HUDSON VALLEY ACTIVIST CALENDAR
April 14, 2010, Issue #158A
Send event announcements to jacdon@earthlink.net
Editor's Note: This is a supplement to the April Calendar,
available below, dated April 6, 2010, Issue #158.
Thursday, April 15, POUGHKEEPSIE: The Hudson Valley Area Labor Federation announces a 12:30 p.m. "Tax Day Rally for Main Street, NOT Wall Street" outside the Post Office at the corner of Market and Mansion Sts. County Legislator Joel Tyner will be among the speakers. We’re told: "Join us as we tell the government that it is time they hold Wall Street accountable. Taxpayers have spent billions of dollars bailing out the big banks, while small businesses and working families continue to suffer. The undeserved bonuses, the freezing of loans to small businesses and consumers, and their resistance to financial regulation have to stop NOW." Information, http://www.hvalf.org.
Thursday, April 15, NEW PALTZ (SUNY campus): A talk on "Partnering with Women… Building Lives & Sustainable Communities in Nicaragua" will be delivered at 7 p.m. in Lecture Center 109. The speaker will be Sarah Junkin Woodard of the Center for Development in Central America (CDCA), the Nicaraguan project of the non-profit, faith-based organization, the Jubilee House Community (JHC). Among her topics are "The effects of poverty on women in Nicaragua," "The ways in which sustainable development benefits women," "The roles of women in Nicaragua's post-revolution," and "The strength of Nicaraguan women." Free and public. Sponsored by the New Paltz Feminist Collective, the Women’s Studies Program, Caribbean and Latin America Support Project, and the New Paltz Cultural Collective. SUNY map, http://www.newpaltz.edu/map/map0708_1600x750.gif/. Information, Barbara at (845) 454-6532, erwx@aol.com.
Friday, April 16, POUGHKEEPSIE: A discussion of sustainable agriculture in Nicaragua will begin at 7 p.m. at Café Bocca, 14 Mt. Carmel Place, a couple of blocks north of the train station. Speaking will be Sarah Junkin Woodard of the Center for Development in Central America (see April 15 New Paltz). The sponsor is Poughkeepsie Farm Project, a local group promoting food justice and sustainability, which says: “We urge anyone and everyone to join us for this free educational talk and chance to engage in an open dialogue about the role of sustainable agriculture in Nicaragua’s development. We have a vital role to play in supporting these communities to become self-sufficient, sustainable, democratic entities.” Nicaraguan crafts will be available for purchase. Information, Barbara at (845) 454-6532, erwx@aol.com.
Sunday, April 18, WHITE PLAINS: The topic of Iraqi refugees will be discussed at 11:45 a.m. in Fellowship Hall of the Community Unitarian Church of White Plains, 468 Rosedale Ave., sponsored by the Action for Social Concerns committee. Speaking and answering questions will be refugee Mustafa Kareem Ahmed, a Manhattanville College student. Local resident Andrew Courtney will make a PowerPoint presentation of images from his interviews with Iraqi refugees in Damascus and Amman. Information, vermontbear@yahoo.com.
REPEATING: Sunday, April 18, NEW PALTZ (SUNY Campus): "We the People: A Forum to Defend Democracy" will take place at 4-5:30 p.m. in Lecture Center 100. The aim of the meeting is to educate and organize people to oppose the recent Supreme Court decision that gave more free speech rights to corporations than to people — the probable result being even greater control of the political system and government by big business and Wall St. Liberal Rep. Maurice Hinchey is scheduled to give the keynote. Leaders from Free Speech for People, Democracy Matters and People for the American Way will be speaking. Sponsored by the Hudson Valley Progressive Coalition, Democracy Matters, SUNY New Paltz, The Ulster County MoveOn Council, and Ulster County Democrats. Campus map, http://www.newpaltz.edu/map/. Information, Barbara Upton, (845) 626-4488, anahatasun@aol.com.
Monday, April 19, NEW PALTZ (SUNY campus): "Islam and a Just World Order" is the subject of a 7 p.m. meeting in Lecture Center 100. The speaker is Columbia University Professor Hamid Dabashi. His talk will include musical interludes by Yemeni singer/musician Ahamed Alrodini and Israeli percussionist Isaac Gutwilik, and will be followed by a question and answer session. Dabashi is an internationally renowned cultural critic and award-winning author. Among his best-known works are his Authority in Islam; Theology of Discontent; Truth and Narrative; Close Up: Iranian Cinema, Past, Present, Future; and Staging a Revolution: The Art of Persuasion in the Islamic Republic of Iran. This free public meeting is sponsored by The Center for Middle Eastern Dialogue of SUNY N.P. Information, (845) 257-3520 or schiffej@newpaltz.edu.
Wednesdays April 21-June 2, STONY POINT: "Nonviolence and Palestinian Israeli Conflict Transformation" is the topic of a nine-week study led by Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb Shomer at Shalom House, 180 W. Main Street (across from Stony Point Center). Each Wednesday session is from 12:30-2 p.m. (We missed listing the first two and there are seven to go.) Among the specific studies: An overview of the anatomy of conflict among Palestinians and Israelis, 1948-present; Origins of nonviolence in Palestine and Israel: The 1936 General Strike by Palestinians and Martin Buber's bi-national vision; Beit Sahour's tax resistance during the first Intifada; The history of conscientious objection in Israel; The village of Bilin's resistance against the Wall; and Boycott and divestment and conflict transformation in Palestine and Israel, among others. Fee: $10 per session. Information, rabbilynn@earthlink.net.
Thursday, April 22, NEW PALTZ (SUNY campus): Seattle University's Dr. Jodi O’Brien will speak 4:30-6 p.m. in Lecture Center 104 on the topic of "Triangles, Wedges and Veils: Same Sex Marriage and the Cultural Politics of Belonging." We're told O'Brien will delve into these and other questions: "What do the same sex marriage debates tell us about U.S. cultural politics, legal discourse, the family and religion? Why is this issue such a divisive "wedge"? This "Inaugural Queer Studies Lecture" is being presented by the Women’s Studies Program, co-sponsored by the Department of Sociology, Religious Studies Program, New Paltz Feminist Collective, Queer Action Coalition, and The Right Side of History. A reception in the Lecture Center will follow the talk. Information, (845) 257-2975.
Saturday, April 24, NEW YORK: Single payer advocates may wish to travel down to Manhattan today to attend a 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. forum on "Healthcare Reform: Yes We Can Do Better!" at St. Lukes Hospital Auditorium, Amsterdam Ave. and 113th St. Speakers include Dr. Margaret Flowers, Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP); Richard N. Gottfried, chair of the NYS Assembly Committee on Health; Katie Robbins, national organizer, Healthcare-NOW!; Ajamu Sankofa, chair of the Private Health Insurance Must Go! Coalition; Dr. Andy Coates, Physicians for a National Health Program; Dr. Leonard Rodberg, chair of CUNY Queens College's Urban Studies Dept.; and Marvin Holland, director of policy and community outreach of Transport Workers Union Local 100. The sponsors are several of the groups mentioned above. They say: "Please join us as we examine the consequences of the recently passed legislation and strategies for building the single payer movement to build support for real health care reform — not health insurance reform. Your RSVP is appreciated as it will help in knowing how many materials to have available as well as for our lunch. Please email info@pnhpnymetro.org. Donations will be appreciated, but are not necessary. Information, email@healthcare-now.org, http://www.healthcare-now.org/.
Saturday-Sunday, April 24-25, RHINEBECK: Dutchess County Fairgrounds is the venue for a two-day celebration of Earth Day with, we're told, "hands-on, fun activities for young and old alike, and educational presentations and workshops on the environment." Events include tree planting, farmer's market, organic food tasting, highway cleanup, a Solar Car Competition, a hayride and more, including children's events. Information, Laurie Rich, coordinator, at (845) 876-6330, LRich@frontiernet.net, http://www.dutchessfair.com.
Thursday, April 29, NEW YORK CITY: AFL-CIO leader Richard Trumka will lead a rally and "march on Wall Street" through the financial district 3-6 p.m. More than 10,000 union and nonunion participants are expected. At the event, Trumka told reporters: “People will be talking, yelling, chanting and letting America — and letting Wall Street, particularly — know that their brand of economics, where the financial economy overshadows the real economy, is no longer acceptable, that we want them to help pay for the jobs that they destroyed.... I think that's what's angered the American public the most: They destroy all these jobs, they bring us to the brink of financial disaster, they get bailed out, they don't lend money to people that could create jobs, and yet they go back to business as usual.” It's good to see labor on the move — too limited still, but moving. We don't yet have exact details about the march route and rally location but will email the information when available.
