Wednesday, March 2, 2016

3-2-16 March Calendar


MARCH 2016 ACTIVIST CALENDAR
March 2, 2016, Hudson Valley Activist Calendar, Issue #695
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 sent March 7 at http://activistnewsletter.blogspot.com/
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 Susan B. Anthony, the great social reformer and suffragist, 
died 110 years ago this March 13 at the age of 86. Here are a few things she said:

Oh, if I could but live another century and see the fruition of all the work for women! There is so much yet to be done. 

I declare to you that woman must not depend upon the protection of man, but must be taught to protect herself, and there I take my stand.

Men, their rights, and nothing more; women, their rights, and nothing less.

Trust me that as I ignore all law to help the slave, so will I ignore it all to protect an enslaved woman.

The worst enemy women have is in the pulpit.

Cautious, careful people, always casting about to preserve their reputations... can never effect a reform.
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EVENTS:


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.)

Saturday, March 5, POUGHKEEPSIE (Vassar campus): Two Vassar student groups — Jewish Voice for Peace and Students for Justice in Palestine — are sponsoring a new play by Jen Marlowe titled "There is a Field" at 7 p.m. in the All Campus Dining Center 2nd floor, UpC Room. The play is a story of how a Palestinian family journeys through grief after their young son, Aseel, is killed by Israeli police forces. While offering an intimate view into the racism and violence faced by Palestinian citizens of Israel, the play transcends any particular time or place to reflect on oppressions in Israel/Palestine, the United States, and around the world. Jen Marlowe is an award-winning author, documentary filmmaker, playwright and human rights activist. Her most recent book is I Am Troy Davis and her most recent documentary film is Witness Bahrain. Open to the public. Suggested donation of $10-$20; no one turned away. Vassar is at 124 Raymond Ave. For the Dining Center enter the north gate. It's the building on your left.

Wednesday, March 9, 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 March 23. Information, (845) 475-8781 or www.enjan.org.




√√ Tuesday March 8, ALBANY: A rally and lobby day     demanding GMO labeling in New York State will take place here today 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Advocates of labeling from around the state are preparing to attend, many by special buses from throughout the state. The event is sponsored by the N.Y. GMO Labeling Coalition: Food & Water Watch, Consumers Union, NYPIRG, GMO Free N.Y., Good Boy Organics, Sierra Club AC, NRDC, NOFA-NY, WE ACT, and Citizens Campaign. The Coalition says: "We need to turn up the volume on GMO labeling in the Capitol, show our state legislators just how mighty our movement is, and drown out the industry lobbyists with People Power!" Here's the schedule: 11-11:30 a.m., meet at the Third Floor Terrace in the Legislative Office Building,198 State St., for orientation and lunch.12:30-1:30 p.m., rally on the Million Dollar Staircase in the Capitol. 1:30-2:45 p.m., meet with your Assembly member and Senator. 3 p.m-3:30 p.m. buses depart Albany. NOTE: You'll have to go through security to get into the LOB/Capitol so allow extra time for that. Bus transport now available from locations throughout the state: Manhattan, Long Island, New Paltz, White Plains, Rochester, Syracuse, Ithaca, and Binghamton! Reserve your seat today! Contact: http://act.foodandwaterwatch.org/site/PageServer?pagename=Food_GMO_NY_GMOLabelingRallyLobbyDay_AMB0216. Email eweltman@fwwatch.org with any questions. https://www.facebook.com/events/515702175264176/


Wednesday, March 9, NEW PALTZ (SUNY campus): Two scientists will lecture about their research into the effects of endocrine disrupting chemicals on wildlife. (Endocrine disruptors are chemicals that may interfere with the body's endocrine system and produce adverse developmental, reproductive, neurological, and immune effects in both humans and wildlife.) They are Tyrone Hayes, a University of California-Berkeley scientist, and Luke Iwanowicz a U.S. Geological Survey scientist. They will present information about their research into the effects of endocrine disruption, including research about intersex fish found in the Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge. This free public 6-9 p.m. event will held in Lecture Center 100. It is sponsored by SUNY New Paltz’s School Of Science and Engineering, Biology Department and Environmental Studies Department; Riverkeeper; the Wallkill River Watershed Alliance; and the New Paltz Environmental Task Force.

Eleanor on the air.

Thursday, March 10, HYDE PARK: Eleanor Roosevelt, "First Lady of Radio,"  begins at 7 p.m. at the Henry A. Wallace Center of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum, 4079 Albany Post Rd. Hosted by Library director Paul Sparrow — in conversation with Anya Lacombe of University College Roosevelt in the Netherlands — this program will include selected audio recordings of Mrs. Roosevelt as she talks about the United Nations and a range of public issues during some of her early Cold War broadcasts. Free and public. Information, (845) 486-7745.

Thursday, March 10, 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 March. 24.) Information, (845) 876-7906 or www.mideastcrisis.org.


Protesters rallied in New York City last year against the corporatization of 
the public school system. (Photo: United Federation of Teachers/ Facebook)

√√ Friday, March11, NEW PALTZ (SUNY campus):  An education forum — Education Matters: The Past, Present, Future of Grassroots Activism in New York — will take place at 6 p.m.be in Lecture Center Room 108. Recent grassroots activism has had a powerful effect on public education in NYS, culminating in 260,000 test refusals in the spring of 2015. Panelists will discuss the positive results of this activity, clarify pressing questions and propose steps needed to keep moving forward to reclaim public education for the public good. Panelists include: Zephyr Teachout, Associate Professor of Law at Fordham University; Marla Kilfoyle, Long Island teacher and executive director of Badass Teachers (BATs); Jia Lee, NYC teacher & founder of Teachers of Conscience; Lisa Rudley, parent and co-founder New York State Allies for Public Education; Bianca Tanis, special education teacher, Re-Thinking Testing. This forum is sponsored by the Humanistic/Multicultural Education Program; Departments of Educational Studies, Elementary Education, Secondary Education, & Educational Administration; Campus Auxiliary Services, Inc.; Re-Thinking Testing Mid-Hudson; and NYS Allies for Public Education. Information, Nancy Schniedewind schniedn@newpaltz.edu. 


Friday, March 11, MILLBROOK: A special screening of the documentary film "Trees in Trouble" will take place at 7 p.m. in the Cary Institute auditorium located at 2801 Sharon Turnpike. Discover the value of America's community and urban forests, and threats they face from invasive pests like the emerald ash borer and Asian longhorn beetle. Award-winning filmmaker Andrea Torrice provides a compelling look at how trees benefit our economy and health, what we stand to lose, and how public officials, citizens, scientists, and arborists can work together to turn the tide on forest pests. A Q&A with Torrice and Cary Institute forest ecologist Dr. Gary Lovett will follow the film. Information, doylev@caryinstitute.org.

Saturday, March 12, SAUGERTIES: There will be a 7 p.m. talk and book signing by Lillian Rosengarten, author of “Survival and Conscience: From the Shadows of Nazi Germany to the Jewish Boat to Gaza” at the Inquiring Mind Bookstore, 200 Main St. “The strength of Rosengarten’s message derives from several sources," says Mondoweiss editor Philip Weiss. "She’s a Jewish refugee from Nazi Germany, and was voiceless for many, many years, until she went to Israel and saw the occupation for herself.…” Sponsored by Middle East Crisis Response, www.mideastcrisis.org and Hudson Valley BDS www.hudsonvalleybds.org. Information, mecr@mideastcrisis.org, (845) 876-7906.

Saturday, March 12, ALTAMONT: A Fracked Gas Pipeline Public Forum will be held 2-4 p.m. at Knox Town Hall, Rt. 156, 2192 Berne Altamont Rd. Information, Bob Connors, co-founder of Stop NY Fracked Gas Pipeline, at raconnors@yahoo.com, (518) 781-4686.


√√  Sunday, March 13, NEW YORK CITY: A "Day Of Solidarity And Peace:" takes place here today beginning at 2 p.m. with a rally 34th St. and 6th Ave., followed by a march for peace to the United Nations. The U.S. has been in continual wars in the Middle East for almost 15 years and the topic of opposition to the wars is hardly mentioned by the Republican and Democratic candidates for the presidential nomination. The event is sponsored by the United National Antiwar Coalition. The slogans are Peace and Solidarity; Money for Jobs and People’s Needs, not War!; Rebuild Flint!; Rebuild our Cities!; End the wars!; Defend the Black Lives Matter movement! The speakers include Peace Poets, Raymond Nat Turner, Lynne Stewart, Ramsey Clark, Kathy Kelly, Ann Wright, Ray Laforest, Margaret Kimberley, Joe Lombardo and others to be announced. Information, http://warisacrime.org/content/everybody-turn-out-day-peace-and-solidarity-new-york and https://www.facebook.com/events/173700253011503/.




√√  Monday, March 14, ALBANY: Here's an opportunity to obtain a first hand report about the present situation in Cuba from the recently returned Capital Region delegation of Albany Cuba Solidarity group. The Albany Public Library at 161 Washington Ave. is the location. The event starts at 5:30 p.m. with an art exhibit and free refreshments, followed by a 6 p.m. film and then a discussion. The 20-person People to People delegation just returned after traveling over 800 miles through 8 of Cuba’s 15 provinces. While in Cuba, the group met with prominent Cuban leaders, members of the Cuban Parliament, a leader of the Workers’ Central Union, religious leaders, graphic artists, musicians, university students, professors, and others. The group explored issues such as education, health care, religious rights, the struggles against sexism, racism and homophobia, as well as the impact of recent economic changes. Public and free. AlbanyCubaSolidarity@gmail.com.


Gotta let go go of coal.
Monday, March 14, PURCHASE (Manhattanville campus): There will be a free public screening of Josh Fox's new film "How to Let Go of the World (And Love All Things Climate Can't Change), 6:30-8:30 p.m. Fox created the two anti-fracking documentaries, Gasland and Gasland 2. There will be a Q&A with Fox after the film. Sponsored by: Connie Hogarth Center for Social Action, Grassroots Environmental Education, Manhattanville College, ResistAIM, Rockland Water Coalition, Sierra Club Lower Hudson Group, Stop the Algonquin Pipeline Expansion (SAPE), Safe Energy Rights Group, WESPAC. Suggested donation: $10 to help grassroots groups opposing fracked gas infrastructure. Information, https://www.facebook.com/events/961450527271347/

Monday, March 14, 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 March. 28.)  Information, (845) 475-8781 or www.enjan.org.

Wednesday, March 16, NEW PALTZ: The Wallkill River Watershed Alliance will hold its monthly meeting 7-8:30 p.m. at Village Hall, 25 Plattekill Ave. Science, Outreach and Boat Brigades working groups will provide updates about activities and progress. Upcoming events will be announced. Information, www.wallkillalliance.org.

Friday, March 18, OLD CHATHAM: By his own accounting, Donnell Joseph has spent more years of his life in prison than out, and then permanently turned his life around. He recalled his experiences in a new memoir, “Under the Walnut Tree," and will appear at 7 p.m. to discuss his life and read from the book at the Old Chatham Quaker Meetinghouse. The address is 539 County Rt. 13, across from Pitt Hall Rd. and Powell House. He will also speak on contemporary topics described in the book, such as prison conditions, solitary confinement, institutional racism, and cultural violence. Free and public. Refreshments will be served. Information, (518) 766-2992. Directions, www.oldchathamquakers.org.


Sunday, March 20, WASHINGTON: A national march on Washington to support Palestine will assemble at 12 noon for a rally in front of the White House. At 1 p.m. there will be a march to the Convention Center where AIPAC, the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee, will be meeting. The event is being organized by Al-Awda, the Palestinian Right to Return Coalition and the ANSWER Coalition. There are many endorsers and special buses are bringing people from various cities. The sponsors ask: "JOIN US IN DC to Stand with Palestine, say NO to the racist reign of terror and the Apartheid Wall, and say YES to the right of Palestinian refugees to return home. We must stand together to reject the efforts by the Israeli state and settlers to abuse, violate and evict the Palestinian people. We say NO to racism and YES to self-determination." Speakers include: Dr. Cornel West, professor of philosophy and Christian practice at Union Theological Seminary; Abbas Hamideh, co-founder, Al-Awda; Sabry Wazwaz, Palestinian documentary filmmaker and activist; Laila El-Haddad, award-winning Palestinian author and speaker; Brian Becker, National Director, ANSWER Coalition; Rami Ibrahim, Palestinian kickboxing world champion; Fatina Abdrabboh, attorney, Executive Director, ADC-Michigan; Ramsey Clark, former U.S. attorney general; Eugene Puryear, ANSWER Coalition; Amer Zahr, Palestinian comedian and entertainer, and others. Transportation locations, leaflets ands other information are at http://www.answercoalition.org/national_march_on_washington_d_c_to_support_palestine#speakers.



√√ Monday, March 21, KINGSTON: A "White Privilege Forum" that will offer a critical examination of white privilege and its relationship with racism, power, oppression, white supremacy, and social justice will begin at 6 p.m. at the New Progressive Baptist Church, 8 Hone St. There will be a slide presentation “Getting It White: Racism, Inequality, and Social Justice” and panel discussion. The panelists include two presenters from the End The New Jim Crow Action Network (ENJAN) — Tracy Givens-Hunter and Peter Heymann. The moderator is Minister Rita Worthington of the New Progressive Baptist Church. The sponsors: Kingston and Poughkeepsie ENJAN, New Progressive Baptist Church, Woodstock Jewish Congregation Task Force To End the New Jim Crow. Information, Odell Winfield, (914) 388-3092.


√√ Friday, March 25, BEACON: A free screening of "The Newburgh Sting" will begin at 7 p.m. in McKinley Hall of the First Presbyterian Church of Beacon, 50 Liberty St. This is a documentary about the FBI's sting operation on four Muslim men involved in a 2009 Bronx terrorism plot, who were coaxed into participating and offered $250,000 by an FBI informant in a classic case of entrapment. Information, (845) 838-2415.



√√ Saturday, March 26, ALBANY: A free showing of the film "Joe Hill" will take place at 7:30 p.m. in Channing Hall of the First Unitarian Universalist Society of Albany, 405 Washington Ave. (across from the downtown SUNY campus). Directed by the renowned Swedish filmmaker Bo Widerberg, “Joe Hill” is a dramatization of the life of the famed IWW union organizer and song-writer who was executed by a firing squad in the state of Utah in 1915.  Although the film was awarded a prize at the 1971 Cannes Film Festival, it was subsequently lost for some four decades.  It recently was restored by the National Film Library of Sweden. This public screening of the restored version of “Joe Hill” is the first in the capital district and perhaps in the U.S A discussion will follow, led by Greg Giorgio of the Upstate N.Y. Regional Branch of the IWW. Information, (518) 462-6005.

√√ Tuesday, March 29, New Paltz: Denmark possesses one of the world's best health care systems, far better and less expensive that that in the United States. Learn the details today in an 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. public meeting New Paltz Community Center, 3 Veteran's Drive (behind the old Town Hall). The speaker is Inge Kraus.

√√ Thursday, March 31, CASTLETON-ON-HUDSON: Stop N.Y. Fracked Gas will sponsor a 6:30 p.m. forum at the Maple Hill High School, 1216 Maple Hill Rd. The topic is the proposed compressor station in Rensselaer County. Information, Becky Meier, beckyjmeier@gmail.com, (518) 781-4686, www.stopnypipeline.org, www.facebook.com/stopnyfrackedgaspipeline

√√ Palestinian Film Festival, Bard College
Thursday, March 31, 2016 – Saturday, April 2, 2016
All in Preston Theater on campus
Bard map: Bard http://www.bard.edu/campus/maps/pdfs/campusmap.pdf

Thursday, March 31st
5pm   Reading by Palestinian poet Suheir Hammad
6:30pm  Speed Sisters (film)
dir. Amber Fares, 2015, 78 minutes

Friday, April 1st
5pm  Sling-Shot Hip-Hop (film)
dir. Jackie Salloum, 2008, 100 minutes
7pm  Arna's Children (film)
dirs. Juliano Mer-Khamis & Daniel Danniel, 2005,
85 minutes

Saturday, April 2nd
1pm  Divine Intervention (film)
dir. Elia Suleiman, 2003, 100 minutes
3pm  The Time That Remains (film)
die. Elia Suleiman, 2011, 119 minutes
5pm  The Wanted 18 (film)
dirs. Amer Shomali & Paul Cowen, 2014, 75 minutes
Sponsored by Center for Civic Engagement; Film and Electronic Arts Program; Human Rights Project; Middle Eastern Studies Program
Time: 5:00 pm
Location: Preston
Information Dina Ramadan, dramadan@bard.edu, 845-758-7667



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