WEEKLY EMAIL MARCH 31--APRIL 6
Community Action and Social Justice Coalition
Smash the state before it smashes you!!!
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Take this survey about the Iraq War Anniversary week of actions! It’s a way to gauge feedback, discuss antiwar activism on our campus, and say what actions you’d like to see. It will take less than 5 minutes, so do it!
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=DclOKOrBIK4s_2fhG8zkEGMw_3d_3d
Check out this course on activism available through consortium! It will definitely count for WGST and possibly Sociology as well.
Georgetown Fall 2008, Justice & Peace Program
JUPS-400
"Social Justice: Sustaining Activism"
Fridays 9:15am -- 11:45am, Healy Hall 104
Facilitated by Andrew Willis Garcés, AU Alum, led by students & many guest
activists
This course is premised on four ideas. 1. It is the often mundane, daily
contributions of thoughtful, committed people -- activists -- that sustain
social change work. 2. Most activists live unglamorous, anonymous lives,
contributing where they can to causes they care about. 3. There are dozens of
ways to sustain activism beyond the academy, most of which require juggling
paid work and other obligations with justice work. 4. Nearly all activists
experience burnout or disillusionment, particularly when confronting major life
transitions. (Such as graduation.) Even more of us question what roles exist
for us in the space between full-time paid organizing and occasional financial
support of grassroots groups. In this course students will learn about the
personal dimensions of activist work, analyzing movements through the lens of
their individual passions.
Course registrants will have the opportunity to explore their activism and
goals for long-term change by studying and interviewing longtime activists of
diverse backgrounds, involved in anti-apartheid, feminist, queer, housing
rights, international solidarity, environmental and racial justice movements.
The coursework will emphasize individual learning goals and experiential
methods. Topics will include the role of activist work in social justice movements;
balancing family, career and other life commitments; channeling student
activist energy to postcollegiate life; and tools for challenging oppression.
Register for the
"SEAL the deal, STAND to End Genocide Rally"! http://www.standnow.org/register_sealthedeal
Volunteer for Darfloor -- just let a
couple of college kids from out of town crash your floor on the night of April
12th! If you're interested, send your full name, room number, cell, how many
winners you're willing to house and if you're uncomfortable with someone of the
opposite gender staying with you. E-mail Darfur...@gmail.com
Volunteer the day of the rally! We
need people handing out info, guiding people and just being there to make sure
it goes well! E-mail Darfur...@gmail.com
Monday, Mar 31
11:30 am Rally to End Worker Trafficking: Come out to support Indian worker demands for better treatment and an end to the abuse of guest workers.
Time: 11:30am Location: White House 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
5 pm Patriots for Peace Vigil, meet on Nebraska side of Ward building
6:30 pm AU Solidarity Meeting, meet in MGC Lobby
8 pm Student Advocates for Native Communities, Ward Lobby
Tuesday, Apr 1
Worker’s Rights are not a Joke! This April Fool’s day, join Labor and Community leaders at a rally in front of the AFL-CIO building followed by a picket of the K Street Burger King in solidarity with the Coalition Immokalee Workers who struggling against sweatshop like working conditions and modern day slavery in the fields.
Time: Rally 5:15pm-6:15pm Picket 6:30pm-7pm
Location: AFL-CIO Building Corner of 16th and I St
Alternatives to Youth Incarceration Workshop
7pm-9pm Ward 1
Join DC empowerment initiatives Justice for DC Youth, the
Prisons Foundation, and Visions to Peace to explore other options to
incarcerating children including the rehabilitative power of community, art,
and spoken word.
-Art for sale. All proceeds go back to the incarcerated artists. Look below for
several pieces that will be sold.
-Screening of a new film on the effects of violence on DC youth.
-Free food.
Bring your friends...And some cash if you want to purchase any of the prisoner
art!
8 pm Student Campaign for Burma, Kay Basement
8pm Trade Justice, contact Geoff Ramsey at gr8...@american.edu
9pm April Townhall!
Come rep your club's events, find out what CASJ has been
doing, hear about actions that will be happening this month, and learn what you
can do to get involved.
Interested in being on the collective for next semester? Come learn more about
the responsibilities of keeping our office running smoothly and how much fun
you'll have organizing with other rad folks!
Wednesday, Apr 2
Panel on
Student Activism and Political Disengagement:
Exploring the Role of Students in Elections
7-8pm in the SIS Lounge
Sponsored by Student PIRGs, this event will address a panel
of four experts on political participation and the history of student movements.
Despite past attempts to attract the youth vote (yeah P Diddy), college
students have had increasingly less of an impact on politics since the 1960s.
Understanding the roots of political disengagement in the youth can help us
form more effective student movements today and analyze the causes of high
voter turnout of students in the primaries this season.
Panelists:
-Mary Cheh, DC Council Representative for Ward 3 and Professor of Law at GW
-Curtis Gans, professor and Director of the Center for the Study of the
American Electorate
-Dotty Lynch, professor and political pollster for CBS news
-Ian Storrar, Director of Youth Programs at Common Cause
8:00 pm Eco-Sense Meeting, Ward 203
Thursday, Apr 3
5 pm CASJ Collective Meeting
5:30-8:00 pm,
Participatory Video for Social Change - With Visiting Filmmaker Deedee Halleck
Room 303A, 3rd Floor, Mary Graydon Center, AU campus
Independent filmmaker Deedee Halleck will give a FREE public lecture on the role of participatory video for social change.
A BLOW AGAINST IMPUNITY IN BOLIVIA
7:00p.m. ALL
SOULS' UNITARIAN CHURCH, 1500 Harvard St. NW (at 16th St)
Steven Schulman, Partner, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, LLP
Virginia Ayllón, In charge of Human Rights issues at the Bolivian Embassy
Mr. Schulman represents the relatives of people killed in 2003 by Bolivian security forces. They are suing in Maryland ex-president Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada. In two months, 67 men, women and children were killed, with 400 injured, almost all from the Aymara community. Schulman will discuss the case as an example of "universal jurisdiction," which seeks to hold government leaders accountable for abuses committed regardless of current residence. Refreshments will be provided.
7 pm Student for a Sensible Drug Policy, Ward 1
8 pm Justice Not Jails, MGC 247
8 pm AU Animal Rights Effort, Kay Basement
Friday, Feb 4
5 pm, DAFF Critical Mass, meet at steps of Kay
Saturday, April 5
Interested in the future of our university? Come to the SG Strategic Planning Meeting to share your opinions! Sandwiches will be provided.
12:00-2:00pm, MGC 245
Door-to-Door Police Searches
Help People Understand that They Can Say NO
ACLU, DC ACORN and Coalition Partners Launch A Day To Educate The Community
Training Session & Community Canvassing
Providing Key Information in English and Spanish
Saturday, April 5, 2008
12:30 – 1:30 pm Training
1:30 – 5:30 pm Canvassing
The St. James Episcopal Church
222 – 8th Street, NE
Washington, D.C.
(between the Red Line’s Union Station and Blue/Orange’s Eastern Market metro stops)
MPD says officers will go to Eckington, Columbia Heights, Washington Highlands (and possibly other neighborhoods) to ask residents’ permission to search their homes. They will ask residents to sign a consent form, which answers some questions but not others. But even though the form says that someone could be charged with a crime as the result of the search, too many people may not understand what is written or take the
time to read the form carefully. Our job is to ensure that residents really understand the consequences of agreeing to a search and that they have an absolute right to refuse—without retaliation of any kind.
At our training session, we’ll give you what you need to talk to residents about their rights. After that we’ll go into the neighborhoods and help people decide for themselves whether to have their homes searched.
For more information contact Johnny Barnes, Executive Director of the ACLU- NCA (National Capital Area) at (202) 457-0800 ext. 120, or email Johnny...@aclu-nca.org.
Concert for Darfur at CUA
Students from American University, Catholic University, Georgetown University, George Mason University, and The University of Maryland in College Park organized to create a coalition called DC For Darfur. The main goal of this coalition was to produce a Concert raising money for the Charity GUA Africa http://www.guaafricaonline.com/. This Charity aids the current humanitarian crisis in Darfur, Sudan by helping obtain education. Our Concert will be held on Saturday April 5th at 7:00 pm at the Catholic University Pryzbyla Center 2nd Floor Food Court. The Main Artist for our concert will be LEA. LEA is a Washington DC area artist that The Washington Area Music Association has nominated for 5 Wammy awards in contemporary folk music http://www.thisislea.com.
Sunday, April 6
1 pm Food Not Bombs meets in Kay Basement to cook, serves at 3 pm in Dupont Circle
6 pm Patriots for Peace meeting in Kay Basement
“We all become important when we realize our goal should be to figure out our role within the context of the whole.” –Kimya Dawson
Questions, comments, or corrections for this weekly email should be sent to mschell...@gmail.com.
Community Action & Social Justice Coalition
http://www.aucasj.org/
Kay Spiritual Life Center
4400 Mass. Ave, NW
WDC 20016
Phone: 202 885 3333
Fax: 202 885 3317
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