We are planning a continuum of civil resistance in this ongoing illegal occupation of Iraq and encourage participation of all activists committed to diverse styles of Direct Non-Violent Civil Resistance.

Please attend one of our regular 1st-and-3rd-Sundays-of-the-month meetings to join in regional planning strategies.

---

Raid Response Workshop sponsored by Bridges not Walls

Monday, March 3, 6 pm, The Evergreen State College

Community to Community, the immigration raid response network, will facilitate a raid response workshop at 6 pm at the Evergreen State College. Please join us for this evening of community solidarity. For more info (meeting room) please contact the Women of Color Coalition at wocc.tesc@gmail.com .

---

POWER Outage (formerly WROC Night Out)

March 3, 5:30 pm, First United Methodist Church

1224 Legion Way SE, Olympia

We start at 5:30 with a potluck, meet from 6 - 8. On Monday, March 3 we will explore the idea of craftivism. Join us to work with our hands, knit, quilt, make sock monkeys and talk about revolution!

POWER (Parents Organizing For Welfare and Economic Rights, is an organization of low-income parents and allies advocating for a strong social safety net while working toward a world where children and care giving are truly valued, and the devastation of poverty has been eradicated. More info at welfarerights@riseup.net or (360) 352-9716, toll free: (866) 343-9716.

---

Physician and author to speak in Lacey about Jewish and Palestinian trauma and resilience

Tuesday, March 4, 7 pm, St. Martin’s University, in the Worthington Conference Center

Broken Promises, Broken Dreams brings to life the voices of people mutually entwined in trauma, and explores individual examples of resilience and resistance.

Dr. Rothchild describes her book as “…an intimate journey grappling with the complicated historical legacy of Israel and Palestine and my relationship to these issues as a Jewish American physician, grounded by the traumas of the Holocaust and my family’s passionate love of Israel.”

Dr. Rothchild is an obstetrician-gynecologist and an Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School. She co-founded and co-chairs the Boston chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace and co-organized the Jewish American Medical Project. Dr. Rothchild’s website is http://www.alicerothchild.com .

The free event is presented by the Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice, and cosponsored by the Olympia-Rafah Sister City Project and the St. Martin’s Political Science/History Department. For more info, contact the Rachel Corrie Foundation at (360) 754-3998 or info@rachelcorriefoundation.org.

---

Draft information session at the Free School

Free information sessions will be held on Wednesday, March 5, and Wednesday, March 19. Each session runs from 6 pm sharp until 7 pm at the Olympia Community Free School, 610 Columbia SW in downtown Olympia.

Each session will explain the current draft law, regulations and procedures. It is designed for young men, especially of registration age, teenaged men (15–17), who will soon be facing draft registration, parents and friends of young men, other people (teachers, religious leaders, counselors, etc.) who connect with young men, and anyone else who cares about peace, human rights, legal rights, conscience, and due process. Free individual counseling about your individual needs can be arranged for a different time and place.

Sponsored by the Thurston County Draft Counseling Center, a local peace-oriented non-profit organization dedicated to informing people and helping them protect their rights. For more info, contact Glen Anderson at (360) 491-9093, glen@olywa.net

---

The Freeschool Community’s new volunteer meeting!

Thursday, March 6 & April 3, 6:30–9 pm

The Free School, 610 Columbia St, Olympia

Enjoy free vegan and vegetarian pizza while you learn how you can help your community!

vengan a la escuela libre de olympia a una reunion para voluntarios nuevos. Disfruta de una cena con pizza estrictamente vegetariana mientras aprendes como puedes ayudar a tu comunidad!

Facilitated by the Freeschool Community Organizers. For more info: http://www.freeschoolcommunity.org .

---

Resisting the war abroad, resisting the war at home A night of resistance and insurgency

March 7, at The Evergreen State College

Featuring speakers and a documentary on the San Francisco 8, as well as live music and a fundraiser for antiwar activist and “Gold Star” father Carlos Arredondo. See page 8 for more details!

---

International Women’s Day vigil at the Northwest Detention Center, Tacoma

Saturday, March 8

Carpool from Olympia to leave from Harrison & Division on the westside. Support family members of hundreds who have been detained based on unjust immigration policies. Email bridgesnotwalls@riseup.net for more details.

---

The Olympia-Rafah Mural Project design work party

Saturday, March 8, 1–4 pm

Olympia Center, rm 400, 222 Columbia St NW

Bring ideas, designs, drawings, photographs to collaborate on a mural composition. We will visually develop these themes: Resistance, Reconciliation, Return, and Relationships, within the context of our mural mission: “The Olympia-Rafah Mural Project is a recognition by the people of Olympia of the sister city relationship that exists with the city of Rafah, Palestine. Through the creation of collaborative public murals, we will express our desire for Palestinian self-determination, which is rooted in honoring the common struggles for global justice faced by marginalized people everywhere. By upholding human rights for all, we seek to break down barriers to understanding, increase visibility for Palestinian people, encourage imagination, embrace the hope and courage of Rachel Corrie, and bring people together in one voice for change.”

For more info: mural@rachelcorriefoundation.org or (360) 754-3998.

---

Immigration Café in Olympia!

Sunday, March 9, 6 pm

Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, 1515 Harrison Ave NW

Learn about local immigration issues and the realities of the border with Mexico. Connect border enforcement with ICE raids in WA. Presentations by local immigrant groups; film clips of interviews with border solidarity activists. Mexican dinner, vegetarian & vegan options.

$25 donation, no one turned away. Proceeds benefit local families affected by recent ICE raids, support CIELO’s ESL program.

---

Playback Theatre audition

Monday, March 10, 7:30 pm

Call for location and information

The Heartsparkle Players are looking for male and female ensemble members to join our group. Acting and improvisational experience helpful, but not necessary. Playback Theatre is a form of improvisation in which audience members tell stories from their own experiences and then watch them enacted on the spot. Contact Debe Edden, Artistic Director of the Heartsparkle Players, at (360) 943-6772, debek@olywa.net, or visit http://www.heartsparkle.org

---

Amnesty International’s Human Rights abuses in the “War on Terror” speaker series: Kevin & Monica Benderman

Thursday, March 13 at 7 pm

The Evergreen State College Longhouse

Amnesty International at The Evergreen State College (AITESC) presents Kevin Benderman, a former prisoner of conscience and conscientious objector, and Monica Benderman, a writer of critical political essays. Kevin Benderman served in the Army for 10 years, when he developed moral objections to the war in Iraq and refused to deploy there again. He filed for CO status, but was turned down and court martialed. He served 15 months at Ft. Lewis Brig, where his supporters took part in regular vigils to draw attention to his courageous stand. He has since written Letters from Ft. Lewis Brig. AITESC also aims to highlight the enormous Iraqi refugee crisis that US presence in Iraq has created at this event. For more info: olyamnesty@riseup.net or (360) 867-6105.

---

Benefit concert for the Olympia Free School

Friday, March 14, 9 pm

Olympia Free School, 610 Columbia Street

The Winning Lasses, Tin Tree Factory and Redbear will play an all ages show benefiting the Olympia Free School. $3–5 suggested donation.

---

Playback Theatre performances: Stories of the Power of Knowledge

in collaboration with Mason County Literacy

Friday, March 14, 7:30 pm

Traditions, 300 5th Ave SW (downtown Olympia)

Suggested donation $5–10 (No one turned away.)

Each month we invite a guest artist, community organization, arts program or social service agency to be a part of our performance. Through this collaboration we acknowledge and honor the work individuals and organizations do in our community.

This month we are collaborating with Mason County (MCL). Incorporated in 1991, Mason County Literacy provides one-on-one and small group tutoring at no cost to adults seeking to improve their reading, math, writing, computer and English language skills.

MCL is a non-profit 501 (c)(3) organization. Based in Shelton, MCL collaborates with South Puget Sound Community College to provide a volunteer-based literacy program, Bookends, in Thurston County, with tutoring sites throughout the county.

Garage Sale Extraordinaire to benefit the Thurston-Santo Tomas Sister County Association

---

Saturday, March 15, 9 am to 3 pm, at the Lincoln Elementary School Cafeteria, 21st and Washington, Olympia.

Help yourselves to some great stuff while helping us bring the 9th Community Delegation to Olympia from Santo Tomas, Nicaragua. Save the dates April 23–May 13 to connect with educators and organizers from our sister town. To donate items or get more info call Jean at 943-8642.

---

Fifth Anniversary Rachel Corrie Memorial: From the Middle East to Africa: Dynamics of Destruction and Rebuilding

Sunday, March 16, 3 to 6pm at the Olympia Ballroom (above the Urban Onion, 116 Legion Way SE)

Join us to remember Rachel and continue her work. Speakers include Evergreen professor of Middle East Studies Steve Niva, filmmaker and Palestine solidarity activist Jen Marlowe (see interview on page 5) and founder of the Healing and Rebuilding Our Communities Program in Burundi, Adrian Niyongabo.

At the end of the event, we will walk to the water at Percival Landing for a memorial ceremony.

---

GI Rights Rally

Saturday, March 22, outside the gates of Ft. Lewis

Noon through 4 pm. Meet at Todd Harry Park, 8720 North Thorne Lane SW, Lakewood, WA.

Noon: Resource tables, family friendly activities

1 pm: Participatory discussion—civilians, veterans and soldiers

2 pm: Speakers and music (Iraq veterans and more TBA)

3 pm: March to the gates of Ft. Lewis

3:30 pm: Bannering at i-5 and vigil at the gates

4 pm: Return to park

We will be trying to attract military families and single soldiers to this event. We hope that the peace community can tailor their message to create a comfortable and welcoming environment. For more information, see http://www.givoice.com. In addition, the GI Voice project has its online radios station up and running at http://www.giradio.com .

---

POWER Member/Board meeting

Saturday, March 29th, 11 am, location TBA.

We will accepting nominations for POWER’s permanent board. Contact POWER if you would like more information: (360) 352-9716, toll free (866) 343-9716, welfarerights@riseup.net

POWER (Parents Organizing For Welfare and Economic Rights, is an organization of low-income parents and allies advocating for a strong social safety net while working toward a world where children and care giving are truly valued, and the devastation of poverty has been eradicated.

---

Your #1 asset: How to create the health you need to live a successful life

Thursday, April 3

Fertile Ground Studio, 311 9th Ave SE, Olympia

When you look and feel awesome, your life is awesome! When you have energy all day long, you get things done faster and get to spend time doing the things you love. Class is limited to 20 students. Facilitator: Summer Bock. Please register by contacting communitykitchen@freeschoolcommunity.org

---

Free School workshop: Healthy traveling

Monday, April 14, 7 p.m., Fertile Ground Guesthouse, 311 9th Avenue SE, Olympia

If you are planning a vacation this season, it is important to maintain your health on the trip. In this class you will learn tips for successful flying, how to decide which foods and supplements to bring, and where to find nutritious foods at your destination. Make plans for your healthy journey, because vacations should not be a time to get sick. Special emphasis will be on Southeast Asia and Europe. Facilitator: Ava Waits. To register contact communitykitchen@freeschoolcommunity.org