9pm Saturday Feb. 27, 2010, Resistencia Bookstore, casa de Red Salmon Arts, 1801-A South First St., Austin, Tejas CONJURE: Calling up the Spirit of Struggle, Resistance, & Liberation. We invite you to a forum for progressive artist/activists: A series of experiments in jazz music, dance, spoken word, & cinema This session will feature award-winning author/activist sharon bridgforth, Chicana performance artist/cultural worker Virginia Grise, & dance/body movement by Czarina Aggabao Thelen Rooted in the tradition of improvisation, revolution, and blues, Conjure … Continue reading →

Saturday, February 27, 7 pm, MonkeyWrench Books, 110 E. North Loop “Catching out: The secret world of day laborers” — Labor Ready, Volt, Labor Finders, Adecco — you can check in the Yellow Pages under “employment, temporary” and find probably two dozen halls similar to these. Seasoned journalist Dick Reavis reported to a labor hall each morning, hoping to “catch out,” or get job assignments. To supplement his retirement savings, the sixty-two-year-old North Carolinian joined people dispatched by an agency … Continue reading →

Saturday, February 27th, 2010, 4 pm, The Independent, Corner of E. 5th & Brushy St. THE YOUTH POETRY SLAM – SEASON #8! Presented by the Texas Youth Word Collective. Last Chance to Qualify for a Spot in the Finals! How is it that the shortest month of the year got the most things stuffed in it? Think about it, two presidents’ birthdays, Black History Month, and the much anticipated (or always dreaded, depending on your opinion) Valentines Day. That doesn’t … Continue reading →

Saturday, February 27, 2:00pm-3:30pm March from Oilcan Harry’s to Austin City Hall Oilcan Harry’s is at 211 West 4th Street, Austin, TX 78701-3916, (512) 320-8823 Austin March Against Hate “Unify Against Violence & Hate” Hi Everyone, Late last Friday night on February 19, two of our players were on their way home from OCH after attending Softball Austin’s Jersey Night which kicks off each new softball season. All of our players, including Matt Morgan and Emmanuel Winston, were wearing their … Continue reading →

February 27, 2010, 1:00 PM – 5:00 PM, Huston-Tillotson University www.austinheritagefestival.org Tentative Schedule Event MC – Miss Black Texas USA! Zakiya Larry 1:00 – 2:00 The Celebration Begins! – Kickoff with the exciting Reagan High School Band Vendor Booths / Health Fair / Children’s Activities and More… 2:00 – 2:30 Festival Program Presentation of the Colors by Boy Scouts Welcome Invocation Negro Nat’l Anthem Introduction of Representative Dukes Introduction of Huston-Tillotson University President, Dr. Larry Earvin & Scholarship Check Presentation … Continue reading →

Pasado, Presente, y Futuro: Forty Years of Chicana and Chicano Studies in Texas The year 2010 marks the 40th anniversary of the formal establishment of Mexican American Studies in the academy in Texas. Since the early 1970s, many approaches have been developed and employed in the field of Chicana and Chicano Studies, some focusing on political economy, others on cultural studies, some focusing on the specificity of the Tejano experience, others focusing on how Texas fits into the larger experience … Continue reading →

Thursday, February 25, 7:00 PM, UT campus, Parlin 101 “You really have to rethink your core business model, and that’s what we’re doing.” — Kevin Hegarty, UT-Austin Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Around the country and in Texas, a full-scale attack on public education is underway at all levels. Here at UT-Austin, this has taken the shape budget cuts and layoffs of staff and instructors, and proposals to increase tuition after a decade of skyrocketing costs for students. Politicians … Continue reading →

7pm Thursday Feb. 25, 2010, Resistencia Books, 1801-A S First Sacrifice for Justice: Immigrant rights activist Rama Carty speaks after his release from detention. “Going on hunger strike is not a crime, it’s making a sacrifice for justice.” Rama Carty is an immigrant rights activist and leader outside/within immigrant detention centers in the U.S. Spurring Amnesty International’s investigation of the Port Isabel Detention Center in the Rio Grande Valley, Rama has been organizing within the detention system. He will speak … Continue reading →

Thursday, February 25, SAN ANTONIO 12:00-1:00 pm, San Antonio ICE offices Join Grassroots Leadership and our allies for the Texas launch of the national Dignity Not Detention: Preserving Human Rights and Restoring Justice campaign. We will be holding two events on February 25th calling for Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to close two enormous south Texas detention centers – the privately-run “Tent City” detention center in Raymondville and the Port Isabel Detention Center, where immigrant detainees have been holding ongoing … Continue reading →

We have reached another sad milestone today. 1000 U.S. soldiers have died in Afghanistan, in addition to tens of thousands of Afghan civilians. Please join us WEDNESDAY, February 24th at 5:00 p.m. (weather delay) at City Hall as we mourn the lives lost. CodePink Austin will bring coffins draped with U.S. & Afghan flags and tombstones marking the number of deaths. We encourage you to wear black.

Monday, February 22, 8 pm, MonkeyWrench Books, 110 E. North Loop A talk by Ashanti Alston, Former Black Panther and Black Liberation Army member: Drawing on his own experience in a variety of struggles, Ashanti will speak about the relevance of black liberation, the Zapatistas, and anarchism to modern radical organizing in the US. Ashanti Alston is a former member of the Black Panther Party and Black Liberation Army, and was a political prisoner for over 12 years. Residing in New York, he … Continue reading →

Saturday, February 20, 2010, 6:30 PM, Hyatt Regency North Dallas, 701 East Campbell Road, Richardson, TX 75081 Join us for the Muslim Legal Fund of America’s Annual Benefit Dinner and listen to an award-winning investigative journalist share her captivating journey to Islam. Yvonne Ridley is an award-winning investigative journalist from the United Kingdom. She was arrested by the Taliban while she was covering the US war in Afghanistan. She was released after 10 days and kept a promise she made … Continue reading →

Saturday, February 20, 1:00 – 5:00 PM, Travis County Expo Center, 7311 Decker Ln. “A CALL FOR REFORM” TEXAS CONVENTION FOR IMMIGRANT INTEGRATION Community members, advocacy groups, elected officials and allies from all around Texas will convene in Austin for a convention on immigrant integration. Immigrants in Texas represent 16 percent of the population, more than the national average of 12.5 percent. Some of them are forced to live in the shadows by a broken immigration system that keeps them … Continue reading →

Saturday, February 20, Save this Date, UT Campus Room and Time TBA THE ROOTS OF RACISM AND THE DEATH PENALTY IN AMERICA: Presenting the Campaign to End the Death Penalty’s National Speaking Tour for 2009 – 2010. Join this teach-in tour in cities around the country this fall and spring. This year’s tour looks at the historic link between the death penalty and lynching in the United States. Hear from those who have been freed from death row, activists and … Continue reading →

Friday-Saturday, February 19-20, UT campus,  AT&T Conference Center on the UT Austin campus This conference provides an opportunity to develop a comprehensive working plan to secure competitive insurance benefits for state university employees and to develop your campus initiatives on equality issues. Continuing the momentum created at last year’s conference, we are urging every public and private university in Texas to send one or more representatives. The conference is designed for university faculty and staff, and 1 student leader per … Continue reading →

FEBRUARY 18-20 (9:30AM – 5:00PM) The Texas Union (main campus of UT Austin) Seventh Annual Activist Scholarship Conference at the University of Texas at Austin. Abriendo Brecha is an annual conference at the University of Texas at Austin dedicated to activist scholarship; i.e. research and creative intellectual work in alignment with communities, organizations, movements and networks working for social justice. Abriendo Brecha VII calls for a renewed discussion on the meanings and practices of activist scholarship, particularly as it relates … Continue reading →

Thursday February 18, 2010, 7:00-8:30 PM, Schmidt-Jones Family Life Center, 1300 Lavaca St RESULTS Educational Fund Benefit featuring Jim Hightower (this is always an incredible group of people convening for this event===not to miss!). Locally baked desserts will be served Keynote Speaker, Julia Bolz – President of Ayni Education, Building Schools In Afghanistan. JULIE BOLZ is a nationally recognized speaker and social justice advocate dedicated to engaging, educating, and empowering the poor in the developing world. She has worked with … Continue reading →

Thursday, February 18, 7 pm, UT campus, GEA 105 Ali Abunimah, “From Gaza to freedom: Future scenarios for Palestine/Israel” Ali Abunimah, the editor of ElectronicIntifada.net and the author of One Country: A Bold Proposal to End the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict will speak about the current situation in occupied Palestine and scenarios for resolving the conflict.

PODER invites you THIS THURSDAY, Feb. 18th, 6-8 pm… The 1992 campaign that forced six trans-national oil companies to close their fuel storage facilities in East Austin, known as the “Tank Farm,” was an issue that brought grassroots empowerment and bridged east and west Austin environmentalists. Celebrate the 18th anniversary of this grassroots victory with dinner, slideshow, and a film screening! The Tank Farm campaign: Brought together city, county and state agencies for discussions in East Austin. Sparked a dialogue between interagency groups. Held … Continue reading →

Tuesday. February 16, 2-3:30 pm, Location: UT campus, LBJ Conference Room (CMA 5.160) Five Decades of Reporting from Latin America: Independent journalist John Ross is the author of 10 books, including Murdered By Capitalism – A Memoir of 150 Years of Life and Death on the U.S. Left (Upton Sinclair Award winner) and Rebellion from the Roots: Indian Uprising in Chiapas (American Book Award winner). His reporting appears in publications such as the San Francisco Bay Guardian, The Nation, Texas … Continue reading →

Amiri Baraka – Thursday, February 11, Free. 7 pm. Rothko Chapel, 1409 Sul Ross. Seating is limited and on a first-come, first-serve basis. For more information, visit www.rothkochapel.org or call 713-524-9839. Poet, playwright and civil rights activist Amiri Baraka will be at the Rothko Chapel for a program. Amiri Baraka is the author of over 40 books of essays, poems, drama, and music history and criticism. The Essence of Reparations is Baraka’s first published collection of essays in book form … Continue reading →

Monday, February 8, 7 pm, MonkeyWrench Books, 110 E. North Loop Si Kahn, “Creative Community Organizing: A Guide for Rabble-Rousers, Activists, and Quiet Lovers of Justice” Si Kahn will discuss his book “Creative Community Organizing: A Guide for Rabble-Rousers, Activists, and Quiet Lovers of Justice,” about the work of Grassroots Leadership. This latest work by the legendary activist, musician and author, is a different kind of community organizing book. While it does outline many of the practical tactics organizers use, … Continue reading →

Sunday, February 7, 7:00 PM, MonkeyWrench Books, 110 E. North Loop Blvd. SCREENING OF “HOWARD ZINN: YOU CAN’T BE NEUTRAL ON A MOVING TRAIN” The documentary captures the essence of this activist and thinker who has been a catalyst for progressive change for more than 60 years. As Noam Chomsky said of the late Howard Zinn, “it is no exaggeration to say he has changed the consciousness of a generation.” Featuring rare archival materials and interviews with Zinn and colleagues … Continue reading →

Sunday, February 7, 12:15 pm, St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, 14311 Wells Port Drive (Located 1 block west of IH-35 on Wells Branch Parkway) St. Andrew’s Film Series, “Century of the Self Part 2: The Engineering of Consent” Adam Curtis’ acclaimed BBC series, “Century of the Self,” tells the story of the growth of the mass-consumer society in Britain and the United States. How was the all-consuming self created, by whom, and in whose interests? At the heart of the story … Continue reading →

First Saturdays (Feb. 6); 3:15 pm-5:15 pm, St. Andrews Presbyterian Church, 14311 Wells Port Drive First Saturday’s Sharing–Questions For Closing The Race Divide Travis County Sheriff’s Office Building Bridges: Brick by Brick Opportunities Bridging Travis County Precincts 1, 2, 3, 4 A Capital Area Conversation and Listening Schedule February Questions — What is the earliest time in your life that you can remember being aware that there were/are people in the world whose skin was/is a different color than yours? … Continue reading →