encuentro 5

April 20, 2010, 7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. Join organizers and activists in Cochabamba, Bolivia and New York City for a live interactive conversation as part of the Climate and Mother Earth Rights conference (hosted by the people of Bolivia).  This global interaction is part of the Cochabamba Expanded conversation organized by May First/People Link.

April 25th to April 30th, 2010 (At encuentro 5, Lucy Parson's Center, & Haley House) Leading up to the MayDay 2010 rallies and marches, join us across the city for six days of movies and discussion on the topics of workers' struggle, immigration, history, political analysis, and alternatives. Featuring an exhibit of Justice Artwork at encuentro 5 from local worker-run cooperative Red Sun Press!

Festival Schedule (read more):

Sunday, July 4th, 2010, 12-noon to 4 pm Join us as we build a regular theater group that meets every odd Sunday. Always welcoming new spect-actors!

Background:

Fear, isolation, alienation, privilege, racism, sexism, authoritarianism and other forms of oppression plague our world outside of as well as within our social movements. However, often times, they are as much delivered in the words we use when we attempt to dialogue about them, as in the dichotomy of presenter vs audience that tries to carry forth the discussion.

Theater of the Oppressed, developed by Augusto Boal in Brazil, attempts to dissolve the verbal barrier and the actor/spectator division by engaging every community participant as a protagonist in identifying and dismantling these power dynamics in society-at-large as well as interpersonally.

Friday, April 9, 2010, 12 noon - 2:00 p.m. South Africa now has its 4th post-Apartheid president... But the country is more unequal than ever! It is also under consideration for a World Bank loan to “modernize” it ailing electrical power infrastructure. Revamping its grid would normally be a rare opportunity to set a new course, redress inequalities and implement a green strategy. But activist-intellectual Patrick Bond warns that the opposite seems likely with the Bank loan. It will strengthen the private sector and increase the gap between rich and poor: urban residents prepay their electricity at 4 times the discounted rate available to large corporations. Further, the proposed loan will finance the world's 4th largest coal-fired plant—just the opposite of what is required by our climate crisis—and raise rates on working people. (see attachment for civil society's reaction).

Saturday, April 3, 2010, 6:30 p.m. Labor organizers, musicians and friends come together for a night of music and activism to support a local youth contingent to the 2010 Labor Notes Conference.

6:30-7:30: Labor Notes Co-Director, Mark Brenner about the conference and this year’s themes: Defending Jobs and the Public Sector, Holding the Line, Organizing and Building our Unions, Examining Labor’s Political Agenda, the Next Generation, Making Sense of Our Movements, and Connecting Our Fights

Music 7:30-11pm: Pat Keaney, Jake & The Infernal Machine, and Labor Power

Let us know you're coming on Facebook and invite your friends...

Sunday, April 4th, 2010, 12:00 pm to 4:00 pm Fear, isolation, alienation, privilege, racism, sexism, authoritarianism and other forms of oppression plague our world outside of as well as within our social movements. However, often times, they are as much delivered in the words we use when we attempt to dialogue about them, as in the dichotomy of presenter vs audience that tries to carry forth the discussion.

Join us for an introductory workshop of Theater of the Oppressed, developed by Augusto Boal in Brazil, that attempts to dissolve the verbal barrier and the actor/spectator division by engaging every community participant as a protagonist in identifying and dismantling these power dynamics in society-at-large as well as interpersonally.

Wednesday, March 31, 2010, 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm The continued wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the conflict in the Middle East and the bloated Pentagon budget are sucking billions of tax dollars that should be spent on health, education, jobs and the environment. Yet under Obama, the peace movement has lost its steam. What strategies can be effective to rebuild the peace movement? Where can we find new allies? What are the most effective tactics we can use?

Saturday, March 27, 2010, 7:00 p.m. Join us for a talk and photo presentation with economist, Garry (ommiting last name for security purposes), who has just returned from Gaza. Dinner catered by MESA sin fronteras.*

What is the current political and socio-economic situation in the Gaza Strip? What were the transformative points in the conflict's history? And what is the role of international aid agencies? Garry will be sharing his thoughts and experiences with a photo presentation in an informal Q&A setting open to discussion.

For the past three years, Garry has been working as an economist on poverty-, vulnerability-, and labor-market- related issues in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in various organizations. Recently he completed his first assignment in the Gaza Strip for the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. More generally, as a social scientist, Garry studies dynamic complexity and change in social systems.

Saturday, February 20th, 2010, 7:00 p.m. Join us for a fundraising night with live music, discussion, and Haitian food in solidarity with our Haitian sisters and brothers in their struggle and survival.

Guest Speaker: Dumas, a local Haitian artist and organizer, who has just returned from Haiti, will share his firsthand experiences and his thoughts on Haiti's struggle with economic imperialism.

Featuring: Op from the Foundation Movement, Sergio Reyes, Brian O'Connell & other local artists.

Suggested Entry Donation: $5 to $15 + donations for food and beverages.
Money will go to Haitian grassroots organization: Batay Ouvriye.

Saturday, February 13, 2010, 6:00 p.m. Join Victor Wallis and Sylvia Escarcega in a discussion concerning the potential political and ethical contributions of indigenous thought and social movements to building alternatives to capitalism. Victor's paper, "Beyond 'Green Capitalism'" recently published in Monthly Review (61:9, February, 2010) provides a starting point for the conversation. In it, he notes the connection between the present economic recession, the crisis-ridden character of capitalist economy and the ecological limits to the capitalist growth model. But he goes on to observe that most of the world is still caught up in capitalist institutions and does not yet recognize the link between socialism and ecologically appropriate responses. He finds hope and examples in the Global South, insurgent socialism and indigenous resistance.

Friday, March 5, 2010, 8:00 p.m. [Updated flyers attached] Join  Paul Baker Hernandez (from Nicaragua), Sergio Reyes, Dave Scandurra & The Excited People, The Grass Gypsys.

Paul Baker Hernandez - Eco-Minstrel performing Songs of Loveliness and Courage

Paul has invaded Queen Elizabeth II’s private castle heading a posse of bishops and other church leaders protesting nuclear weapons, confronted popes with protest songs for global justice, joined Hollywood stars on Central American picket lines in Los Angeles, and helped fight off death squads attacking Salvadoran exiles right in the heart of the USA.

He now lives in Nicaragua where he has founded Echoes of Silence, a network of “artists with broken nails” who support community health, education, ecological and cultural projects, and with whom he continues to write irreverent songs about cell phones, dictators, Starbucks, and more.

Thursday, February 4, 2010, 7:00 p.m. In the face of a deepening economic crisis and continuing brutal raids on immigrant workers and their communities, this event brings together union workers, immigrant organizers and community activists. It is part of the campaign by the Boston May Day Committee and its affiliates to unite workers across sector and borders. Join the conversation and help build toward May Day 2010!

Visit BostonMayDay.org for more information 

Thursday, January 28, 2010, 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. While Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez continues to capture headlines, a much larger story involving a wider cast of characters has gone largely ignored. Venezuela Speaks!, published by PM Press, is a collection of interviews with activists and participants from across Venezuela’s social movements. From community media to land reform, cooperatives to communal councils, from the labor movement to the Afro-Venezuelan network, Venezuela Speaks! sheds light on the complex realities within the Bolivarian Revolution.

An Evening Celebrating the e5 Community

Saturday, January 16, 2010, 6:00 p.m. This gathering will also be an informal sending off event for local journalist and songwriter, Simon Rios, as he makes his voyage to India.

* New community club/coffeehouse at e5 invites you for a warm gathering! *

Sunday, December 27, 7:00 p.m. Good food, music, and dynamite documentaries from around the rebellious globe. We will explore some 20th century US propaganda through cartoons and magazine advertisements and counter-images of resistance art of the time. (It was also rumoured there will be a mini chess tournament...) Relax, enjoy the evening, make new connections for the new year, and support MESA's last stretch before the opening in January. This gathering will be a mini-fundraiser, with dinner plates at a sliding scale donation of $7 - $12 and drinks at $2-$3. Come join us!  Last time at MESA's... (read more).