Speakers from 2009
Everglades Earth First!
Those lovable swamp anarchists renowned for road blockades, forest defense, monkey wrenching and a mean round of fisticuffs, will present a photo slideshow and discussion session. The presentation will include a brief overview of the ecology of the Everglades bioregion and a history of EEF! and the radical environmental movement in South Florida. Local EF! activists have strayed away from the conventional middle-class environmental world and worked on issues of environental racism, gentrification and community control of public land.
Keith McHenry, Food-Not-Bomb Co-Founder
Keith McHenry is one of the key founders of the Food Not Bombs movement.
"Keith and seven friends started Food Not Bombs in 1980 out of their collective house in Cambridge, MA. He is currently focusing his attention on building the Food Not Bombs movement, resisting domestic surveillance and political repression in the United States."
Keith's presentation will have a broad focus touching on the history of the FNB movement, community organizing, nonviolent civil resistance, poverty and hunger, homelessness, & domestic surveillance. Overall it will be a dynamic and inspiring presentation which will move us into our Sunday networking and Building the Movement session!
Oannes Pritzker-Ecologist, Journalist, & Educator from the Yat Kitischee Native Center
Oannes Pritzker is a Native American (Wabanaki Tribal Nation) Ecologist/Journalist/Educator with nearly 40 yrs of activism. He is the Director of the Yat Kitischee Native Ctr; an Inter-Tribal cultural/social/environmental/news media organization. He has had the honor to live with indigenous peoples in different parts of the world, defending Mother-Earth & Native Culture/Human Rights. Oannes hosts/produces an award winning international radio program; "Honoring Mother-Earth/Indigenous Voices" broadcast on www.radio4all.net and on Radio for Peace International (www.rfpi.org). For oannes a major priority is networking with students & youth organizations in order to encourage/support young people's activism.
Oannes' presentation will be entitled: "Oositgamoo--An Indigenous Perspective on Earth-Justice Activism" This presentation will share a Native View of fighting for cultural, social, economic, & environmental justice. The focus of the presentation is indigenous resistance to colonialism & globilization. The presentation will cover a brief history & contemporary situation of "Indian" resistance, Environmental Justice (17 Principles of EJ & Native American EJ movement) and coalition/movement building with a focus on students & youth networking with Progressive Movements & People of Color
Seed305
Seed305 is a space for young people in Miami to discuss important societal issues such as poverty, racism, sexism, homophobia, identity, injustice and our histories. It is a safe space to talk about our experiences in order to understand the connection between the struggles of different communities. Seed305 is developing youth leadership, expanding their knowledge of the social justice movement,and building connections to local activism.
Seed 305 will be giving two presentations:
"Identity and Power" will focus on discussing and analyzing the importance of bringing people's identities to the table in the work we do and defining power.
"Seed305, How we Roll" This session will focus on introducing the work of Seed305. What they do and how they do it. The session will inform us on particular struggles taking place in Miami and discuss why political education is so important to the work we do! This session wil also work on building skills for organizers to take back to their communities!
Coalition of Immokalee Workers
The Coalition of Immokalee Workers is a community based worker organization based out of South West Florida. The CIW fights for "among other things: a fair wage for the work we do, more respect on the part of our bosses and the industries where we work, better and cheaper housing, stronger laws and stronger enforcement against those who would violate workers' rights, the right to organize on our jobs without fear of retaliation, and an end to indentured servitude in the fields" Since they began organizing they have helped to bring to an end 7 slavery rings in Florida.
Students Working to End Racism (SWER)
SWER is a student-led movement grounded on grassroots organizing that seeks to bring about equal rights and opportunities for all, including youth, immigrants, and the oppressed. We work for access to education, civic engagement, and leadership development for direct action on social issues. We unite under the premises of equality, human rights, and the conviction that no movement can succeed without youth power!
Relating the story of immigrant youth struggles, SWER will be presenting on the importance of equal access to education and their work on the “Education is a Human Right” campaign. They will review the history of the organization since its creation in 2005 and its growth in relation to the grassroots organizing model and principles. Furthermore, SWER will bring focus onto a federal legislation known as the DREAM ACT (Development Relief in Education for Alien Minors), its status in congress currently, and how members of the community can become involved in advocating for the passage of this legislation.
Attendants: Juan Rodriguez (Speaker), Felipe Matos (Speaker), Frida Ulloa (Speaker), Giovanni Delgado, Carolina Trejos, Carlos Roa Alejo, Stark Mariajose Alvarado, Jeimy Sabillon, Jose Salcedo
Student/Farmworker Alliance
The Student/Farmworker Alliance (SFA) is a national network of students and youth organizing with farmworkers to eliminate sweatshop conditions and modern-day slavery in the fields. They work in alliance with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW), a membership-led organization of mostly Latino, Haitian, and Mayan Indian farmworkers and other low-wage workers based in Southwest Florida. They understand their work as part of larger movements for economic and social justice.
The CIW & SFA will be doning a joint presentation on:The Campaign for Fair Food: Hear what it is and how the CIW and SFA have collectively managed to bring about radical change with in the agricultural industry. They will speak about their current anti-slavery work and the new campaign about to be launched against Food Service Providers (FSP's) [Sodexho, Aramark, etc] asking them to be socially responsable for the food they sell.
The Uhuru movement (based in St. Pete) is a broad based movement that works for the liberation of African People in the United States. See: http://uhurunews.com/mission
This initiative is a collective response to the global economic crisis to ensure that the African community survives and prospers. African Village Survival Initiative (AVSI) works to unite African people, resources and skills all over the world by creating locally sustainable, liberated economies. In the process of building the economy, AVSI networks with other like-minded people and organizations. AVSI believes in sustainability using practices that sustain the people and land for generations to come under the banner of red, black and green.
Refuge Ministries/Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign
The session on Anarchy and Christianity will look at both pre-constantinian and post-constantinian Christianity as it relates to Speaking out against Empire, its relation to anarchy vs Constantinian Christianity and its support of Empire.
The second session will be on homelessness and poverty from the perspective of the oppressed. It will discuss the need to end poverty and homelessness, and looking at it from poor’s perspective and to look at Economic Human Rights.
Radical Spaces, Free PlacesThe Civic Media Center & Library in Gainesville, FL is an example of a successful grassroots community institution that serves as a hub and anchor for the local progressive and radical activist community.
With a core mission of grassroots political education, the Center is also an important physical hub for progressive and radical organizing and action in the local community, with impact far beyond the local area, connecting Gainesville organizers and the community at large to campaigns, actions and issues with regional, continental and global impact.
Physical space is at a premium for most radical organizers. How can we get ahold of more of it, and hold onto it longer? What could we accomplish if we were able to sustain more of these "(semi-)permanent autonomous zones"?
For this workshop representatives of the CMC will facilitate an informal discussion on the uses, abuses, value and function of infoshops, social centers, and other types of alternative and radical spaces in the context of movements for resistance and positive social change.
Participants should come prepared to discuss their own experiences with radical spaces (or lack thereof, or desire for same).
We would also like to spend some time in the conversation on theory and strategy, including notions of using physical space in the service of dual power strategies, the collaboration and solidarity or lack thereof between different groups and spaces within the same community, and so on.
Harjit Singh Gill
Harjit Singh Gill is a South Asian-American activist and a board member of the Institute for Anarchist Studies (IAS). Having completed undergraduate work in Sociology and a Masters Degree in Humanities, he is currently a Masters in Social Work candidate, focusing on co-occurring disorders (substance abuse and psychiatric issues).
Harjit’s political research interests also include the re-thinking of national liberation struggles, and the formalizing of Anarchist People of Color (APOC) tendencies. His work is informed by a commitment to anti-imperialist, feminist, and queer-positive perspectives towards collective liberation, and a keen interest in counseling/social work as liberatory practice.
Harjit is available to speak on: Anti-imperialist legacies and national liberation struggles from an anarchist position; liberatory social services work, introduction to anarchism, and moving punk beyond a subculture into a movement for social change.
Dsame
Dsame is an African-American peace activist who majored in Philosophy and minored in women's studies at Drexel University. He has travelled to every state in the USA at least twice and has gained an education in multiracial alliances through face-to-face experience and hands-on participation in marginalized and minority communities. He is currently a member of A Better World is Within Reach Peace Network, an organizer for the annual A World Beyond Capitalism Conference (http://www.aworldbeyondcapitalism.org ) and a member of the Institute of Pamela. PAMELA is an acronym for peaceful alliances facilitated by multilingual, multiracial education, handicapable outreach and native language accessibility. He is also the editor and publisher of UPP: Letters from the Underground and The Open Source Classism, Racism and Sexism project.
Presentations:
Guerrilla Networking: Transforming your media activist group’s website from a vanity informational site into an international, multicultural networking resource to strengthen worldwide outreach: Using the internet to make the voices of minorities and physically disabled activists heard! Too many progressive media activist groups are utilizing their websites as simply a disposable business card with only contact information and a few documents rather than as a powerful multicultural, networking resource tool. In this course we will also cover several new forms of interactive media including podcasting, blogs, opensource applications (bulletin boards, wiki, email list, etc.,). This session will not be a speech, but rather a hands-on presentation showing people how to get websites, podcasting (with a telephone and no microphone), blog communities and more up and running within 15 minutes each, free of charge, with no maintenance fees.
Beyond creating isolated communities: Is the second stage of the progressive community and ecovillage movement to create a coalition of independent, self-sustainable communities... in effect, a progressive activist town to help change the world, rather than to simply live off-the grid by ourselves?
Title of Program: Creative Visualization and Manifestation: You Create Your Own Reality Now!This program will deal with the elaborate interactions between mind and reality. We will discuss how creative visualization can be used as a strategic tool for attaining goals and influencing the world. Discussion about experiences and outlooks will lead into an interactive meditation designed to both acquaint new practitioners and inspire experienced meditators. Everyone is welcome to attend and diversity of outlook is encouraged.
Panels
Tools of the Movement and Future Directions
Friday night will be kicked off with a panel on "Building the Movement". The panel will focus in particular on the importance of networking for building a strong, global justice movement. We'll talk about why it's important to network and how to utilize new tools that have become available to us., the importance of making connections between our local work and national movements, and what future directions might be. Some panel members are Maria del Rosario Rodriguez from the Florida Immigrant Coaltion, W.Mae.S from SEED305 and Jordan Buckley from Interfaith Action.
Immigration Issues in Florida
An expert panel on Florida immigration issues will be constructed to inform us on the current and most pressing issues facing migrant peoples in Florida today. The panel will give a synopsis on the current situation in Florida, different organizing that is going on across the state and ways we can band together to fight this racist, militaristic repression of immigrants across the U.S. Check back soon for a list of panel members!
Workshops
Kombucha 101
Kombucha cultivators old and new, this will be a space for us to come together and talk about this wonderful super culture! We will begin with a short presentation on the history and proposed health benefits on Kombucha followed by a Making Kombucha 101 session where those of us who have never attempted to brew Kombucha before can learn local recipies! We will follow up with a discussion on various problems and solutions we have encountered while trying to home brew this yummy drink! Free samples and cultures will be available!!!!
Hula-Hoop Making
On Saturday there will be a workshop where all can participate in making and decorating hula-hoops and in the evening, after the hoops dry, there will be a skill-share of different hula-hooping tricks and techniques!
Notebook Binding
Make you own cute, little, DYI notebooks out of recycled materials. No need to go corporate any more!
Entertainment!
Friday Night:
Down Home Southernaires! and Curious Hair!
Saturday Night:
Open Mic Talent Show! (Music, zine readings, offbeat talents, slam poetry, etc!) Bring you're "talent"! hosted by WSLR 96.5
Music by New College alum Rio de la Muerte & Jacksonville Funk/Fusion/Jam Band THE FRITZ! Bring yr dancing shoes!
