[Northampton-GP] FW: [Solidarity Calendar] October 1-December 10

[Scott McGinley]

----------
> From: "WMass Jobs With Justice" <wmjwj at hge.net>
> Date: Mon, 29 Sep 2003 20:30:32 -0400
> To: "Solidarity Calendar" <wmjwj at hge.net>
> Subject: [Solidarity Calendar] October 1-December 10
> 
> 
> 
> Western Mass. Solidarity Calendar
> October 1-December 10
> A calendar of opportunities to strengthen
> labor-community-student-religious solidarity, posted by members and allies
> of the WMass chapter of Jobs With Justice, a national campaign for Workers'
> Rights. Members of Jobs With Justice pledge "I’ll Be There" at least 5 times
> a year for someone else’s struggle.  Take the JwJ Pledge:
> www.jwj.org/AboutJWJ/Pledge.htm.
> 
> Inclusion does not necessarily mean JWJ endorsement. On the web at
> http://www-unix.oit.umass.edu/~tnm/WMassJwJ/.
> *To Subscribe mailto:wmjwj at hge.net with "subscribe" in the subject
> field.* 
> *To Unsubscribe mailto:wmjwj at hge.net with "unsubscribe" in the
> subject field.* 
> 
> WMJWJ Health Care Action Committee, Community Benefits Committee, and
> Solidarity Committee are all ways you can get active. Contact WMass JWJ
> Organizer Jill Fitzsimmons, 262-7689, mailto:jill_jwj at fastmail.fm.
> 
> More info at end of Calendar ...
> 
> ############################### "I'LL BE THERE!" SAVE THE DATES
> ###############################
> 
> Thursday October 2
> SPRINGFIELD TEACHERS RALLY FOR A CONTRACT
> 6pm, City Hall, Court Square, Springfield. Join the teachers,
> counselors, librarians, and other 'Unit A' employees of the Springfield
> Public Schools for a rally to demonstrate for a contract, cost of living and
> salary increases. The rally will coincide with the School Committee meeting
> happening inside. Speak-Out will be at 7pm. Info: Springfield Education
> Association (SEA/MTA), 1000 Wilbraham Rd, Springfield 01109; 782-8300;
> mailto:mailing at seateachers.com; http://www.seateachers.com/.
> 
> Wednesday October 8
> HEARING ON MASS SINGLE PAYER HEALTH CARE TRUST BY JOINT COMMITTEE ON
> HEALTH
> State House, Boston. Several groups are sponsoring a bus, leaving
> about 7:30am from Northampton, picking up in Chicopee (Plantation Inn) and
> Palmer (Big Y), and returning by 5pm. Donation $10 per person, but no one
> will be turned away for lack of money. To sign up: Arky Markham, 586-0345,
> Alice Swift, 253-397, or Linda Stone, 533-9235.
> Senate Bill 686 establishes universal, comprehensive health care for
> all residents of Massachusetts by setting up a Health Care Trust, an agency
> run by consumers, providers, and government officials which would:
> 1) receive money from Federal and State sources, employers and
> taxes, and eliminate all insurance premiums, co-pays, and deductibles;
> 2) pay the bills for all acute and preventive care considered
> necessary by doctor and patient, including prescription drugs, nursing
> homes, home care, mental health, and hospitals; and
> 3) save us all money by eliminating the administrative waste in our
> present outlandishly expensive system. The latest study, by a consultant
> firm hired by the Legislature, says that 40 cents of every Massachusetts
> health care dollar now goes to administration.
> Passage by the State Senate is a first essential step. Government
> officials and the press will no longer be able to ignore this solution.
> Repeated polls say it is supported by a large majority of people in the
> state, including a majority of practicing doctors. Sixteen out of 40
> senators are already cosponsors of Senate 686. The bill has the long-time
> support of Senate President Travaglini (who does cosponsor bills). Many
> state Reps are also putting their names to the bill, though we are not
> looking for a vote in the House at this time. If you do not know your
> Senator go to: www.wheredoivotema.com/bal/myelectioninfo.php. Please report
> any feedback you get from your legislator to MASS-CARE: 800-383-1973;
> mailto:masscare at aol.com; www.masscare.org. Visit website for details of the
> Bill, action ideas.
> IF YOU BELIEVE WE NEED UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE:
> 1. FORWARD THIS MESSAGE TO YOUR FRIENDS AND ASK THEM TO
> FORWARD IT TO THEIR LISTS.
> 2. ASK THEM TO CALL THEIR LEGISLATORS TO ASK SUPPORT FOR
> SENATE 686.  
> 3. TELL THEM THEY CAN KEEP INFORMED BY SENDING THEIR EMAIL
> ADDRESS TO MASSCARE2 at AOL.COM.
> 4. HIT "REPLY" AND TELL WMASS JOBS WITH JUSTICE YOU WANT TO
> WORK ON THIS ISSUE; include name and phone number.
> 
> Thursday October 23
> WESTERN MASS JOBS WITH JUSTICE RECEPTION FOR JIM HIGHTOWER
> 6-7:15pm, Odyssey Bookshop, 9 College St (Routes 116 at 47), in the
> Village Commons, S Hadley (www.mtholyoke.edu/cic/map/815.shtml). $50 per
> person tax deductible donation requested. Space is limited. Please send your
> donation now to WMass Jobs With Justice, 640 Page Blvd, Springfield MA
> 01104.
> 
> JIM HIGHTOWER PUBLIC CHAT & BOOKSIGNING
> 7:30pm, Chapin Auditorium, Mt Holyoke College, Rt 116, S Hadley
> (www.mtholyoke.edu/cic/map/856.shtml).
> "America's #1 Populist," national radio commentator, columnist, and
> bestselling author of "If the Gods Had Meant Us to Vote They Would Have
> Given Us Candidates", Jim Hightower (www.jimhightower.com/) has a new book:
> "Thieves In High Places: They've Stolen Our Country And It's Time To Take It
> Back". Jim has graciously agreed that WMJWJ may use the occasion as a
> fundraiser. This will be a major fundraiser for us, as the coalition begins
> a new fiscal year very short on cash to continue employing an organizer.
> Requested (tax deductible) donations: $1-$25 for students, $5-$50
> for community members; no one will be turned away for lack of funds.
> The booksigning and public chat is sponsored by Odyssey Bookshop
> (www.odysseybks.com), WMass Jobs With Justice and its Member Organizations,
> Mt Holyoke College Student Coalition for Action, Mt Holyoke College People
> Opposing War, and Mt Holyoke College Politics Department. Contact WMass JWJ
> Organizer Jill Fitzsimmons, 262-7689, mailto:jill_jwj at fastmail.fm, to
> co-sponsor and be listed in the program, along with mission and contact
> information.
> Info: WMass JWJ Organizer Jill Fitzsimmons, 262-7689,
> mailto:jill_jwj at fastmail.fm, or Joan at the Odyssey, 534-7307 or
> 800-540-7307; mailto:odysseyjeg at aol.com.
> 
> November 17-21
> STOP THE FTAA!
> Miami. Trade ministers from 34 nations in the Western Hemisphere
> meet to launch the final stage of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA
> - "NAFTA on Steroids") negotiations. The FTAA would expand the failed North
> American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which has already had disastrous
> effects in the US, Mexico, and Canada, to the entire Western Hemisphere.
> Jobs with Justice along with the AFL-CIO and other allies demand that the
> trade ministers and our elected officials nationwide hear the voices of the
> millions across the hemisphere who oppose the FTAA. Big Business plans to
> push FTAA through without a democratic process. But you can cast your ballot
> to Stop FTAA at www.aflcio.org/issuespolitics/globaleconomy/ftaamain.cfm.
> The ballots will be delivered to the Ministerial Meeting. By signing a
> ballot, you can tell trade ministers and our elected officials that FTAA is
> the wrong choice for jobs, workers’ rights and the environment.
> A "welcome" for the FTAA ministerial is planned by the AFL-CIO,
> local Central Labor Council, over 10 local unions, Sierra Club, Florida Fair
> Trade Coalition, Jobs with Justice, Miami Workers Center, Coalition of
> Immokalee Workers, Unite for Dignity, Public Citizen, Citizens Trade
> Campaign, Alliance for Responsible Trade, and many others. Current plans:
> teach-ins, seminars, reality tours, concerts, forums, rallies, marches, and
> many more ways to get our message out! Info: Citizens Trade Campaign,
> 202-778-3320, mailto:ftaainfo at citizenstrade.org; www.flfairtrade.org.
> "FTAA for Beginners" workshop can be downloaded free from
> www.faireconomy.org. Info: Mike Prokosch, mailto:mprokosch at faireconomy.org.
> Contact WMass JWJ Organizer Jill Fitzsimmons, 262-7689,
> mailto:jill_jwj at fastmail.fm, to get involved locally.
> 
> Wednesday December 10
> NATIONAL DAY OF ACTION: DEMAND THE FREEDOM TO CHOOSE A UNION &
> BARGAIN COLLECTIVELY
> The Universal Declaration of Human Rights,
> http://www.un.org/rights/50/decla.htm, adopted December 10 1948,
> specifically affirms that "everyone has the right to form and to join trade
> unions for the protection of his or her interests." Yet, over 50 years after
> this declaration was adopted, we witness the commonplace denial of workers’
> right to organize. Every day, somewhere in the United States and around the
> world, workers are denied their "right to join trade unions." Jobs With
> Justice and the AFL-CIO are organizing this National Day of Action. Contact:
> Jill Fitzsimmons, 262-7689, mailto:jill_jwj at fastmail.fm; Steve Dondley at
> Pioneer Valley Central Labor Council, 732-7970, mailto:pvaflcio at hge.net.
> 
> ######################################### NEWS NOTES
> #########################################
> 
> "I think that gay marriage is something that should be between a man and a
> woman." - Arnold Schwarzenegger to radio host Sean Hannity, August 27, 2003
> (Thanks, Joan)
> 
> JOB OPENING: Arise is looking for a coordinator for "Marsha's Apartment."
> Assist homeless families not eligible for state-funded shelter and currently
> residing in a two-family house that Arise is renting. Residents need help
> finding permanent housing, tracking down benefits and other needs. Get to
> hang out with a great group of women and kids! 20 hrs a week. Call
> Michaelann or Michael at 734-4948.
> 
> UNION BENEFITS: America's workers, union and nonunion, benefit from the
> social and economic gains won by unions, according to "How Unions Help All
> Workers," a report by the nonprofit Economic Policy Institute. The report
> finds unions raise nonunion wages because nonunion employers often follow
> union wage scales to prevent workers from joining a union. Unions also play
> a powerful role in reducing income inequality by increasing wages for
> low-income workers. To read more about the report, visit
> http://www.aflcio.org/aboutunions/ns08262003.cfm. More at www.aflcio.org:
> AMERICAN PUBLIC SUPPORTS UNIONS, according to a Gallup poll released
> August 29. Young adults (ages 18-29) are the most supportive, with 77%
> expressing approval of unions. Solid majorities of those polled say unions
> help union members (76%), unionized companies (58%) and the US economy
> (54%).
> AFL-CIO SETS UP NON-UNION ORGANIZATION: Working America
> (www.aflcio.org/aboutaflcio/ecouncil/ec08062003f.cfm) will engage non-union
> workers to join in supporting union issues – such as raising the minimum
> wage and preventing privatization of Social Security. Set up as a directly
> affiliated local union (DALU) with bylaws and dues to be established.
> 
> INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDS $1.6 TRILLION!
> (www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/breaking_news/6690743.htm - thanks,
> Neil) America's infrastructure is coming apart at the seams, according to an
> analysis (www.asce.org/reportcard/) by civil engineers, who warned about
> congested roadways, crumbling bridges and schools, and outdated drinking
> water systems, and myriad other examples, including last month's massive
> blackout in the Northeast and Midwest. The American Society of Civil
> Engineers (www.asce.org) said the condition of 12 key categories of
> infrastructure showed little or no improvement - and in many cases worsened
> - in the past two years. The report said 75 percent of the nation's school
> buildings are inadequate. With population growth outpacing investment in
> schools, the engineers estimated that more than $127 billion would be needed
> to build new classrooms and fix old schools.
> 
> NPP ON IRAQ COST: The National Priorities Project has just released its
> latest Grassroots Factsheet: "Invading and Occupying Iraq: The Impact on
> Your State".  Go to
> www.nationalpriorities.org/issues/military/iraq/factsheet03/index.html to
> select your state. You will find a breakdown of how President Bush's
> requested $87 billion in additional war spending could be spent instead to
> create more jobs in your state for school construction, affordable housing
> units, and better roads and bridges. The Factsheet also provides a graphic
> illustration of current federal spending priorities, comparing the total
> amount of war-related spending with spending on basic needs such as food and
> nutrition, the environment, housing, education, the environment, housing,
> and veterans' benefits. If you want to add your voice to the federal debate,
> go to www.nationalpriorities.org/takeaction/index.html to find out how to
> contact your Congressperson. Please spread the word that these factsheets
> are available free of charge, easy to print and reproduce, enabling your
> friends, neighbors and co-workers to quickly grasp the impact of these
> lasting federal spending decisions.
> 
> WEB AUDIO: AMY GOODMAN & GREG PALAST AT ONE WORLD FAIR: Hear Amy Goodman on
> the fraudulent war against Iraq and the attacks against Civil Liberties, and
> Greg Palast on the stealing of the US election, disenfranchisement of blacks
> in the US and corporate power and influence on US politics:
> www.traprockpeace.org.
> 
> KILLER COKE: Help stop a horrific cycle of murders, kidnapping, and torture
> of union leaders and organizers at Coca-Cola's bottling plants in Colombia.
> Over the past several years, eight workers and union activists involved in
> struggles for better working conditions have been murdered. The most recent
> assassination attempt occurred August 22, 2003, when two men on motorcycle
> fired shots at Juan Carlos Galvis, a worker and union president at Coke's
> bottling plant in Barrancabermeja, Colombia. According to numerous credible
> reports, Coca-Cola's plant managers are colluding with and providing
> financial support to the right wing paramilitary groups who carry out these
> attacks. Visit: www.killercoke.org.
> Please boycott the following brands owned by Coca-Cola:
> - Coca-Cola and all it's variations (diet, cherry, vanilla,
> etc.)
> - Fanta
> - Dr. Pepper
> - Barq's root beer
> - Surge
> - Sprite
> - Mello Yello
> - Fresca
> - Tab
> - Evian water
> - Dasani water
> - Mad River
> - Powerade
> - Minute-Maid (products include: Odwalla, Fresh Samantha,
> Fruitopia, Bacardi Mixers, Five-Alive, Simply Orange)
> 
> ##################################### THE CALENDAR
> #######################################
> 
> NOTE: Additional events are at
> www.westernmassafsc.org/calendar/calendar.html.
> 
> On Day Of Supreme Judicial Court Ruling - Expected Soon
> WESTERN MASS GLBT & ALLIES RESPONSE TO SAME-SEX MARRIAGE COURT
> RULING
> 6pm, steps of Northampton City Hall, Main St, Northampton. The
> Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court is now considering the issue of
> same-sex civil marriage - their ruling on Goodridge v. Department of Public
> Health could make Massachusetts the first state to allow same-sex couples to
> marry. The day the ruling is announced, there will be an informal speak-out
> and gathering of the GLBT community and friends and allies at 6pm at the
> steps of Northampton City Hall. The court was expected to rule on Goodridge
> by July 14th, but it exceeded its own internal deadline. The court could
> issue its ruling within days, weeks, or months - no one knows exactly when.
> Info: mailto:NorthamptonMarriageRally at hotmail.com.
> 
> October
> CALENDAR RAFFLE FOR ARISE FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE
> Arise (www.angelfire.com/ma4/arise/) is a Western Mass low-income
> rights, anti-oppression membership organization. Arise was started in 1985
> by four women on Welfare who met around a kitchen table and decided to
> organize and advocate for their rights. Arise now has an Economic Justice
> Committee, an Electoral Committee, a Peace Committee, "The VOICE" Community
> Newspaper, and the W.I.S.E. Committee (Women In Support of Each Other).
> A calendar raffle is a month's worth of prizes, tickets for which
> will be sold during October, and then raffled off in November. This is a
> rolling raffle, which means that tickets are drawn and winners are put back
> into the pot for the next day's drawing. People can keep winning! Tickets
> will be $5 for an entire month's worth of prizes (30 in all)! These tickets
> are fairly easy to sell, and will be very easy if we have great prizes.
> Imagine how much money we could raise for Arise if we all sold $50 worth of
> tickets - only 10 tickets! Please contact AFSC, 140 Pine St, Florence 01062;
> 584-8975; mailto:afsc at crocker.com.
> 
> Wednesday October 1 & Every Wednesday Until the Elections
> PROTEST SPRINGFIELD'S AT-LARGE COUNCIL ELECTIONS
> Noon-12:45pm, City Hall, Court Square, Springfield. Are you tired of
> Springfield's unfair, discriminatory, at-large voting system? Stand out in
> front of Springfield City Hall every Wednesday. Info: Arise for Social
> Justice, 734-4948, mailto:arise at riseup.net.
> 
> October 1-4
> MEN'S WALK TO END ABUSE
> Springfield to Greenfield. Men's Resource Center's Men's Walk to End
> Abuse to raise money and consciousness about men taking responsibility for
> ending men's violence against women. Info: Michael Dover, 253-9887 x33;
> mailto:mdover at mensresourcecenter.org; www.mensresourcecenter.org.
> 
> Wednesday October 1
> SOLIDARIDAD COLOMBIA/ANTI-FTAA PLANNING MEETING
> 5:30pm, Media Education Center, 60 Masonic St (side door - meeting
> room on first floor), Northampton. Witness for Peace New England is bringing
> another Colombian speaker to our region; Nancy Sanchez will be here the
> weekend of October 11. This brief meeting will organize publicity and
> strategize about how best to use this opportunity to raise awareness about
> the FTAA ministerial meeting in Miami, November 20-21, and continued work
> after Nancy's tour. Info: Jill Fitzsimmons, 262-7689,
> mailto:jill_jwj at fastmail.fm.
> 
> Wednesday October 1
> DEMOCRACY NOW! CAMPAIGN
> 7pm, Media Education Foundation, 60 Masonic St, Northampton
> (800-897-0089). WMass Citizens for Public Broadcasting (WMCIPB) is working
> to get "Democracy Now!" on WMUA radio (having abandoned the effort to get it
> on WFCR) and Northampton, Greenfield, and Hadley community TV stations. Also
> figuring out how to help get Valley Free Radio, a low power FM station, up
> and running quickly once they get their license approval from the FCC. To
> learn more about that effort, visit: www.mediaed.org/radio.
> Check out Democracy Now! on line, www.democracynow.org/. Also on
> cable TV in Amherst (8am and 5pm Monday-Friday) and Easthampton (schedule at
> www.easthamptonweb.com/television/index.html#listings). Info:
> mailto:kate at mediaed.org, www.mediaed.org/WMCIPB.
> 
> Thursday October 2
> NATIONAL CALL IN DAY FOR THE RIGHTS OF IMMIGRANTS
> Inspired by the Freedom Riders of the Civil Rights Movement,
> immigrant workers and allies set out September 20 from eight major US cities
> and are crossing the country in buses, converging on Washington DC to meet
> with members of Congress and then traveling to New York City for a mass
> rally on October 4. Union sponsors include AFL-CIO, HERE, JWJ, NICWJ, SEIU,
> UNITE, UFW, UFCW and the Laborers. Info: www.iwfr.org.
> Freedom riders converge in Washington DC on October 2 to lobby their
> members of Congress. Add your voice of support for four key demands:
> 1. A road to citizenship for all immigrant workers in this
> country; 
> 2. The right of immigrant workers to reunite with their
> families; 
> 3. Protecting the rights of immigrants in the workplace; and
> 4. Civil liberties and due-process protections for
> immigrants. 
> Call the White House toll free at 800-321-8268. Call Congress toll
> free at 888-355-3588. Tell President Bush and your members of Congress to
> support the rights of immigrants.
> 
> Thursday October 2
> DR PEDRO NOGUERA: "CITY SCHOOLS & THE AMERICAN DREAM"
> 5-7pm, Fuller Arts Center, Springfield College, 263 Alden St,
> Springfield. Dr Noguera is the Judith K Dimon Professor of Communities and
> Schools at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. He has engaged in
> collaborative research with several large, urban school districts, and he
> has published and lectured on topics such as youth violence, race relations
> within schools, the potential impact of school choice and vouchers on urban
> public schools, factors contributing to student achievement and secondary
> issues resulting from desegregation in public schools. His latest book is
> "City Schools and the American Dream: Reclaiming the Promise of Public
> Education". Info: mailto:Laurel_Davis at spfldcol.edu.
> 
> Thursday October 2
> SPRINGFIELD TEACHERS RALLY FOR A CONTRACT
> 6pm, City Hall, Court Square, Springfield. Join the teachers,
> counselors, librarians, and other 'Unit A' employees of the Springfield
> Public Schools for a rally to demonstrate for a contract, cost of living and
> salary increases. The rally will coincide with the School Committee meeting
> happening inside. Speak-Out will be at 7pm. Info: Springfield Education
> Association (SEA/MTA), 1000 Wilbraham Rd, Springfield 01109; 782-8300;
> mailto:mailing at seateachers.com; http://www.seateachers.com/.
> 
> Thursday October 2
> DEMOCRACY & REFORM IN MASSACHUSETTS TOWN HALL MEETING
> 7-8:30pm, First Congregational Church of Hadley, 102 Middle St (Rts
> 9 & 47, next to Town Hall), Hadley. Speakers: Representative Peter Kocot,
> Representative Stephen Kulik, Representative John Scibak, Representative
> Ellen Story. Issues to be discussed include: Clean Elections, Instant
> Run-off Voting (IRV), Legislative Reforms in the State House. Info: Tim
> Carpenter, mailto:sheilacarp at earthlink.net.
> 
> Thursday October 2
> FEEDING A GROWING WORLD: IS THERE ROOM FOR GENETICALLY MODIFIED
> ORGANISMS (GMOs)
> 7pm, Wright Hall Auditorium, Smith College, Rt 9, Northampton.
> Panelists: Brian Halweil, World Watch Institute; Dr Channapatna Prakash,
> Tuskegee University & www.AgBioWorld.org; Jeffrey Smith, author, "Seeds of
> Deception" (www.seedsofdeception.com). Moderator Laurie Sanders, host of
> WFCR's "Field Notes". Info: Joanne McMullin, 585-3951,
> mailto:jmcmulli at smith.edu.
> 
> Thursday October 2
> "THEY DON’T LIKE ME: Lessons on Bullying and Teasing from a
> Pre-school Classroom"
> 7pm, Food for Thought Books, 106 N Pleasant St, Amherst; 253-5432;
> mailto:joan at foodforthoughtbooks.com. Talk and booksigning by preschool
> teacher Jane Katch about how we can teach children to fight the impulse to
> bully and give them the tools to resist bullying when it does occur.
> Co-sponsored by The Everywoman’s Center (www.umass.edu/ewc/) a multicultural
> campus-based women's center whose mission is to empower women to take full
> control of their lives.
> 
> Thursday October 2
> SELVES AND OTHERS: A PORTRAIT OF EDWARD SAID
> 7:30pm, Franklin Patterson Hall Main Lecture Hall, Hampshire
> College, Rt 116, Amherst. French producers and camera people spent several
> weeks last year with the Said family and made this intimate portrait of
> Edward Said, who died September 24 (see
> http://www.workingforchange.com/article.cfm?ItemID=15709 or listen to the
> DemocracyNow! tribute:
> www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=03/09/26/1533258). Info: Lisa Baskin,
> mailto:l.baskin at comcast.net.
> 
> Friday October 3
> SUBMISSIONS DEADLINE: "365 THINGS" CALENDAR
> The American Friends Service Committee 2004 Martin Luther King Jr
> Committee invites us to participate in "365 Things You Can Do To End Racism"
> - a calendar project which will begin on January 19, 2004 (the celebrated
> day of Dr. King’s birth). This decorative calendar will be distributed to
> area schools, libraries, communities of faith, and community centers
> throughout Western Massachusetts. "365 Things" will be a creative,
> interactive, teaching, reflective tool intended to inspire teachers,
> community leaders, students, and clergy to continue to be active
> participants in undoing racism in our region. Each day will offer a
> different opportunity for exploration. In addition to providing accurate
> local and national historical information, it will highlight holidays,
> special dates and people in the struggle to end racism, as well as actions
> individuals can take to speak truth to power and/or become anti-racist,
> anti-prejudice allies. Perhaps most exciting, peppered throughout the
> calendar will be activities sponsored by over 50 valley groups and
> organizations dedicated to undoing racism. The MLK Committee invites you and
> your organization to: 1. list an event already planned for 2004-2005 on the
> calendar, 2. create an event to be listed on the calendar, 3. offer your
> community’s resources to be listed on the calendar. Contact AFSC, 140 Pine
> Street, Room 10, Florence 01062; 584-8975; mailto:afsc at crocker.com;
> www.westernmassafsc.org.
> 
> Saturday October 4
> HEALTH CARE FOR EVERYONE - THE TIME IS NOW!
> 9:30-Noon, JFK Middle School, 100 Bridge Rd, Northampton. We can
> afford decent health care for everyone - come learn how it works. Featured
> speaker: Dr. Alan Sager, a member of the Massachusetts Health Care Task
> Force and award-winning professor at the Boston U School of Public Health,
> School of Medicine, where he has taught since 1983. Community participants:
> Michael Bardsley, Northampton City Council President; Harvey Lederman MD,
> Northampton; John Coull, Executive Dir, Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce;
> Elizabeth Burke, Amherst, former resident of Canada; James A. W. Shaw,
> President, UAW Local 2322. Moderator: Mary Siano. Info: Franklin/Hampshire
> Health Care Coalition, PO Box 3011, Amherst 01004; 586-0345;
> mailto:markham at hge.net.
> 
> Saturday October 4
> IMMIGRANT WORKERS FREEDOM RIDE RALLY
> 10am-4pm, Flushing Meadows, Corona Park, Queens, New York City.
> Inspired by the Freedom Riders of the Civil Rights Movement, immigrant
> workers and allies set out September 20 from eight major US cities and are
> crossing the country in buses, converging on Washington DC to meet with
> members of Congress and then traveling to New York City for a mass rally on
> October 4. Union sponsors include AFL-CIO, HERE, JWJ, NICWJ, SEIU, UNITE,
> UFW, UFCW and the Laborers. Info: www.iwfr.org.
> GET ON THE BUS: Autoworkers Local 2322 is arranging some
> transportation from WMass. $10 to help defray the cost of securing the
> bus(es). The Local needs an accurate sense of how many seats will be needed
> NOW. Time is of the essence. Info: UAW 2322, 243 King St, Northampton;
> 800-682-0269; mailto:uaw2322 at uaw2322.org; www.uaw2322.org.
> 
> Saturday October 4
> TELLING THE TRUTH ABOUT MILITARY SERVICE
> 10:30am, MLK Community Center, 3 Rutland St, Springfield.
> 3pm, Jones Library, 43 Amity St, Amherst. Kevin Ramirez, Coordinator
> of the Military Out of Our Schools Program of CCCO (Central Committee on
> Conscientious Objection), as well as a Coordinator of AWOL, a revolutionary
> artists’ magazine (http://www.awol.objector.org/). Info: AFSC, 584-8975. Get
> the facts; did you know
> 1. to get any money for school from the military, you have to give a
> $1,200 non-refundable deposit and did you know that 2/3 of recruits never
> get any money for school?
> 2. that most military jobs don’t give you the skills you need for
> the real world? 
> 3. over 50% of front line troops are people of color, while only 12%
> of officers are people of color?
> 4. once you enlist you become military property and lose all of your
> freedoms and civil liberties?
> Sponsored by: MLK Community Center, Military Recruitment Education
> Network, American Friends Service Committee, Veterans For Peace Wally Nelson
> Chapter, WMass GI Rights Working Group, Arise for Social Justice, WMass
> Socialist Party, Traprock Peace Center, Buddhist Peace Fellowship, Student
> Labor Action Project, UAW Local 2322, Roundtables for Nonviolence. Info:
> 584-8975; mailto:afsc at crocker.com; www.westernmassafsc.org.
> 
> Saturday October 4
> ARISE ANNUAL MEETING
> 1-5pm, South Congregational Church, 45 Maple St (at High St),
> Springfield. Celebrate and plan! Skits, slides, music, and much discussion
> about how to make change. Free and open to all who share goals like stopping
> the wars on people at home and abroad; globalization for people, not profit;
> fair elections in Springfield and everywhere; an end to homelessness and
> school cuts; and finding the way to leading full and happy lives. Info:
> 734-4948; mailto:arise at riseup.net.
> 
> Tuesday October 7
> YOUTH/STUDENTS STOP THE MILITARY RECRUITERS DAY OF ACTION
> The Not In Our Name Youth Network is calling on youth and students
> to take a stand against the military recruiters on the second anniversary of
> the bombing of Afghanistan. As the US Government's war and occupations of
> Iraq and Afghanistan continue, the recruiters have become even more
> aggressive in targeting kids in schools and communities, as well as on the
> airwaves. Info: mailto:youth at notinourname.net, www.notinourname.net.
> 
> Tuesday October 7
> THE TRIANGLE SHIRTWAIST FIRE
> 7pm, Odyssey Bookshop, 9 College St (Routes 116 at 47), in the
> Village Commons, S Hadley, 534-7307 or 800-540-7307;
> mailto:odysseybks at aol.com; www.odysseybks.com. Washington Post journalist
> David Von Drehle discusses "Triangle: The Fire That Changed America", about
> the worst workplace disaster in New York City history. On March 25, 1911, a
> fire broke out in the Triangle Shirtwaist factory in New York's Greenwich
> Village, and, within minutes, consumed the building's upper three stories.
> Their ladders too short, firemen were unable to rescue those trapped inside,
> and desperate workers jumped to their deaths. The final toll was 146 people.
> This horrifying fire changed the course of 20th-century politics and labor
> relations.
> 
> Tuesday October 7
> TRAPROCK'S 24th ANNIVERSARY
> 7pm, Frontier Regional High School, 113 N Main St, S Deerfield.
> Former UN weapons inspector and US Marine Intelligence Officer Scott Ritter
> speaks, along with Randy Kehler, the first director of Traprock, and Juanita
> Nelson, pioneer with her beloved husband, the late Wally Nelson, in the
> civil rights and tax resistance movements. Info: Traprock Peace Center, 103A
> Keets Road, Deerfield 01342; 773-7427; mailto:charles at mtdata.com;
> http://traprockpeace.org.
> 
> Tuesday October 7
> CONNECTICUT RIVER VALLEY GREEN-RAINBOW PARTY
> 7-9pm, place TBA, Hadley. Info: 253-0851, 253-6526,
> mailto:info at westernmassgreens.org, www.westernmassgreens.org.
> 
> Wednesday October 8
> HEARING ON MASS SINGLE PAYER HEALTH CARE TRUST BY JOINT COMMITTEE ON
> HEALTH
> State House, Boston. Several groups are sponsoring a bus, leaving
> about 7:30am from Northampton, picking up in Chicopee and Palmer, and
> returning by 5pm. Donation $10 per person, but no one will be turned away
> for lack of money. To sign up: Arky Markham, 586-0345, Alice Swift, 253-397,
> or Linda Stone, 533-9235.
> Senate Bill 686 establishes universal, comprehensive health care for
> all residents of Massachusetts by setting up a Health Care Trust, an agency
> run by consumers, providers and government officials which:
> would receive money from Federal and State sources, employers and
> taxes, and eliminate all insurance premiums, co-pays, and deductibles;
> would pay the bills for all acute and preventive care considered
> necessary by doctor and patient, including prescription drugs, nursing
> homes, home care, mental health, and hospitals;
> and would save us all money by eliminating the administrative waste in
> our present outlandishly expensive system. The latest study, by a consultant
> firm hired by the Legislature, says that 40 cents of every Massachusetts
> health care dollar now goes to administration.
> Passage by the State Senate is a first essential step. Government
> officials and the press will no longer be able to ignore this solution.
> Repeated polls say it is supported by a large majority of people in the
> state, including a majority of practicing doctors. Sixteen out of 40
> senators are already cosponsors of Senate 686. The bill has the long-time
> support of Senate President Travaglini. Many state Reps are also putting
> their names to the bill, though we are not looking for a vote in the House
> at this time. If you do not know your Senator go to:
> www.wheredoivotema.com/bal/myelectioninfo.php. Please report any feedback
> you get from your legislator to MASS-CARE: 800-383-1973;
> mailto:masscare at aol.com; www.masscare.org. Visit website for details of the
> Bill, action ideas.
> IF YOU BELIEVE WE NEED UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE:
> 1. FORWARD THIS MESSAGE TO YOUR FRIENDS AND ASK THEM TO
> FORWARD IT TO THEIR LISTS.
> 2. ASK THEM TO CALL THEIR LEGISLATORS TO ASK SUPPORT FOR
> SENATE 686.  
> 3. TELL THEM THEY CAN KEEP INFORMED BY SENDING THEIR EMAIL
> ADDRESS TO MASSCARE2 at AOL.COM.
> 4. HIT "REPLY" AND TELL WMASS JOBS WITH JUSTICE YOU WANT TO
> WORK ON THIS ISSUE; include name and phone number.
> 
> Thursday October 9
> KEEP SPACE FOR PEACE VIGIL
> 11:30am-1:30pm, Barnes Air Force Base entrance, off Route 10,
> Westfield. Sponsored by CPPAX, AFSC, and Traprock Peace Center. This vigil
> will be a part of the International Week of Protest to Stop the
> Militarization of Space, organized by the Global Network against Weapons and
> Nuclear Power in Space (www.space4peace.org). Info: 549-1534 or 253-5715,
> mailto:gbraunth at polsci.umass.edu.
> 
> Thursday October 9 (Second Thursdays)
> PRIDE AT WORK
> 6:30pm, UAW Local 2322 Conference Room (second floor - use glass
> doors to left of Registry of Motor Vehicles), Pot Pourri Mall, 243 King St,
> Northampton. Plenty of parking front and rear. Pride At Work
> (www.prideatwork.org) is a lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered (LGBT)
> labor group affiliated with the AFL-CIO (American Federation of Labor &
> Congress of Industrial Organizations). PAW mobilizes mutual support between
> the Labor Movement and the LGBT Community around organizing for social and
> economic justice. PAW seeks full equality for LGBT Workers in their
> workplaces and unions; works towards creating a Labor Movement that
> cherishes diversity, encourages openness, and ensures safety & dignity; and
> aims to educate the LBGT Community about the benefits of union membership
> for LGBT working people, and to build support and solidarity for the union
> movement in the LGBT community. Contact Ron, 269-4787 or 877-252-9736, or
> David, 493-8020, or mailto:mcarneymassaflcio. Subscribe to PAW's listserve:
> mailto:WMPAW-subscribe at yahoogroups.com.
> 
> Thursday October 9
> ROBBY MEEROPOL BOOKREADING: "AN EXECUTION IN THE FAMILY"
> 7pm, Booklink Booksellers, Thorne's Marketplace, 2nd Floor, 150 Main
> St, Northampton. Robert Meeropol was six years old when his parents, Ethel
> and Julius Rosenberg, were sent to the electric chair, executed by the US
> government after one of the most hotly debated trials in American history.
> Meeropol will read from and answer questions based on his new book, "An
> Execution in the Family: One Son's Journey". The memoir describes how he
> survived the loss of his parents and established his own identity in the
> shadow of a case that drew world-wide protest. Info: 585-9955 or Amber
> Black, 529-0063, mailto:amber at rfc.org.
> 
> Thursday October 9
> OUR COMMUNITY IS THE WORLD
> 7pm, Stinchfield Lecture Hall, Main Campus, Greenfield Community
> College. Shepard and Leona Forman will recount their experiences of
> representing the US to other countries, of their perceptions of how peoples
> of the world view the US, and of their long experience in how to help the
> world be a better place for all. They have stories of sadness, stories of
> inspiring joy, and information on what the world is like from perspectives
> not usually heard. Info: 775-1831.
> 
> Thursday October 9
> DANIELA GIOSEFFI: "WOMEN ON WAR"
> 7pm, Odyssey Bookshop, 9 College St (Routes 116 at 47), in the
> Village Commons, S Hadley, 534-7307 or 800-540-7307;
> mailto:odysseybks at aol.com; www.odysseybks.com. From Margaret Atwood and
> Arundhati Roy to Simone de Beauvoir and Virginia Woolf, many of the world's
> greatest women writers have reflected upon one of humanity's most tragic and
> powerful experiences: war. "Women On War: An International Anthology of
> Women's Writings from Antiquity to the Present" gathers writings by poets,
> novelists, essayists, journalists, activists, and ordinary women with
> first-hand experience of armed conflict as survivors, refugees, rape
> victims, nurses, and soldiers - ranging from an ancient verse by Sappho to
> testimony by Afghan women and poems about the impact of September 11, 2001.
> 
> Thursday October 9
> FIVE COLLEGE WOMEN'S STUDIES RESEARCH CENTER FALL EVENTS
> 83 College St (Rt 116), S Hadley. Free baby sitting; call 538-2275
> at least one week prior. Out of consideration for those with allergies and
> environmental illness, please refrain from using perfumes and other scented
> products to these
> events. Directions, more details: 538-2527; http://wscenter.hampshire.edu.
> Thursday October 9, 7:30pm, Modern Flappers and Traditional Indians:
> Policing the Female Body in 1920s Mexico by Rick Lopez, Amherst College
> Thursday October 23, 7:30pm, Elements of Class Abjection in Critical
> Theory by Claudia Leeb, New School U
> Monday November 3, 4:30pm, "Gendered" Voices?: A Reading of Lovelace
> and Collins by Carol Bailey, U of West Indies
> Thursday November 6, 7:30pm, Colonial Subjects and the Politics of
> Subaltern Agency in Early Colonial Indian Histories by Durba Ghosh, Mount
> Holyoke College
> Monday November 10, 4:30pm, International Women’s Rights & Domestic
> Change - A Closer Look at the Convention on the Elimination of
> Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) by Susanne Zwingel, Ruhr University
> Thursday November 13, 7:30pm, Feminism’s "Others" or Post-Colonial
> Subjects? Conceptualizing Politico-Religious Female Subjectivity in Pakistan
> by Amina Jamal, U of Toronto
> Monday November 17, 4:30pm, Environmental Justice Made Manifest:
> Race, Gender, and Toxicity in Ruth L. Ozeki’s "My Year of Meats" by Cheryl
> Fish, City U of New York
> Monday December 1, 4:30pm, Reimagining Morality: Women, Sexuality,
> and Theology in Early Twentieth-Century America by Kristin Du Mez, U of
> Notre Dame
> Thursday December 4, 7:30pm, Beyond the Hype: Toward Justice for
> Young People by Anne Hendrixson, The Committee on Women, Population, and the
> Environment 
> 
> October 10 & 11
> EXPLORING THE DYNAMICS & HUMAN COSTS OF THE U S EMPIRE
> Simmons College, Boston. A conference sponsored by American Friends
> Service Committee, Simmons Institute for Leadership and Change, and Simmons
> College History Department. Program participants include several from WMass:
> Magdalena Gomez, Joanne Comerford, Tom Neilson, Greg Speeter. Info: AFSC
> Peace and Economic Security Program, 2161 Massachusetts Av, Cambridge 02140;
> 617-661-6130; fax 617-354-2832; mailto:afscnero at afsc.org;
> www.afsc.org/pes.htm.
> 
> Saturday October 11
> EXPOSING THE SECRET WAR: THE IMPACT OF US AID IN COLOMBIA
> 6pm, at the home of Kate Stevens & John Hoffman, Wilder Brook Farm,
> 399 West Oxbow Road, Charlemont. Please join human rights activist Nancy
> Sanchéz Méndez of the Association for the Promotion of Social Alternatives
> (MINGA), Colombia, for a rice and beans dinner and presentation. Méndez has
> spent her working life as an advocate for justice in Colombia through many
> organizations. This fall she will be the recipient of a Letelier-Moffitt
> Human Rights Award in Washington DC, honoring her for her commitment to
> defending human rights, for the unconditional support she offers to the
> people of Putumayo, and for the sacrifices she continually makes to remain
> engaged in the struggle for social justice at great personal risk. Mendez
> will talk about the current humanitarian crisis in Colombia, the work of her
> organization, and the impact of US military aid and "war on drugs" on the
> people of Colombia. Info, directions: 625-6967.
> 
> Saturday October 11
> THE HEALING FIELDS
> 6-9pm, Wildcat Gardens for Peace and Reeducation, Route 9, 1.5 miles
> west of the center of Williamsburg. First envisioned as a candlelight vigil
> in commemoration of the second anniversary of the commencement of US bombing
> in Afghanistan, joined with a commemoration of the September 11 tragedy, the
> event has been broadened to provide a space for the recognition of all
> suffering, and a celebration of the overwhelming public desire for peace,
> reconciliation and healing. Community leaders Sister Shamshad Sheikh, Muslim
> Adviser and Chaplain at Mt Holyoke College, and Pastor Steven Philbrick, of
> the West Cummington Church, will help guide and facilitate the event, offer
> prayers of hope, create the space for community members to share thoughts
> and feelings, joys and sorrows. Sister Shamshad Sheikh will speak briefly of
> her experience bearing witness in Afghanistan in December 2001, at the
> height of the overt US military campaign, and about her understanding of the
> continued decline in conditions in Afghanistan up to the present, but she
> has also expressed her greater desire for public comment. Info: Keith Harmon
> Snow, (w)367-2048 x7, (h)549-5318; mailto:keith at allthingspass.com.
> 
> October 11 & 12
> FESTIVAL DE LA PAZ Y LA SALUD - PEACE AND HEALTH BASKETBALL FESTIVAL
> Holyoke Community College, Homestead Av, Holyoke. "In a time of
> separation and fear, in a time of war and threat of financial crisis, what
> could be better than connecting the people, the institutions, the
> community-based organizations, political factions, and public agencies of
> Holyoke in an atmosphere of love and abundance. Despite our differences we
> are all one family and must care for each other as such." - Roy
> Lichtenstein, Enlace de Familias. This two-day basketball festival will help
> to celebrate Peace Month activities in Holyoke. The event is being organized
> by Edgar Cancel, an HCC student and Men’s Resource Center staff member,
> Julius Ford and Debora Ferreira of the Harriet Project, a non-profit
> organization named after Harriet Tubman. Sponsors include Holyoke Community
> College, Enlace de Familias (Family Network) of Holyoke, Holyoke Youth
> Commission, Salina’s Auto Sales, Greater Springfield Pro Am League,
> Nursefinders, and others. While the weekend will center around the
> basketball tournament, the event will also provide a stage for local
> entertainers, athletes, and educators to share their talents with the
> community. Exhibition basketball games, including women's, high school and
> youth teams, will add to the excitement. There will be a children play space
> with storytelling. Local businesses and vendors will display their wares.
> Discussion groups on topics ranging from racism to finance to holistic
> healing will be offered in nearby rooms at the college. Info, volunteer and
> sponsorship opportunities: Edgar Cancel, 253-9887 x34;
> mailto:ecancel at mensresourcecenter.org.
> 
> Sunday October 12
> UNDOING EMPIRE: 500 YEARS IS ENOUGH
> 7pm, Stoddard Hall, Smith College, Rt 9, Northampton
> (www.smith.edu/map). Speakers: Zia Mian, a peace activist and physicist from
> Pakistan who has spent much of his life working for global nuclear
> disarmament and is currently a professor at Princeton University’s Woodrow
> Wilson School of Public and International Affairs; and Nancy Sanchez Mendez,
> a life-long Colombian activist working with the Association for the
> Promotion of Social Alternatives (MINGA), where she focuses on projects in
> Southern Colombia and on the borders. She's a recipient of the
> Letelier-Moffitt Human Rights Award. This event is part of a year-long,
> valley-wide exploration of empire titled: Making Another World Possible:
> Resisting and Transforming the US Empire. Co-sponsors of this event include:
> Witness for Peace New England, Solidaridad Colombia, the Empire Working
> Group and AFSC. Info: AFSC, 584-8975, www.WesternMassAFSC.org.
> 
> Wednesday October 15
> LEGISLATIVE HEARING: MASSACHUSETTS FAIR PRICING ACT
> 10am, Joint Health Care Committee, State House, Boston. The state of
> Massachusetts buys over $1 billion worth of prescription drugs for programs
> it sponsors including Prescription Advantage, Mass Health, state employees,
> and various other programs. The Fair Pricing Act will lower the cost to the
> state by: 
> 1) Price Reduction and Negotiation Strategies (a Preferred Drug List
> (PDL); strict consumer protection and timeliness standards; bulk purchasing;
> supplemental Medicaid rebates; Legislative oversight and public comment);
> 2) Healthy Massachusetts Prescription Program to Access Fair Prices
> (Massachusetts residents without coverage or with inadequate prescription
> coverage will access lower prices negotiated for state assistance programs
> through a discount card);
> 3) Creation by the state or use of existing nonprofit Pharmacy
> Benefits Manager (PBM) to administer state programs;
> 4) Public disclosure of gifts, fees, and subsidies by pharmaceutical
> manufacturers in connection marketing activities;
> 5) Cooperation and Collaboration with Other States
> This hearing is a follow up to the hearing in February when the
> committee held a hearing on the Senate version (identical) of the bill.
> Once, again it is important that the Joint Health Care Committee hear from
> people around the state. Here are some things that you can do:
> 1) Call your local representative and ask them to testify at the
> hearing on October 15.
> 2) Write a letter to the joint Health Care Committee Chairmen:
> Senator Richard Moore, State House, Rm 312D, Boston, Ma 02133 Rep. Peter
> Koutoujian, State House, Rm 130, Boston, Ma 02133.
> 3) Attend the hearing on October 15; testify in favor of the bill.
> Info: Mass Senior Action Council, 533-9235;
> mailto:lstone at wmeldercare.org; www.masssenioraction.org/.
> 
> Wednesday October 15 (Third Wednesdays)
> MASS SENIOR ACTION COUNCIL - GREATER SPRINGFIELD CHAPTER
> 1:30pm, Good Life Center, 1600 E Columbus Av, Springfield (validated
> parking in I-91 south lot). Irene Kimball will speak on the Union Community
> Fund (640 Page Blvd, Springfield 01104; 732-0301; mailto:pvucf at hge.net;
> www.unioncommunityfund.org). MSAC tackles vital issues, including single
> payer health care and prescription drug price relief, including adding Rx
> coverage to Medicare and stopping Medicare privatization and how to get
> prescriptions filled in Canada. No age requirement! Refreshments. 50/50
> raffle. For info or a ride: Linda Stone, 533-9235,
> mailto:lstone at wmeldercare.org.
> 
> Wednesday October 15
> TRACY KIDDER ON DR PAUL FARMER
> 7pm, Odyssey Bookshop, 9 College St (Routes 116 at 47), in the
> Village Commons, S Hadley, 534-7307 or 800-540-7307;
> mailto:odysseybks at aol.com; www.odysseybks.com. The Pioneer Valley's own
> Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award winner, author of "Hometown" and "The
> Soul of a New Machine", discusses "Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of
> Dr Paul Farmer, A Man who Would Cure the World". Dr. Paul Farmer - Harvard
> professor, renowned infectious disease expert, and anthropologist - was
> brought up in a bus and on a boat, and in medical school found his life's
> calling: to diagnose and cure infectious diseases and to bring the
> lifesaving tools of modern medicine to those who need them most. With his
> global approach and a clear-eyed understanding of how politics, wealth,
> social-systems, and disease intersect, Farmer changes people's minds and
> practices and demonstrates how a beautiful life can be created.
> 
> Wednesday October 15
> TIKKUN COMMUNITY
> 7-9pm, Tikkun Mediation Center, 221 Pine St, Studio 350, Florence. A
> public meeting to establish a Western Mass chapter of the Tikkun Community,
> a national organization committed to political/spiritual action for the
> healing and transformation of ourselves, our communities, our country,
> Israel/Palestine, our environment and our entire inter-connected world.
> Tikkun is the Hebrew concept of "repairing the world through social action"
> (see http://adatshalom.net/tikunola.html). Info: 584-2200 or
> mailto:tikkunmediate at aol.com.
> 
> Wednesday October 15 (Third Wednesdays)
> PIONEER VALLEY CENTRAL LABOR COUNCIL
> 7:30pm, AFL-CIO Hall, 640 Page Blvd, near corner of Osborne Ter,
> across the street from the old Westinghouse, Springfield. Community and
> labor activist guests are welcome, but call Steve Dondley, 732-7970,
> mailto:pvaflcio at hge.net.
> 
> Thursdays October 16 & 30 & November 13
> FUNDRAISING INSIDE-OUT: THE VALUE OF VALUES IN PROGRESSIVE
> NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS
> 9am-Noon, Northampton. A 3-part workshop series on successful,
> values-aligned fundraising with Kristi Nelson. Nelson has happily raised
> millions of dollars for national and local non-profit organizations for the
> last 20 years. She recently completed graduate study at Boston College where
> she focused on devising a new paradigm for fundraising practices which
> advance the core values of progressive non-profits and lead to more
> sustainable and effective development activities. A commitment to all three
> sessions is required. Class Action strongly recommends that two people from
> each organization attend. Cost: $150-$300 per person for the series (a few
> low-income slots available). Limit of 20 people in the group. Please
> register immediately. A $50, non-refundable deposit per person is required
> to reserve your space. Make checks payable to Class Action and send to Class
> Action, 245 Main St #207, Northampton MA 01060. Info: 585-9709;
> www.classactionnet.org.
> 
> Thursday October 16 (Third Thursdays)
> MASS SENIOR ACTION COUNCIL - FRANKLIN COUNTY CHAPTER
> 1pm, Greenfield Senior Center, 54 High St. Jan Stiefel, Western Mass
> Legal Services, will speak. MSAC tackles vital issues, including single
> payer health care and prescription drug price relief. No age requirement!
> Contact Linda Stone, 533-9235, mailto:lstone at wmeldercare.org.
> 
> Thursdays October 16-June 10
> PLAYING WITH MONEY
> 7-9:30pm, 243 King St, suite 234-36, in the PotPourri Mall across
> from Stop & Shop, Northampton. Join Class Action in this creative and fun
> exploration of money and class. We will meet monthly on Thursday nights to
> engage in an exploration of our attitudes and feelings about money and
> class. We will use a variety of forms including simulation games, drama, and
> art for this exploration. Break this powerful societal taboo and have fun
> too! Each evening will stand alone, but the evenings will complement each
> other. You can come every month or just once. Suggested donation $5-$15 per
> session. Info, session details: 585-9709; mailto:jladd at classactionnet.org;
> www.classactionnet.org.
> October 16: Getting Down to Get Close: Cross-Class Friendships:
> Jennifer Ladd and Felice Yeskel will begin this workshop with a
> series of dialogues based on their own cross-class friendship exploring
> issues of trust, openness, honesty, and mutual support. Participants will
> then have an opportunity to articulate difficulties and successes they are
> having with friends from different class backgrounds or current
> circumstances. They will have an opportunity to practice articulating their
> own concerns, experiment with being in the shoes of their friend, and have a
> chance to use the group as a sounding board for ideas about how to have
> successful x-class friendships. People are welcome to bring friends.
> Other explorations:
> November 13: Upstairs/Downstairs: Moving From One Class To Another
> December 11: Deluge of Direct Mail: Navigating the Flood and Giving
> Wisely
> January 15: Acting Out: Exploring Class, Power, and Status
> February 12: Honey and Money: Intimate Cross Class
> Relationships-Partners
> March 11: Fulfilling Our Dreams: Money and Class as Help or
> Hinderance
> April 15: DoBeDoBeDooo: Work and Identity
> May 13: The Elephant in the Middle of the Room: Organizational
> Dynamics & Class
> June 10: Personal & Political: Living Your Values in a Global
> Context
> 
> Thursday October 16
> TARIQ ALI: "BUSH IN BABYLON"
> 7:30pm, Gamble Auditorium, Mount Holyoke College, Rt 116, S Hadley.
> Claiming that war profiteers close to President George W. Bush are now
> cashing in, writer and filmmaker Tariq Ali, one of the leaders of the global
> antiwar movement offers an in-depth analysis of the extent of resistance to
> the US occupation of Iraq in "Bush in Babylon: The Recolonization of Iraq."
> Info: Odyssey Bookshop, 534-7307 or 800-540-7307; mailto:odysseybks at aol.com;
> www.odysseybks.com.
> 
> October 17-19 
> UNDOING RACISM WORKSHOPS
> Friday 5:30-9pm, Saturday 8am-9pm, Sunday 8-4, Hampshire College, Rt
> 116, Amherst. Up to 45 participants. $250. Some financial assistance
> available. Meals and childcare (by pre-arrangement) included in cost. Info:
> Mary, 559-5395, or Dennis, 567-6155.
> 
> October 17-18
> WORKING TOGETHER TO PROTECT OUR DRINKING WATER AT THE SOURCE
> 9am-4pm, Worcester. A conference for conservation, drinking water
> and watershed activists, municipal officials, public health professionals,
> community activists, and environmentalists. Registration fee, $15/day
> (breakfast and lunch included). Scholarships available.
> Keynote Speaker: Jan Schlichtmann, author of "A Civil Action"
> (portrayed by John Travolta in the film version). Schlichtmann represented
> eight Woburn families who claimed that their many health problems were due
> to the contamination of the public drinking water wells by industries in
> that city.
> Almost one million Americans are sickened each year from drinking
> contaminated tap water. Protecting the source of their water from pollution
> is the most effective and cheapest way to protect the health of water
> consumers. Preventing contamination of the sources of our drinking water
> also helps protect watersheds and aquifers and solve pollution problems.
> Millions of people in the New England region get their drinking
> water from rivers and streams and aquifers. New federal and state source
> water assessment programs can highlight problems in the rivers, streams and
> aquifers that provide our drinking water. These programs are an opportunity
> to address the challenges to protecting our drinking water including toxic
> pollution, runoff, and sprawl. Learn how you can use these programs to
> protect your rivers and streams ... and find out what other communities and
> states are doing to protect the sources of their drinking water.
> Sponsored by Clean Water Action, Clean Water Fund, Clean Water
> Network, and the Campaign for Safe & Affordable Drinking Water. Info: Clean
> Water Fund, 617-338-8131, mailto:mdavis at cleanwater.org;
> www.cleanwateraction.org/ma.
> 
> October 18-19
> VISION AND RESISTANCE GATHERING
> Franklin Patterson Hall, Hampshire College, 893 West St, Amherst.
> Skill-shares, trainings, workshops, panels around the theme of
> interconnected forms of oppression from/of "the system" and ways to
> transform this oppression through resistance collectively working towards a
> vision. Includes panels on local prison issues, 9/11, the drug war,
> Palestine; trainings on basic health and safety, media, and wilderness
> survival; permaculture and barter workshops and much more. OPEN FOR THOSE
> INTERESTED IN FACILITATING SOMETHING! Free - donations greatly appreciated.
> Possible housing and food. Info: Mollie Hurter, Hampshire College,
> mailto:mhurter at hampshire.edu.
> 
> October 18-19
> GRASSROOTS AMERICA DEFENDS THE BILL OF RIGHTS NATIONAL CONFERENCE
> Hilton Silver Spring Hotel, 8727 Colesville Rd, Silver Spring MD.
> $125 if you register before September 15, otherwise $150 (include two
> lunches). You can download a registration form. Check should be made payable
> to NCPPF (National Coalition to Protect Political Freedom) and mailed to
> Grassroots America Defends the Bill of Rights - National Conference, PO Box
> 11046, Takoma Park MD 20913-1046. Info: www.grassroots-america.org/. Also:
> Nancy Talanian, Director, Bill of Rights Defense Committee, Inc., 241 King
> St, Suite 216, Northampton; 582-0110; mailto:info at bordc.org; www.bordc.org/.
> 
> October 18-19
> FIRST NEW ENGLAND LATIN AMERICAN SOLIDARITY ORGANIZING CONFERENCE
> Boston. Workshops, panel discussions, trainings, skill shares, and
> speakers on issues, including global economics, neo-liberalism and American
> military/economic policy, immigrants’ and workers’ rights, building an
> alternative to corporate globalization, ways to take action and continue the
> struggles of solidarity. Info: Mario Dávila, Coordinator of AFSC Latin
> America Action Program, 617-661-6130, mailto:mdavila at afsc.org.
> 
> Sunday October 19
> WESTERN MASS STOP THE WAR COALITION
> Details coming. Info: AFSC, 584-8975, mailto:afsc at crocker.com,
> www.westernmassafsc.org. To subscribe to WMSTW email list, send a blank
> email to mailto:WMaStopWar-subscribe at yahoogroups.com.
> 
> Monday October 20
> CUBA TODAY
> 6-8:30pm, Holyoke Public Library, 2nd floor, 335 Maple St (downtown
> between Cabot and Appleton Sts), Holyoke. Slideshow and discussion. Mara
> Dodge and Jeanine Maland (and others) will talk about their recent travel
> experiences in Cuba. Topics include: Cuba's efforts to build a society
> committed to social justice in the context of the last decade of economic,
> social, and political crises; tightening of the US embargo; healthcare;
> education; organic agriculture; impact of tourism, and much more.
> Directions: From I-91 take Exit 16 (Rt 202). Go downhill into Holyoke approx
> 1.4 miles staying on Rte 202 (Beech St). At YMCA turn right onto Appleton
> St. Go 5 blocks. Turn right onto Maple (1-way street). 2 blocks up on right.
> Info: mailto:maradodge at hotmail.com.
> 
> Tuesday October 21 (Third Tuesdays)
> ALLIANCE FOR INJURED WORKERS
> 3-5pm, AFL-CIO Hall, 640 Page Blvd, near corner of Osborne Ter,
> Springfield, across the street from the old Westinghouse. Support and
> advocacy for people hurt on the job. No perfume, cologne please; some
> members suffer from chemical sensitivity due to workplace injury.
> Refreshments. Contact Western MassCOSH, 731-0760, mailto:wmcosh at javanet.com.
> Ask for your FREE copy of "Injured Workers Survival Guide".
> 
> Tuesday October 21 (Third Tuesdays)
> FRANKLIN/HAMPSHIRE HEALTH CARE COALITION
> 7:30pm, Cahill Housing Community Center, Fruit St, Northampton
> (parallel to Conz between Old South & Smith Sts).  Organizing for the Mass.
> Health Care Trust Fund Bill. Contact the Markhams, 586-0345;
> Franklin/Hampshire Health Care Coalition, PO Box 3011, Amherst 01004,
> 586-0345, mailto:markham at hge.net.  SEE ALSO OCTOBER 4 & 8.
> The Massachusetts Health Care Trust Fund Bill (S.686) calls for a
> universal health care system, providing universal access, a comprehensive
> range of physical and mental health benefits, choice of provider, quality,
> unified financing and cost controls, accountable governance, and stability.
> A Massachusetts Health Care Trust Fund will be a "single-payer" of all
> health care costs, statewide. The goal is to bring the bill to a vote in the
> Senate this year. Please call your Senator and urge them to sign on to
> S.686. If you do not know your Senator go to:
> www.wheredoivotema.com/bal/myelectioninfo.php. Please report any feedback
> you get from your legislator to MASS-CARE: 800-383-1973;
> mailto:masscare at aol.com; www.masscare.org. Visit website for details of the
> Bill, action ideas.
> 
> Wednesday October 22
> MARTÍN ESPADA & ROBERTO MARQUEZ
> 7pm, Odyssey Bookshop, 9 College St (Routes 116 at 47), in the
> Village Commons, S Hadley, 534-7307 or 800-540-7307;
> mailto:odysseybks at aol.com; www.odysseybks.com. Espada, Professor of English
> at UMass Amherst and author of "A Mayan Astronomer in Hell's Kitchen", reads
> from "Alabanza: New and Selected Poems, 1982-2002". Marquez, Professor of
> Latin American and Caribbean Studies at Mt Holyoke College, reads from
> "Man-Making Words", a collection of poems by Cuban poet Nicholas Guille,
> which he edited and translated.
> 
> Thursday October 23
> NATIONAL YOUNG WOMEN'S DAY OF ACTION
> A call for women to unite in solidarity, across movements: "On
> October 23rd we call for young women across the country to engage in
> activism and dialogue about everything from voter registration and education
> to youth suffrage. National Young Women's Day of Action is a kick-off event
> for 365 days of participation in electoral politics. We are taking back our
> voices, we are taking back our power, we are taking back our choices, we are
> taking back the vote." For more information on NYWDA or to organize a NYWDA
> event contact the NYWDA Coordinator at Civil Liberties and Public Policy
> Program, Hampshire College, 893 West St, Amherst; 559-5506;
> mailto:nywda at hampshire.edu; http://clpp.hampshire.edu/.
> 
> Thursday October 23
> NEW ENGLAND GAS WORKERS RALLY FOR SAFETY
> Noon, Mass State House, Boston. Sponsors: New England Gas Workers
> Alliance, United Steel Workers of America, USWA Local 12325-1, AFL-CIO, and
> Jobs With Justice. Safety for customers and workers has been seriously
> compromised since Berkshire Gas/Berkshire Propane (owned by Energy East
> Corp) locked out Steelworkers Local 12325-1 on April 1. This rally on Beacon
> Hill will demand state action on this front.
> Info, including buses from WMass: Joe Carbone, 665-0083,
> mailto:jccarbone at comcast.net or mailto:lockout at pittsfieldrr.net,
> http://www.pittsfieldrr.net/lockout2003/. Please contact Jill Fitzsimmons,
> 262-7689, mailto:jill_jwj at fastmail.fm, if you are interested in coordinating
> your participation in this rally with attendance at the Jim Hightower event
> (below).
> LOCKOUT RELIEF FUND: PO Box 996, Pittsfield MA 01202.
> FOOD PANTRY: Donations can be dropped off at the rear of 789 Tyler
> St, 9am-3pm, Monday-Friday.
> 
> October 23-26
> ATTY LEWIS PITTS VISITS WESTERN MASS
> Lewis Pitts is one of the leading civil rights lawyers in the South.
> He has brought his passion for equal rights for all to courtrooms around the
> country. Pitts's legal career started on the legal team of the Karen
> Silkwood civil rights suit; proceeded through defense of anti-nuclear
> activists performing civil disobedience; made a major mark on civil rights
> legal history as he led the Greensboro Civil Rights team successfully
> seeking redress from Klansmen, Nazis, and local law enforcement for the
> killing of five activists in the Greensboro Massacre; forged an offense for
> the Black citizens of Keysville, Georgia in their winning campaign for the
> right to reincorporate after 100 years of local Jim Crow rule; defended a
> series of African-American elected leaders set up for imprisonment by a
> Reagan-Bush Justice Department; and for the last dozen years has been
> consumed by the rights of children as director of Advocates For Children's
> Services of Legal Aid of NC. Lewis is defending Brett Bursey, charged by US
> Attorney Strom Thurmond Jr. with "threatening the President" by defying a
> police order to go to a "Free Speech Zone" instead of staying with the 4,000
> others greeting President Bush in Bush’s fundraising tour to Columbia SC.
> Brett was holding a sign that said "No Blood for Oil" and faces 6 months in
> federal prison. His itinerary so far:
> Thursday October 23
> Noon-2pm, UMass Labor Relations & Research Center, 418 N
> Pleasant St, Amherst.
> 7pm, Dewey Common Room, Smith College, Rt 9, Northampton.
> Friday October 24
> 11:45am, Western New England College Law School, 1215
> Wilbraham Rd, Springfield, with Attorney Bill Newman.
> 1pm, Locklin Hall Room 104, Springfield College, 263 Alden
> St, Springfield.
> Saturday October 25
> 4-6pm, big fundraising bash (politely called a reception) -
> see below.
> Monday October 26, Noon, Mount Holyoke College, Rt 116, S Hadley.
> Info: Greensboro Justice Fund, PO Box 1594, Northampton 01061;
> 584-1079, mailto:martygjf at comcast.net.
> 
> Thursday October 23
> WESTERN MASS JOBS WITH JUSTICE RECEPTION FOR JIM HIGHTOWER
> 6-7:15pm, Odyssey Bookshop, 9 College St (Routes 116 at 47), in the
> Village Commons, S Hadley (www.mtholyoke.edu/cic/map/815.shtml). $50 per
> person tax deductible donation requested. Space is limited. Please send your
> donation now to WMass Jobs With Justice, 640 Page Blvd, Springfield MA
> 01104.
> JIM HIGHTOWER PUBLIC CHAT & BOOKSIGNING
> 7:30pm, Chapin Auditorium, Mt Holyoke College, Rt 116, S Hadley
> (www.mtholyoke.edu/cic/map/856.shtml).
> "America's #1 Populist," national radio commentator, columnist, and
> bestselling author of "If the Gods Had Meant Us to Vote They Would Have
> Given Us Candidates", Jim Hightower (www.jimhightower.com/) has a new book:
> "Thieves In High Places: They've Stolen Our Country And It's Time To Take It
> Back". Jim has graciously agreed that WMJWJ may use the occasion as a
> fundraiser. This will be a major fundraiser for us, as the coalition begins
> a new fiscal year very short on cash to continue employing an organizer.
> Requested donations: $1-$25 for students, $5-$50 for community
> members; no one will be turned away for lack of funds.
> The booksigning and public chat is sponsored by Odyssey Bookshop
> (www.odysseybks.com), WMass Jobs With Justice and its Member Organizations,
> Mt Holyoke College Student Coalition for Action, Mt Holyoke College People
> Opposing War, and Mt Holyoke College Politics Department. Contact WMass JWJ
> Organizer Jill Fitzsimmons, 262-7689, mailto:jill_jwj at fastmail.fm, to
> co-sponsor and be listed in the program, along with mission and contact
> information.
> Info: WMass JWJ Organizer Jill Fitzsimmons, 262-7689,
> mailto:jill_jwj at fastmail.fm, or Joan at the Odyssey, 534-7307 or
> 800-540-7307; mailto:odysseyjeg at aol.com.
> 
> October 24-26 
> UNDOING RACISM WORKSHOPS
> Friday 5:30-9pm, Saturday 8am-9pm, Sunday 8am-4pm, 736 State St,
> Springfield. Up to 45 participants. $250. Some financial assistance
> available. Meals and childcare (by pre-arrangement) included in cost. Info:
> Mary, 559-5395, or Dennis, 567-6155.
> 
> October 24-25
> US LABOR AGAINST WAR (USLAW)
> National Labor Assembly in Chicago. Info:
> www.uslaboragainstwar.org/.
> 
> Saturday October 25
> MARCH ON THE PENTAGON - THE WORLD UNITES AGAINST U S MILITARISM
> Washington DC, from the Justice Department to the White House to the
> Pentagon. Act Now to Stop War & End Racism (ANSWER -
> www.internationalanswer.org) and United for Peace and Justice (UFPJ -
> www.unitedforpeace.org) are joining forces to call on all those who oppose
> the war, invasion, and occupation of Iraq, to unite for a truly massive
> outpouring reflecting the growing popular opposition to the Bush
> Administration's foreign and domestic program.
> This international march, with delegations from countries around the
> world, will demand an end to the looting of social programs by the war
> machine and the vicious assault on working and poor people at home and
> worldwide. Banners from all continents will represent the resistance of
> people around the world to the threat posed by the Bush Administration's
> hyper-aggressive "preemptive war" strategy which is rampaging against the
> people of the world. The march will demand an immediate end to the new
> nuclear arms race and
> - Bring the troops home now
> - End the occupation of Iraq
> - Money for jobs, education, & healthcare - Not war
> WMass bus tickets cost $55 per person but subsidies are available
> for unemployed or low income passengers. To purchase tickets, make your
> check or money order payable to WMass ANSWER, PO Box 2733, Springfield
> 01101. Be sure your check includes your mailing address and phone number.
> Bus(es?) will be leaving on Saturday, October 25 at 1am from the parking lot
> behind Thorne's Market in Northampton, stopping in Springfield at
> approximately 1:35am (location TBA) to pick up additional passengers.
> Arriving back in the Valley early Sunday morning.
> Info: IAC/ANSWER, 538-8537, mailto:wmassiac at hotmail.com,
> www.InternationalANSWER.org.
> 
> Saturday October 25
> WELLSTONE WORLD MUSIC DAY
> October 25 is the first anniversary of the crash that took the lives
> of Senator Paul Wellstone, Sheila Wellstone, Marcia Markuson Wellstone, and
> campaign aides Mary McEvoy, Tom Lapic, and Will McLaughlin. Jim Walsh, Twin
> Cities music critic and writer, recently put out a call for a Wellstone
> World Music Day to mark this date. The idea is for musicians, artists and
> performers across the country (maybe the world!) to get together in concert
> halls, coffee shops, parks or living rooms to share their music and art.
> From orchestras to cabaret singers, superstars to shower-singers, people
> will sit down together on one day to celebrate the lives that were lost.
> Info: www.wellstoneworldmusicday.com.
> 
> Saturday October 25
> FUNDRAISING RECEPTION FOR LEWIS PITTS
> 4-6pm, Nathan/Fratkin house, 24 Massasoit St, Northampton. Lewis
> Pitts is one of the leading civil rights lawyers in the South. He has
> brought his passion for equal rights for all to courtrooms around the
> country. All proceeds from his visit to WMass go to the Greensboro Justice
> Fund's Emergency Grant program to sustain activists throughout the South
> fighting against racism, economic injustice, and war! More details above at
> October 23-26. Info, tax-deductible donations: Greensboro Justice Fund, PO
> Box 1594, Northampton 01061; 584-1079, mailto:martygjf at comcast.net.
> 
> Saturday October 25
> NUEVA ESPERANZA'S ANNUAL FIESTA
> 7pm-1am, Open Square, 108 Lyman St, Holyoke. Huge event including 2
> live bands (Puerto Rican folkloric music and salsa dance band), spoken
> word/poetry with nationally-known poets, dinner, dancing, dance lessons ...
> and much more. Over 200 folks came last year, we hope to make it even bigger
> this year! Tickets $25 & $35. Nueva Esperanza is a non-profit agency that
> has rehabbed hundreds of units of affordable housing and sponsors economic
> development, youth, and social service programs in South Holyoke. Info,
> directions: Mara Dodge, 572-5620 (leave message);
> mailto:maradodge at hotmail.com.
> 
> Sunday October 26
> PATRIOT ACT IS TWO YEARS OLD
> To commemorate, Tom Plaut of Amherst suggested a Rename the USA
> PATRIOT Act Contest. The USA PATRIOT Act needs an overhaul, starting with
> the name its acronym represents. For instance, few would argue that it is
> "Uniting and Strengthening America." The Bill of Rights Defense Committee
> invites you to create a more appropriate (or amusing) name using words that
> spell out the USA PATRIOT acronym. Send up to three entries to Bill of
> Rights Defense Committee, 241 King St #216, Northampton MA 01060, postmarked
> by October 15. Include your name, address, email address, and daytime phone
> number. BORDC will announce the three winners on Friday October 24 and
> publish the winning entries on its web site and in a press release. The
> First Prize winner will receive $50 worth of her/his choice of BORDC
> merchandise (buttons, bumper stickers, USA PATRIOT Act and Homeland Security
> Act booklets, and Bill of Rights get well cards); Second Prize is $25 worth
> of merchandise; and Third Prize is $10 worth of merchandise.
> Subscribe to the Bill of Rights Defense Committee newsletter for
> ways to protect our liberties against the USA PATRIOT Act, Domestic Security
> Enhancement Act (PATRIOT II), and the VICTORY Act. Go to
> http://www.bordc.org/ and click on the Subscribe button on the left.
> 
> Sunday October 26
> NATIONAL PRIORITIES PROJECT ANNUAL FALL PARTY - 20th ANNIVERSARY!
> Since 1983, NPP (www.nationalpriorities.org) has inspired those who
> want government to respond to the needs of its communities and citizens. NPP
> will award George and Arky Markham its Frances Crowe Award, given every year
> for a "lifetime pursuit and contribution to economic and social justice and
> peace." Info, to receive an invitation, RSVP: Phil, 584-9556,
> mailto:philk at nationalpriorities.org.
> 
> Tuesday October 28 (Fourth Tuesdays)
> HAMPSHIRE-FRANKLIN CENTRAL LABOR COUNCIL
> 7:30pm, McDonald House, next to Roundhouse Plaza, intersection of
> Conz St, Clark Av, & Old South St, Northampton; enter rear. Community and
> labor activist guests are welcome, but call Maureen Carney, 739-8550,
> mailto:mcarney at massaflcio.org.
> 
> Wednesday October 29
> JOE CONASON: "BIG LIES"
> 7pm, Odyssey Bookshop, 9 College St (Routes 116 at 47), in the
> Village Commons, S Hadley, 534-7307 or 800-540-7307;
> mailto:odysseybks at aol.com; www.odysseybks.com. Political observer Joe
> Conason, author of "The Hunting of the President", discusses his current
> bestseller, "Big Lies: The Right-Wing Propaganda Machine and How It Distorts
> the Truth". Conason is fed up. After listening closely to right-wing
> propaganda rhetoric for years, he's heard enough. His new book takes on the
> most common arguments, myths, and fallacies propounded by the right wing -
> eg, conservatives are paragons of moral rectitude, Republicans know how to
> run the economy, and liberals are unpatriotic and anti-American - and
> exposes them as the smear tactics they really are.
> 
> October 30-November 1
> POETS CREATING PEACE ZONES
> Scanlon Hall, Westfield State College, Westfield. The artists were
> chosen for their outstanding work in using art as a vehicle for addressing
> the critical issues of our times, including healing pain and trauma of war
> and daily oppression. Thursday, 5pm, Keynote Speaker: Joy Harjo, a Native
> American poet and performance artist. Friday and Saturday include
> performances, panel discussions, and workshops. Participants include two
> South African poets, Nise Malange and Votelwa Beatrice Gwiji; two Latina
> poets, Sandra Maria Esteves, founder of the Nuyorican movement, and
> Magdalena Gomez, an award winning poet, playwright, and arts educator; and
> two Palestinian poets (to be announced) among many others. Guest artists
> will address the following themes: economic oppression, illiteracy, wrongful
> imprisonment, domestic violence, poverty based crime, domestic and foreign
> acts of terrorism, rampant addictions (not only to drugs but to excessive
> consumption in all its forms), failing school systems, AIDS, educational
> inequity, unemployment, sexism, racism, homophobia, and bigotry and
> exclusion in all of its forms. Info: Dr Elise Young, 572-5343,
> mailto:elise.javanet at rcn.com.
> 
> October 30-November 2
> JOBS WITH JUSTICE SOLIDARITY SCHOOL
> Details coming.
> 
> Saturday November 8
> WOMEN'S CONGRESS FOR PEACE: "WOMEN, EMPIRE, & RESISTANCE"
> 9:30am-4pm, TBA. Join this third Fall gathering of women and pay
> special tribute to seven activist groups and organizations: ARISE, BORDC,
> DEMOCRACY NOW! CAMPAIGN, NELCWIT, NUCLEAR ABOLITION TASK FORCE, PRISONER
> BOOK PROJECT, WOMEN IN BLACK. In the aftermath of 9/11, with the threat of
> war against Afghanistan hanging over the country, 250 women from around New
> England gathered in Northampton for the first Women's Congress for Peace. We
> were determined to raise our collective voices for a peaceful and just
> resolution to the violent, deeply unsettling events of that fall. And we
> were determined to renew our commitment to working together, as women, to
> construct and implement strategies for change. Two years later, not only
> does the war on Afghanistan continue but we also struggle under the weight
> of the ongoing war against Iraq, the economic and social cost of funding the
> burgeoning war machine, massive unemployment, the relaxation of critical
> environmental protections, and the threat to civil liberties.
> How are we to respond?
> In an effort to answer this question, the 2003 Women¹s Congress for
> Peace will honor seven local organizations/groups for their ongoing work
> resisting the many ramifications of empire and the Bush agenda. The day will
> provide an opportunity for these groups to share their work in depth with
> the broader community and for us to support and participate in their
> efforts. The Congress is being coordinated with a year-long series of
> actions and events called, "Making Another World Possible: Resisting and
> Transforming the US Empire." We are excited to be part of a community effort
> to better understand the ways systemic exploitation and injustice intersect
> with our personal and working lives.
> Info, to receive updates, or to pass along comments or suggestions:
> Emily Lewis, 19 Salem St, Amherst 01002; 256-1760;
> mailto:emily at womenscongressforpeace.org.
> 
> Saturday November 8
> THE SPRING BENEATH THE TREE: STORIES OF THE MIDDLE EAST
> 7:30-9:30pm, Northampton Friends, 43 Center St, Northampton.
> Greenfield storyteller Jay Goldspinner tells stories and poems ancient to
> present day in the varied voices of people in the Middle East. Donation
> requested, half the proceeds to benefit groups working for peace and
> understanding in the Middle East. Info: Johanna Halbeisen, 586-9485.
> 
> Sunday November 9
> MAKE THE WALL FALL INTERNATIONAL DAY OF SOLIDARITY
> On November 9, 1989, the Berlin Wall was torn down. Now, a new wall
> must fall! November 9 2003 is the International Day of Solidarity with
> Palestinians against the new Israeli Apartheid Wall. Currently being erected
> by Israel across the West Bank, commonly known as Separation Wall or
> Apartheid Wall, this has become Israel's new stranglehold of Palestine and
> the latest assault by the Occupation: land confiscation, water confiscation,
> destruction of lives and livelihoods of Palestinians. The Palestine Monitor
> and the GIPP - Grass Roots International protection for Palestinian People
> movement - urges pickets, demonstrations, lectures, etc to raise awareness
> about the impact and meaning of this new wall. Info:
> www.palestinemonitor.org; mailto:giullianna at hdip.org. Locally: Middle East
> Peace Coalition, 584-1299.
> 
> Wednesday November 12
> WALK & WITNESS FOR CLIMATE & CREATION
> 11am, the United Nations, New York City. A Service of Repentance &
> Renewal by Religious Witness for the Earth. On November 12, 1998, the United
> States and 83 other nations signed the Kyoto Protocol as a commitment to
> work together to address the dangers of global climate change. The Clinton
> administration never pressed Congress to ratify the treaty. The Bush
> administration has rejected it outright, while favoring the fossil fuels
> that cause global warming. Meanwhile, greenhouse gas emissions are rising
> alarmingly. Unchecked, global climate change will bring rising sea levels,
> widespread disease, agricultural collapse, species extinction, and
> incalculable suffering to our children and grandchildren. All of us must
> take responsibility to prevent this calamity or face the judgment of
> history. Five years later this Interfaith Service of Repentance and Renewal
> will ask the world for forgiveness. We will call upon the United States to
> rejoin the community of nations in seeking solutions. We will visit
> diplomatic missions of nations most affected. And we will rededicate
> ourselves to faithful stewardship of the Earth. Info: Religious Witness for
> the Earth, c/o Rev. Kate Stevens, Box 76, Shelburne Falls 01370;
> mailto:nov12 at religiouswitness.org; www.religiouswitness.org.
> 
> November 14-16
> CONFERENCE ON LANDMINES & THE MOVEMENT TO BAN THEM
> Smith College, Northampton. The conference is titled: "Clear a Path
> to a Safer World: Addressing the Tragedy of Landmines." Info at
> www.poluscenter.org/; click on the conference notice to arrive at a schedule
> and other explanations.
> 
> November 17-21
> STOP THE FTAA!
> Miami. Trade ministers from 34 nations in the Western Hemisphere
> meet to launch the final stage of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA
> - "NAFTA on Steroids") negotiations. The FTAA would expand the failed North
> American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which has already had disastrous
> effects in the US, Mexico, and Canada, to the entire Western Hemisphere.
> Jobs with Justice along with the AFL-CIO and other allies demand that the
> trade ministers and our elected officials nationwide hear the voices of the
> millions across the hemisphere who oppose the FTAA. Big Business plans to
> push FTAA through without a democratic process. But you can cast your ballot
> to Stop FTAA at www.aflcio.org/issuespolitics/globaleconomy/ftaamain.cfm.
> The ballots will be delivered to the Ministerial Meeting. By signing a
> ballot, you can tell trade ministers and our elected officials that FTAA is
> the wrong choice for jobs, workers’ rights and the environment.
> A "welcome" for the FTAA ministerial is planned by the AFL-CIO,
> local Central Labor Council, over 10 local unions, Sierra Club, Florida Fair
> Trade Coalition, Jobs with Justice, Miami Workers Center, Coalition of
> Immokalee Workers, Unite for Dignity, Public Citizen, Citizens Trade
> Campaign, Alliance for Responsible Trade, and many others. Current plans:
> teach-ins, seminars, reality tours, concerts, forums, rallies, marches, and
> many more ways to get our message out! Info: Citizens Trade Campaign,
> 202-778-3320, mailto:ftaainfo at citizenstrade.org; www.flfairtrade.org.
> "FTAA for Beginners" workshop can be downloaded free from
> www.faireconomy.org. Info: Mike Prokosch, mailto:mprokosch at faireconomy.org.
> Contact WMass JWJ Organizer Jill Fitzsimmons, 262-7689,
> mailto:jill_jwj at fastmail.fm, to get involved locally.
> 
> November 22-23
> VIGIL & DIRECT ACTION AT SCHOOL OF THE AMERICAS
> Fort Benning, Georgia. Join thousands from across the Americas at
> the gates of the home of the notorious School of the Americas (renamed
> Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation), where the US trains
> the military muscle that enforces the corporate agenda throughout Latin
> America. Info: http://www.soaw.org.
> 
> Wednesday December 10
> NATIONAL DAY OF ACTION: DEMAND THE FREEDOM TO CHOOSE A UNION &
> BARGAIN COLLECTIVELY
> The Universal Declaration of Human Rights,
> www.un.org/rights/50/decla.htm, adopted December 10 1948, specifically
> affirms that "everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for
> the protection of his or her interests." Yet, over 50 years after this
> declaration was adopted, we witness the commonplace denial of workers’ right
> to organize. Every day, somewhere in the United States and around the world,
> workers are denied their "right to join trade unions." Jobs With Justice and
> the AFL-CIO are organizing this National Day of Action. Contact: Jill
> Fitzsimmons, 262-7689, mailto:jill_jwj at fastmail.fm; Steve Dondley at Pioneer
> Valley Central Labor Council, 732-7970, mailto:pvaflcio at hge.net
> 
> 
> ############################################################################
> ###################
> 
> Jobs With Justice is a national campaign for Workers’ Rights.  Check out
> nationwide and regional workers rights actions at www.jwj.org (in Spanish at
> www.jwj.org/espanol.htm) & www.massjwj.net.  Members of Jobs With Justice
> pledge “I’ll Be There” at least 5 times a year for someone else’s struggle.
> Take the JwJ Pledge: www.jwj.org/AboutJWJ/Pledge.htm.
> 
> Contact WMass JWJ Organizer Jill Fitzsimmons at 262-7689,
> mailto:jill_jwj at fastmail.fm.  Messages may also be left for Jill at Letter
> Carriers Branch 46, 737-0640, and Service Employees Local 509, 549-3910.
> 
> Contact Western Mass. Jobs With Justice by mail at 640 Page Boulevard,
> Springfield MA 01104. Email wmjwj at hge.net.
> 
> NOW YOU CAN DONATE ON-LINE TO JWJ  Go to www.jwj.org, click on "donate to
> jwj" on the left panel, follow the prompts and eventually you will get to
> choose to send your donation to the Western Mass coalition. WE HOPE YOU
> WILL! Or you can send a check to WMass Jobs With Justice, 640 Page
> Boulevard, Springfield MA 01104. Donations to the Warren Plaut Charitable
> Trust, earmarked for WMass Jobs With Justice, are tax-deductible.
> 
> Tom Masterson graciously posts WMJWJ info and the Calendar at
> http://www-unix.oit.umass.edu/~tnm/WMassJwJ/. THANKS, TOM!
> 
> Is the Calendar on your media list?  Send Calendar items to
> mailto:wmjwj at hge.net.
> You can make the editing job a lot easier by following our format (thanks!):
> Day-of-Week Date 
> EVENT TITLE
> Time, Place, Directions. Event Description. Contact info: Name, Mail
> Address, Phone, Fax, Email, Web Site.
> 
> Do you also post events at these WMass sites?
> www.activeingredients.org
> www.westernmassafsc.org (website of AFSC, a JwJ Member; to post on this
> site: mailto:conant at ecs.umass.edu)
> 
> KEEP UP WITH THE ACTIVIST NEWS AT WESTERN MASS INDEPENDENT MEDIA CENTER:
> www.wmass.indymedia.org and www.indymedia.org. IMCs ("IndyMedias") are a
> global network of media makers collaborating to make radio, video, and
> publish the literature of the struggles in which we are engaged, in alliance
> with the burgeoning activist community. Indy is THE grassroots,
> pro-democracy media site in the movement for global justice. Info: 527-7082,
> mailto:info at wmass.indymedia.org.
> WMASS NEWSWIRE: WMass Independent Media Center's open publishing
> newswire is open for posting news, announcements, and other worthy bits
> concerning WMass. Its wmass-news email list will be a digest of newswire
> headlines. The newswire can be accessed at www.wmass.indymedia.org. Contact
> mailto:imc-wmass-news-admin at wmass-lists.indymedia.org if you have any
> questions.
> 
> E-ACTIVISTS: You can sign up for Working Families e-Activist Network at
> www.unionvoice.org/wfean/join.html?r=fpq91_p1zpqYE.
> 
> 
> 
>