Bits & Peaces

EVENTS

Organizing in Religious Communities for Social Action, 5/18, 10:30 am; Longy School of Music, Rey-Waldstein Bldg, 33 Garden St, Cambrige MA; w/Nancy Banks, Executive Director of the Unitarian-Universalist Massachusetts Social Action Network, will share the organizing strategies & outcomes of Network; Ethical Society of Boston, 617/739-9050; www.bostonethical.org

Undoing the Silence: Writing for Social Change Action, 5/20, noon-1:30 pm; Community Change Library on Racism, 14 Beacon St #605, Boston MA 02108; Activist writer & longtime advocate for peace & justice Louise Dunlap will present her book, Undoing the Silence, written for citizen activists, scholars, & professioinals who want to use writing for social change. She will discuss the role structural racism plays in our silecing & how can all of us become more effective voices for transformation; Community Change, Inc., 14 Beacon St #605, Boston MA 02108; www.communitychangeinc.org

My Trip to Gaza, a visual presentation by photographer Skip Schiel, 6/22, 12:15 pm; Friends Meeting at Cambridge, 5 Longfellow Park, near Harvard Square. Using photographs and stories Skip will present his experiences from his most recent journey to the land of troubles; Sponsored by the Peace and Social Concerns Committee of Friends Meeting of Cambridge. To learn more & to see Skip's photos, contact skipschiel@gmail.com or visit www.teeksaphoto.org.

GATHERINGS

Catonsville Nine 40th Anniversary Gathering: Resisting War Then and Now; 5/17-18 (with other events earlier in the month), Maryland. 5/17, 10 am, bus to Andrews Air Force Base to protest, "Weapons of War Nothing to Celebrate!," call 410/233-6238 to reserve a seat on the bus. 5/17, 7 pm, memorial gathering for Tom Lewis, Viva House Catholic Worker, 26 S. Mount Street, Baltimore, MD, 21223; 5/18, 2-3 pm, vigil and prayer at the site of the Catonsville 9 action, Northeast corner of Beaumont and Frederick Road, Catonsville, MD. Contact Elizabeth McAlister, Jonah House, 410/233-6238.

National Catholic Worker Gathering, 7/9-12; Worcester MA; hosted by the Sts. Francis & Thérese & the Mustard Seed communities; for more information & to RSVP, contact Mike Boover, 508/753-8974

United Students Against Sweatshops Summer Conference, 2008; 8/8-10, Boulder, CO. Travel scholarships available for those in need; 202/667-9328; www.studentsagainstsweatshops.org.

National Conference for Media Reform, 6/6-8; Minneapolis MN; join activists, media makers, educators, journalists, policymakers & concerned citizens in calling for real & lasting changes to our nation's media system; with Amy Goodman, Dan Rather, Bill Moyers, Van Jones, & Naomi Klein, & many others; sponsored by Free Press, 501 Third St NW #875, Washington DC 20001; 202 /265-1490; www.freepress.net.

The Way That Leads To Peace, 7/14-19, A conference for everyone who longs for the spirituality, inspiration, skills, knowledge, and community to support a life of peace rooted in justice. John Abbott College, Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec, Canada. Keynote address by Jim Loney, a member of Christian Peacemaker Teams who, along with three others, was held hostage in Iraq. Presented by: Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America, 4800 Wedgewood Dr., Charlotte, NC 28210, 704/521-6051, ledayne@bpfna.org, www.bpfna.org.

CAMPAIGNS

Rights, not Guns for Zimbabwe, Dockworkers across Southern Africa have blocked a Chinese arms boat from reaching Zimbabwe, but the crackdown continues. African unions, citizen groups, and church organisations are launching a campaign to stop any new arms from fuelling the Zimbabwe crisis. Petition governments throughout Africa and the world: We, the undersigned, call for your support in preventing any weapons shipments from reaching Zimbabwe until the crisis is resolved. Avaaz is joining a global coalition including Oxfam, Amnesty International, and the International Action Network on Small Arms to stop the arms and help bring justice to Zimbabwe. www.avaaz.org

Racism Kills Tribal Peoples: Stamp it Out, Luther Standing Bear, a Lakota Sioux, commented, "All the years of calling the Indian a savage has never made him (sic) one." Survival's Stamp It Out campaign aims to challenge racist descriptions, however unwitting, of tribal peoples in the media. Report on racism you read, view, or hear in the media, and respond to racism others have pointed out, at www.survival-international.org.

OPPORTUNITIES

Director of Media Relations and Public Relaitons, AFSC. Carries day-to-day responsibility for AFSC relations to national-level news media. Advises and assists regional staff in their work with local media. Responsible for long-and short-range media communications planning. Assists units in strategic framing of their work for the media. Works with Director of External Affairs and other program and Advancement staff to develop and implement strategic communications plans.Contact Willa Streater by 5/16, jobs@afsc.org, AA/EOE.

The New Hampshire Program of the American Friends Service Committee seeks Youth Organizer for the year that begins September, 2008, to work with high school and college age youth interested in activism for social justice and peace; The position is a full-time, paid fellowship; for full description visit jobs page at www.afsc.org; letter & resume by 6/2 to Search Committee, AFSC-NH, 4 Park St #209, Concord NH 03301

Swackhamer Disarmament Video Contest; There are about 26,000 nuclear weapons in the world today. Use your creativity to make a 2-3 minute video about why US leadership is necessary to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons. 1st Prize: $1,000, 2nd Prize: $750, 3rd Prize: $250. Entries by 6/16. Rick Wayman, 805/965-3443, rwayman@napf.org, www.youtube.com/group/2008Swackhamer.

Writers' Workshop, 6/16-27; UMass Boston, Dorchester MA; Instruction in poetry, fiction, prose nonfiction, memoir. Themes: war, social consequences, political coercion, social justice. Two weeks $400; one week $220; William Joiner Center for the Study of War and Social Consequences; Call Michael Sullivan, 617/287-5850; michael.sullivan@umb.edu; www.joinercenter.umb.edu

Boston Anti-Racist Rapid Response Team, a network of volunteers who are willing to participate in antiracist actions in the Boston area and who will inform and encourage others to join them. First two campaigns: stop housing evictions, and help reverse the disparate impact of high-stakes testing. To join call 617/523-0555 or email janet@communitychangeinc.org. Community Change, Inc., www.communitychangeinc.org.

RESOURCES

War News Radio, According to a recent Pew study, coverage of the war in Iraq by mainline media in the US was 15% of news output in 8/07 to just 3% in 2/08. An exception is a student-run weekly news broadcast from Swarthmore College - War News Radio. www.warnewsradio.org.

Iraq: The Human Cost, a website and blog organized by the MIT Center for International Studies, focuses on the scale of suffering of the Iraqi people themselves, indluding news, reports, analyses and studies of internally displaced people, refugees, and mortality rates.

When the Prisoners Ran Walpole: A True Story in the Movement for Prison Abolition, by Jamie Bissonette with Ralph Hamm, Robert Dellello and Edward Rodman, $20 pb. Prisoners organized to transform the jail. South End Press, www.southendpress.org.

A People's History of American Empire: A Graphic Adaptation by Howard Zinn, Mike Konopacki & Paul Buhle, $17 pb, $30 hc. Cartoons, documents, and photos are used to tell the tale. Metropolitan Books, www.hholt.com.