Feb 1. FEBRUARY CALENDAR

FEBRUARY 2016 ACTIVIST CALENDAR

Jan 30, 2016, Hudson Valley Activist Calendar, Issue #694

To subscribe contact us at jacdon@earthlink.net.

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The Calendar is updated with new events every few days throughout the month. New items begin with this mark: √√.

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The Activist Newsletter will be online by Feb. 2. Click January issue here: Jan. 7, 2016, Activist Newsletter

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From Black Lives Matter to the Baltimore Uprising and beyond, 2015 was a tumultuous year in the annals of black America — a fact that hasn't been lost on educators and museum officials planning commemorations for Black History Month this February. Events of the past year offer the chance to expand those commemorations beyond the usual emphasis on such giant figures as Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass and Martin Luther King Jr., they say, and to remind everyone that last year or month is as much a part of history as centuries past. Professor Kimberly R. Moffitt, at the University of Maryland, said recently: "Even though the Black Lives Matter campaign in particular is seen as recent and current history, it is something that has so much of its foundation in historical movements and events."

— From the Baltimore Sun, Jan. 28, 2016.

EVENTS:

(Note: Because wintery February is not conducive to outdoor events all these are indoor (and free). Activist events pickup in March and continue expanding until late June. Summer's usually quieter unless there are sudden outrages to protest, and September, October and November are very active. Just thought our new readers would like to know.)

"Poster Girl" Robynn Murray, while still in the Army.

Thursday, Feb. 4, DELMAR: A free public screening of the film "Poster Girl" will begin at 7 p.m. at Bethlehem Public Library, 
451 Delaware Ave. This 38-minute, 2013 documentary by filmmaker Sara Neisson is about "Robynn Murray, an All-American high-school cheerleader who became the poster girl for women in military combat. Since returning from Iraq, she fought post-traumatic stress disorder. This Oscar-nominated documentary short follows Robynn over the course of two years as she embarks on a journey of self-discovery and redemption through art and poetry." A discussion follows the film. Sponsored by Bethlehem Neighbors for Peace. Information,  (518) 466-1192.

Saturday, Feb. 6, HYDE PARK: The FDR Presidential Library and the Pare Lorentz Center at the will present the Winter 2016 Documentary Film Series: Immigration, Migration and The American Dream. Beginning at 3 p.m., four historic documentary films on these themes will be screened — focused on the plight of the worker — from the Great Depression to present day. Between films, Sociology Professor Seth Shire (CUNY) will offer commentary and engage the audience in brief discussion. The films include: The Plow That Broke The Plains (1936), Farmingville (2004), The Immigrant (1917), and The Overnighters (2014).  The program will be held in the Henry A. Wallace Center at the FDR Presidential Library and Home, 4079 Albany Post Road (Rt. 9 in Dutchess County). We suggest you view the website for times and descriptions of the films at http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/publicprograms/calendar.html, and also take notice that seating is first-come, first-served. For information about this free public event, call (845) 229-6225,  (845) 486-7745 or email clifford.laube@nara.gov.

Monday, Feb. 8, KINGSTON: The End The New Jim Crow Action Network (ENJAN) will meet 6-8 p.m.  at the New Progressive Baptist Church, 8 Hone St.. ENJAN is a Hudson Valley network dedicated to fighting racist policies of racial profiling, police brutality, and mass incarceration. (The following meeting is Feb. 22.)  Information, (845) 475-8781 or www.enjan.org.

Wednesday, Feb. 10, POUGHKEEPSIE: ENJAN (End The New Jim Crow Action Network will meet 6-8 p.m. in the Sadie Peterson Delaney African Roots Library, Family Partnership Center, 29 N. Hamilton St. ENJAN is a Hudson Valley network dedicated to fighting racist policies of racial profiling, police brutality, and mass incarceration. The following meeting is Feb. 24. Information, (845) 475-8781 or www.enjan.org.

A Palestinian girl carries a toy car after the Israeli army demolished her family's shanty 

near an Israeli settlement. Reason? They did not have Israeli-issued permits to reside in the area, which under law is Palestinian territory. (Photo: Mohamad Torokman/Reuters.)

Thursday, Feb. 11, WOODSTOCK: Middle East Crisis Response (MECR) will meet from 7-8:30 p.m. in the Woodstock Public Library, 5 Library Lane. MECR is a group of Hudson Valley residents joined together to promote peace and human rights in Palestine and the Middle East. (The following meeting is Feb. 25.) Information, (845) 876-7906 or www.mideastcrisis.org.

The Lovings — they changed history.

Saturday, Feb. 13, OLD CHATHAM: A free public screening of "The Loving Story" will begin at 7 p.m. at the Old Chatham Quaker Meetinghouse, 539 County Rt. 13. This great 2011 documentary film is the definitive account of Loving v. Virginia — the landmark 1967 Supreme Court decision that legalized interracial marriage. Married in Washington, D.C. on June 2, 1958, Richard Loving and Mildred Jeter returned home to Virginia where their marriage was declared illegal. He was white, and she was black and Native American. At the time, anti-miscegenation laws were upheld in 16 states. The Lovings refused to leave one another and, with the help of the American Civil Liberties Union, took their case to the courts. Hope Ryden’s luminous, newly discovered 16mm footage of the Lovings and their young ACLU lawyers, Bernard S. Cohen and Philip J. Hirschkop, as well as first-person testimony by their daughter Peggy Loving and rare documentary photographs by LIFE Magazine photographer Grey Villet, recounts the little-known story of the Loving family." A discussion will follow the film. Sponsored by The Old Chatham Quakers. Information, Bob Elmendorf (518) 766-2992, poetapoetus@taconic.net

Tuesday, Feb. 16, USA: The new documentary film, "The Black Panthers — Vanguard of the Revolution," will have its PBS premier on Independent Lens at 9 p.m. This is a must see video. According to the PBS program notes: "A new revolutionary culture emerged in the turbulent 1960s, and the Black Panther Party was at the vanguard. Weaving together a treasure trove of rare footage with the voices of a diverse group of people who were there, Stanley Nelson tells the vibrant story of a pivotal movement as urgent today as it was then."

In this connection, WMHT has organized local screenings of "The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution" at these locations and times (We suggest you call first):

·         Tuesday, Feb. 9 at 6 p.m., Universal Preservation Hall. Saratoga Springs

·         Wednesday, Feb.10 at 5 p.m., Union College. Schenectady.

·        Thursday, Feb. 11 at 5:30 p.m., Albany Housing Authority. Albany.

·        Tuesday, Feb. 16 at 6:30 p.m., the Crandall Library. Glens Falls.

We love this river, but it faces three immediate dangers.

Tuesday, Feb. 16, ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON (Bard college campus): From 6-8:30 p.m. there will be a free public screening of three short films collectively titled "The Hudson: A River at Risk," followed by a discussion with the filmmaker, Jon Bowermaster, who states: "Specifically we wanted to take a close-up look at three distinct risks: The so-called 'bomb trains' carrying a highly explosive gas and oil mix along the riverside from the shale fields of North Dakota to Albany and to Philadelphia; the 50-year-old nuclear power plant at Indian Point, which continues to operate even as its infrastructure ages; and the rebuilding of the Tappan Zee Bridge, currently the largest construction project in North American with a potential to create serious environmental harm if not closely monitored." Sponsored by the Bard Center for Environmental Policy, Bard Environmental and Urban Studies Department, and Bard College Sustainability Council. We're told you could call or email about reserving a seat. Information, (845) 758-7073, email codonnel@bard.edu, or http://www.hudsonriveratrisk.com

Friday, Feb. 19, MILLBROOK: Dr. Joshua Ginsberg, president of the Cary Institute and an expert in wildlife conservation, will discuss the fragile global recovery of large carnivores in a talk titled "Roaring Back." Learn about the current status of lions, tigers, wolves, wild dogs, and other charismatic species while learning how conservation efforts have contributed to success stories. This free public event begins at 7 p.m. at the Cary Institute auditorium
2801 Sharon Turnpike (Route 44). Information, (845) 677-5343, www.caryinstitute.org.

Boston workers Fight for $15 demonstration. Protests have taken place throughout the U.S

√√ Friday Wednesday, Feb. 24, KINGSTON: The Hudson Valley Area Labor Federation (AFL-CIO) invites area workers and supporters to join a 10 a.m. rally supporting the fight for a $15 an hour minimum wage. The event takes place at the Andy Murphy III Midtown Neighborhood Center, 467 Broadway. Among the sponsors are the SEIU (local 1199), New York State Nurses Assn., Communications Workers of America, Working Families Party and Citizen Action. Information, ESoto@hvalf.orgESoto@hvalf.org.

√√ Friday, Feb. 26, NEW PALTZ: The New Paltz Climate Action Coalition invites you to a 6:30-7:30 p.m. information session at Village Hall, 25 Plattekill Ave. The topic is a 650 Megawatt fracked gas power plant (CPV) planned to be built in Orange County. If built, chemically laced, radioactive wastewater from the CPV project would be dumped into the Wallkill River through the City of Middletown waste treatment plant. The CPV plant is sited on top of critical wetlands that are a recharge area for the Wallkill River aquifer. The plant would become a new source of 2.1 million tons of greenhouse gases, (not including fugitive methane). For a CPV Power Plant Fact Sheet: http://www.blog.protectorangecounty.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/CPV-fact-sheet-corrected-May8th-.pdf.  Information, (845) 255-9297.

Note: More February events will be listed when we know about them.  Send us information if you know of an event.