UPDATED Saturday, February 28, 1:00 – 5:00 PM, Central Presbyterian Church, 200 E. 8th St. Iraq Veterans Against the War brings Winter Soldier hearings to Austin. Veterans from Texas, New Mexico, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma will join together to publicly share the experiences of war in Iraq and Afghanistan. In the tradition of other Winter Soldier events, live testimony, panel discussions, along with supporting video and photographic documentation, will focus on the human impact of war. Winter soldiers, according to … Continue reading →

Thursday, February 26, 7:00 PM, UT campus, Parlin 306 ISO PUBLIC FORUM — UNEMPLOYMENT, DEBT, AND TUITION HIKES: WHERE’S OUR BAILOUT ? With each passing day, we hear about and experience more and more bad news about the economy. The U.S. has lost 3.6 million jobs over the last year, and almost 600,000 in the month of January alone. As the economy sours, workers find themselves buried under mortgage and other debt, increasing the pace of foreclosures and evictions. State … Continue reading →

Tuesday, February 24, 7 p.m. Location: UT campus, Thompson Conference Center auditorium (TCC 1.110) next to the LBJ School at Red River and Dean Keeton. Free convenient parking in the large lots along Red River. Jane Rhodes, “Fear of a Black Planet: Race, Media and Black Power” Barack Obama’s campaign brought into stark relief the continued importance of race in the powerful relationship between mass media and the nation’s social and political culture. That was seen clearly in Obama’s opponents’ … Continue reading →

Monday, Feb. 23, 2009, 6-8 p.m., TICE, 1009 E. 11th Street Featuring: Aarti Shahani, co-Founder Families for Freedom; Lucero, Austin resident whose husband was deported after a speeding ticket; Carlos Perez de Alejo, Workers Defense Project. The dramatic growth in local and state police collaboration with ICE immigration law enforcement severely undermines community safety and further marginalizes immigrants. Local, county and state government collaboration with immigration enforcement further exposes immigrants to abuse at the hands of unscrupulous police, employers, hate … Continue reading →

Sunday, Feb. 22nd at 3 p.m, Carver Library, 1161 Angelina St. “They Won’t Give My Dad His Medicine”—Why We Need to Start Paying Attention to County Jails Join Diana Claitor, director of Texas jail Project, when she discusses what she and her group of volunteers are finding about county jails and the 80,000 people who are held in them. She will talk about “Letter from the Victoria Jail” by Diane Wilson, co-founder of TJP, and provide samples of emails of … Continue reading →

Saturday, February 21st, 2009 7 pm, 501 Studios, 501 Brushy Street (Downtown – One Block East of I35, One Block South of Sixth Street) Website: www.txywc.org Ah, February, the month of love, history, and presidents. In each of these we explore the past, present and future: the great love once had, the crises of the present, and the opportunities for the future. Where can you find a place where these interesting and weighty issues will be engaged in a creative … Continue reading →

Raising our Voices for Abolition, Saturday, February 21, Austin, TX, Keynote Speaker: Celeste Fitzgerald of New Jerseyans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty. Mark on your calendar and plan to attend. Support the work of your local chapter and the state organization of TCADP by attending the annual conference and learning more about ending the death penalty in Texas.

February 21, 2009 (10:00 AM – 11:00 AM), 10 am at Central Presbyterian Church, E. 8th and Brazos Streets. www.austinpeacecenter.org

8:30pm Friday Feb. 20, 2009, Red Salmon Arts, Resistencia Bookstore, casa de Red Salmon Arts, 1801-A South First St. Prison, Disaster, Genocide: From (Antiblack) Slavery to Mt. Pinatubo, a platica/discussion with Dylan Rodriguez. *with special guest performance by Laya (“Freedom”) Dance Collective, reclaiming the dignity of the Phillippines’ cultural legacy through dance. Dylan Rodriguez is an interdisciplinary scholar-activist whose interests traverse the fields of critical race studies and cultural studies, with focal attention to the intersections of race, state violence, … Continue reading →

Friday, February 20, 2009 5:00 – 7:00 p.m. – DDCE Community Engagement Center, 1009 E. 11th St. Roundtable Discussion – Invited guests Joy James, Andrea Smith, Dylan Rodriguez, Jessica Gordon Nembhard, and Astrid Ulloa Friday evening Abriendo Brecha participants are invited to a reception at the Carver Museum and Cultural Center, 7:30-9:00 p.m. There will be a Prison Protest Art Exhibit, gallery talk, and spoken word performance. Abriendo Brecha Activist Scholarship Conference is an annual event at the University of … Continue reading →

Thursday Feb. 19, 2009, 6:30pm, Resistencia Bookstore, casa de Red Salmon Arts, 1801-A South First St. The Indigenous Studies Speakers Series, a program of Thematic Initiatives and Community Engagement (TICE) of UT, and Red Salmon Arts present a book signing and discussion with Andrea Smith, author of Native Americans and the Christian Right: The Gendered Politics of Unlikely Alliances (Duke Univ. Press) and Conquest: Sexual Violence and American Indian Genocide (South End Press). Andrea Smith (Cherokee) is a longtime anti-violence … Continue reading →

Tuesday, Feb. 17, 7 – 9 p.m. UT campus, Garrison Hall, Room 0.102 TEACH-IN: WHAT’S GOING ON IN PALESTINE AND ISRAEL ? Short lectures followed by group discussion. Dr. Bernice Hecker speaks on “Making Sense of Israel’s Changing Blueprint for the Occupation.” Dr. Hecker is an activist with the Austin Interfaith Community for Palestinian Rights, and draws on her experiences living in Israel. Ziyad Doany speaks on “The Current State of the Palestinian Resistance Aand Liberation Movements.” Doany grew up … Continue reading →

Monday, Feb. 16, 2009, 6-8 p.m., Monkeywrench Books, 110 E North Loop Blvd Featuring: Shannon Speed, UT Anthropology Professor and Director of TICE; Martin Ruiz, worker-member of Workers Defense Project; Arely Achenbach, member of Austin Immigrant Rights Coalition The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS)has intensified workplace enforcement by using employers as enforcement agents through Social Security No-Match Letters and other measures, as legislators continue pushing for temporary worker programs reminiscent of failed past initiatives. DHS and its Bureau of … Continue reading →

February 15-17, 2009, Holt Conference Center, Trinity University, San Antonio, Texas Free and open to the public. For Academics, Activists and Students. For a complete schedule: Visit the WALLS WEBSITE. Prepare to be amazed! The Walls Symposium, hosted by the peaceCENTER, Trinity University and Texans for Peace, is for academics, activists and students. It is not about any particular wall or even about purely physical walls, but rather a deep conversation about why humans build walls and a critical exploration … Continue reading →

Saturday February 14th at 8 PM, Red Bluff Studio, 4907 Red Bluff Rd. (Springdale @ Cesar Chavez) Daniel Llanez will be offering a Valentine’s Day Studio performance of “Songs of Love Universal”

Marcia Ball’s Great Big Birthday Bash 2/13 (8am) -2/15 (5pm), Antone’s, 213 W. Fifth St. Marcia Ball’s Great Big Birthday Bash: 3-Day Event to Include Friday & Saturday Night Shows, Pianorama Sunday Brunch, Auction & More Proceeds from Ball’s Great Big Birthday Bash will benefit two organizations, Health Alliance for Austin Musicians and Sweet Home New Orleans

Thursday, February 12, 7:30 p.m., UT campus, Garrison Hall, Room 102 (GAR 0.102) Documentary and discussion: “Peace, Propaganda, and the Promised Land: U.S. Media and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict” With the recent violence in the Gaza Strip, the 2003 documentary film “Peace, Propaganda, and the Promised Land: U.S. Media and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict” is more relevant than ever. The film “provides a striking comparison of U.S. and international media coverage of the crisis in the Middle East, zeroing in on how … Continue reading →

HUNTSVILLE — Houston rapist-murderer Johnny Ray Johnson, condemned for beating and stomping a woman to death when she refused to participate in sex, died in Texas’ death house Thursday with a hymn on his lips. In a rambling final statement, Johnson denounced the Texas death penalty, calling Livingston’s Allan Polunsky Unit, home of the state’s death row, “a dungeon.” “Death row is full of isolated hearts and suppressed minds,” said Johnson as a small group of friends and relatives he … Continue reading →

subscribe to catalystforfun calendar AUSTIN CHAMBER ENSEMBLE: UNLUCKY IN LOVE – LET’S DO IT TOGETHER Just in time for Valentine’s Day Stephen Burnaman and Martha Dudgeon, piano; Claire Vangelisti, soprano; and Jeffrey Jones-Ragona, tenor; perform selections from Broadway; opera; operetta; pop and art song; and more in two separate shows. Thu., Feb. 12, 8pm. Seabrook Chapel, Huston-Tillotson University. Donations accepted. Fri., Feb. 13, 8pm. First Presbyterian Church, 8001 Mesa. $20 ($15 seniors, students; $5, ages 9 and younger). 345-3399. www.austinchamberensemble.com … Continue reading →

Thursday, February 12, 11:00 AM – 2:00 PM, Travis County Clerk’s Office, 5501 Airport Blvd. As part of a national day of action for marriage equality, committed same-sex couples will apply in mass for marriage licenses at the local county clerk’s office. Bring a partner and $71 in cash (which they won’t take, or if they do, whoo hoo!) or just come out to support marriage equality! Sponsored by Join the Impact-Austin

HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) — A Louisiana man condemned for strangling and drowning a suburban Dallas woman, charged with a second slaying and blamed for the rapes of at least five other women was executed Tuesday evening. Asked if he had any final statement, Dale Devon Scheanette paused and said, “My only statement is that no cases ever tried have been error-free. Those are my words. No cases are error-free.” Execution Vigil: Feb. 10, 5:30 -6:30 pm, 11th & Congress, in … Continue reading →

Monday, February 9, 7 p.m., UT campus, Thompson Conference Center auditorium (TCC 1.110) (next to the LBJ School at Red River and Dean Keeton. There is free convenient parking for motorists in the large lots along Red River.) Documentary and discussion: “Abe Osheroff: One Foot in the Grave, the Other Still Dancing”: In 2000 and 2001, audiences at the University of Texas heard from one of many unsung heroes of the progressive movements of the 20th century, the late Abe … Continue reading →

Monday, February 9, 2009, 6-8 p.m., TICE, 1009 E. 11th Street Featuring: Barbara Hines, UT clinical law professor; Denia, former Hutto detainee; Nestor Rodriguez, UT Sociology professor; Luissana Santibañez, Grassroots Leadership/Familias Unidas por la Esperanza; and Matthew Gossage, Hutto: America’s Family Prison filmmaker. Moderated by Eric Tang, UT Anthropology professor and member of Texans United for Families. Immigrants are being incarcerated at increasing rates, becoming the fastest growing prison population. The T. Don Hutto family detention center has become a … Continue reading →

Sunday, Feb. 8, from 1-5pm in Room 1.148 in the Winship Drama Building (at the NW corner of 23rd and San Jacinto) at the University of Texas at Austin With support from Amnesty International–Houston / Local Group #23 How can citizens lobby more effectively for abolition of the death penalty in Texas? How can we hone our ability to dialogue with multiple audiences on the injustice of capital punishment, particularly when others disagree with us? The Eye & Tooth Project … Continue reading →

Friday Feb. 6, 2009, 7pm, Resistencia Bookstore, casa de Red Salmon Arts, 1801-A South First St. Red Salmon Arts presents Cafe Libro, a bi-monthy open mike series, featuring Dustin Whitfield. We invite poet/artistas to come share/enjoy the cantos & cuentos of emerging & established writers/musicians. Hosted by Carole Metellus.