[WestMALocals] Building Democracy in Western Mass Sept 15 - 17

[Nat Fortune]

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Building Democracy in Western Mass
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A participatory retreat on shifting power from corporations to citizens
in the Pioneer Valley & Berkshires


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September 15 - 17, 2006
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Fri. evening through Sunday early afternoon
Location: Sirius Community in Shutesbury, MA
(15 min from Amherst, 30 min from Northampton, 35 min. from Greenfield,
1.5 hr from Lenox)


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Special Retreat Facilitators:
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Kaitlin Sopoci-Belknap: Measure T campaign coordinator, Humboldt County,
California
Fresh off her recent Measure T victory banning non-local corporate
campaign donations and asserting citizen authority over corporations in
Humboldt County, California. She will share her skills and help us
develop strategies to connect our local issues & campaigns throughout
our region.

Ward Morehouse: Shays 2; POCLAD (Program on Corporations, law and  
Democracy)
Co-founder of Shays 2 and co-founder and current member of POCLAD
(Program on Corporations, Law and Democracy) will share the 12 years of
national anti-corporate democracy work that has spawned similar grass
roots movements around the country.


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This retreat is organized by Shays 2:
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The "Building Democracy" retreat will help us explore together how we
can reclaim our rights to democratic self-governance, and why democratic
self-governance is impossible when corporations wield so much power. We
will examine strategies we can use to fight corporate power in our
Western Mass region; while also addressing proven ways to create a
culture of solidarity among local organizers, communities, and
independent businesses. Such connections provide fertile ground for
local empowerment and region-wide efforts to challenge corporate rule.

Shays 2: The Western Massachusetts Committee on Corporations & Democracy
is a grassroots organization working through education and peaceful
action to strip corporations of powers, that have been usurped from we
the people, in the law. We are committed to working in the Pioneer
Valley & the Berkshires, the historic region of “Shays Rebellion,” as
part of a growing, nationwide movement to build real democracy in  
America.


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Fees: Sliding Scale of $125 to $75
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Fees include materials, the book Defying Corporations, Defining
Democracy, and Friday dinner and snacks and lunches on Saturday and  
Sunday

Meals are organic, vegetarian, and mostly local. Overnight
accomodations, additional dinners, and breakfast are also available
onsite for small additional fees. Please let us know your needs when you
register.

*Additional donations are gratefully accepted to enable lower income
participants to be involved


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For more information or to register:
Email: info at shays2.org
Web: http://www.shays2.org
Phone: (413) 584-0722