After Trayvon

by Abby Zimet

On the one-year anniversary of the shooting of Trayvon Martin, his parents declared that "as parents of a slain child, we never move on" at a candlelight vigil in New York, one of scores of remembrances and demonstrations. The last year has seen over a dozen acts of promise, kindness or resistance, including widespread support for Trayvon's family, the hiring of a new police chief in Sanford, moves to repeal Stand Your Ground laws, and the decision by over 30 corporations to cut ties with ALEC, the right-wing group that pushed those laws. They offer some solace. Just not enough.

March 3 at the Howland Cultural Center

Angela Davis and Michelle Alexander

Angela Davis and Michelle Alexander take part in a panel discussion on the issue of mass incarceration at Riverside Church in New York City on September 14, 2012. They answer the questions of, what is the problem of mass incarceration and what does it say about the United States society?

Poughkeepsie: Black History Month celebration

Date : 7 February 2013       From : 7:00pm     

Category : Race Issues Location : 12601


Event Description : 

Progressive activist and comedian Dick Gregory is featured at a celebration of Black History Month, and a commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation.

From the organizers: "This evening will bring you face to face with a seminal figure in the civil rights movement that transformed America. You will be 'moved to your bones.' Do not miss this opportunity to see one of the members of Comedy Central's list of '100 Greatest Standups' of all time."

Cost:

Location:
Hancock Center, room 2023
Marist College
3399 North Road / Rt 9
Poughkeepsie, NY 12601
Map and directions to campus:
http://www.marist.edu/about/directions.html
Campus map (the Hancock Center is building #15):
http://www.marist.edu/about/map.html

Contact:

Sponsored by: the American Association of University Women,

Rosendale Celebrates Black History Month

SEE DETAILS:

http://www.chronogram.com/DailyDose/archives/2013/02/02/rosendale-celebrates-diversity-during-black-history-month

2:00 pm, Sunday, January 20, 2013

23rd Annual Birthday Tribute to
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

King Says “NO!” To The New Jim Crow

2:00 pm, Sunday, January 20, 2013

Woodstock Community Center, Rock City Road

Free

Come join us for an afternoon of reflection, celebration, education and song to commemorate the life and works of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. As Dr. King said, “A time comes when silence is betrayal.” Many were a part of the struggle against Jim Crow embodied in the Civil Rights Movement to which Dr. King dedicated his life.  Today there is a call to educate and mobilize people against the New Jim Crow.  As Michelle Alexander points out in her new, best selling book, The New Jim Crow, Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, we now have a new form of racial caste system. Alexander shows how the mass incarceration of African American young men, brought about by the War on Drugs, has created a permanent, new caste system. She notes, “Like Jim Crow (and slavery), mass incarceration operates as a tightly networked system of laws, policies, customs and institutions that operate collectively to ensure the subordinate status of a group largely defined by race.”

Theo Harris, our keynote speaker, is a criminal justice consultant, author and singer. Theo will be teaching us about the New Jim Crow and linking it to Dr. King and the Civil Rights Movement. His newly published autobiography Blessed andHighly Favored, Memoirs of a Multiple Felon, has received much acclaim. Theo holds a BA from Syracuse University, and a Master of Professional Studies from NY Theological Seminary, all of which were earned while he was incarcerated. Known for his singing inside and outside prison, he and his wife Phyllis, The Anointed Two, will also be performing. 

Speaking will be Pam Africa, International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia Abu Jamal; Ismail Shabazz, Community Activist; Maggie Williams, Move to Amend; and the Town Supervisor of Woodstock Jeremy Wilber. Performing will be Dennis Washington, Director of the Ulster County Community Choir, singing Negro Spirituals; Debra Burger, Freedom Songs; and Theo and Phyllis Harris, The Anointed Two.

Sponsored by Martin Luther King Jr. Planning Committee, Haitian People's Support Project and Town of Woodstock

For information: terryler@aol.com or 845 679-7320

MLK Day...Monday, Jan. 21st

- Monday, Jan. 21st-

18th Annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
March for Social and Economic Justice

Starting with songs and speeches at 11 am that day at Smith Metropolitan A.M.E. Zion Church at 124 Smith Street in Poughkeepsie, marching at 12:30 pm to the Dutchess County Office Building at 22 Market Street, and ending up with more discussion and refreshments at Holy Light Pentecostal Church at 33 Clover Street in Poughkeepsie

ALSO

The Rivertown Kids invite you to their

6th Annual Martin Luther King Day

Celebration for Social Justice

*A Benefit Concert for the Howland Cultural Center*

Monday, January 21, 2013

7:30 PM  (Doors open at 7:00 PM)

Howland Cultural Center

477 Main Street, Beacon, New York

   

Featuring

Alvin Bell*David Bernz*Jacob Bernz

Betty and the Baby Boomers*Guy Davis*Dan Einbender

Jeff Haynes*Travis Jeffrey*Melissa Ortquist

The Rivertown Kids*Chris Ruhe*Pete Seeger*Sarah Underhill

$10.00 Minimum Donation

Sponsored by the Howland Cultural Center and Rivertown Kids, Inc.

For information contact the Howland Cultural Center at (845) 831-4988 or info@Rivertownkids.org