Important event Committee to Connect the Dots will be tabling at:
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Captive Genders book launch in Portland
Captive Genders book launch in Portland
_Join Eric A. Stanley, Ralowe T. Ampu and Toshio Meronek for a book launch and reading of Captive Genders.
Pathologized, terrorized, and confined, trans/gender non-conforming and queer folks have always struggled against the enormity of the prison industrial complex. The first collection of its kind, Eric A. Stanley and Nat Smith bring together current and former prisoners, activists, and academics to offer new ways for understanding how race, gender, ability, and sexuality are lived under the crushing weight of captivity. Through a politic of gender self-determination, this collection argues that trans/queer liberation and prison abolition must be grown together. From rioting against police violence and critiquing hate crimes legislation to prisoners demanding access to HIV medications, and far beyond, Captive Gender is a challenge for us all to join the struggle. "new frameworks and new vocabularies that surely will have a transformative impact on the theories and practices of twenty-first century abolition." —Angela Y. Davis Books will be available at the reading. Learn more about the book HERE _JANUARY 11, 2012 7-10pm
Red and Black Cafe 400 SE 12th Ave, Portland, OR 97214 Sponsored by Committee to Connect the Dots |
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Committee to Connect the Dots
One Year On
The Ad-hoc Committee to Connect the Dots began meeting and discussing ideas primarily about making the dialogue around Political Prisoners more prominent in the summer of 2010, and officially began work with our first Raze the Walls event in October. Time progressed, as well as did the Committee, dropping the 'ad-hoc' to adopt a more formal strategy and structure. The Committee has focused in this past year towards bringing dialogue around the struggle against white supremacy to the
table in Portland. We did this through community building events such as our 'Off The Pigs' mixers we have held with comrades and other organizations, our workshop which we have developed 'Connect the Dots 101: White Supremacy and the Prison Industrial Complex', and setting up events with a variety of speakers and comrades including:
-Raze The Walls (1) – with former George Jackson Brigade comrades
-Against Prisons Against Police – with speakers from Rose City Copwatch, Fire Frashour Campaign, and Oregon Jericho Movement
-Raze The Walls (2) Resistance to Militarization – with speakers from Iraq Veterans Against the War and Civilian Soldier Alliance
-The Emperor Has No Clothes – book reading with Tema Okun
-George Jackson Commemoration – with former Black Panther Panel
-Hosting Dan Berger at one of our Off The Pigs mixers
-Parole, Snitch, Die, or Amplify: Four Ways to “Get Out of Pelican Bay State Prison
Sponsoring, tabling and contributing to numerous events including:
-Law and Disorder Conference
-Portland Anarchist Bookfair
-Counter Counter-Insurgency Conference
-New Directions Fest
We've worked with numerous local spaces which we are grateful for including comrades homes, In Other Words Bookstore, The Variant and PSU.
We've had the pleasure in building with organizations including:
Rose City Copwatch
Students For Unity
Oregon Jericho Northwest Regional
Fire Frashour
Civilan Soldier Alliance
Iraq Veterans Against the War
and numerous individuals working in their own capacity.
Thanks to all of you who have contributed to our past year's worth of organizing. We see this all as part of building a movement to bring justice, liberation, and an end to capitalist white supremacist
patriarchy!
In the next year Committee to Connect the Dots intends to further develop our workshop, produce a document on Feminist Practice In Organizing, and continuing to contribute to developing local
revolutionary community and bring the fight against white supremacy as a strategic intersection to destroying capitalism and patriarchy to the table.
Towards Liberation.
Sky's the Limit.
Committee to Connect the Dots
One Year On
The Ad-hoc Committee to Connect the Dots began meeting and discussing ideas primarily about making the dialogue around Political Prisoners more prominent in the summer of 2010, and officially began work with our first Raze the Walls event in October. Time progressed, as well as did the Committee, dropping the 'ad-hoc' to adopt a more formal strategy and structure. The Committee has focused in this past year towards bringing dialogue around the struggle against white supremacy to the
table in Portland. We did this through community building events such as our 'Off The Pigs' mixers we have held with comrades and other organizations, our workshop which we have developed 'Connect the Dots 101: White Supremacy and the Prison Industrial Complex', and setting up events with a variety of speakers and comrades including:
-Raze The Walls (1) – with former George Jackson Brigade comrades
-Against Prisons Against Police – with speakers from Rose City Copwatch, Fire Frashour Campaign, and Oregon Jericho Movement
-Raze The Walls (2) Resistance to Militarization – with speakers from Iraq Veterans Against the War and Civilian Soldier Alliance
-The Emperor Has No Clothes – book reading with Tema Okun
-George Jackson Commemoration – with former Black Panther Panel
-Hosting Dan Berger at one of our Off The Pigs mixers
-Parole, Snitch, Die, or Amplify: Four Ways to “Get Out of Pelican Bay State Prison
Sponsoring, tabling and contributing to numerous events including:
-Law and Disorder Conference
-Portland Anarchist Bookfair
-Counter Counter-Insurgency Conference
-New Directions Fest
We've worked with numerous local spaces which we are grateful for including comrades homes, In Other Words Bookstore, The Variant and PSU.
We've had the pleasure in building with organizations including:
Rose City Copwatch
Students For Unity
Oregon Jericho Northwest Regional
Fire Frashour
Civilan Soldier Alliance
Iraq Veterans Against the War
and numerous individuals working in their own capacity.
Thanks to all of you who have contributed to our past year's worth of organizing. We see this all as part of building a movement to bring justice, liberation, and an end to capitalist white supremacist
patriarchy!
In the next year Committee to Connect the Dots intends to further develop our workshop, produce a document on Feminist Practice In Organizing, and continuing to contribute to developing local
revolutionary community and bring the fight against white supremacy as a strategic intersection to destroying capitalism and patriarchy to the table.
Towards Liberation.
Sky's the Limit.
Committee to Connect the Dots
Committee to Connect the Dots is excited to be co-sponsoring this important event!
Detroit:
A History of Struggle,
A Vision of the Future.
Featuring Darryl Mitchell, former organizer for the League of Revolutionary Black Workers (LRBW)
A History of Struggle,
A Vision of the Future.
Featuring Darryl Mitchell, former organizer for the League of Revolutionary Black Workers (LRBW)
The Portland branch of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) will be hosting a lecture and forum on the 20th of October 2011 at Portland State University, Smith Building Room 296, starting at 7pm.
This is a FREE event.
This event will be part of a greater North West tour by activist and speaker Darryl Mitchell, a former organizer for the League of Revolutionary Black Workers (LRBW). Darryl Mitchell (Waistline) is a retired Chrysler worker, union activist and former union representative. He is also a former editor of the Southern Advocate and a founding member of the League of Revolutionary Black Workers.
This is a FREE event.
This event will be part of a greater North West tour by activist and speaker Darryl Mitchell, a former organizer for the League of Revolutionary Black Workers (LRBW). Darryl Mitchell (Waistline) is a retired Chrysler worker, union activist and former union representative. He is also a former editor of the Southern Advocate and a founding member of the League of Revolutionary Black Workers.
Link to the facebook event: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=180926948650398 Co-sponsored by: B Media Collective http://bmediacollective.org/ Committee To Connect The Dots http://razethewalls.weebly.com/ The International Socialist Organization, Portland Chapter NW Student Coalition http://www.nwstudentcoalition.net/ Oregon Jericho Movement http://www.oregon-jericho.org/ Speakers for a New America http://www.speakersforanewamerica.com/ Youth Empowerment Revolution |
Further information on the League of Revolutionary Black Workers
FinallyGotTheNews (video)
25:45 FINALLY GOT THE NEWS is a forceful, unique documentary that reveals the activities of the League of Revolutionary Black Workers inside and outside the auto factories of Detroit. Through interviews with the members of the movement, footage shot in the auto plants, and footage of leafleting and picketing actions, the film documents their efforts to build an independent black labor organization that, unlike the UAW, will respond to worker's problems, such as the assembly line speed-up and inadequate wages faced by both black and white workers in the industry.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3981081512942116180#
Lessons from the League of Revolutionary Black Workers
http://gatheringforces.org/2009/12/10/lessons-from-league-of-revolutionary-black-workers/
The League of Revolutionary Black Workers and the coming of the Revolution - Eric Perkins http://libcom.org/library/league-revolutionary-black-workers-coming-revolution-eric-perkins
FinallyGotTheNews (video)
25:45 FINALLY GOT THE NEWS is a forceful, unique documentary that reveals the activities of the League of Revolutionary Black Workers inside and outside the auto factories of Detroit. Through interviews with the members of the movement, footage shot in the auto plants, and footage of leafleting and picketing actions, the film documents their efforts to build an independent black labor organization that, unlike the UAW, will respond to worker's problems, such as the assembly line speed-up and inadequate wages faced by both black and white workers in the industry.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3981081512942116180#
Lessons from the League of Revolutionary Black Workers
http://gatheringforces.org/2009/12/10/lessons-from-league-of-revolutionary-black-workers/
The League of Revolutionary Black Workers and the coming of the Revolution - Eric Perkins http://libcom.org/library/league-revolutionary-black-workers-coming-revolution-eric-perkins
SEPTEMBER 23RD MARKS INTERNATIONAL DAY OF SOLIDARITY WITH PEOPLE OF PUERTO RICO AND THEIR ANTI-COLOLIAL STRUGGLE AGAINST U.S. IMPERIALISM
Check out some of the following links for information on how you can help, even if by just giving a small donation to support Puerto Rican Political Prisoners. Also check our Revolutionary Culture section for Puerto Rican Independista music and videos.
September 23rd National Boricua Human Rights Network Pro-Libertad Freedom Campaign Claridad (spanish) Bandera Roja (spanish) Centros de Medios Independientes de Puerto Rico *you can read more about these links in our LINKS section* |
Thanks to everyone who came out to support and remember the legacy of George Jackson. Special thanks to Mark Cook, Kent Ford, Pastor Haynes, and Percy Hampton for speaking. Revolutionary history is an integral part to building revolutionary community. Keep the spirit of our fallen comrades, and living comrades alive.
Smash White Supremacy with a revolutionary feminist and queer liberationist praxis to Smash Capitalism and Patriarchy. Fire to the Prison Industrial Complex, Fight Police Violence, Free All Political Prisoners and Prisoners of War. See our news/articles section for information on George's legacy and inspiration. |
Thanks to everyone who came out to the Portland Anarchist Bookfair and participated in our workshop 'Connect the Dots 101: White Supremacy and the Prison Industrial Complex' and visited with us at our table. We will be presenting our workshop next at New Directions Fest August 20th. Come out and support us! Build Revolution, Fight White Supremacy, Raze the Walls!!!
Support Prisoners
on Hunger Strike at Pelican Bay State Prison |
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For more information and continuing updates, visit
www.prisons.org/hungerstrike.htm
http://prisonerhungerstrikesolidarity.wordpress.com/
www.prisons.org/hungerstrike.htm
http://prisonerhungerstrikesolidarity.wordpress.com/
CONNECT THE DOTS 101:
WHITE SUPREMACY AND THE PRISON INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX Committee to Connect the Dots is reaching out to University and Community organizations and offering to present our workshop 'Connect the Dots 101: White Supremacy and the Prison Industrial Complex' at events, conferences, meetings and other gatherings in the Pacific Northwest. Please get in touch if interested in hosting us.
The workshop: This workshop offers a framework for tackling white supremacy within radical currents. It briefly covers the history of white supremacy, the ways in which the prison industrial complex is central to the maintenance of a white supremacist culture, and finish by working together to connect the dots between multiple struggles. |
The presenter:
Lydia Bartholow is an educator, writer, clinical herbalist and registered nurse who is currently working on her doctorate at OHSU. Her scholarship and community work focuses on mental health, prisons, racism, radical public health and the politics of the body. She has been organizing against prisons, and in support of those in prison, for over 10 years and is currently a member of The Committee to Connect the Dots, a local organization working to end white supremacy, with an emphasis on destroying the prison industrial complex. |
C.C.D. would like to thank Dan Berger for attending our ongoing Off The Pigs! spring mixer and for sharing important critical insight on revolutionary history and strategy in the United States.
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Dan spoke on his latest book The Hidden 1970's:
Description from website: "The 1970s were a complex, multilayered, and critical part of a long era of profound societal change and an essential component of the decade before—several of the most iconic events of “the sixties” occurred in the ten years that followed. The Hidden 1970s explores the distinctiveness of those years, a time when radicals tried to change the world as the world changed around them.
This powerful collection is a compelling assessment of left-wing social movements in a period many have described as dominated by conservatism or confusion. Scholars examine critical and largely buried legacies of the 1970s. The decade of Nixon’s fall and Reagan’s rise also saw widespread indigenous militancy, prisoner uprisings, transnational campaigns for self-determination, pacifism, and queer theories of play as political action. Contributors focus on diverse topics, including the internationalization of Black Power and Native sovereignty, organizing for Puerto Rican independence among Latinos and whites, and women’s self-defense. Essays and ideas trace the roots of struggles from the 1960s through the 1970s, providing fascinating insight into the myriad ways that radical social movements shaped American political culture in the 1970s and the many ways they continue to do so today."
You can order copies HERE or come see the Connect the Dots table at a local event, we have some on hand for sale.
Other books by Dan include:
Letters from Young Activists Today's Rebels Speak Out
Outlaws of America: The Weather Underground and the Politics of Solidarity
UPCOMING EVENTS!
Click on conference titles to go to their respective pages!
The 2nd International Copwatch Conference will take place in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada on July 22, 23 and 24 of 2011.
The conference will include sessions of panel discussions, workshops, and video screenings that focus on particular aspects of policing. Some topics to be included are policing in the context of colonialism; policing and immigration; policing as a gendered, classist and racialized practice; the fluidity of defining crime and criminality; the politics of accountability; community alternatives to policing and practice of restorative justice models, and a range of other topics.
The conference will include sessions of panel discussions, workshops, and video screenings that focus on particular aspects of policing. Some topics to be included are policing in the context of colonialism; policing and immigration; policing as a gendered, classist and racialized practice; the fluidity of defining crime and criminality; the politics of accountability; community alternatives to policing and practice of restorative justice models, and a range of other topics.
The 2011 Portland Anarchist Bookfair is happening on July 23rd and 24th at Portland State University. It will be hosted by Students for Unity and be completely free. If you are interested in hosting a workshop, being a vendor, or volunteering please e-mail us at [email protected]. More Details to come!
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We live in scary times. We are witnessing the eruption of a number of societal tensions on a global scale and it is far from clear what the results will be. Millions of people unemployed and being foreclosed and evicted from their houses; millions in prison; military conflict around the world with no end in sight; the melting of glaciers and polar ice caps along with mounting natural disasters and growing scarcity of resources exacerbated by climate change; rising racial supremacist movements; depression and trauma on a
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massive scale; the mass incarceration and discrimination against “non-citizens”; and the continual centralization of wealth and means of human livelihood in the hands of a small but powerful class of people. The point is not to paint a picture of a hopeless situation in which everything is falling apart and the world is ending because of some supposed inherent evil of human kind. The point is it’s increasingly obvious that the flawed systems which these problems stem from are no longer tolerable: capitalism, industrialism, representative politics, all forms of oppression. As all these various crises converge we are told we can look to our political systems for solutions, or ought to lose ourselves in some spectacular new product or substance. These answers are not going to prevent us from feeling the effects of these mounting issues.
The mounting crises prompt a need for immediate radical change in the direction of a more equitable, democratic, and free society. The lessons of history indicate that such an effort cannot be accomplished successfully as isolated cases within individual countries. The current situation requires the mobilization of afflicted people working together on a global scale for radical change. |
August 20, 21 2011 @ the Vera Project We’re excited at the opportunity for the third year in a row to continue to play a role in pushing the Seattle anarchist milieu into a forward momentum, creating more opportunities to communicate face to face. We find each other in intentional spaces created to contain our love, misery, joy and fierceness. Let’s continue to make the distances between us smaller; let’s continue to create intentional anarchist spaces.
We are now accepting tabling applications and workshop proposals for the 2011 Book Fair!
We are now accepting tabling applications and workshop proposals for the 2011 Book Fair!
DENVER ANARCHIST BLACK CROSS CONFERENCE ORGANIZING UNDERWAY
The Denver Anarchist Black Cross would like to formally invite you to a conference for North American Anarchist Black Cross chapters from August 12-14, 2011 in Denver. This is an invitation to attend this conference. Also seeking proposals for workshops, skill shares, or other activities that chapters would like to see at the conference.
Committee to Connect the Dots would like to thank all the organizers and participants of both the Counter-Counterinsurgency Convergence, and the Law and
Disorder Conference! Our workshop Connect the Dots 101: White Supremacy and the Prison Industrial Complex and our literature tables were well received at both! Please contact us if you participated or met us and have any further questions! Stay tuned for upcoming events we have in the works, or if you would like us to bring our workshop to your school, community, town!
March 8th 2011:
Book Reading: The Emperor Has No Clothes
In Other Word
Book Reading: The Emperor Has No Clothes
In Other Words . 14 NE Killingsworth Street . Portland
TUESDAY . MARCH 8 . 7-9 pm Sponsored by the Committee to Connent the Dots About the book: The Emperor Has No Clothes: Teaching About Race and Racism to People Who Don't Want to Know The book offers theoretical grounding and practical approaches for leaders and teachers interested in effectively addressing racism and other oppressive constructs. The book draws both on the author's extensive experience teaching about race and racism in classroom and community settings and from the theory and practice of a wide range of educators, activists, and researchers committed to social justice. |
About the author: Tema Okun has spent many years working for and in the social justice movement. An experienced teacher, she facilitates anti-racism, anti-oppression work as a member of the DRworks collaborative. She is an Assistant Professor in the Educational Leadership Department at National Louis University in Chicago and is also active in Middle East peace and justice work with the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions-USA.The book will sell for $25 at the talk and reading.
For more information about the book, the author, and the work,go to www.dismantlingracism.org.
For more information about the Portland presentations contact Lydia Bartholow at [email protected]
To contact Tema about presentations and book readings go to [email protected]
JANUARY 2011 EVENT:
the panel:
Þ Lily Hughes is an organizer and co-founder of the Civilan Soldier Alliance-- an ally organization that supports service members working for their rights and against the occupations. Þ Sarah Lazare is a member of the Civilian-Soldier Alliance and Courage to Resist, organizations that support GI resistance and anti-war movements from within the ranks of the military. Þ Scott Kimball is an Iraq veteran and member of Iraq Veterans Against the War. He is a core organizer of the Central Illinois IVAW chapter. Þ LT is an organizer with Civilian Soldier Alliance and a member of Military Families Speak Out. She recently finished volunteering with the Rural Organizing Project on the No Soy El Army tour in rural Oregon, and is actively working to support Coffee Strong, a GI rights coffee shop, outsideof Ft. Lewis in Lakewood, WA. |
Check out our links section HERE for more information on participating organizations.
PAST EVENTS:
Please check our links for more information on organizations involved!
Press Release
The Ad Hoc Committee to Connect the Dots presents a mini-conference that seeks to nurture a greater understanding of the connections between policing, prisons and political prisoners. As Portland sees an increase in local police violence, it is especially important to consider the broader context of modern state repression. We will place particular importance on the experience of Political Prisoners and necessity of support for those currently incarcerated.
“Our intent is allow the greater Portland community an opportunity to stop and think about the impact of prisons on our communities and what it means to have political prisoners in a country that considers itself free” says event co-organizer, Lydia Bartholow. She continues by stating that “the united states has more prisoners per capita than any other country, with a notable number being people of color and an increasing number being women and GLBTQI identified folks.” Angel Gonzalez, co-organizer, says “We’ve invited ex-members of the George Jackson Brigade, a mixed-theory, multiracial-racial, multi-gendered, anti-imperialist revolutionary group based in Portland and Seattle in the 1970s, because we believe they have a particularly intriguing critique of the prison industrial complex and much to say about the experience of being behind bars.” |
Bios GEORGE JACKSON BRIGADE PANEL INCLUDES:
Rita “Bo” Brown, an ex-George Jackson Brigade Member and ex-political prisoner. Bo identifies as a working-class, butch dyke and has been active in the prison abolition movement since her release from prison in 1987. After her release she started The Out of Control: Lesbian Committee to Support Women Political Prisoners, which remained active for many years. Ed Meade, an ex-George Jackson Brigade member and ex-pollitical prisoner who is currently the editor of Prison Art News and an active member of Seattle Jericho. Mark Cook, prisoner support activist, active member of Seattle Jericho, former member of the Black Panther Party and George Jackson Brigade. LOCAL PANEL INCLUDES: Caylor Rolling, a Portland local, who has been active in prison related advocacy projects since 1996. She currently works for a non-profit where she educates the community about incarceration and its costs and organizes to stop prison construction and the growth of Oregon’s prison budget. Walidah Imarisha, teaches at Portland State University’s Black Studies Department. She helped to found a prisoner’s family organization in Pennsylvania, The Human Rights Coalition, that now has three chapters. She has done political prisoner support work for over 15 years. - |
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Funds from this project will go to:
- The Freedom Archivces: freedomarchives.org
- 4Struggle Magazine: 4strugglemag.org
- The Anarchist Black Cross War Chest fund: abcf.net