[Peace] Rally Against Global Warming / Prison Arts Festival

[carol inskeep]

Two announcements of upcoming events - my apologies to folks receiving these more than once...


Rally Against Global Warming in 
West Side Park this 
Saturday, April 14th at 1:00 PM
Sponsored by Step It Up 2007
(A national organization committed to reducing US carbon emissions)


Rally attendees will have the opportunity to send postcards to congress urging US leaders to cut carbon 80% by the year 2050. This rally is one of more than a thousand rallies going on across the US on April 14th to raise awareness of the immediate need for action to combat the problem of climate change. For more information, visit www.stepitup2007.org.

The rally will happen in the open at West Side Park, rain or shine. So if it's cloudy, come anyway and bring your umbrella. 

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THE SECOND ANNUAL CHAMPAIGN-URBANA PRISON ARTS FESTIVAL
20-21 April 2007
All events are FREE and are in the Independent Media Center 
(in the old Post-Office building in downtown Urbana)


Friday, 20 April, 8:00: Art Opening and Dance Party
Come view art made by prisoners from around the state of Illinois.  Heartbreaking and funny, gorgeous and ugly, forgiving and accusing, terrifying and joyous, the art speaks to the humanity and potential of those the state chooses to warehouse.  Follow your art-viewing by shaking the night away with Desafinado, a Brazilian dance band.

Saturday, 21 April, 1:00-3:00: Film Screening of Mario’s Story
Mario's Story is an award-winning film chronicling Mario Rocha's long road to justice.  Falsely accused, wrongfully convicted, and unjustly imprisoned, Mario nonetheless used his time in California prisons to become a renowned poet, essayist, and activist.  Then, after ten years of imprisonment, lawyers and activists finally won his release. Filmed on location in California prisons, and full of interviews with leading activists and artists, Mario's Story demonstrates how, despite overwhelming odds, institutional racism, and the trials and tribulations of gang-related life in Los Angeles, one young man chose a path of dignity.  Discussion following the film will be led by Susan Koch, the director of the film.

Saturday, 21 April, 4:00-5:30: Town Forum on the “Schools-to-Prisons Pipeline”
One of the reasons America’s prisons are stuffed is because many of our schools are struggling; some of them are so troubled that activists now refer to a “schools-to-prison pipeline.”  Helps us shut that pipeline by sharing your experiences and ideas. The town forum will begin with a short presentation by Professor Erica Meiners, author of Your Right to be Punished and a recognized hero in the Midwest activist community—she’ll diagnose the problem for us.  We’ll then ask Carol Aamons of Champaign-Urbana Citizens for Peace and Justice, Immani Bazzell of the Urban League, other local activists, and audience members to help us construct sensible answers to this dilemma.
 
Saturday, 21 April, 7:00-late: Poetry Reading and Hip-Hop Celebration
To help us close the Prison Arts Festival, come hear local poets—including formerly incarcerated poets—and activists share their remarkable poetry.  Last year’s poetry reading left the audience howling with laughter and crying with rage, so don’t miss this exceptional demonstration of beauty and dignity in the face of oppression and hardship.  And because all poetry is musical at heart, we’ll then dance the night away to the heavy grooves laid down by U.C. Hip Hop.  Come renew your commitment to peace and justice; come meet fellow activists and artists; come celebrate the empowering dynamism of poetry and music!

To volunteer, contact Stephen Hartnett: hartnett at uiuc.edu or 333-1593

SPONSORED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS’S 
CENTER ON DEMOCRACY IN A MULTIRACIAL SOCIETY




       
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