Pieces

EVENTS

Neighborhood Vigil for a Just Peace in Israel-Palestine, 6/10, noon-1 pm; Fields Corner, Dorchester MA (rain or shine!) Women in Black is an international movement that vigils to mourn Palestinian & Israeli deaths, inform the public about what is really happening in Palestine, & advocate for a just peace & an end to the Israeli occupation; men are also welcome to participate! Contact Pat, 617/445-1940.

Occupation 101, 6/9 & 6/11; this film about the occupation of Palestine (www.occupation101.com) will be showing at the upcoming Boston International Film Festival; for schedule details, visit www.bifilmfestival.com/biffschedule.html

Boston Pride Parade, 6/10, noon-1 pm; This parade celebrating Boston's lesbian, gay, bisexual, & transgender community, starts at Copley Square, goes through the South End, & concludes at the Boston Common with a fair, performances, & speeches; www.bostonpride.org

19th Annual Bike-a-thon by Bikes Not Bombs, 6/11, 9 am-4:30 pm; Greater Boston; Why ride with us? Because BNB has given 22 years of service for local & international development! Now in our 13th year at the Bicycle Recycling & Youth Training Center in Roxbury, we must raise $350,000 annually to cover expenses. We make this money cover six areas of youth programming: Earn-A-Bike, Vocational Training, Summer Youth Programs, After-School Tutoring, Girls in Action, & Bicycle Education Courses in public schools. The budget will enable BNB to ship over 2,500 bikes in 2006 to New Orleans, Central America, & Africa; BNB, 617/442-0004; www.bikesnotbombs.org

Cultural Survival Bazaar, 6/24-25, Plimoth Plantation, Plymouth MA (in association with the Wampanoag community for Strawberry Thanksgiving); 7/1-2, Kripalu Center, Lenox MA; a sensory celebration of the music, food, art, & crafts of indigenous groups around the globe; Cultural Survival, 215 Prospect St, Cambridge MA 02139; 617/441.5400; www.cs.org

GATHERINGS

The Challenge of Creating People-Centered Economies in Africa, 6/23-26; Washington DC; The third annual Bill Sutherland Institute for Africa Advocates, providing US-based advocates with practical grassroots organizing skills, exposure to cutting edge issues challenging Africa, & a chance to network with peers from around the world; keynotes by John Bomba & Tsitsi Dangarembga; sponsored by American Friends Service Committee, 1501 Cherry St, Philadelphia PA 19102; more info & on-line registration at www.afsc.org/sutherland

Radical Bookfair, 6/30-7/2; Baltimore MD; Festival of radical information with speakers, presses, infoshops, authors, scholars, & rabble-rousers; www.redemmas.org/bookfair/2006

Our Way Home Reunion Event, 7/6-9; Castlegar, British Columbia, Canada; This event will mark the courageous legacy of the US war resisters who came to Canada during the Vietnam War, & will also honour the courage of those resisting current US militarism by seeking safe haven in Canada now, during the US war in Iraq. The Our Way Home Reunion will honour the thousands of Canadians who helped them resettle in Canada both then & now. With George McGovern, Arun Gandhi, Tom Hayden, Kim Phuc, Michael Lerner; performances by Buffy Sainte-Marie, Holly Near & Ronnie Gilbert; workshops; OWHR, POB 113, Nelson, British Columbia V1L 5P7, Canada; 250/352-1187; www.ourwayhomereunion.com

Spirituality, Ecology, & Peace, 7/15; University of Maine, Orono; a 1-day conference sponsored by the UMaine Peace Studies department; keynotes by Terry Tempest Williams & Kyriacos Markides; workshops, panels, & a performance by pianist Masanobu Ikemiya; contact Ellen Woodhead, 207/581-2609; Ellen_Woodhead@umit.maine.edu

Maine Social Forum & Film Festival, 7/27-30, Lewiston ME; An open meeting place for activists working to make "Another World Possible;" 603/783-0894; www.mainesocialforum.org

National Conference on Dialogue & Deliberation, 8/4-6; San Francisco, California (pre-conference trainings on 8/3); NCDD brings together & supports people, organizations, & resources to expand the power of discussion to benefit society. If you are dedicated to solving group & societal problems through honest talk, quality thinking, & collaborative action, please join us at this innovative gathering; sponsored by National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation, 114 W. Springville Rd, Boiling Springs PA 17007; 717/243-5144; www.thataway.org Burdock Gathering for a Free & Sustainable Future, 8/8-15; Portland ME; workshops, do-it-yourself, open mic, cabaret; barter fair 8/12; BG, POB 1582, Portland ME 04104; www.burdockgathering.net

When the World Said No to War Exhibition & Peace Forum, 10/11-15; Edinburgh, Scotland; educational forums, speakers, photography, Songs for Change songwriting competition, & the Word Power Annual Radical Book Fair; co-sponsored by the Edinburgh Peace & Justice Center, www.whentheworldsaidno.org

OPPORTUNITIES

GROW: GrassRoots Organizing Workshops, 6/23-25; World Fellowship Center, Conway, NH; for those new to or experienced with organizing grassroots groups in ME, NH, VT; to learn more about this & other summer workshops, WFC, POB 2280, Conway NH 03818-2280; 603/447-2280; www.worldfellowship.org

Peacebuilder Camp, 6/29-7/9; Hartford CT & Rindge NH; Learn community organizing & nonviolent action skills with a diverse group of inner-city, suburban, & rural teens; for more information contact John Humphries, 860/236-5175; jhumphries@igc.org

RESOURCES

Dave Dellinger Commemorative Website; articles, photos, information, obituaries, & links to books on Dave Dellinger (visitors can also add their own memories); www.towardfreedom.com/dellinger

Betraying Africa's Priorities: A Short Analysis of US Policies on HIV/AIDS in Africa; a clear, helpful, 4-page summary of the AIDS pandemic in Africa, & how US policy & funding fit in to the global response; calls for greater US contributions but more recognition that Africans must have a greater role in setting priorities; available as a PDF at www.africaaction.org; Africa Action, 1634 Eye St NW #810, Washington DC 20006

G Movies Give Boys a D: Portraying Males as Dominant, Disconnected, & Dangerous; this 16-page report from the See Jane project analyzes how male characters in G-rated films outnumber female characters by a lopsided margin, are seldom in significant relationships, & are more likely to be physically aggressive. Characters of color are most often sidekicks, comic relief, or villains. This is the second report in a series drawing on in-depth content analysis by the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California (see also "Where the Girls Aren't"); both reports, with more due later this year, are available from See Jane, c/o Dads & Daughters, 2 West 1st Street, #101, Duluth MN 55802; 218/722-3942; www.seejane.org

Afghanistan, Inc.; Fariba Nawa, an Afghan-American who returned to her native country to examine the progress of reconstruction, uncovers some examples of where the money has (& hasn't) gone, how the system of international aid works (& doesn't), & what it is really like in the villages & cities where outsiders are rebuilding the war-torn countryside. An investigative report from Corpwatch, 1611 Telegraph Avenue. #702, Oakland CA 94612; 510/271-8080; www.corpwatch.org

Classified: How to Stop Hiding Your Privilege & Use It For Social Change, Karen Pittelman & Resource Generation; illustrations by Molly Hein; 207 pages; $15.95 + $2 s&h (bulk discounts available); The fight for economic justice is often painted as an Us vs. Them struggle, with the rich in the role of "Them," & everyone else cast as "Us." So where does that leave young people with wealth who believe in social change? Afraid of being branded the enemy, many young people with wealth keep their privilege hidden -- making it impossible for them to bring their resources, access, & connections to the struggle for social change. Classified gives its readers the tools they need to stop hiding their privilege & instead put it to work. Order from Resource Generation, 24 Thorndike St, Cambridge MA 02141; www.resourcegeneration.org

CAMPAIGNS

Life Over Debt National Lobby Day, 6/26; co-sponsored by American Friends Service Committee & Jubilee USA Network, Join us in lobbying Congress on 100% debt cancellation & send a message that the G-8 Debt Cancellation Deal is inadequate; training provided; contact AFSC at africa@afsc.org or 215/241-7168 or Jubilee USA Network at debi@jubileeusa.org or 202/783-0215

The Fight for Gay Marriage in Mass. is Not Over! Possibly as early as 7/12, the state legislature will hold a Constitutional Convention in which anti-gay forces will attempt to strip this legal right from same-sex couples. For more information or to volunteer on the campaign, contact Mass Equality, 617/878-2300; www.massequality.org

Don't Spy On Me; It's illegal & un-American for your phone company to hand your call records to the government without a warrant. But that's just what they're doing, violating the privacy & rights of millions of Americans in the process. The FCC has the authority & the obligation to investigate the NSA spying scandal, despite their wrong-headed refusal to act. Add your name to the public record & support our formal demand using materials provided by the American Civil Liberties Union at www.aclu.org