Noam Chomsky Panel Discussion Feb. 8

NOAM CHOMSKY PRESENTS PANEL ON TERRORISM AND FILM ON
THE CASE OF THE
CUBAN 5

WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 8, 2006 7:00 PM MIT ROOM
10-250

> According to Professor Noam Chomsky in his 2000
> Book, "Rogue States", "Cuba and the United States
> have quite a curious-in fact, unique- status in
> international relations. There is no similar case of
> such a sustained assault by one power against
> another-in this case the greatest superpower against
> a poor, Third World country-for 40 years of terror
> and economic warfare."
>
> Professor Chomsky will be presenting a showing of
> the documentary film: "Mission Against Terror" and
> chairing a panel discussion with Bernie Dwyer,
> Journalist and Filmmaker and Father Geoffrey
> Bottoms, peace and justice activist. Fr. Bottoms is
> a Catholic Priest in the UK with a wide experience
> of work on peace and justice issues. He is
> President of the UK Free the Cuban five Committee in
> which capacity he regularly visits two of the Cuban
> political prisoners in California and Texas and
> their families in Havana. Bernie Dwyer lives and
> works in Havana as a journalist with Radio Havana.
> She has co directed the documentary: "Mission
> Against Terror" with Cuban TV director Roberto Ruiz
> Rebo.
>
> The film follows the case of the five Cubans
> currently serving long sentences in U.S. jails for
> trying to prevent terrorist attacks on Cuba. It also
> depicts the long history of violence against
> innocent Cubans by right-wing groups based in Miami
that are supported by the U.S. government. On August
9, the Cuban 5 won the right to a new trial in the
11th Circuit Court of Appeals. Join us for a
discussion of the decision of the 11th Circuit Court
to rehear the case during the week of February 13th.

Wednesday: February 8, 2006 7-10PM at MIT Room
10-250

Sponsored by The July 26th Coalition of Boston and
The Thistle to support the Free The Five Committee

Globe Article on Alternative Hip-Hop

There was a pretty cool article in today's Globe (go figure) about Essence magazine and the Berklee School of Music working together to promote socially conscious hip-hop among youth. The article features quotes from Project: Think Different director Scherazade King.

Aiming for an alternative hip-hop:
Berklee joins the movement encouraging new directions for rap

"Berklee College of Music, in an effort to influence the direction of rap, is joining Essence magazine's Take Back the Music campaign, meant in part to encourage young artists who offer alternatives to the violent and sex-laden lyrics found in some popular hip-hop music.

The school says the movement fits with its goal of bolstering the hip-hop curriculum, which already includes classes on using turntables and, starting this semester, will feature a class that, in part, teaches students to think critically about the social impact of black music. The college will also screen and provide summer program scholarships to three teenagers who win Essence's hip-hop songwriting contest."

…

"On Saturday, Berklee is cosponsoring a ''hip-hop empowerment summit" and freestyle showcase for young adults. The Roxbury event is part of an educational effort to encourage young artists and remind them to think critically about their art."

Read the whole article here

Internet Freedom Under Fire: Act Now

(via Free Press)

"The CEOs of the largest cable and telephone companies are hatching a scheme that would give them control over what content you can view and what services you can use on the Internet.

Their plan would do away with the principle of 'network neutrality' and shut down the open roadway we've come to expect on the Internet.

If big media companies are allowed to limit the fastest services to those who can pay their toll, upstart Web services, consumers, bloggers and new media makers alike all could be cut off from digital revolution.

When large media companies are left to their own devices, the result is always content and services that serve no one but themselves. An open and independent Internet is the antidote to these predatory practices.

Join tens of thousands of activists who are standing up to protect our Net freedoms. Tell the CEO's to stop treating our Internet as their fiefdom." – Free Press

Click Here To Sign The Letter–And Add Your Own Message To Send (It Means More)!

Who Wants to Hear Our Story?

(via Chuck Sherwood)

Communications and Contemporary Native Americans:
A Media Symposium
March 2-3, 2006 in Washington, DC

"The absence of U.S. media coverage about Native American communities means that Indian Country today is a mystery to most people. While there are rampant stereotypes, realities and cultural strengths remain hidden.

Come participate in a conversation about Indian Country with the goal of engaging more people with issues affecting indigenous peoples in the United States." – Friends Committee on National Legislation.

Native American Struggle to Obtain a Real Hearing

"Who wants to hear our stories?
How can we best explain or convey our circumstances to others?
Can we forthrightly discuss current controversies?"

Event Endorsements

"We have criminally little to do with Indian Country…Our coverage is wildly inadequate." ~ Steve Coll, The Washington Post

For more information visit The Native American Media Symposium.

Peoples Video Network

"PVN is pleased to announce the launch of Peoples Video TV. We now have a wide selection of video podcasts available on line, covering a wide variety of topics, including Ramsey Clark speaking on the war in Iraq, coverage of the TWU strike and support rallies, community organizing in reponse to Katrina, and many more.

We are a group of media activists who video and audio podcast, and produce and edit dvd's and videos about issues the corporate media will not touch. In our archives are hundreds of dvd's and videos documenting the struggle. (To see a complete list of videos available for order, go to http://www.peoplesvideo.org/order.htm) We have sent correspondents to the Lacondon Jungle, Haiti, Russia, Cuba, Korea, New Orleans, Puerto Rico, South Africa, and Iraq. Our goal is to break the information blockade of big business media." – Peoples Video Network

Grassroots Organizing around Technology

(via Nolan Bowie)

READY, SET, GO! The UMI Forum on Information and Urban Markets

SESSION D1

Hip Hop: Bridging the Digital Divide
Learn how a local community group and the Africana Studies Department, University of Toledo is using rap and hip-hop to promote computer literacy, and how cultural production can be the vehicle for bridging the digital divide and the platform for stimulating grass roots entrepreneurial spirit.

SESSION D2

Using Indicators to Organize Neighborhood Change: Charlotte, NC Neighborhood Quality of Life Study
In this session, participants will learn about data that is potentially available at their local level and how to leverage that information to provide a comprehensive picture of a neighborhood at a custom geographic level. The trainers will provide their insights from over a decade of experience on how local governments, departments, and agencies can work with local non-profits to use a neighborhood quality of life study as an organizing and analysis tool to improve the conditions of a neighborhood.

WOMEN, ACTION & the MEDIA 2006

March 31-April 2, 2006
Stata Center @ MIT, Cambridge, MA

Presented by the Center for New Words
Co-sponsored by the MIT Program in Women's Studies

Join us at WAM! At our annual conference, now in its third year, progressive journalists, authors, activists, bloggers, students, and fed-up TV-viewers come together. Here, we share skills, trade information, exchange strategies, and inform and inspire one another.

Together, we'll make noise and make change.

Featuring Speakers and Panelists include:

Jen Angel
Co-Founder and Publisher of Clamor Magazine

Lakshmi Chaudhry
Senior Editor, In These Times, and author of the AlterNet blog, The L-Files

Liza Featherstone
Author of Selling Women Short: The Landmark Battle for Workers' Rights at Wal-Mart

Daisy Hernandez
Senior Writer, ColorLines

Julie Hollar
Communications Director, Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR)

Betsy Leondar-Wright
Communications Director, United for a Fair Economy, and
author of ClassMatters: Cross-Class Alliance Building for Middle-Class Activists

Betsy Reed
Senior Editor, The Nation

And More!

Online registration open now.

An “On-Demand” Internet Future

Referencing David Isenberg's recent post "Internet: Freedom or Privilege", Head Lemur provides this image of what our Internet future might look like in an age without Network Neutrality laws.

Visit the new Free Press campaign "Dead End For The Internet" to learn more and Take Action to keep Big Telephone and Cable companies' hands off the Internet.

ACME 2006 Summit Call For Proposals

(From ACME Board President Rob Wiliams)

Our 2006 Summit organizers are looking for "hands on" media education proposals for workshops to be offered at our October 6-8, 2006 "Facing the Crisis: Media Education for Reform, Justice, and Democracy" Summit in beautiful Burlington, Vermont.

Download the simple and easy-to-complete RFP form here:

Students, download your own "ACME 2006 Youth Summit" RFP form here:

Deadline for all RFP proposal submission is March 31.

Invited speakers to the ACME 2006 Summit include George Clooney, Amy Goodman, Casey Murrow, Diane Wilson, Robert McChesney, Bill McKibben, Susan Douglas, Bob McCannon, Jean Kilbourne, Hannah Sassman, Anthony Riddle, Pete Tridesh, Sut Jhally, Josh Silver, Kristina Borjesson, John Stauber, Juliet Schorr, Lauren Glenn-Davitian, David Mindich, and U.S. Senate candidate Bernie Sanders.

And please support our growing roster of ACME 2006 Summit co-sponsors:

Champlain College at http://www.champlain.edu
Chelsea Green Press at http://www.chelseagreenpress.com
TV-B-Gone at http://www.tvbgone.com
MemeFILMS at http://www.memefilms.org

(Interested in co-sponsoring the Summit? Contact ACME board president Rob Williams at robw@acmecoalition.org)

Hotel and registration information to be posted in early February.

Isen.com: “Internet: Freedom or Privilege?”

Berkman Center for Internet & Society Fellow David Isenberg's post "Internet: Freedom or Privilege?" is causing quite a stir in the blogosphere. I received the post through the Benton Foundation's daily Communications-related Headlines e-list today.

I saw the post up yesterday, but today there's a great conversation going on there with people like Free Press Campaign Director Timothy Karr and others.

We're fortunate that David will be joining us on Monday to help us understand the issue of Network Neutrality and what all the fuss is about.