A weekly guide to action.
The times may be dark, but they’re not hopeless. We have the power to join together and fight back. Now more than ever, we need to shore up our bonds of community, activate our networks, and make our voices heard. To this end, Blunderbuss is compiling a weekly roundup of events in our hometown of New York City that offer a chance to push back against the rising tide of hate and authoritarianism. Don’t expect this list to be exhaustive – this city is too full of energy and activism for us to stay on top of everything. But if you’ve got an event you’d like to see listed, feel free to hit up Travis at tmushett@gmail.com. All descriptions are authored by event organizers, and occasionally trimmed for length.
Friday, January 13
Health Care Justice Rally at Trump Tower
Time: Fri. 1/13, 4:00pm – 4:40pm
Location: Trump Tower, 725 5th Ave., Manhattan
[link]
We are in a life or death fight for our health care. Republican proposals for health care reform will cause millions of people to lose insurance coverage. Those who have coverage will see the return of illegal tactics private insurance corporations to deny and restrict care. Remember, the only way they make money is when they don’t have to pay for the health care you need.
Join health care justice advocates at Trump Tower on Jan 13th just hours before the annual Single Payer Strategy Conference begins to point to the only solution that is truly universal, and guaranteed to provide high quality, affordable health care: Medicare for All!
NYC Rally | Support the Momentive Strike
Time: Fri. 1/13, 4:30pm – 5:30pm
Location: Apollo Global Management, 730 5th Ave., Manhattan
[link]
Support our 700 brothers and sisters on strike in Waterford, NY. They’ve been walking the line for good jobs in their community since November 2.
We’re rallying in front of Apollo Global Management HQ – which owns 40% of Momentive – to tell CEO Leon Black, who is worth $5.4 billion, to stop lining his pockets at the expense of good jobs. He needs to demand Momentive CEO Jack Boss (Yes. His name is actually Boss) to go back to the table and negotiate a FAIR CONTRACT NOW!
Strikers are fighting massive health care cuts for active workers, and to stop the complete elimination of health and life insurance coverage for retirees.
Resonate X Chasm
Time: Fri. 1/13, 7:00pm – 2:00am
Location: Knockdown Center, 52-19 Flushing Ave., Queens
[link]
RESONATE X CHASM is a collaborative showcase of experimental art and music, presented as part of STAY NASTY – Fundraiser ft. 4 Days of Music, Art + Performance at Knockdown Center. All ticket sales go to benefit Callen-Lorde Community Health Center and The New York Immigration Coalition.
TICKETS: http://www.ticketweb.com/
RESONATE is a new event series aimed at connecting purveyors of freedom in the arts with existing humanitarian organizations. RESONATE was conceived of by SIA (Solidarity In Action), an independent, artist-run platform formed in response to the 2016 election. By combining music, humanism, activism, and community outreach, SIA serves to empower various progressive organizations, with the goal of generating funds and extending resources to those working to develop innovative strategies for policy change.
CHASM is a Brooklyn-based curatorial project for new media, light art and experimental music. Each immersive multimedia event brings together an interconnected group of light artists and performers, with a focus on live audiovisual sets. In light of the post-Oakland crackdown on DIY art spaces nationwide, CHASM stands for the prevailing strength of artists, providing an open door for people of all backgrounds. CHASM is presented by Julia Sinelnikova (The Oracle @ Vector Gallery).
On Resistance: International Avant-Garde Films & Videos
Time: Fri. 1/13, 7:30pm – 9:00pm
Location: Museum of the Moving Image, 36-01 35th Ave., Queens
[link]
Various artists. 1963–2016, 75 mins. 35mm, 16mm, and digital projection. This international program brings together archival prints of forgotten films never shown in New York before and new countercurrent voices. Avant-garde artists Don Levy, Philippe Cote, and Ute Aurand share the screen with a new generation of makers whose works explore and embody exemplary fights for freedom. “On Resistance” includes a World premiere, five North American, two U.S., and four New York premieres, from fifteen different countries.
Free Screening of The End of the Line
Time: Fri. 1/13, 7:30pm – 9:30pm
Location: Park Slope United Methodist Church, 410 6th Ave., Brooklyn
[link]
The End of The Line is the true story of a coalition of farmers, activists, constitutional conservatives and religious orders, who joined together and defeated the controversial Bluegrass Pipeline. A Sellus Wilder film, The End of The Line features music from Daniel Martin Moore, Ben Sollee, and the singing Sisters of Loretto! Following the screening, members of 350 Brooklyn will provide an update on local pipeline resistance efforts. Doors open at 7 PM. Refreshments served.
Saturday, January 14
What’s Happening at the Bedford-Union Armory
Time: Sat. 1/14, 11:00am – 1:00pm
Location: St. Francis De Sales School for the Deaf, 260 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn
[link]
New York City wants to give away the publicly-owned Bedford-Union Armory to build hundreds of units of luxury housing in the heart of Crown Heights. Out of 330 units proposed, only 18 will be affordable for Crown Heights residents.
This project must be rezoned through the City’s land use process, the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP).
Come learn about the project, how the NYC land use process works, and how neighbors can unite to use OUR LAND for what WE WANT.
BLM Greater NY MLK Youth March
Time: Sat. 1/14, Noon – 4:00pm
Location: Gathering points in each borough listed below
[link]
Martin Luther King Jr.’s life work was dedicated to equality, justice, and non-violent civil disobedience, the essence of the civil rights movement. However, We cannot forget how immensely important voting rights were to him. Even though We may not fully understand the sacrifice and pain that he and his followers endured to pave a path for us to participate in the democratic process, We must keep in mind that our votes have to “stand” for something. Our votes are a source of power that can be used to raise the standard of living in our community, only if “We elect leaders who share our vision.”
Join Black Lives Matter Greater New York, students, religious leaders and community organizations on January 14, 2017 to honor Dr. King’s true vision for the “Power of the Black Vote.”
In addition, We will tell Donald Trump, the Republicans and Democrats alike that our votes will no longer be taken for granted.
Starting Locations:
BRONX: 149th St. And Grand Concourse
BROOKLYN: Brooklyn Bridge pedestrian entrance (at Tillary St. & Adams St.)
MANHATTAN: Adam Clayton Powell Harlem State Building
STATEN ISLAND: Staten Island Ferry
QUEENS: Queens Borough Bridge pedestrian entrance (at Crescent St. & Queensboro Plaza North)
Inaugurating Resistance Propaganda Party
Time: Noon on 1/14 through 5:00pm on 1/15
Location: Interference Archive, 131 8th St., Brooklyn
[link]
What is a propaganda party? It’s where we invite dozens of organizations, activists, designers, and artists producing materials around a political issue to hang out, meet each other, and distribute their flyers, stickers, posters, buttons, and more. All propaganda is FREE, and we encourage all to come by, grab a drink, and load up on as many posters and stickers they can carry. This next installment of our Propaganda Party is centered around the fallout from the election and upcoming protests around the presidential inauguration.
At our first two parties, we had over 100 people come through each, many who would never have come to a more-intensive meeting or talk around the specific subjects. For this one we want to expand our reach from individuals to groups, and encourage representatives from socially engaged spaces around New York City to swing by on the weekend of January 14–15 and (a) drop off copies of materials people in their communities are distributing, and (b) pick up piles of posters and stickers to further distribute out of their spaces.
There will also be live screen printing and button making so bring anything (t-shirts, patches, bags) you would like to print a design on to.
Anti-Trump Free School / Escuelita Libre Anti-Trump
Time: Sat.1/14, Noon – 7:00pm
Location: Mayday Space, 176 St. Nicholas Ave., Brooklyn
[link]
On the weekend before the inauguration of Trump, Free University-NYC and Mayday Space invite new and seasoned movement-makers to a day of workshops, teach-ins, and skill-shares. Through this event, we aim to more effectively resist the recent intensification of xenophobia, hate crimes, endangered reproductive rights, white supremacy, attacks on workers, and environmental destructions that Trump’s election has emboldened.
A special early afternoon session (12:00–1:30 p.m.) will be devoted to movement folks in NYC making our work more cohesive. There are many people doing work around the city, but we are not in dialogue. Our goal is to converge NYC social justice communities to plan, map out, and share information for 2017 campaigns, events, and actions.
Nasty Protest Material-making Workshop
Time: Sat. 1/14, Noon – 7:00pm
Location: Knockdown Center, 52-19 Flushing Ave., Queens
[link]
Nasty Women + Newark Printshop collaborate for one day at Knockdown Center to assist the community in the production of flags, banners and signs – just in time for the Women’s March on Washington on January 21st.
Queens United Against Trump Rally
Time: Sat. 1/14, 1:00pm – 3:00pm
Location: Jamaica Colosseum Mall, 89-02 165th St., Jamaica
[link]
Let’s protect our home from phony politicians!
This is about protecting ourlseves from ALL who are trying to destroy us. We need to united and FIGHT BACK! Come out and connect with folks in Queens who are doing ground work to resist!
We have all the power in our hands, to build a resistance movement against family separation and deportations, end racist Islamophobia hysteria, fight for justice for Black lives and win full rights for all.
Bystander Intervention Training
Time: Sat. 1/14, 4:30pm – 6:00pm
Location: First Unitarian Universalist Society, 48 Monroe Pl., Brooklyn
[link]
If we see someone being harrassed, do we know how to de-escalate? How do we know if our help will be welcome?
Join us this MLK weekend, to learn Bystander Intervention tactics, discuss different scenarios we might come across in the world, and connect with community groups and resources to further support these efforts.
Training will be led by Julia Martin and Kirsten DeFur. This is a community event, all are welcome.
Please stay for a Jamabalaya cook-off following the training!
Opening Reception: ‘Whose Streets? Our Streets!’
Time: Sat. 1/14, 6:00pm – 9:00pm
Location: Bronx Documentary Center, 614 Courtlandt Ave., Bronx
[link]
Featuring the work of thirty eight independent photojournalists, this exhibit captures ordinary New Yorkers as they rallied, rioted, marched, and demonstrated. These stunning images document historic moments of violent confrontation such as the Tompkins Square Park and Crown Heights Riots and as well as organized protests involving non-violent civil disobedience and creative street theater. Collectively, these photographs, which have never before been exhibited together, chronicle New York’s history from 1980-2000.
MLK Salon with Yavilah McCoy
Time: Sat. 1/14, 6:45pm – 8:30pm
Location: JCC Harlem, 318 W. 118th St., Manhattan
[link]
Join us for an interactive conversation with racial justice leader Yavilah McCoy, Executive Director of Ayecha, as we dive deeper into topics of Jewish allyship and racial justice in memory of Martin Luther King Jr. The evening will begin with a community Havdallah. Childcare provided with advanced RSVP.
Socialist Party USA Reception
Time: Sat. 1/14, 7:00pm – 10:00pm
Location: AJ Muste Memorial Institute, 168 Canal St., 6th Fl., Manhattan
[link]
The Socialist Party’s National Office invites members, supporters and friends to an evening of music, food and socializing. Let’s kick off the New Year by getting to know each other. We have lots to do. We’ll also be welcoming two special guests 2016 presidential candidate Mimi Soltysik and Lynn Lomibao, Editor of The Socialist! Please RSVP tonatsec@socialistparty-us
MAAC Assembly: Preparing for “Disrupt J20” – Reprised
Time: Sat. 1/14, 7:00pm – 10:00pm
Location: The Base, 1302 Myrtle Ave., Brooklyn
[link]
Thanks to everyone who braved the snowstorm for last week’s assembly – it was amazing to have a packed room despite the conditions. As decided at the conclusion of that assembly, the Metropolitan Anarchist Coordinating Council (MACC) is holding a follow-up assembly January 14th at The Base starting at 7 PM. We’ll be continuing to finalize plans for the inauguration (Disrupt J20) including travel, action participation, convergence spaces and other logistics. Please bring any updates you or your group might have about J20 in either DC or NYC.
We’ll also be discussing our horizon post-J20 – how MACC and our assembly model can be shaped and expanded by all participants in the years of struggle to come.
For more information on MACC please visit the website (MACC.nyc). To sign up for announcements about future assemblies and organizing meetings visit http://macc.nyc/contact/.
MACC assemblies are open to all anarchists, so please invite and share widely to help us build an anarchist movement forum in NYC.
How to Organize a General Strike: A Movement Reflection
Time: Sat. 1/14, 7:00pm – 9:00pm
Location: Mayday Space, 176 St. Nicholas Ave., Brooklyn
[link]
Over the past decade, calls for general strikes have become a recurrent feature of the social movement landscape in the United States. In some cases, these have led to mass actions involving thousands or millions of workers. In others, they have largely failed to materialize beyond Facebook event pages. As we head into an era of right-wing control of all three branches of the federal government, increased erosion of civil rights and the right to organize, and intensified attacks on workers, women, people of color, LGBTQ, and muslims, what can a look at the past ten years of mass mobilizations tell us about how to build and exert power without friends in high places?
In this panel discussion, organizers from mass strike mobilizations of the past ten years will share their reflections on what worked and what didn’t, so that we can fight to win in the intense years ahead.
Sunday, January 15
Retreat: J20 Preparation
Time: Sun. 1/15, 11:00am – 7:00pm
Location: The Silent Barn, 603 Bushwick Ave., Brooklyn
[link]
You are invited to be part of a day of trainings and lightning talks. At this retreat, we will practice community building by learning and refreshing our knowledge of practical skills in anticipation of the inauguration (#J20) in Washington, D.C. Upon registration, you will be assigned to a small group with a particular schedule of workshops. This way, each participant will have the chance to attend every workshop.
We will have breakfast and lunch together as a large group to build community amongst folks going to D.C. We will end the day with a large group training on D.C.-specific logistics.
The Peace Poets will kick off the day to get us on our feet and using our voices. Trained martial artists from the Base will lead a Self Defense workshop with the whole group after lunch, to keep energy up and keep our bodies limber.
Suggested Donation: $30 (includes breakfast and lunch) You do not need to pay if you cannot but you must register on this EventBrite page to attend: https://
TrumpCare Makes Us Sick!
Time: Sun. 1/15, 12:30pm – 1:30pm
Location: Trump International Hotel & Tower, 1 Central Park West, Manhattan
[link]
Donald Trump and his Congressional cronies want to change the way you pay for health care. And if they succeed, you’ll end up paying more for less. Speaker of the House Paul Ryan and Rep. Tom Price (Trump’s nominee for the Dept. of Health and Human Services) want to privatize Medicare, drastically cut funding for Medicaid and the Child Health Insurance Program, end funding for reproductive health services, and gut the Affordable Care Act.
Join Rise & Resist at 1 Central Park West on the park side of the hotel for a protest to tell Trump, Ryan and Price to not destroy our healthcare!
Bring your healthcare-related signs and your passion!
Bring a friend!
Writers Resist: #LouderTogether
Time: Sun. 1/15, 2:00pm – 4:00pm
Location: NYPL, 5th Ave. at 42nd St., Manhattan
[link]
Stand with PEN America to defend free expression, reject hate crimes and uphold truth in the face of lies and misinformation!
WRITERS RESIST: Louder Together for Free Expression is a literary protest on the steps of the New York Public Library’s Schwarzman Building at 42nd St. that will bring together hundreds of writers and artists and thousands of New Yorkers on the birthday of civil rights icon Martin Luther King, Jr. American poet laureates Robert Pinsky, Author and Rita Dove will each offer hope and inspiration with “inaugural” poems.
Marxist Feminism: What is Patriarchy?
Time: Sun. 1/15, 2:00pm
Location: Unnameable Books, 600 Vanderbilt Ave., Brooklyn
[link]
Join Red Bloom at Unnameable Books for January’s Marxist-Feminist Discussion group where we will be reading No Lamps, No Candles, No More Light: Patriarchy on the Left (part 1) by Eve Mitchell and Joselyn Cohn of Unity and Struggle.
What is Patriarchy? In much of mainstream feminist discourse, it is largely assumed that the answer to this question is widely known. However, beyond particular manifestations of patriarchy and the dictionary definition of the term, in depth explanations of what patriarchy is and why it exists are largely absent from mainstream discourse. Having discovered this lack of a clear definition and conflicting understandings of patriarchy, Eve and Jocelyn in their first installment of their series Patriarchy on the Left engage different explanations of “what is patriarchy” with a historical materialist account of its reproduction today.
The reading: http://
A Journey to Aleppo
Time: Sun. 1/15, 7:00pm – 8:30pm
Location: Spectrum, 121 Ludlow St., 2nd Fl., Manhattan
[link]
“A Journey to Aleppo” is the first concert of No-land Bands Project series. This event is a tribute to Aleppo. The musicians who are collaborating in this program will be exploring musical heritage of the city through various improvisation sessions. We will be using some traditional phrases and motifs, as well as player combinations to create improvisational settings for exploration, dialog and expression.
Why Does the History of Squatting in NYC Matter?
Time: Sun. 1/15, 7:00pm – 10:00pm
Location: UnionDocs, 322 Union Ave., Brooklyn
[link]
In the 1980s and 90s the Lower East Side of Manhattan was home to a squatting movement unlike any other in the United States. Drawing on their diverse radical and progressive roots, squatters claimed and occupied city-owned abandoned building with a winning combination: a Yippie sense of drama and fun, punk rock aggression and subcultural grit, and urban homesteaders’ earnest appeals to American values of self-sufficiency and initiative. When faced with eviction they learned how to build barricades and booby traps and drum up riots from their European counterparts, and each attempt to evict Lower East Side squatters from the late ‘80s on brought newly escalated police and squatter tactics. By the mid-1990s, the police were using tanks and helicopters and the squatters were overturning cars in the streets.
In 2002, after three years of secret negotiations, the city shocked everyone involved when it agreed to sell the remaining squatted buildings, for one dollar each, to a non-profit (UHAB – the Urban Homesteading Assistance Board) which would take out loans on the squatters’ behalf to renovate the buildings and bring them up to code. The former squats would then be converted to limited-equity low-income co-operatives and the renovation loans would become mortgages. Illegal squatters would thus be transformed into indebted homeowners, problematic unsellable buildings into low-income housing. This was easier said than done: by 2013, only five of the eleven buildings in the legalization deal had been converted into co-ops.
In this event, we will share documentary works on this history and ask the question: Why is this story worth documenting? What does it mean today?
Abandon All Hope Reading
Time: Sun. 1/15, 7:00pm – 10:00pm
Location: KGB Bar, 85 E. 4th St., Manhattan
[link]
Abandon hope all ye who enter here…St. Petersburg Review and Springhouse Journal contributors read from their works as commentary on the nation after January 21.
Readers: Mona Awad, Ken Calhoun, Nducu wa Ngugi, Laurie Stone, Terese Svoboda, and possibly others.
Monday, January 16
MLK Day City Hall Protest
Time: Mon. 1/16, 3:30pm – 5:30pm
Location: City Hall, Manhattan
[link]
Join communities across the city from South Bronx to East Harlem, from Lower East Side and Chinatown to Sunset Park, Brooklyn and more to tell Mayor de Blasio his time is up! Within his three years in office, de Blasio has been trying to rezone the entire city to increase luxury developments that displace working families. On the other hand, he refuses to adopt community-led rezonings like the Chinatown Working Group rezoning plan, calling them too ambitious. Is it too ambitious to provide people of color equal protection against luxury development? Meanwhile, de Blasio is under investigations for taking campaign donations from developers whomade crooked deals to turn nursing homes, libraries and other buildings into luxury condos. It is obvious that Mayor de Blasio is working to help enrich his developer friends and the wealthy at the expanse of working people and communities of color.
Fight Training: Women, Trans, Non-Binary, and Gender Non-Conforming
Time: Mon. 1/16, 7:00pm – 9:00pm
Location: The Base, 1302 Myrtle Ave., Brooklyn
[link]
This is a non-cumulative course, part of our Monday series of fight trainings. We will be covering the usual areas one would find in a martial arts class (stretching, conditioning, technique, theory), but in a context that uses the experiences of attendees to shape the direction of the class. The class will focus on creating an inclusive discussion that would allow for each attendee to find their own motivation for their being a part of the class, with the hope that each individual’s motivations and drives will benefit the environment of the class as a whole.
Participants should wear clothing in which they are comfortable stretching and sweating. We’ll have equipment on hand, but if you have gloves, mitts, hand wraps, jump ropes, or anything that could be useful, please bring it along. Let’s work it out!
GetOrganizedBK Full Group Meeting
Time: Mon. 1/16, 7:00pm
Location: Congregation Beth Elohim, 274 Garfield Pl., Brooklyn
[link]
Our next #GetOrganizedBK meeting will be on Monday, January 16th at 7 PM at Congregation Beth Elohim. That’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day, so we’ll have a few reflections first, before splitting into Working Groups again. We’re pretty sure this is how he’d want us to spend it. Check out what the Working Groups have been up to here (http://bradlander.nyc/
Black Lives Matter Reclaim MLK Rally / March / People’s Monday
Time: Mon. 1/16, 7:00pm – 10:00pm
Location: 125th St. and Lexington Ave., Manhattan
[link]
On January 16, 2017 on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, NYC BLM activists will be marching in Harlem as part of The Movement 4 Black Live’s National Call to #ReclaimMLK. In collaboration with NYC Shut it Down’s People’s Monday, Peoples Power Assemblies, Why Accountability, and Hoods 4 Justice will be rallying in Harlem to reclaim and resist!
As Black Lives Matter activists, we recognize that gentrification represents the continual destruction of black communities and black lives and is intimately tied to police and state violence. White supremacy has functioned not only through slavery and Jim Crow, but through racist housing policies, economic and political disenfranchisement, educational inequalities and policies enforcing segregation. New York City is one of the most segregated cities in the country. Segregation is created through systemic racism and intentional policies by which white people have been able to distance themselves from people of color and limit their mobility. Gentrification is the continual legacy of these policies.
As we come close to inaugurating a racist misogynist who ran on a platform of white supremacy it is fundamental that we uphold the legacy of Martin Luther King by calling out all forms of racism and white supremacy.
Plan B: A Benefit for Planned Parenthood
Time: Mon. 1/16, 8:00pm – 11:00pm
Location: The Bell House, 149 7th St., Brooklyn
[link]
Plan B: A benefit for Planned Parenthood with Michelle Wolf, Michelle Buteau, Matteo Lane, Janelle James, Julio Torres, Jo Firestone, DJ Sadie Dupuis, and more! at The Bell House
(*Lineup Subject to Change)
Hosted by Emily Panic and Yasi Salek
Tuesday, January 17
Protest Sign Work Party
Time: Tues. 1/17, 6:00pm – 9:00pm
Location: SOHO20 Gallery, 56 Bogart St., Brooklyn
[link]
These days, there are many reasons to protest. Be prepared with a legible and memorable handmade protest sign.
SOHO20 and artist Christine Wong Yap invite you to an informal protest sign-making work party, where we will share ideas and design tools. Some sign making supplies will be provided, but please bring your own if you are looking for something specific.
Come make signs for yourself or to give away on the streets.
Christine Wong Yap is a Queens, NY based artist whose work explores text, hand lettering, and agency.
Taking on Hate in NYC
Time: Tues. 1/17, 1:00pm – 3:00pm
Location: Furman Hall, NYU, 245 Sullivan St., Manhattan
[link]
Join Public Advocate Letitia James, the The United States Department of Justice, and the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law for a conversation on the role of government agencies in protecting Muslim, Arab, Sikh, and South Asian (MASSA) communities from hate crimes and bias incidents.
Shut Down Government Sachs
Time: Tues. 1/17 at 3:00pm through Fri. 1/20 at Midnight
Location: 200 West St., Manhattan
[link]
Goldman Sachs has been influencing our government for decades. But in the wake of Donald Trump’s presidential win, Goldman Sachs is no longer rigging the system — they are the system.
From making money from home foreclosures to investing in dangerous oil pipelines like Dakota Access, Goldman Sachs has been instrumental in extracting the wealth, livelihoods, and health of black, brown, and poor communities. And they’ve gotten great at using the federal government to make it happen.
With Trump choosing several Goldman Sachs’ veterans for his administration, they’ve officially taken over. We have to fight back harder than ever to win back a government by and for the people.
But we’re ready to fight. On Tuesday, January 17th we’re camping outside of Goldman Sachs offices to demand an end to Government Sachs.
Rise & Resist Meeting
Time: Tues. 1/17, 7:00pm – 9:00pm
Location: The LGBT Community Center, 208 W. 13th St., Manhattan
[link]
We’ll spend part of this week’s meeting conducting a training on taking part in mass protests, specifically events tied to the inauguration in DC.
We’re in the beginning stages of developing a flat, all volunteer group united in anger, organized into working groups, and committed to direct action. We’re focusing on everything from policy and data analysis to organizing protests to ensure that we have the largest impact possible.
We need people with all skills and interests. Whether you are an artist or a software developer or just somebody who wants to get involved, everybody’s contribution is valuable.
Wednesday, January 18
Bronx/Upper Manhattan Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) Inaugural Meeting
Time: Wed. 1/18, 6:30pm – 8:30pm
Location: 695 Park Ave., Hunter College, Room 1729, Manhattan
[link]
The Bronx and Upper Manhattan arguably benefit from our city’s diversity more than any other communities. The people of these communities exemplify the breadth of the lived experience in our city, both ethnically and economically.
We are forming Upper Manhattan/Bronx Branch of the DSA in order to act the best way we know how: Organizing ordinary people to achieve goals that concretely and meaningfully improve our communities. Among other issues, we will be coordinating action to institute or strengthen fairer housing policies, stronger protections for immigrants and minorities, environmental justice for areas abused with pollution and neglect, and economic justice through fairer wages, employee protections, and equality of opportunity.
Please RSVP to Sarah at millsdirlam@gmail.com
Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) NYC Chapter Meeting
Time: Wed. 1/18, 6:30pm – 8:30pm
Location: B’nai Jeshurun NYC, 257 W. 88th St., Manhattan
[link]
Join us for the first SURJ NYC chapter meeting of 2017. We’ll be digging into the intersections of economic populism and racial justice to deepen our collective analysis, and inform our organizing.
Orientation: If you are new to SURJ NYC, please join us at 6pm for a brief orientation. Full meeting begins at 6:30pm.
Veterans for Peace (VFP) Meeting: Report Back from Standing Rock
Time: Wed. 1/18, 6:30pm – 9:30pm
Location: Community Church of New York Unitarian Universalist, 28 E. 35th St., Manhattan
[link]
Our guest speaker is Matt Peterson who has been working with on The Native and The Refugee, a multi media documentary project profiling the spaces of the Indian reservation and Palestinian refugee camp. Come and hear Matt’s personal experiences of joining the Standing Rock occupation in North Dakota, in their successful struggle against corporate destruction of the native sacred lands and water supply. “A soldier takes orders. A warrior does what’s right.” Come to the VFP Chapter 34 meeting and work with us to do what’s right in these coming years.
City-Wide: ICE Free NYC
Time: Wed. 1/18, 6:30pm –8:30pm
Location: Rutgers Community Center, 200 Madison St., Manhattan
[link]
New York City is an immigrant city! While local and state politicians make false promises to safeguard and protect our immigrant communities from Trump’s criminalization and deportation plan that will continue to target all immigrants but particularly Black and Indigenous-descendant Caribbean and Central American communities, ICE FREE NYC believes that no politician is to be trusted. Obama’s Democratic party is responsible for the creation of the deportation machine being handed over to Trump.
Once again, we are reminded that the best resources we have to resist white supremacy and the rise of fascism are found within our communities: organizing grassroots and building networks of community self-defense.
Join ICE FREE NYC for a night of conversation around sharing resources, supporting directly affected communities, and building together to fight back!
Obama Farewell & Call to Action
Time: Wed. 1/18, 7:00pm – 11:00pm
Location: Theater for the New City, 155 1st Ave., Manhattan
[link]
A creative communities event and rallying place for the many battles ahead where we invite action oriented people to come out and get connected. Marking 8 years since our “Freedoms Ring, Dreams for a New Era” Inaugural Ball (link at bottom), we bookend the Obama Presidency with a tribute to a leader who brought intelligence, class, humor and civility to the office and our country. This event will feature short speeches looking back and forward while helping people mobilize.
CALL TO ACTION: We are seeking speakers and project leaders who wish to present or host a table to promote a constructive social/ political activism initiative with an emphasis on positivity (love will ultimately trump hate!) and innovation to best engage the creative brilliance of the NYC arts and culture communities.
$5 donation to cover event costs
Onward: Nicole Dennis-Benn, Cathy Park Hong, Alex Mar, and Idra Novey
Time: Wed. 1/18, 7:00pm – 9:00pm
Location: McNally Jackson Books, 52 Prince St., Manhattan
[link]
Nicole Dennis-Benn, Cathy Park Hong, Alex Mar and Idra Novey gather to discuss writing against patriarchal expectations as filmmakers, poets, essayist, translators, and novelists and what questions feel most pressing to address now. http://
Happy Anniversary Roe v. Wade, a Party and a Fundraiser
Time: Wed. 1/18, 7:00pm – 10:00pm
Location: El Cortez, 17 Ingraham St., Brooklyn
[link]
UNITE & PARTY FOR LATINXS & REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE!
In celebration of the 44th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, we invite you to party with a purpose!
All proceeds from this event will benefit the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health (NLIRH). Using an intersectional lens, NLIRH fights to defend and advance reproductive and immigrants rights. Both of these freedoms could be at great risk in the coming years, so it is time to support those organizations working on the ground now, more than ever! Let’s work together to do something positive in response to the inauguration.
TICKET DETAILS:
Advance $15
At the door $20
VIP $50
VIP Admission includes: booth seating, free beverage sponsor drinks, $20 of raffle tickets & fun feminist swag
BUY TICKETS HERE:
bit.ly/roeparty
Civil Disobedience: Resisting the Machine, An American Tradition
Time: Wed. 1/18, 7:30pm – 9:30pm
Location: IDIO Gallery, 976 Grand St., Studio D, Brooklyn
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This talk, led by Professors Michael Haltenberger and Michael Prettyman, will focus on the seminal essay by Henry David Thoreau, “On Civil Disobedience.” We are entering a time in the United States that will almost certainly be marked by acts of protest, street theatre and direct action. It is the aim of this talk to locate the urgency of these actions firmly within an American tradition that found its most influential voice in this essay, which profoundly shaped the movements of both Mahatmas Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr.
This will not be a discussion aimed at bringing down government, but rather the intellectual and political underpinnings for non-cooperation with government policies that promote injustice and run counter to our shared values of tolerance, respect and living our lives in a rapidly evolving world community.”
Sign up here: http://www.thinkolio.org/
Thursday, January 19
Court Support for the #Schumer15
Time: Thurs. 1/19, 9:00am – 11:00am
Location: New York Criminal Crt-Smmns, 346 Broadway, Room 225, Manhattan
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Back in October, 15 people were arrested blockading Schumer’s midtown office to prod him to actually do what he says he wants to do and Stop Spectra who continuously gives us lip service. When people get arrested, they have to return to court to face a judge in what is called and Arraignment to say “I am Guilty” or “I am Not Guilty”. On January 19th, the #Schumer15 will face the judge.
Come and stand by our brave Resisters of the Spectra Pipeline, the #Schumer15 who took direct action at Senator Schumer’s midtown Manhattan Office in harmony with the 8 other solidarity groups who took action at Senator Schumer’s offices in Washington, DC, Melville, NY, Peekskill, Albany, Syracuse, Rochester, Buffalo and Binghamton on the same day.
Senator Schumer continued to tell us that he was against the Spectra “Algonquin” Pipeline expansion, yet did the MINIMUM amount of work necessary to protect New Yorkers and sourronding regions from the hazards of Spectra Energy’s AIM Pipeline.
Food & Water Watch’s Resist Trump! Volunteer Meetings
Time: Thurs. 1/19, 6:00pm – 8:00pm
Location: New York Society of Ethical Culture, 2 W. 64th St., Manhattan
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It’s critical that we join together to resist Trump’s extreme anti-environmental agenda and fight for clean water, climate justice, and safe food. Learn about and get involved with Food & Water Watch’s plans to protect our most vital resources.
For more info, or to RSVP, contact Greta Zarro: 347-774-4597; gzarro@fwwatch.org
Film Fundraiser Benefit for Oakland Ghost Ship Fire Victims
Time: Thurs. 1/19, 6:00pm
Location: Bar Matchless, 557 Manhattan Ave., Brooklyn
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We’ll be showing MLK Jr. Way and Remember You’re Special, two feature films that were made possible directly because of an incredibly supportive and inspiring community of artists, musicians, and creators in Oakland. Time for us to return the favor.
Resist Trump: What Do We Do Now Book Launch
Time: Thurs. 1/19, 7:00pm – 8:00pm
Location: Book Culture on Columbus, 450 Columbus Ave., Manhattan
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Panelists will include Dennis Johnson, John R. MacArthur, and Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum.
The election of Donald Trump to be the 45th President of the United States of America shocked and dismayed progressives across the country. What We Do Now, a collection of passionate manifestos by some of the country’s leading progressives, aims to provide a blueprint for how those stunned progressives can move forward. Its powerful contributions — from economists, environmentalists, activists, artists, politicians, and novelists — will offer encouragement and guidance to practicing constitutionally protected acts of resistance throughout the unprecedented upcoming administration.
Among the contributors are Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Gloria Steinem, Paul Krugman, Robert B. Reich, George Saunders and Dave Eggers as well the heads of the ACLU, the NAACP, the Sierra Club, the Arab American Association, the National GLBTQ Task Force, the Freedom of the Press Association, and other prominent activists.
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Illustration by Yvonne Martinez.