[Peace-discuss] AWARE Agenda, 9/18/05

Sun Sep 18 07:31:54 CDT 2005

1. News of the Week (10 minutes)

2. Introductions (5 minutes)

3. New Ideas: (15 minutes)

Randall Cotton Update

Sponsorships: IDF Films, South Asian Collective (see
addendum)

4. Working Groups: (30 minutes)

Finances

Farmers Market

Main Events

September 24th Washington D.C.

Counter-Recruitment

AWARE Presents

5. Last Week's Events (15 minutes for 5 and 6)

Kathy Kelly
EWO
Media Events

6. Upcoming Events

Addendum

I am writing to you on behalf of the South Asian
Collective . We are
organizing a talk and were wondering if the AWARE
would like to
co-sponsor? 
More information is available below. 

Do let me know if there is someone else I should
contact regarding this
co-sponsorship. 

Talk by Dr. Sandeep Pandey

Date: 9th October, 2005
Venue: TBA
Time: 10:00 a.m.

South Asian Collective at UIUC would like to request
AWARE  to 
cosponsor
the visit of Sandeep Pandey, National Convener,
National Alliance of
People's Movements (NAPM), India.

Sandeep Pandey will be delivering a public lecture
titled - "Global
capital, local liability: Impact of neoliberal
policies on education 
and
social mobilization". We at SAC would be delighted if
AWARE  can help 
us
cosponsor this event. Co-sponsoring would involve
publicizing the event
to your membership and/or making a monetary
contribution to help us
defray the costs of bringing both Sandeep Pandey to
our campus
community. 

Please find below more information about Sandeep
Pandey. Please do let
us know of your decision at your earliest convenience.
We look forward
to hearing from you and working with AWARE  in
bringing leading 
academic
and social activists to our campus/community.

Thank you,
Tulsi
for South Asian Collective
https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/ro/www/SouthAsianCollective/

========================================================
About Sandeep Pandey
Sandeep Pandey has a PhD in Engineering from the
University of
California at Berkeley and while living in the USA
founded Asha for
Education, a very vibrant NGO that continues to do
stellar work on
education for under privileged children. Since moving
back to India, he
has been involved in setting up and running a school
in rural Uttar
Pradesh.

He has been active in empowering marginalized
communities as well as
working on issues of peace and justice. He has been a
strong voice
demanding de-nuclearization of South Asia and walked
over 1000 KM from
Pokhran - the site of India's nuclear tests - to
Sarnath - the site of
the Buddha's first teachings, creating awareness
regarding the impact 
of
nuclearization. He has  also been a strong advocate
against religious
violence and marginalization, actively working to
build an atmosphere 
of
religious pluralism. For all these efforts he was
awarded the Magsasay
Award in 2002 (one of the youngest awardees ever). The
Magsasay Award 
is
often described as Asia's Nobel Prize.

In Spring 2005, Sandeep Pandey organized a 1000 KM
march from Delhi to
Multan (in Pakistan) creating awareness through
discussions and 
cultural
programs on issues related to peace between India and
Pakistan. This 
was
the first extensive grass roots level interaction
between Indians and
Pakistanis in five decades.

In addition, he is the National Convener of NAPM and
in that role has
been active in voicing the concerns of various
communities against
exploitation by various multi-national organizations
and institutions 
in
this era of globalization.

__________________________

Dear AWARE,

I am contacting you to request the co-sponsorship of
your organization 
for
an upcoming event at the Illinois Disciples
Foundation.

It is my pleasure to announce that the Illinois
Disciples Foundation 
(IDF)
will soon begin our 4th Human Rights Film Series.  The
series will 
present
important documentary films dealing with issues of
human rights and 
social
justice.  This fall films will confront issues ranging
from the 
continuing
war in Iraq and the growing veteran's anti-war
movement to the
humanitarian crisis in Sudan, political struggles in
Venezuela and the
history of activism in the U.S.

These films will be presented to the public, free of
charge, on 
evenings
in late September and October at the Illinois
Disciples Foundation.  In
addition, the films will be presented by local
activists and community
members who will moderate discussions about the issues
presented in the
films with the people who come to the viewings.

IDF is very excited about this event, which has grown
in popularity 
since
we began the series three years ago.  We hope that you
will join the 
IDF
in supporting this wonderful event for the community,
and publicize the
series to your members and supporters.  The film
series will run on
Thursday evenings, beginning at 7pm at the IDF, from
9/29 to 10/20.

Please respond to this message by Friday, September
23rd if your
organization would like to lend its name in
co-sponsorship to the IDF's
4th Human Rights Film Series.  Offers of
co-sponsorship submitted after
the 23rd will still be accepted, but may not make it
onto all the 
advance
publicity.  Although a suggested monetary donation of
$25 is not 
required
for co-sponsorship, we at IDF appreciate any
additional support that 
you
are willing to give.  Feel free to contact me for more
information 
about the
film series.

Read below for more complete information about the
films, dates, and
showing information!

Thanks,
Jen and Aaron

***

IDF Human Rights Film Series Fall 2005

"Howard Zinn: You Can’t Be Neutral on a Moving Train"

Thursday, September 29th, 7-9pm
Link: http://www.firstrunfeatures.com/howardzinn.html
Description: Howard Zinn: You Can't Be Neutral on a
Moving Train 
documents
the life and times of the historian, activist and
author of the best
selling classic A People’s History of the United
States. Featuring rare
archival materials, interviews with Howard Zinn as
well as colleagues 
and
friends including Noam Chomsky, Marian Wright Edelman,
Daniel Ellsberg,
Tom Hayden and Alice Walker, You Can't Be Neutral
captures the essence 
of
this activist and thinker who has been a catalyst for
progressive 
change
for more than 60 years. As Noam Chomsky said of him,
"it is no
exaggeration to say he has changed the consciousness
of a generation."

"The Revolution Will Not Be Televised"

Thursday, October 6th, 7-9pm
Link: http://www.chavezthefilm.com
Description: Hugo Chavez, elected president of
Venezuela in 1998, is a
colorful, unpredictable folks hero, beloved by his
nation's working 
class
and a tough-as-nails, quixotic opponent to the power
structure that 
would
see him deposed. Two independent filmmakers were
inside the 
presidential
palace on April 11, 2002, when he was forcibly removed
from office. 
They
were also present 48 hours later when, remarkably, he
returned to power
amid cheering aides. Their film records what was
probably history's
shortest-lived coup d'état. It's a unique document
about political 
muscle
and an extraordinary portrait of the man The Wall
Street Journal 
credits
with making Venezuela "Washington‚s biggest Latin
American headache 
after
the old standby, Cuba."

"Lost Boys of Sudan"

Thursday, October 13th, 7-9pm
Link: http://www.lostboysfilm.com
Description: Lost Boys of Sudan is a feature-length
documentary that
follows two Sudanese refugees on an extraordinary
journey from Africa 
to
America. Orphaned as young boys in one of Africa's
cruelest civil wars,
Peter Dut and Santino Chuor survived lion attacks and
militia gunfire 
to
reach a refugee camp in Kenya along with thousands of
other children. 
From
there, remarkably, they were chosen to come to
America. Safe at last 
from
physical danger and hunger, a world away from home,
they find 
themselves
confronted with the abundance and alienation of
contemporary American
suburbia.

"Operation Veteran Freedom"

Link: http://www.operationveteranfreedom.com
Description: In March 2005 thousands of people
assembled outside Ft.
Bragg, North Carolina, the largest Army installation
in the world, to
protest two years of U.S. occupation in Iraq. War
supporters denounced
them as, "dirty, hippy, commie, pinkos," but the truth
paints a far
different picture. The group was primarily veterans
and family members 
of
soldiers who had fought and died in the war-torn
regions of the Middle
East. They belonged to organizations like Veterans for
Peace, Viet Nam
Veterans Against the War, Gold Star Families for
Peace, and Military
Families Speak Out.
    A young group of veterans, reservists, and
active-duty military
personnel
who had served in some of the deadliest combat zones
of Iraq and
Afghanistan led this demonstration in a morning march
through the city
streets. Soldiers stationed at Ft. Bragg left base
against the orders 
of
their commanding officers and joined their fellow GIs
in expressing 
their
resentment toward the war.  The following day a newly
formed 
organization
named "Iraq Veterans Against the War" held its first
national meeting.
This event marked the beginning of an organized GI
resistance against 
the
Gulf War.
    Operation: Veteran Freedom chronicles the events
that led to this 
first
national meeting and provides a rare view of the inner
battles that 
faced
these veterans upon their return home from the combat
zone.

__________________________________________________
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