State of the Union and 2 Haiti Benefit Events!

[Ethan Boyles]

 

Welcome to the ISOs weekly email newsletter
We have a lot of upcoming events to let you know about this week The overview is here and all the details of each meeting are below.

Join us for a Live Screening of the State of the Union Address this week before our Haiti meeting -- you know you want to watch Obama's first State of the Union with other lefties and socialists, so come early and then stay for our EYEWITNESS FROM HAITI meeting at 7.

WED 1/27 - 6pm  STATE OF THE UNION
                      7pm  EYEWITNESS FROM HAITI: An Unnatural Disaster
                      UW  Architecture Hall  Room 147

SUN 1/31 - 4-9pm Town Hall Benefit: What Can I Do? Raising Awareness and Support for the People of Haiti
                                                               Town Hall Seattle

SAVE THE DATE

WED, Feb 10th, 7pm UW  Architecture Hall  Room 147
Guest Speaker Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor from Northwestern University in Chicago
How the Movement Was Built: 50 Years Since the Civil Rights Sit-ins
Check out the Facebook event for all the details


Ongoing News Coverage of the Disaster in Haiti from
 

Comment: Jesse Hagopian Delaying aid for a photo-op
Given the examples of Iraq, Afghanistan and now Haiti, it seems like the U.S. knows how to do little other than occupy.

Comment: Richard Seymour The humanitarian myth
With U.S. forces obstructing aid and beefing up "security" while Haitians die, no one should accept that the U.S. is motivated by "humanitarianism."

Analysis: Rachel Cohen and Alan Maass The siege of Haiti
A ring of U.S. warships on patrol off Haiti's coast to stop desperate people from trying to flee is a stark symbol of Washington's attitude toward refugees.

Comment: Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor The media's scapegoating reflex
The earthquake that rocked Haiti has brought back hard memories of the racist atmosphere whipped up after the Katrina disaster in New Orleans.

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7pm WED Jan 27 
UW  Architecture Hall  Room 147

JESSE HAGOPIAN, a UW alumni and Seattle International Socialist Organization member, was in Port-au-Prince with his 1-year-old son to visit his wife when the earthquake hit.  His wife, an aid worker, works until the evening on most days, but by sheer luck, she came to the hotel where they were staying early on Tuesday--just minutes before the quake struck at 4:53 p.m. This spared Jesse and his family agonizing hours or days trying to find one another amid the chaos

Within hours, the hotel where they were staying became known as a place where some medical help was available, because another hotel guest happened to be an emergency medical technician. Jesse got a crash course in treating severe injuries--broken bones, head wounds and more--as people desperate for help kept arriving. After five days Jesse and his family were evacuated and have returned to Seattle.

Come hear first hand about the situation in Haiti from Jesse Learn about what happened in the immediate aftermath of the quake, and why help hasn’t reached most of the victims of Haiti’s earthquake--because the priority of the U.S. government is on imposing its control. Most Haitians have seen little humanitarian aid so far. What they have seen is guns, and lots of them. Armored personnel carriers cruise the streets. UN soldiers aren’t there to help pull people out of the rubble. They’re there, they say, to enforce the law. Instead of sending ample food, water and rescue teams to help the victims of this devastating earth-quake, the Obama administration is essentially organizing an occupation of Haiti.   

We will also be collecting donations for grassroots aid organizations in Haiti

Help get the word out!  The Poster for the event can be downloaded here http://www.box.net/shared/b6m7b5my4k 

An in depth reading packet can be download here NATURAL AND UNNATURAL DISASTERS: How U.S. policy has impoverished and devastated Haiti
News reports on Jesse in Haiti can be found here  http://isoseattle.blogspot.com/2010/01/eyewitness-report-from-haiti.html


Sponsored by The Seattle International Socialist Organization
is...@uw.edu or 206-612-6137
www.seattleiso.org

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Town Hall Seattle Presents:

Raising Awareness and Support for the People of Haiti
Sunday, January 31, 2010
4-6pm Briefing • 6-7pm Dinner Break • 7-9pm Benefit Concert 

Briefing: Free of charge, no reservations required.
Concert: Suggested donation $20, visit Town Hall Seattle for ticketing and more information.

Survivors of the earthquake speak -- Town Hall is honored to host a benefit for Haiti relief on Sunday. January 31. The event kicks off at 4pm with a free ‘Briefing,’ offering insight and eyewitness testimony to the ongoing challenges for the country’s government, economy and national health, and the ways this devastating earthquake has exponentially intensified what was already a ‘silent emergency.’

The two hour program includes: activist/teacher Jesse Hagopian and health educator Sarah Wilhelm, both survivors of the quake; civil rights attorney and NAACP president James Bible; immigrant rights advocate Sandra Aguila; International Studies professor Matthew Sparke; Health Services Professor Stephen Gloyd; Representative Jim McDermott and other guests.

After a dinner break, we will return to the Great Hall at 7pm for a Benefit Concert, with a terrific roster of artists still being assembled. Our lobby will also be given over to members of the public with goods and services for sale to benefit the relief effort; ticket proceeds and other contributions will be directed to Partners in Health and International Training and Education Center for Health, a UW-based NGO providing health services in Haiti that was itself devastated by the quake.

Briefing: Free of charge, no reservations required.
Concert: Suggested donation $20, visit Town Hall Seattle for ticketing and more information.


Sponsored by Town Hall Seattle
Co-Sponsored by The Seattle International Socialist Organization and the UW Geography and International Studies Departments.

To endorse this event email: jdhag...@gmail.com

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www.seattleiso.org
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