Monday, March 31, 2014

Democracy vs. Oligarchy ~ @SenSanders



Bernie Buzz Update










From Democracy to Plutocracy


In his 1943 painting "Freedom of Speech," Norman Rockwell illustrated American democracy in action by depicting a man speaking up at a town meeting. A framed poster of Rockwell's painting hangs proudly on a wall in my Senate office in Burlington, Vt.

Since 1990, when I was first elected to Congress, I have held hundreds of town meetings in almost every community in Vermont. Just this past Sunday I held a town meeting in Middlebury, Vt., with a video connection to meetings in three other towns. At these town meetings I listen to what my constituents have to say, answer questions and give a rundown of what I'm working on and what's going on in Washington.

This process -- an elected official meeting with ordinary citizens -- is called "democracy."

Ironically, at the same time as I was holding town meetings in Vermont, a handful of prospective 2016 Republican presidential candidates (Jeb Bush, John Kasich, Chris Christie and Scott Walker) trekked to Las Vegas to audition for the support of Sheldon Adelson, the multibillionaire casino tycoon who spent at least $93 million underwriting conservative candidates in the last election cycle. Those candidates were in Las Vegas for the sole purpose of attempting to win hundreds of millions from him for their presidential campaigns.

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Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Cesar Chavez movie opening weekend ~ @UFWupdates



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donate
Cesar Chavez movie opening weekend: 
What you can do.
Invite your friends and family to see Cesar Chavez, the film, with you. Click here for a simple "how to" toolkit & have your viewing get-together listed on our opening weekend online calendar of events.
Films are judged by how well they do the very first weekend they're released at the box office. Let's help guarantee that Cesar Chavez stays on the big screen and plays in more locations. Join with people across the nation to pack local theaters on opening weekend, March 28th-30th. For a full list of participating theaters, visit http://www.chavezmovieseeit.com or fandango.com

Organize a meet-up to watch the film
Step 1 - When & Where
A full list of participating theaters can be found online at: http://www.chavezmovieseeit.com/find-a-theater-near-you or at fandango.com.

Step 2 - Create your event
Set up your gathering any way that works best for you--whether at the theater or other location. It would be great if you register your meet-up through our online tool @ http://bit.ly/1egkJro, so others can join your event.
*Note: If you’re already on the UFW listserve, you will need to push "forgot password" to access your account and create your event. Our listserve will automatically send you a password.

Step 3 - Invite your community
Invite your friends. Invite your family. Invite your neighbors. Our tool will let you e-mail them invitations. Or join a meet-up someone else has already set up in your area. See what others are organizing at: http://www.chavezmovieseeit.com/
* You might want to either buy a block of tickets ahead of time using Fandango or another service, or suggest your attendees buy tickets in advance.

Special Red Carpet Events
United Farm Workers
& UFW Foundation Present 
Cesar Chavez:
An American Hero

Be a part of it. Purchase your tickets now!
Click on a venue below for information on how to buy your ticket(s) to the special VIP fundraising reception and/or the movie screening w/panel discussion.
Additional UFW Movie Fundraisers



Check out our website at: www.ufw.org and keep up with the latest news.
Check out the UFW's Social Networking pages. Click to visit our Facebook, YouTube, Twitter pages. Become our "friend" and follow us.
Sign up for the UFW List Serve.
United Farm Workers,  P.O. Box 62, Keene, CA 93531, http://www.ufw.org

Monday, March 24, 2014

Left Forum 2014, May 30-June 1, NYC




Left Forum 2014 Conference
​​
Saturday Evening Feature Event:
Harry Belafonte, Angela Davis and David Harvey
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Imagining a World with Transformative Justice:

Reform and/or Revolution Today

 
Harry Belafonte exposed America to world music and spent his life challenging and overturning racial barriers across the globe.
Belafonte met a young Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on King’s historic visit to New York in the early 1950s. Belafonte and King developed a deep and abiding friendship, and Belafonte played a key role in the civil rights movement, including the 1963 March on Washington.
In 1985, disturbed by war, drought, and famine in Africa, Belafonte helped organize the Grammy-winning song “We Are the World,” a multi-artist effort to raise funds for Africa. Belafonte was active in efforts to end apartheid in South Africa and to release Nelson Mandela.
Belafonte served as the cultural advisor for the Peace Corps, a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and was honored as an Ambassador of Conscience by Amnesty International. Recently, Belafonte founded the Sankofa Justice & Equity Fund, a non-profit social justice organization that utilizes the power of culture and celebrity in partnership with activism. It is a space for artists to contribute their talents to build awareness and confront the issues that negatively impact marginalized communities.
Angela Y. Davis is known internationally for her ongoing work to combat all forms of oppression in the U.S. and abroad. Over the years she has been active as a student, teacher, writer, scholar, and activist/organizer. She is a living witness to the historical struggles of the contemporary era. Today she remains an advocate of prison abolition and has developed a powerful critique of racism in the criminal justice system. She is a founding member of Critical Resistance, a national organization dedicated to the dismantling of the prison industrial complex. Angela Davis is Distinguished Professor Emerita in the History of Consciousness and Feminist Studies Departments at the University of California, Santa Cruz. 
 
 
David Harvey is a Distinguished Professor of Anthropology & Geography at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. He is also the world's most cited academic geographer and the author of many books and essays influential in the development of modern geography as a discipline. His work has contributed to broad social and political debate, and he is credited with helping to resurrect social class and Marxist methods as serious methodological tools in the critique of global capitalism, particularly its neoliberal form
Early registration discounts end soon::
Register for the conference - here
Celebrating 10 Years

Left Forum 2014,
May 30 - June 1

John Jay College of Criminal Justice
The City University of New York

524 West 59th Street, New York, NY, 10019
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  • Support Left Forum: Contribute 10 dollars or more for 10 more years
     
  • Conference Theme Download - here
     
  • Propose a panel or workshophere
     
  • Call for panels/workshops: Download or forward -here
     
  • Volunteer
     
  • Register for the conferencehere - while early discounts last

Please Forward Far and Wide

365 Fifth Avenue
CUNY Graduate Center, c/o Sociology Dept.
New York, NY 10016
United States