human rights

Saturday, February 13, 2010, 6:00 p.m. Join Victor Wallis and Sylvia Escarcega in a discussion concerning the potential political and ethical contributions of indigenous thought and social movements to building alternatives to capitalism. Victor's paper, "Beyond 'Green Capitalism'" recently published in Monthly Review (61:9, February, 2010) provides a starting point for the conversation. In it, he notes the connection between the present economic recession, the crisis-ridden character of capitalist economy and the ecological limits to the capitalist growth model. But he goes on to observe that most of the world is still caught up in capitalist institutions and does not yet recognize the link between socialism and ecologically appropriate responses. He finds hope and examples in the Global South, insurgent socialism and indigenous resistance.

Thursday, February 4, 2010, 7:00 p.m. In the face of a deepening economic crisis and continuing brutal raids on immigrant workers and their communities, this event brings together union workers, immigrant organizers and community activists. It is part of the campaign by the Boston May Day Committee and its affiliates to unite workers across sector and borders. Join the conversation and help build toward May Day 2010!

Visit BostonMayDay.org for more information 

A Discussion with Aarti Shahani, Mizue Aizeki & Joe Nevins

Wednesday, December 30, 2009, 5:30 p.m. Immigration reform will soon be on the national legislative agenda. All options on the table punish immigrants for global economic and policy failures. To consider the different bills, in particular the one that many progressives may offer critical support--HR 4321 aka the Guiterrez Bill--three important thinkers, Aarti Shahani (founder of Families for Freedom), Mizue Aizeki and Joseph Nevins (most recently authors of Dying to Live: A Story of U.S. Immigration in an Age of Global Apartheid) will join us for an early evening conversation and light dinner.

See here for summaries: 1. from the Immigration Policy Institute (this is an Adobe Acrobat [PDF] file)

Saturday, November 21, 2009, 7:30 - 9:30 p.m. Join South African social movement activist from the Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign.

South Africa will be on the global stage as host of the 2010 World Cup. Yet, with one of the world's highest rates of economic inequality and social protest, it is likely that the country's glaring contradictions and its militant poor, perhaps more so than the "beautiful game," will be center stage next summer.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009, 7:00 p.m. "My name is Martha Lucia Giraldo Villano and I was born on June 22, 1978 in Cauca, Colombia. I am the daughter of José Orlando Giraldo, a small-scale farmer who was the victim of an extrajudicial killing by the National Army. In my country, there have been many extrajudicial killings that are also categorized as false positives (the killing of innocent civilians to pass them off as guerrillas killed in combat within the context of Colombia's armed conflict). The execution of my father is an example of a 'false-positive' murder."

"I am part of the Victims of State Crimes Movement. Along with other victims, we work together on organizing and training in order to demand our rights to truth, justice and reparation."

Saturday, November 7, 2009, 6:30 p.m. Mexico-US Solidarity Network invites you to join us for a discussion of popular education in Zapatista indigenous communities and the role of urban academics as resources in constructing an autonomous education system.

Patricia Hernández, a sociologist specializing in education & gender, has worked since 2001 with indigenous communities to develop their primary and secondary schools, following a model of "autonomous education." She worked intensively with indigenous teachers—called "education promoters" (promoter@s)—to develop the secondary school for indigenous children living in the Zona Selva Tzeltal. Local leaders, who oversaw the project, wanted the community's demands for land, food, peace, justice and democracy to serve as the content for classes on history, language and mathematics.

Thursday, October 29, 2009, 7:00 p.m. Join Overcoming Zionism author, Joel Kovel, in challenging the notion of "exceptionalism" and the resultant alienation of people and environment. Joel weaves together deep historical and structural analysis with insights into the development of the psyche. Wikipedia provides a useful overview of his thinking. However, it fails to provide a full account of the price that he is paying for publishing his critique of Zionism. For a complete list of his books, see Joel's website.

Friday, August 14, 2009, 7:00 p.m. Come hear reportbacks & updates from eyewitnesses of the Honduran coup. A fundraiser for groups fighting the business/military dictatorship, we will have food, dance, & drink, plus live musical performances to be announced. Visit Honduras Resists! for latest the news and updates.