HUDSON VALLEY ACTIVIST CALENDAR
April 24, 2011, Issue #661
Send event announcements to jacdon@earthlink.net
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Dedicated to Helping Build Activist
Movements in the Hudson Valley
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Editor's Note: The May calendar will be emailed in a few days.
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ACTIVIST EVENTS:
Monday, April 25 to Sunday, May 1, NEW PALTZ (SUNY campus and vicinity): A full week of environmental activities, for students, the local community and people who wish to attend from throughout the region, will take place on these days under the general sponsorship of the Sustainable Living Collective, a group of eight New Paltz environmental groups. It's called Sustainable Action Week — "a 7-day series of speakers, workshops, movies, festivals demonstrations and activities that celebrate the positive relationship between people, communities, and our environment." We are told the goal of the week is "to engage the community in understanding how our resource consumption habits connect to larger problems of food production, water privatization and energy use, and to encourage everyone to support the local, sustainable solutions that are already present in our community."
•A full schedule of events is at http://npsustainability.blogspot.com/. Look it over carefully because there are many excellent events and showings.
• We will note here that Friday, April 29, is Action Day, featuring a march and rally to protest hydraulic fracturing (fracking) locally and throughout the U.S., co-sponsored by the Climate Action Coalition of New Paltz and the Sustainable Living Collective. Participants will assemble at 1:30 p.m. on the Old Main Quad "to march peacefully to the Department of Environmental Conservation complex at 21 South Putt Road (just south of ShopRite supermarket on Main St.). The rally will begin at 2:30 p.m., if you wish to join the demonstration in front of the DEC. Bring instruments, banners and signs. From 4-6 p.m. after the march/rally, there will be an Earth Day Festival at Hasbrouck Park, just north of campus.
• Another note: We have a separate listing for the Green Feminisms Conference, which is part of the week, below at Saturday, April 30.
• Information, npsustainability@gmail.com. Campus map: http://www.newpaltz.edu/map/map0708_1600x750.gif. (For those unfamiliar with the campus: The Old Main Quad is on the north side of campus, the right side of the map, off Plattekill Rd., between the Old Library and the Jacobson Faculty Tower. The Lecture Center is to the left of the JF Tower. Hasbrouck Park is on the upper right of the map near where it says North Entrance.).
Tuesday, April 26, POUGHKEEPSIE (Marist campus): The documentary "Sin by Silence" will be screened at 7:30 p.m. in the Henry Hudson Room of Fontaine Hall (North Entrance, first building on left — see map). We're told: "From behind prison walls, a group of extraordinary women are shattering misconceptions of domestic violence. An important film that profiles Convicted Women Against Abuse (CWAA), the U.S. prison system's first inmate-initiated group led by women (49 min). The screening will be followed by an audience discussion." This free public film is sponsored by the Marist College Public Praxis Program, with the help of Women Make Movies and Dutchess Peace. Information, ejfio414@gmail.com. Campus map: http://www.marist.edu/about/map.html.
Tuesday, April 26, SARATOGA SPRINGS: A 12 noon-3 p.m. vigil will take place against nuclear power on Chernobyl anniversary outside the office of Rep. Chris Gibson, 515 Broadway. The purpose is to protest Gibson's promotion of new nuclear power plants in his congressional district and nationally. The sponsors — the 20th Congressional District for a Nuclear Free Green New York — demand a national shift to clean, renewable energy. They say, "There is no such thing as safe nuclear power.... A meltdown is forever." Information, (518) 275-2456, joyone@verizon.com.
Wednesday, April 27, POUGHKEEPSIE: A free public screening of "Gasland," the documentary that exposed fracking, begins at 7 p.m. at the Unitarian Fellowship, 67 South Randolph Ave., sponsored by the Social Justice Committee of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship. Information, (845) 471-6580, office@uupok.org.
Thursday, April 28, MILLBROOK: Environmentalist and author Bill McKibben, the founder of 350.org, will deliver a free public talk at 2:30 p.m. on Building the Movement to Tackle Climate Change. He will discuss how people around the world are working to address global warming and how people close to home can make a real difference." Through his books, essays and indefatigable organizing, McKibben has been instrumental in raising awareness about global climate change. Through 350.org McKibben helps organize annual environmental rallies and projects throughout the world. McKibben will speak at the Cary Institute auditorium, 2801 Sharon Turnpike (Rte. 44) in Millbrook, Dutchess County. Information, (845) 677-7600, ext. 121, freemanp@caryinstitute.org.
Thursday, April 28, WOODSTOCK: Middle East Crisis Response, a group of Hudson Valley residents joined in protest against policies of Israel and the U.S., will meet 7-9 p.m. at the Public Library, 5 Library Lane, off Tinker St. Meetings are held on the second and fourth Thursdays of the month. Information, (845) 876-7906, gale@mideastcrisis.org.
Friday, April 29, NEW PALTZ: A free public showing of the documentary "Inside Job," which demonstrates how the financial industry and Wall St. contributed to the recession, will take place at 8:15 p.m. at the Elting Library, 93 Main St. (across from Starbucks).
Information, tellall45@yahoo.com.
Friday, April 29, ALBANY: "Made in Dagenham," a recent film on the rights of women workers, will be screened at 7:30 p.m. at First Unitarian Universalist Society of Albany, 405 Washington Ave. This free, public offering is "A dramatization of the 1968 strike at the Ford Dagenham car plant in England, where female workers walked out in protest against sexual discrimination. It tells the true story of 'ordinary' factory workers who became courageous activists and leaders. It is about when 'women machinists,' who sewed upholstery at a Ford factory in Dagenham, fought back in response to an attempt to downgrade their job title and pay because it was 'women's work.' Against enormous odds, they went on strike, made an effective case against sex discrimination in pay, and changed England's labor laws." A discussion will follow, led by the New York State Pay Equity Coalition, of how pay equity can be obtained in New York State. The event is sponsored by the Solidarity Committee of the Capital District, New York State Pay Equity Coalition, Bethlehem Neighbors for Peace, and Upper Hudson Peace Action. Information, (518) 426-0883, dbull4@verizon.net, http://www.jflan.net/solidarity.
Saturday, April 30, NEW PALTZ (SUNY CAMPUS): "Green Feminisms: Women, Sustainability, and Environmental Justice" is the topic of the 29th Women’s Studies Conference taking place here today 9 a.m.-7 p.m. at the Lecture Center. We're told: "This conference will bring together scholars, activists and artists to consider women's interaction with the Earth. It will explore ways that the degradation of our planet has affected women and girls, examine how women have challenged practices harmful to the environment and how women are creating new ways to live with the earth. The conference will begin with a keynote panel including Beverly Naidus, Associate Professor of Interdisciplinary Arts at the University of Washington; Joni Seager, Professor of Global Studies at Bentley College in Boston, Massachusetts; and Karen Washington, President of the New York City Community Garden Coalition. Workshops will address a variety of subjects including the work of women in the past who have written about the environment, women's involvement in movements against hydrofracking, mountain top removal and other threats to the environment, women's involvement in green construction and community sustainable agriculture, and women's efforts to sustain food sovereignty throughout the world." The cost of the daylong event is $60 at the door and $10 for lunch (or bring your own). SUNY NP students are admitted free; $10 for students from other colleges and high schools. The annual event is sponsored by the SUNY New Paltz Women's Studies Program. There is limited free childcare (call or email for information). Information, (845) 257-2975; suzmkelly@aol.com; Amy Kesselman (845) 257-2977, kesselma@newpaltz.edu; Claire Papell (631) 804-6054, cpapell26@newpaltz.edu.
