WAFRICA-Women Of Africa writes:

Women of Africa, "Love, Labor, Loss" Documentary
San Francisco, Nov. 20-21, 2005

WAFRICA — Women of Africa — will host a Bay area first this November with the Screening of “Love, Labor, Loss”, a Documentary Film on Obstetric Fistula, the severe and painful childbirth injury affecting many women in the developing world.

The screening will be followed by a panel discussion with New York city based Film Producer Lisa Russell, Dr. Amreen Husain (Stanford Medical Center Fistula in Eritrea), Dr. Eiman Mahmoud (AISC) and Diane Harrison (Planned Parenthood Golden Gate).

altar_magazine writes:

"Body, The Value of Women" Screening
New York City, Dec. 11, 2005

Altar Magazine presents... FREE NYC

December 11th 6pm

Stain (766 Grand Street, Brooklyn, NY 11211)

Altar Magazine is organizing it's first Free NYC event on December 11th at 6pm at Stain by screening the film BODY: The Value of Women, a
documentary by Shereen Noon that addresses the issues of body image and self-esteem in the United States, exposing the levels of self-hatred imposed by our culture and the media. It reveals the specific creative machinations of artificial images that reinforce negative body image and low self-esteem, and shows what women can do to feel whole and accepting of themselves.

bhagat writes:

Josh MacPhee on Anarchist Visual Landscapes

New York City, Nov. 20, 2005

The Institute for Anarchist Studies is pleased to announce our new Anarchist Theory at Bluestockings series, a bi-monthly event featuring IAS supported writers and an anarchist perspective on contemporary issues.

The first event in the series will be a presentation by Josh MacPhee, Taking Control of Your Visual Landscape, a talk and slide show "about how our visual environment controls our social space from the top down, and ways to contest this." (Full description below.)

New York City War Resisters
Plan Funeral March on Stand Down Day

New York City, Nov. 18, 2005

The New York City Local of the War Resisters
League (WRL) will hold a funeral march on Friday, November 18,
2005, to protest the loss of life in the war being waged in
Iraq. Gathering at the north end of Washington Square Park
(under the arch) at 5 pm on Friday, participants will
assemble coffins draped in black and in American flags,
representing the Iraqi and Americans killed in the war.

Marin Interfaith Task Force on the Americas writes:

Venezuela Solidarity Day Film Festival

Larkspur, California, Dec. 2, 2005

On Friday, December 2, the anniversary of the Monroe Doctrine, the Marin Interfaith Task Force on the Americas will host an evening of solidarity with the people of Venezuela. Three recently produced documentaries will acquaint viewers with Venezuela's remarkable developments in literacy, health care, food and nutrition programs, and land reform.

Bluestockings Popular Education Project Presents:

New Strategies for People’s Power in the 21st Century

A Two-Day Seminar

When: December 3rd & 4th from 3-7pm

Where: Meeting Place TBA (near Bluestockings)

Registration: Required $50 in advance @ Bluestockings (scholarships available) space
limited

Contact: events@bluestockings.com

No other issue has divided anti-capitalist and Left-wing movements more, than the issue of power. Communists, Syndicalists, Social-Democrats, Anarchists and Autonomists alike have given different answers to, and even fought for life or death over questions on whether a radical movement should aim to take power, to leave it alone, or to dissolve it. For more than 150 years, the issue of power has been seminal in the development of strategies for radical movements.

As we now we find ourselves beginning the 21st century with capitalism stronger than ever, it is clear that none of these strategies have been successful. The Communists taking of state-power lead to tyrannical dictatorships, the Anarchists and Autonomists refusal of power lead to impotency and irrelevance, and the Social-Democrats working with state-power lead to the long march away from socialist principles. What is needed today are new answers to the question of power, based on the lessons of the past and the challenges of the future.

Together with guests from the Scandinavian organization Democratic Alternative, we will discuss the political strategies of Communalism – founded on transforming and democratizing municipal government and creating a confederal dual-power – as a means of creating a new popular movement. We will look at the horrizontalist Assembleas movements in Argentina and at new theoretical concepts of “anti-power” and “the power of the margins.”

Beyond Biopolitics: state racism and the politics of life and death

March 16-17, 2006

Graduate Center, CUNY

365 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY

Sponsored by the Center for the Study of Women and Society (CSWS), The Graduate Center of the City University of New York and Barnard Center for Research on Women.

Questions: Contact Craig Willse at cwillse@gc.cuny.edu.

Symposium Schedule:

Thursday, March 16

9:00 - 10:00 AM Breakfast and Welcome

10:00 - 11:30 AM Race, population and technologies of control

Eyal Weizman, Eugene Thacker, Jaspir Puar
Moderator: Patricia Clough

11:30 AM - 1:00 PM Detention, death and documentation

Christian Parenti, Sora Han, Derek Gregory, Cagatay Topal

Moderator: Jackie Orr

1:00 - 2:30 PM Lunch

2:30 - 4:00 PM Indebtedness, freedom and state racism

Stefano Harney, Fred Moten, Richard Dienst, Ann Anagnost

Moderator: Jeff Bussolini

4:00 - 5:30 PM Commentary

Anahid Kassabian, Craig Willse, Randy Martin, Jackie Orr

Friday, March 17

9:00 - 10:00 AM Breakfast

10:00 - 11:30 AM Invested nature and the sciences of life and death

Richard Doyle, Cori Hayden, Duana Fulwilley,
Moderator: Ananya Mukherjea

11:30 AM - 1:00 PM Evention, bodies and memories

Amit Rai, Brian Massumi, Saidiya Hartman

Moderator: Couze Venn

1:00 - 2:00 PM Lunch

2:30 - 4:00 PM Commentary & discussion

Jamie Bianco, Grace Mitchell , Couze Venn, Peter Hitchcock

To Be Young, Left And Black: Priorities and Possibilities

Thursday, November 17th 7:30pm

Kimmel Center (60 Washington Sq Park South)

Room 907

In the midst of the riots in France and months after the Katrina disaster,
the Black social and political concerns are again center stage. What are
the concerns of today's young Black left?

Come hear the voices and opinons of some of todays leading young Black
activists as they read from the newly published anthology "Letters From
Young Activists" and politic about the priorities and possibilities of
Black political life in the 21st Century.

Moderated by former Black Panther Ashanti Alston

Panelists include: Kenyon Farrow, Merv Marcano, & Ella Turenne

Brought to you by NYU Womyns Center & Co-Sponsored by Left Turn

Labor Notes Trouble Makers Training NYC November 12

Labor Notes is hosting a
New York Troublemakers' School! Join workers from around the city and
share ideas about how to fight back against unfair or abusive
employers. Learn on-the-job organizing skills, build networks with
other workplace activists, and meet some of the folks featured in A
Troublemaker's Handbook 2, new this year from Labor Notes.

When? Saturday November 12, 9:00am-7:00pm

Where? Borough of Manhattan Community College, 199 Chambers St. (in
lower Manhattan), Room N402.

Workshops will include:

Developing New Leaders: How do we get our co-workers to take
responsibility for fighting back at work and building a strong union?
This workshop will deal with the problem of turning sympathetic
co-workers into leaders and organizers on the job.

Mobilizing around Health and Safety: Health and safety problems
aren't just issues to grieve-- since these problems can affect all of
your co-workers, they can also create opportunities to organize. Come
learn how to mobilize around health and safety issues on the job.

Continuous Bargaining: Is management making changes to the workplace
that have negative impacts on you, your co-workers, and your union?
New technologies, new management policies, and new ways of organizing
work increase stress, eliminate jobs, and weaken unions. In this
workshop we will examine these changes and discuss "Continuous
Bargaining," a strategic approach to building our unions and
protecting workers in a changing workplace.

Working to Rule: Even when we can't go on strike, workers have the
power to win gains on the job and in negotiations with the boss. This
workshop will deal with different ways to pressure management from
within the workplace.

Fighting Racism and Building Unity at Work: No matter where you work,
chances are you have a multi-racial workplace. Bosses often use race
to keep workers divided; these racial divisions can keep workers from
building power on the job. Come learn about different ways to fight
racism at work.

REGISTRATION is $25, with discounts for groups and low income
workers. Space is limited, so sign up today by calling 718-284-4144
or emailing william@labornotes.org. For more information, call Labor
Notes co-editor William Johnson at 718-284-4144 or email
william@labornotes.org.

********

Co-Editor

Labor Notes

104 Montgomery St.

Brooklyn, NY 11225
www.labornotes.org

The People's Pension: The Anarchist Origins of Social Security and Today's Battle Over Its Future

Eric Laursen

Wednesday, November 16 at 7:30 pm

One of the hottest US domestic political debates today is over the
future of Social Security. The crown jewel of the New Deal, Social
Security is the basic old-age income protection program for elderly and
disabled American workers. It's also the most successful anti-poverty
program in US history, and has always been overwhelmingly popular.

But a patient, well-funded, and determined conservative coalition has
been fighting to dismantle Social Security for more than 20 years now.
Ultimately, they expect to win. Why?

We will explore the reasons why the closest program the US has to true
mutual aid is in mortal danger. These go back to the original ideas
behind Social Security, which have their roots in the early anarchist
and socialist movements at the beginning of the 19th century. Social
Security and workers' compensation originally were conceived as a
cooperative way for workers to supply each others' mutual needs. In the
late 19th century, the original conception was co-opted by the state.