encuentro 5

Saturday, January 9, 2016, 7:00 p.m. The year 2015 has been an unforgettable and particularly difficult one re human rights violations, racist attacks on people of color and immigrants to name but a few of the oppressive actions in violation of our human rights to exist on this planet. January marks the Birthday of Martin Luther King whose life was taken while in the struggle against racism and war. He was one of several warriors who led movements during the "Civil Rights Era" who fought for human rights for all workers, immigrants, people of color, women and children and LGBT. There are many warriors too numerous to list here. Please join us at encuentro5 to commemorate fallen heroines and heroes of the struggle for human rights and celebrate our affirmation to continue the building and strengthening of human rights and anti oppression movements to victory in 2016! Bring your music, poetry, song and stories to share!  RSVP on Facebook or just show up! Presenters and performers will through their artistic talent bring us on their journey through pieces of history and liberation struggles! $5 suggested donation but no one turned away.

Saturday, December 12, 2015, 7:00 p.m. Join us for a night of folklore, storytelling, art y amor, the poetry of struggle bringing histories to life, and life to our circles of song. The tradition of "Dia de los Muertos" originated in Mexico and is observed in Central and South Americas. We will expand the program to include martyrs who gave their lives in struggles for liberation and freedom of oppressed peoples. Please bring items such as photos, stories, poems,songs, music, favorite foods etc. to honor the memories of your loved ones who have passed on.

Please feel free to bring your own stories, songs, poems, or artwork to share. RSVP on Facebook or just show up!

Presenters and performers will through their artistic talent bring us on their journey through pieces of history and liberation struggles!

$5 suggested donation but no one turned away.

Anti-Capitalist Climate Justice Meetup

Saturday, December 12, 2015, 5:00 - 6:50 p.m.

Meet/greet/strategy session for anti-capitalist movement-building and solidarity organizing around local struggles for climate justice, (including environmental justice, racial justice, indigenous justice, economic justice, immigration justice, food justice, transit justice, and more) and a Just Transition away from the exploitative fossil fuel based economy in the Boston area.  Capitalism is destroying  our world and our city.  How do we destroy capitalism?LET’S MEET!  LET’S ORGANIZE!  LET’S CHANGE THE SYSTEM!

How Afro-Venezuelan towns are creating communal networks for production and distribution to face the economic war

76 Atherton Street Jamaica Plain, MA 02130

Thursday, December 3, 2015, 6:00 p.m. Jesus "Chucho" Garcia, born in Barlovento, Venezuela, intellectual, diplomat, writer and activist for the rights of people of African descent, studied education at the Central University of Venezuela, where he founded the Center for African American Studies "Miguel Acosta Saigne". He has conducted several studies and ethnological research on African diaspora. As Afro-Venezuelan activist has been co-founder and organizer of many both urban and rural community organizations and longtime advocate against racism and discrimination. He has written more than twenty books on the African diaspora and Afro-Venezuelan affairs. Mr. Garcia is currently the Consul General of Venezuela in New Orleans. This event is organized by Encuentro Diaspora Afro In collaboration with the Consulate General of Venezuela in Boston

Saturday, November 14, 2015, 7:00 p.m. Join us for a night of folklore, storytelling, art y amor, the poetry of struggle bringing histories to life, and life to our circles of song. The tradition of "Dia de los Muertos" originated in Mexico and is observed in Central and South Americas. We will expand the program to include martyrs who gave their lives in struggles for liberation and freedom of oppressed peoples. Please bring items such as photos, stories, poems,songs, music, favorite foods etc. to honor the memories of your loved ones who have passed on.

Please feel free to bring your own stories, songs, poems, or artwork to share. RSVP on Facebook or just show up!

Presenters and performers will through their artistic talent bring us on their journey through pieces of history and liberation struggles!

$5 suggested donation but no one turned away.

Thursday, October 29, 2015, 7:30 p.m. Peter Elvis Nataren will share the recent experience of his community, Santa Marta El Salvador. Hear about their struggle to deal with the issue and have justice served. Join in the discussion. Who are the intellectual authors of the crimes? Whose interests do they serve? What is the role of the US Government? What should be our response as US citizens? Peter was was born in 1986 in a Refugee Camp in Honduras where his family had fled during the Civil War in El Salvador. He is an active member of the group of Memoria Historica which is documenting the history of his community during the war and looking to bring restorative justice to the families of the victims of the many massacres that took place. This event is organized and sponsored by Doctors for Global Health and the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador.

Which Road for the 21st Century?

Wednesday, November 4, 2015, 7:00 p.m. From 2010 to the present, austerity measures by the Troika and Greek governments resulted in a humanitarian crisis with serious consequences for the Greek people. Hundreds of strikes and struggles contributed significantly to the demand for political change and resulted to a great extent in the election of the left government of SYRIZA in January 2015. However, a new memorandum by the government of SYRIZA brings more austerity measures for Greeks. Dora’s presentation will attempt to place and respond to some difficult questions for the 21st century by analyzing the political situation in Greece, reflecting on SYRIZA’s experience and the one of the movements. Dimitra-Dora Teloni is a Lecturer (Scientific Associate) in Technological Educational Institute (TEI) of Athens, Social Work Department. She is also member of Greek Social Work Action Network (SWAN) with projects in poor neighborhoods in Patras; she volunteers in the Social Medical Center of Solidarity in Patras, Greece.

Information * Awareness * Action

Monday October 12, 2015, 6:00 - 8:30 p. m. The Rohingya of Myanmar, an ethnic minority has been relentless persecuted and forced to flee their homeland. They have been termed: "the Most Persecuted Minority in the World” (United Nations), more ominously, "Most Likely to Go Extinct" (Medicins Sans Frontieres).

Program:

• A Short Documentary Screening
• Voices Of The Rohingya: Local Rohingya community members will share their experience
• Panel Discussion: Rohingya members, Boston Center for Refugee Health and Human Rights (BCRHHR) and other speakers with personal experience as refugees or working with refugees.

For more information, visit the Sponsor, The Burma Task Force. Co-Sponsors: Mass. Global Action & the Islamic Council of New England

Tuesday, October 13th 6:30 p.m.. “When a 21st century coup d'état ousts the only president they ever believed in, these farmers take over the plantations. With no plans to ever give them back.” After being shown at festivals worldwide, this groundbreaking documentary on the resistance to the 2009 Honduran coup d'état and aftermath is coming to Boston. Filmmaker Jesse Freeston will be with us to lead a post-film discussion. View the trailer here. For more reviews see: resistenciathefilm.com/reviews. FREE ADMISSION

Saturday, October 10, 2015, 7:00 p.m. Join us for a night of folklore, storytelling, art y amor, the poetry of struggle bringing histories to life, and life to our circles of song. Please feel free to bring your own stories, songs, poems, or artwork to share. RSVP on Facebook or just show up!

Presenters and performers will through their artistic talent bring us on their journey through pieces of history and liberation struggles!

Included on the evening's program are members/performers from Puerto Rico, Haiti, Kenya and  India and more.  $5 suggested donation but no one turned away.

Join Us!

Saturday, October 3, 2015, 4:00 - 6:00 p.m. Violeta Parra was a singer, composer, musical researcher, who left an historical imprint in the social fabric of Chilean society. Violeta was born on October 4, 1917 and ended her own life February 5, 1967.

Nancy Torrealba has sung and promoted Violeta's music in Chile for many years, of which, performing under the repressive eye of the military dictatorship (1973-1989) was a risky proposition. Nancy will delight us with music of Violeta as we commemorate her birthday. Towards the end, however, Nancy will give us a sample of her own compositions. Nancy's engagement in the U.S. is very limited so this is an opportunity that should not be missed

Tuesday, September 8, 2015, 7:00 - 9:30 p.m. Almost a year ago, 3,000 activists from around the country flooded Wall Street. It’s been nearly a year since we burst the carbon bubble on the horns of the bull, unfurled our 300 foot banner, and declared that Capitalism is Climate Chaos.

You don’t have to look very far for proof that direct action works: Black Lives Matter storming streets and conventional halls, fast food workers walking out on the job for $15 an hour, arctic defenders dangling from the St. John’s bridge - we see again and again that when we express our outrage in bold ways, the world starts to listen.

This fall, activists from across North America will coordinate a wave of actions against the root causes of climate chaos: colonialism, capitalism, patriarchy. In more than a dozen cities, community groups from across movement spaces are gathering to vision what the flood will look like in their city. (Learn more at floodthesystem.net)

What could Flood the System look like in Boston?

Organizers from Flood the System invite you to join us for a night of storytelling and vision. We’ll watch an allegorical slideshow about the Flood made collectively by activist-artists from Brooklyn, Pittsburg, North Carolina, Vermont and Maine. Then we’ll imagine what this might look like in our own city. Bring your people, your open ears and your dreaming cap.

See you there!

Featuring Photographs by Mario Quiroz

Wednesday, September 23, 2015, 6:30 p.m. - This is the opening reception for an exhibit portraying the work of Boston's street vendors. More details to follow.

Wednesday, September 2, 2015, 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. Come meet Juslene Tyresias, a dynamic leader of the Peasant Movement of Papaye and the Kat Je (Four Eyes) Platform in Haiti.

Juslene will be speaking about her experiences organizing for access to land, for agroecology, and for climate justice. Juslene will be joining us immediately after participating in the 10 year commemoration of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. We will be discussing the links to local grassroots organizing efforts in the US such as for food sovereignty, #BlackLivesMatter, and climate and environmental justice.

Trina Jackson will share a report back from her participation in the Movement for Black Lives convening in Cleveland in July.

RSVP on Facebook Sponsor: Grassroots International Co-sponsors: Alternatives for Community and Environment (ACE), Association of Haitian Women of Boston (AFAB-KAFANM), Black Economic Institute, Chelsea Collaborative, City Life/Vida Urbana, Community Labor United, Dominican Development Center, Grassroots International, Mass. Global Action and others.

Thursday, September 10, 2015, 7:00 p.m. Organized and hosted by Boston Solidarity. Join us for a discussion of contemporary feminisms in the US where we will talk about how patriarchy has been re-organized under neo-liberal capitalism, the ongoing struggles against women's/gender oppression, and the connections between anti-capitalist and feminist politics.

We will explore how “neo-liberal" feminism reflects both the gains and losses of the 20th century women's movement in the context contemporary context of neo-liberal capitalism.

Johanna Brenner is a long-time activist and founding member of Solidarity. She is Professor Emeritus of Sociology and former director of the Women’s Studies Program at Portland State University. She is the author of Women and the Politics of Class and many articles in publications such as Jacobin, Monthly Review, Socialist Register, New Politics, and Against the Current.