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. Times and locations are subject to change, so please click through the links to confirm.
Friday, January 27
Interfaith Action & Jummah Prayer for Immigrant Communities
Time: Fri. 1/27, 1:00pm – 2:00pm
Location: Foley Square, 111 Worth St., Manhattan
[link]
Please join The New York Immigration Coalition, Majlis Al Shura: The Islamic Leadership Council of Greater NY, and the Inter-Faith Clergy of New York City on Friday January 27th, to stand with our Muslim and immigrant brothers and sisters. Together, we will push back against any attacks from the Trump Administration. Muslims are our neighbors, our fellow New Yorkers, our fellow Americans and we vow to support them.
The action will begin with hosting a Jummah Prayer at Foley Square. (Jummah prayer is a congregational prayer (ṣalāt) that Muslims hold every Friday).
We will hear from Imam Khalid Latif, and other interfaith leaders. Allies not participating in Jummah Prayer will link arms, standing silently in solidarity. If we have a large number of attendees, post prayer we will form a human chain in front of or around 26 Federal Plaza.
Immigrant Workers Organized
Time: Fri. 1/27, 4:00pm – 6:00pm
Location: The Murphy Institute, CUNY, 25 W. 43rd St., 19th Fl., Manhattan
[link]
Worker centers and community-based organizations support low wage and immigrant workers, many of whom have survived a worldwide system of inequality and exploitation. The day to day efforts from agricultural, to construction, to garment workers, and countless other kinds of laborers, are essential contributions to this society, benefiting every single person, especially the top 1%. Protecting the rights and dignity of such an important but vulnerable population, especially under the threats of the new administration, is extremely necessary.
This Friday, we’ll come together to learn and discuss strategies to fight against discrimination and abuse, from people and organizations working towards creating effective networks to protect and improve immigrant, and all worker´s lives.
RSVP: Gabriela Ceja
gabriela@aridoamerica.org
Revolutionary Hunger Relief Program
Time: Fri. 1/27, 5:00pm – 9:00pm
Location: The Base, 1302 Myrtle Ave., Brooklyn
[link]
This program will feed hungry people directly after Christmas. Other free food service programs usually see a steep drop in volunteers after Christmas Day, but people need food all year round. This program will be a recurring event at the Base and we intend to expand. This event is open to all, volunteers and donations are appreciated. We will also have other items on hand at the Base — political info, clothes, feminine hygiene products.
Vigil for Muslim and Immigrant Rights
Time: Fri. 1/27, 5:00pm – 7:00pm
Location: El Centro del Inmigrante, 350 Port Richmond Ave., Staten Island
[link]
New Yorkers stand with our Immigrants and Muslims brother and sisters. The unilateral executive orders from this nation’s new presidential administration continue to be delivered like one two punches, and on the receiving end of many of those blows are immigrants.
New Yorkers of all backgrounds will come together Friday at 5 p.m. to respond to the directives issued this week out of the White House. The Staten Island Immigrant Council will speak out against presidential actions that call for a wall to be built along our Southern border, a halt of federal funding to sanctuary cities such as New York, a freeze on welcoming any Syrian refugees, an indefinite hold on immigration requests from some Muslim majority nations, and an increase in deportations.
Anger and anxiety are on the rise in communities across the nation, as executive orders continue to be issued. The barrage of policy declarations from the executive office is like no other ever seen. New York City is a sanctuary city – meaning a municipality that does not comply with handing over undocumented immigrants in custody to federal detention for deportation proceedings. One in five Staten Islanders is foreign born, meaning roughly 100,000 of our neighbors have settled in America from abroad.
10 Actions / 100 Days Women’s March Follow Up
Time: Fri. 1/27, 6:00pm – 10:00pm
Location: Better Than Jam’s, 20 Grattan St., Brooklyn
[link]
Women’s March has given us our first action steps – writing postcards to our Senators / Reps telling them why we marched and what they need to pay attention to (let’s throw in some postcards for Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell while we’re at it).
Postcard writing party at Better Than Jam! Website has a postcard template to print – I’ll print a bunch and have them here as well. https://
This will also give us a chance for us all to get together and discuss our platform and what matters to us and #WhyIMarch
If you have other ideas of resistance that we can do together – please share!
Bring / invite fellow friends, marchers, neighbors!
GLOBE Learns Spanish! Activism in Español
Time: Fri. 1/27, 6:00pm – 8:00pm
Location: Make the Road New York, 301 Grove St., Manhattan
[link]
Join us for the first of many: Activism en Español!
GLOBE will be hosting popular education days to co-learn Spanish through a social justice lens.
Food on us as per usual!
Time to Resist: First Public Meeting
Time: Fri. 1/27, 7:00pm – 9:00pm
Location: Community Church, 40 E. 35th St., Manhattan
[link]
We envision building a culture of commitment to defend those communities coming under attack in Trump’s America. We aim to reach out to those communities, dialogue with them, forge alliances, and build networks that can stand against attacks. We aim to hold public forums and provide resources that enable us all to understand the severity of the problems we now face and the paths of resistance. We see the need to take bold action to prevent a fascistic future, be it by confronting manifestations of emboldened white-supremacists and bigots or by standing in the way of government attempts to round up immigrants and register Muslims.
Doing all this will require coming together to share ideas and strategies, developing organizational capacity, and taking history into our own hands.
Before the Wall: A Benefit to Support Immigrant Communities
Time: Fri. 1/27, 7:00pm – 11:00pm
Location: littlefield, 622 DeGraw St., Brooklyn
[link]
//The lineup//
Shilpa Ray
The Kominas
Hearing Things
MC: Anish Mitra
DJ: Marco Buccelli
Proceeds will go to Sapna NYC and Women for Afghan Women
Fri, January 27, 2017
Doors: 7:00 pm / Show: 8:00 pm
$12 admission
$25 admission, raffle ticket
$50 admission, raffle ticket and drink
Tickets: http://smarturl.it/
Event Detail: http://
Building a Socialist Left Under Trump
Time: Fri. 1/27, 7:30pm – 10:00pm
Location: Verso Books, 20 Jay St., Suite 1010, Brooklyn
[link]
As Trump enters the White House millions of people are looking for a way to fight back against what is sure to be an all-out assault on the rights of women, people of color, the LGBTQ community, immigrants, and the working class as a whole. Our effectiveness in the struggle ahead requires clear strategy and tactics and a commitment to work together to cohere a strong socialist pole of attraction within the emerging movements against oppression and austerity.
Following the historic national mass mobilizations taking place during the inauguration weekend, the Democratic Socialists of America, the International Socialist Organization and Solidarity invite you to join us for a comradely discussion and debate on the next steps for socialists in the Trump era.
SPEAKERS:
Charlie Post, a longtime socialist activist and an activist in the staff union at CUNY
Jen Roesch, organizer in the International Socialist Organization and frequent contributor to Socialist Worker, the International Socialist Review and Jacobin Magazine
Bhaskar Sunkara, vice chair of the Democratic Socialists of America and editor of Jacobin Magazine
A Benefit for Planned Parenthood w/Tower, Tournament, & more
Time: Fri. 1/27, 8:00pm – 11:00pm
Location: Shea Stadium, 20 Meadow St., Brooklyn
[link]
A Benefit for Planned Parenthood with performances by:
TOWER
http://
TOURNAMENT
http://
FUR HELMET
http://
FOSTERCARE
https://
BAD BONE
https://www.facebook.com/
$12 donation gets you entry and a complimentary raffle ticket. Additional raffle tickets are $5. ALL PROCEEDS WILL BE DONATED TO PLANNED PARENTHOOD.
Saturday, January 28
RecoverSalmanHaidar / RecoverAllActivists
Time: Sat. 1/28, 1:00pm – 4:00pm
Location: United Nations Plaza, Manhattan
[link]
We demand Pakistan to end human rights violations against progressive social media bloggers, religious, ethnic & linguistic minorities.
What’s Next? Organizing the Resistance to Trump
Time: Sat. 1/28, 2:00pm – 4:00pm
Location: Solidarity Center NYC, 147 W. 24th St., 2nd Fl., Manhattan
[link]
What’s the next step after J20 and J21? A revolutionary socialist perspective
Join us for a discussion on building the resistance to Donald Trump’s regime.
Stay and Stand and Fight – Organizing 101
Time: Sat. 1/28, 3:00pm – 5:30pm
Location: 449 Troutman St., Brooklyn
[link]
From the day we learned that Trump would be tweeting from the White House, all of us have been trying to find the best way to plug in and resist the impending attack on our communities and our democracy. Join us on January 28 for an introduction to organizing and tips for getting involved at all levels of engagement, from calling your congressman or attending a protest to reaching out and recruiting your neighbors and friends.
PLEASE BE SURE TO RSVP SO WE CAN GET A HEADCOUNT:
In solidarity,
Michele
Socialists in the City: Lessons from the RPA
Time: Sat. 1/28, 3:00pm – 5:00pm
Location: Starr Bar, 214 Starr St., Brooklyn
[link]
Join us for a book talk and discussion with Steve Early, author of Refinery Town: Big Oil, Big Money, and the Remaking of an American City and Nelini Stamp from the Working Families Party to discuss how the Left can build grassroots coalitions to win elections, shape left-wing policy, and build living local alternatives to Trump’s agenda.
In Refinery Town, Early traces the birth and growth of the Richmond Progressive Alliance as it came to challenge the Chevron Corporation, the city’s largest private employer, and its iron grip on the city’s politics. In 2016, the RPA won a majority on the city council, along with rent control and just cause for eviction in a bitter fight with the city’s realtor groups. Their struggle to build a winning electoral coalition, rooted in social movements and unafraid to challenge the city’s corporate interests, holds valuable lessons for socialists trying to do the same in New York City.
Co-sponsored by the Democratic Socialists of America, Working Families Party, and New Politics magazine.
Ginger IRL
Time: Sat. 1/28, 3:00pm – 10:00pm
Location: Theodore:Art, 56 Bogart St., Brooklyn
[link]
Ginger has existed as an online-only zine, but now is your chance to circulate IRL! Join us at Theodore:Art (56 Bogart St in Bushwick) to organize, strategize, share resources, and celebrate the release of Issue #7 and limited run print editions.
ALL ARE WELCOME.
Schedule of events:
3 Martha Wilson
3-5 Activism Teach-in
Discuss the inauguration weekend protests, connect and share ideas about resistance.
5-7 Resource Skillshare
Briefly share what kind of work you make and tools that help you accomplish it, whether that’s technical resources, materials, funding sources, etc.
7-8:30 Panel: Friendship, Social Activism, and Creative Practice. Orit Gat, Jessica Lynne, Rebecca Pauline Jampol, and Jasmine Wahi will discuss how social groups impact artistic and activist practice, production, and exhibition.
8:30 PARTY (Pizza by Archie’s)
Performances and readings by Martha Wilson, Gracie Bialecki, Andy Monk and others throughout the course of the day; exact times TBA.
Ginger maps networks of creative people, where each contributor is referred by an editor or contributor from a previous issue. We are a feminist publication committed to supporting the work of self-identified women and non-binary individuals and strive to share the experiences and distinctive voices of those who identify as such. We’ve produced six issues so far, and the seventh will be released in conjunction with this event.
The Anthropocentric West: A Lakota Perspective
Time: Sat. 1/28, 6:00pm – 9:00pm
Location: Golden Drum, 97 Green St., #G1, Brooklyn
[link]
We are honored to be hosting an evening concert of cedar flute and spoken word with Tiokasin Ghosthorse, a member of the Cheyenne River Lakota Nation of South Dakota. He has been a major figure in preserving and reviving the cedar wood flute tradition and has combined “spoken word” and music in performances since childhood. Tiokasin also has a long history with indigenous activism and advocacy. An international speaker on Peace, Indigenous and Mother Earth perspectives, he recently was awarded Staten Island’s Peacemaker Award for 2013. His words of Indigenous insight and global concern are offered though the experience of “one Lakota living in one world”.
Cost: $25
Vegan meal available: $10
To Register:
http://www.goldendrum.org/
Fighting Fascism: Remembering the Abraham Lincoln Brigade
Time: Sat. 1/28, 6:00pm – 9:00pm
Location: Mayday Space, 176 St. Nicholas Ave., Brooklyn
[link]
A moment to reflect on a fight against fascism that captured the world’s imagination.
Let’s remember the thousands of Americans who traveled to Spain to fight fascism with other volunteers from around the world. Please come to think about how we can support and protect our local Left institutions, and consider how we can use culture to build a more beautiful, unstoppable resistance.
With James Fernandez from the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives, folks from the Mayday Space collective, and other rad movement spaces to be announced
Stick around for festive snacks!
Colonial Crime Scenes
Time: Sat. 1/28, 7:30pm – 10:00pm
Location: UnionDocs, 322 Union Ave., Brooklyn
[link]
AEQUADOR
Laura Huertas Millán, Colombia, 2011, 19 min
A journey upstream the Amazon River where Modernist constructions have been abandoned like the memories of an engulfed civilization of the future. Aequador is a science-fiction documentary evoking the colonization of nature, former utopias in Latin American forests, and their cohabitation with the present.
THIS UNWIELDY OBJECT
Anna Zett, Germany / USA, 47 min
In the trans-genre film This Unwieldy Object dig sites become crime scenes, and fossils turn into characters, determined to play a main part in the violent history of the American Frontier. You follow the protagonist on a road trip into the dusty heart of the USA, where fossil traders, sculptors and scientists are trying to reconstruct the plot of natural history, the plot of progress. The story ends in the middle.
JOURNEY TO A LAND OTHERWISE KNOWN
Laura Huertas Millán, Colombia, 2011, 23 min
In a film, meeting a strange tribe often starts with the plunging view from a building necessary to the journey. The architecture of Jean-Pierre Secq dubbed the noise of the waves washes over us in this way. However, to open it, the construction was massive and still, unfolding the three concrete wings of this equatorial greenhouse in Lille. This essay on the conquest of America assumes its own contradiction, underlined by a montage of texts by colonisers: Bernal Diaz del Castillo, Hans Staden, Jean de Léry, Charles de la Condamine and the use of costumes and masks inspired by Brazilian modernism. The discovery of a new world conducted in slow motion listening to the minutes of an unlikely trial of the invaders. The most restrained of movements, surplus, to make the most of rediscovering the New World.
Planned Parenthood Benefit w/Sadist, Murderer, Exit Order, and more
Time: Sat. 1/28, 9:00pm
Location: Silent Barn, 603 Bushwick Ave., Brooklyn
[link]
Join us for a benefit for Planned Parenthood/
SADIST (Boston)
MURDERER
EXIT ORDER (Boston)
NANDAS
SUBVERSIVE RITE
$10-15
January 28
8pm
All Ages
Sunday, January 29
Mutual Aid Jail Support
Time: Sun. 1/29, 11:00am – 2:00pm
Location: 100 Centre St., Manhattan
[link]
None of us are free unless all of us are free. Come out and help us build a strong community that can overcome the oppression of the state!
In the spirit of mutual aid we will provide jail support for all those being released from the state’s cages. Bring food, water, coffee and cigarets as well as flyers and other propaganda!
All Prisoners are Political.
Women’s March Postcard Event
Time: Sun. 1/29, 1:00pm – 5:00pm
Location: Hudson Guild, 441 W. 26th St., Manhattan
[link]
We’ve been called upon for 10 Actions / 100 Days to voice our thoughts, opinions, feelings and our dissent.
Let’s get together, bring snacks and art supplies, and tell our representatives that our morals aren’t going anywhere. Let’s celebrate FACTUAL news. Let’s tell our “president” and all elected officials that we are ALL watching their next moves.
ADMISSION: 5+ US POSTAGE STAMPS
Sign up and more information here: https://docs.google.com/
Come for all or part of the time.
Bring your friends! Bring your partners! Bring your babies!
International Trans Prison Solidarity
Time: Sun. 1/29, 2:00pm – 4:00pm
Location: Bluestockings Bookstore, 172 Allen St., Manhattan
[link]
January 22nd is #InternationalTransPrisone
Jan 22, 2017 marks the second annual international Trans Prisoner Day of Action and Solidarity. If you are on the front lines, doing this work every day, then Jan 22 is a day to celebrate and honor your actions. For everyone else, this is a day to collaborate, be an accomplice not an ally, to prioritize, act, protest, resist, raise awareness, and reach out to trans prisoners, forging new relationships and dismantling the isolation of prison. We encourage you to host a letter writing night reaching out to trans prisoners, hold vigils for those in our communities who have been taken by State violence, to plan an event, organize speakers, screen films, invite presentations, and give workshops to spread the word on the experience of trans prisoners, share knowledge, and build strategies of resistance. Have dance parties and raise funds for people and groups already doing amazing work. Take action. Let’s join together and show our conviction in supporting each other and ending prisons once and for all.
Sign-making Party at Berg’n!
Time: Sun. 1/29, 4:00pm – 7:00pm
Location: Berg’n, 899 Bergen St., Brooklyn
[link]
Sign-making party for this Tuesday’s “What the f*ck, Chuck?” rally! Come with ideas about what you want to tell/ask Chuck Schumer. We will have some supplies available, but extra posterboard, cardboard, markers, poster rolls, etc, would be super duper appreciated. (Berg’n does not allow glitter because it’s too hard to clean). Kids very very welcome.
Let’s also use this time together to think up some great chants!
Join 35 Mujeres NYC to Celebrate Oscar López Rivera’s Release
Time: Sun. 1/29, 4:00pm – 4:35pm
Location: Times Square Plaza, Broadway and 44th St., Manhattan
[link]
35 Mujeres NYC will be returning to Times Square Plaza on Sunday, January 29th to celebrate the upcoming release of Puerto Rican political prisoner Oscar López Rivera. We invite musicians and community allies from the tri-state area to join us on this special occasion.
On January 17, 2017 President Barack Obama commuted Oscar’s sentence and scheduled a release date of May 17, 2017. The historic victory is due to the persistent efforts of Oscar’s family and legal team, and was fueled by the passion of tens of thousands who campaigned in the streets.
PPA Queens Defense Committee Meeting: Post-J20/J21 Next Tasks
Time: Sun. 1/29, 6:00pm – 8:00pm
Location: Astoria, Queens
[link]
J20 and J21 actions have passed by this time, and we will plan our next steps and upcoming activities for February, the first full month of our continued resistance and fight against Fascism since the trump inauguration. We will continue to support ongoing local campaigns in Queens as they develop. More details to come…
What is PPA?
People Power Assembly
PPA is organizing Community Defense Committees to respond to the upsurge of white supremacist, homophobic and anti-immigrant violence around the country. Groups in North Brooklyn, South Brooklyn, and Queens are already meeting or planning to meet on their own outside our big Wednesday meetings.
***For security, meeting address will be released to confirmed attendees only***
Post-March Postcard Party
Time: Sun. 1/29, 7:00pm – 9:00pm
Location: Community Bookstore, 143 7th Ave., Brooklyn
[link]
Keep up the momentum of the march! Drop by Community Bookstore this Sunday to write a few postcards to your elected officials, talk to your neighbors, and plot next steps. We’ll supply postcards, wine and snacks.
For more information, contact stephanie@communitybooksto
Monday, January 30
Stop DeVos Office Visit
Time: Mon. 1/30, 4:15pm – 5:30pm
Location: Office of Sen. Chuck Schumer, 780 3rd Ave., Manhattan
[link]
Parents, children and others who care about public education, please join us in visiting our Senators’ offices to block the appointment of Betsy DeVos. We will thank Sen Gillibrand for taking a stand against DeVos and ask Sen Schumer why he won’t do the same. Kids are encouraged to bring thank you letters to Sen Gillibrand and letters to Sen Schumer asking what he will do to protect their right to quality public education. Make our voices heard!
Jews4BlackLives Training & Turnout
Time: Mon. 1/30, 5:30pm – 9:00pm
Location: Jews for Racial and Economic Justice, 330 7th Ave., Manhattan
[link]
Learn key street action security and marshalling skills to support upcoming Jews4BlackLives actions and marches, and help us build our power by mobilizing our community for the upcoming RiseUp4Ramarley Graham action on February 2nd.
ReThinking the Gentrification Fight – Strategy & Team Building
Time: Mon. 1/30, 6:30pm – 9:00pm
Location: Mayday Space, 176 St. Nicholas Ave., Brooklyn
[link]
We are a commited and growing group of community members that are completely fed up and disatisfied with the intentionally incomplete, uncomprehensive and limited false narratives *produced* to describe what is causeing Gentrification and Displacement. We intend to do something about that. We are everyday folks – NOT a funded organization.
Marshal Training! – Rise & Resist
Time: Mon. 1/30, 7:00pm – 9:00pm
Location: LGBT Community Center, 208 W. 13th St., Manhattan
[link]
Why marshal training?
Marshals build community by supporting Rise & Resist actions and empowering other activists to demonstrate. Marshals understand the planned scenario for an action and work together as a team to make actions as safe and fun as possible. Marshaling is resistance.
We don’t ask for permission to demonstrate, and we don’t ask the NYPD to “help” us demonstrate. As marshals, we protect our first amendment rights to free speech and freedom of assembly. We set up our own pickets; we decide whether or not we want to go into a “pen”; we stop traffic for our own marches. We communicate vital information with demonstrators, support leafletters, talk to bystanders, and provide a buffer between group members and the NYPD. We work to de-escalate conflict between protestors, counter-protestors, and the NYPD.
If you’re an experienced demonstrator or brand spanking new to protesting, we encourage you to come and get trained. Marshaling is a great skill to have and a great way to participate in actions.
Tuesday, January 31
Black Lives Matter Art Show
Time: Tues. 1/31, Noon – 10:00pm
Location: The Living Gallery BK, 1094 Broadway, Brooklyn
[link]
Inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement, the one day pop up Black Lives Matter Art Show features Carla Cubit’s Black Lives Matter artwork and posters, accompanied by her photographs from Black Lives Matter protests throughout the NYC area and artwork from Museum of Impact.
“Expand scope, perspective, and inspiration towards an ongoing series of future culture jams and events around this theme and time.” During Open Hours, all are encouraged to come talk about the Black Lives Matter movement and are invited to view Your Thoughts On Black Lives Matter banners and create their own posters/Black Lives Matter inspired artwork (art materials and supplies provided).
Handmade Black Lives Matter necklaces, magnets, key chains and pins will be on sale for $1 during the Opening Reception and all Open Hours 12 – 10pm.
Monthly Reading Group at Trump Tower
Time: Tues. 1/31, 6:00pm – 8:00pm
Location: Trump Tower, 725 5th Ave., Manhattan
[link]
A monhly reading group where everyone is invited to share and participate. After each reading group participants will share upcoming actios/events/protests and a reading list and event list will be shared afterwards
What the F*ck, Chuck?
Time: Tues. 1/31, 6:00pm – 8:00pm
Location: Grand Army Plaza, Brooklyn
[link]
Why does Schumer keep voting “yes” on Trump’s cabinet nominees? Mattis, Kelly, and Pompeo. WTF?!
We, a group of activists and concerned citizens, will be coming together for another rally at Schumer’s home to demand that Schumer stand firm on the remaining nominees and to rally the Democrats to stand firm.
We need them to stand strong for all the battles coming down the pike: healthcare, immigrant rights, reproductive rights, LGBTQ rights, environmental rights, supreme court, workers’ rights, etc.
We will be delivering protein bars and weights to Schumer, so he can regain his strength 🙂
Families welcome! (We’ll keep the chants family friendly, despite the name of this rally)
Women’s March: Postcard Write-In & Happy Hour
Time: Tues. 1/31, 6:00pm – 8:30pm
Location: Dream Baby, 162-164 Avenue B, Manhattan
[link]
The Women’s March was just the beginning of the resistance to the Trump administration’s anti-women, anti-immigrant, anti-science, anti-POC and anti-LGBT policies. Let’s keep the momentum from the march going, and send a message to the administration that our voices will continue to be heard!
To this end, we would like to invite you to have a drink with us and write a postcard to your senator. Tell them what policies, programs and values are important to you as a constituent.
We will have postcards, pens and stamps ready! All you have to do is show up and invite your friends!
Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) Anti-Mass Incarceration Meeting
Time: Tues. 1/31, 6:30pm – 8:30pm
Location: Community Church NY, 40 E. 35th St., Manhattan
[link]
To support SURJ’s efforts against jails, prisons, and criminalization, join the Anti-Mass Incarceration Working Group on Tuesday, January 31st, 6:30-8:30pm. We will be working to support JustLeadershipUSA’s campaign to CloseRikers as well as other campaigns to end mass incarceration across the state.
Rise & Resist Meeting
Time: Tues. 1/31, 7:00pm – 9:00pm
Location: LGBT Community Center, 208 W. 13th St., Manhattan
[link]
An agenda will be sent out via email ahead of time. If you are not yet on our email list you can sign up using this form: tinyurl.com/
And if you haven’t joined our Facebook group, please click here:
https://www.facebook.com/
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, February 1
DefundDAPL Rise Up
Time: Wed. 2/1, 3:00pm – 7:00pm
Location: 1251 6th Ave., Manhattan
[link]
Come join us as we Flood the Banks in NYC on Feb.1st
As Trump signs an executive order to push the Dakota Access Pipeline through, we must work harder than ever to put pressure on the weakest point in the system, the banks funding the project.
On Feb. 1st as part of a global day of action, with cities in Germany, France, Netherlands, Canada, and Japapn we will target one of the 3 main financiers of the project, Mizuho Bank. Mizuho Bank’s public image is vulnerable and we are working with media teams in Japan to spread our call to action there.
DefundDAPL is a movement pulling the plug on the system by having everyone pull their money from the Banks until they can show they have any sense of integrity or care for our planet and our people.
Come join us as we let Mizuho Bank know we will not be silent as they sell our future. Come gather with music, art and action to tell the Banks – Water is Life. The event will run for two hours with live music, speakers, and public art making.
Writers Resist: Queens
Time: Wed. 2/1, 6:00pm – 8:00pm
Location: Terraza 7, 4019 Gleane St., Elmhurst
[link]
Queens-based writers and artists will invoke language, music and art to re-inaugurate our love of democracy, equality, and compassion. Featured artists will respond to these times through poetry, prose, and image. Bring pen and paper – we will make time to #WriteOurDemocracy together.
Readings by:
Nadia Ahmad
Bani Amor
Christen Clifford
Reese Francis
Maria Lisella
Vikas Menon
KC Trommer
Images by Neha Gautam
Sound by Nitin Mukul
We hope you will support this grassroots neighborhood effort organized by Amy Treesa Paul, Nancy Agabian & Meera Nair. Donations will support HATE FREE ZONE, a coordinated effort by Queens organizations and others to build a community defense, where everyday individuals are called to step up as witness and defender of our neighborhoods.
Visual Resistance
Time: Wed. 2/1, 6:30pm – 8:30pm
Location: International Center of Photography, 1114 Avenue of the Americas, Manhattan
[link]
Join us for an interactive evening spent building, discussing, and viewing examples of Visual Resistance. Led by Quito Ziegler and Kristen P. Lovell of the WRRQ Collective, the Visual Resistance supports social justice movements by holding space for creative activists.
This is a free event, but please register in advance. ICP Members have access to the best seats at our public programs in our reserved members’ section.
Friends Make the Best Medicine: An Icarus Peer Support Mixer
Time: Wed. 2/1, 7:00pm – 9:00pm
Location: Bluestockings Bookstore, 172 Allen St., Manhattan
[link]
It’s 2017, we’re living through some dark and fearful times, and as we struggle to navigate this brave new world many of us are looking to our communities for some extra strength and support. Join us for our second annual Peer Support Mixer, where we will come together to meet one another and brainstorm ways to take care of each other even in extreme emotional and political crises. Folks who formed a group at the last mixer will reflect on their experiences with what has and hasn’t worked over the past year. We will share basic tools and facilitation techniques for holding an Icarus-style support meeting and distribute information about other organizations and networks in NYC that offer alternative forms of support. We will mingle and get to know each other by practicing meeting in small groups, and participants will walk away with the tools to start their own groups and hopefully some new like- minded friends who want to work together to build a thriving community support network in NYC.
*If you know of a group that offers some form of peer support that you would like us to plug at this event, please write to us at nycicarus@gmail.com.
13th: Documentary
Time: Wed. 2/1, 7:00pm – 10:00pm
Location: The Base, 1302 Myrtle Ave., Brooklyn
[link]
13th is a 2016 American documentary by director Ava DuVernay. Centered on race in the United States criminal justice system, the film is titled after the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which outlawed slavery (unless as punishment for a crime). DuVernay’s documentary argues that slavery is being effectively perpetuated through mass incarceration.
The title of Ava DuVernay’s documentary 13th refers to the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, which reads “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States.” The progression from that second qualifying clause to the horrors of mass criminalization and the sprawling American prison industry is laid out by DuVernay with bracing lucidity. With a potent mixture of archival footage and testimony from a dazzling array of activists, politicians, historians, and formerly incarcerated women and men, DuVernay creates a work of grand historical synthesis.
Thursday, February 2
Rally: Urge Schumer to Resist Trump’s Anti-Environmental Agenda
Time: Thurs. 2/2, Noon – 1:00pm
Location: Office of Sen. Chuck Schumer, 780 3rd Ave., Manhattan
[link]
President Trump is a danger to our communities and environment.
His administration of corporate cronies will protect elite interests while threatening our water, air, and food, undermining civil rights, and risking climate chaos.
On February 2, New Yorkers will rally at Senator Schumer’s offices across the state, urging him to resist Trump’s agenda!
As the nation’s top Democrat, Senator Chuck Schumer must stand strong against Trump’s catastrophic Cabinet appointments and his climate-destroying plans.
Rally for Ramarley Graham ~ Fire Haste & All NYPD Responsible
Time: Thurs. 2/2, 5:00pm – 8:00pm
Location: Foley Square, 111 Worth St., Manhattan
[link]
February 2nd, 2017 will mark 5 years since unarmed 18-year-old Ramarley Graham was killed by the NYPD in his own home, in front of his grandma and little brother. To date, NOT ONE OFFICER has been fired or held accountable. On the 5th anniversary of Ramarley’s killing, come out to rally with his family and supporters and demand NYPD Commissioner O’Neill and Mayor de Blasio FIRE all of the officers involved for misconduct and abuse.
Hegemony How-To: Book Launch & Discussion of Political Strategy
Time: Thurs. 2/2, 6:30pm – 8:30pm
Location: Avaaz Office, 27 Union Square West, 5th Fl., Manhattan
[link]
Join us for a cocktail reception and urgent conversation about social movements, political strategy, and turning the tide in the Trump era.
CNN political commentator Sally Kohn will join with grassroots organizer and author Jonathan Smucker to discuss his new book and the political landscape in the wake of the 2016 election.
Bystander Intervention Training
Time: Thurs. 2/2, 7:00pm – 9:00pm
Location: 713 Caton Ave., Brooklyn
[link]
Why this workshop?
Hate crimes are on the rise across the country, and in NYC there have been multiple incidents of harassment or aggression since elections. In times like these, it is important to know how to successfully and safely disrupt a hostile or aggressive situation you may witness, and to ensure your actions are more helpful than harmful. This introductory workshop will also explore the role of race and gender during an intervention, and will help provide a space for participants to evaluate their role in high risk situations.
More about bystander intervention:
Bystander intervention involves a series of tools that can be consciously employed to defuse volatile situations. In this interactive workshop, bystander intervention and de-escalation will be presented in the context of harm reduction and self-defense. Participants will identify verbal and non-verbal techniques and tactics to de-escalate conflict. Participants will also learn the four Ds of bystander intervention – direct, distract, delay, and delegate. This is an introductory level workshop intended to be a survey of strategies and tactics.
Please note: this workshop is open to all, but attendance is capped to ensure the session remains safe and interactive. You *must* RSVP via EventBrite in order to attend. Please note, additional sessions will be scheduled throughout the city at least weekly for the next few months. Contact kayla@arabamericanny.org if you would like to arrange a training in your neighborhood, or for any questions you may have.
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Illustration by Yvonne Martinez.