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Z Magazine is an independent monthly magazine founded in 1988. Our mission is to publish in depth articles that critique society's political, economic, social life and institutions. We see the race, class, and gender dimensions of personal life as equally important in understanding current circumstances and as necessary for developing visions and strategies for progressive change.
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Commentary
The state of Texas passed a campus carry law that is set to take effect on August 1, 2016. Already, professors at the University of Houston were told that once the new law is effective, they might want to “be careful discussing sensitive topics,” “drop certain topics from your curriculum”
Poll after public opinion poll in the U.S. today consistently show that U.S. voters overwhelmingly share the opinion that big money billionaires and their corporations were increasingly dominating U.S. elections.
How’s this for bad choices? A recent study by a Harvard group contended with the position of U.S. intelligence agencies that tracking possible terrorists was becoming more difficult because there are too many “dark spots”—places where data can be encrypted to prevent tracking.
We can neither forgive nor ignore the way 400 years of white supremacy have been naively reduced to whether a candidate will disavow the support of a hate group leader. Racism lives on in policies that perpetuate racial disparities, with or without the KKK.
Morales, Bolivia’s first indigenous president, who rose to prominence as a union leader among coca farmers and as a dissident congressperson, has won three general elections, including a 2014 victory with over 60 percent of the vote, and is now in his tenth year in power
The U.S. and Russia are now engaged in a new game of nuclear chicken in Europe and the Middle East, with the ever-present danger that one side or the other will miscalculate, or that an accident will trigger a nuclear exchange.
The horrific details of the injustice and torture visited upon Kalief Browder has brought a much-deserved spotlight on the system. In the spring of 2010, shortly before his seventeenth birthday, Browder was arrested for a robbery he maintained he didn’t commit
Features
One could suggest that Nicaragua and its people are suffering more than anything else from a collective trauma
The daily front page claim by the management of the New York Times that they provide “All the News That’s Fit to Print” is comical in its audacious scope. “All” covers an awful lot of ground, and if pressed the editors might even concede that something “fit to print” might occur in places not covered by their journalists or correspondents
Court-watchers have come to accept, since at least the early 1990s, that the Supreme Court has been dominated by conservative Justices. This resulted from too few Democratic presidents and the good fortune that Republican presidents had in appointing more than their fair share of Justices
I had a sense of the danger our Mexican and Central American brothers and sisters must feel as I stumbled through the uneven and gravelly scrub full of mesquite, yucca, cactus and other spiny vegetation
Each stage in Afghanistan’s tragic 40-year history of intervention—the 1980s covert war, the 1990s civil war, and the U.S. occupation since 2001—helped transform this remote, landlocked nation into the world’s first true narco-state
While escaping their country of origin, people risk their lives traveling through contested parts of their country or over roads controlled by militias or warlords known to capture and kill people because of their ethnicity or religious sects
Oddly, the Arabism of the Arab Spring was almost as if a result of convenience. It was politically convenient for western governments to stereotype Arab nations as if they are exact duplicates of one another, and that national sentiments, identities, expectations and popular revolts are all rooted in the same past and correspond with a precise reality in the present.
Activism
One in six Americans say they would personally engage in nonviolent civil disobedience against corporate or government activities that make global warming worse. That’s about 40 million adults. The fate of the earth may depend on them—and others around the world —doing so.
The walk-in tactic was inspired by North Carolina teachers, who organized a series of these grassroots protests across the state in 2013 against education cuts. Other teacher unions soon picked up the idea
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ZAPS
LABOR - The 2016 Labor Notes Conference will be held April 1-3, in Chicago.
Contact: Labor Notes, 7435 Michigan Ave., Detroit, MI, 48210; 313-842-6262; [email protected] www.labornotes.org.
BLACK GIRLS - Black Girl Movement: A National Conference, will be held April 7-9, in New York City, to address the paucity of attention, resources, and research paid to addressing the disadvantages that Black girls in the U.S. face and to create the political will to publicly acknowledge their achievements, contributions, and leadership.
Contact: [email protected]; http://iraas.columbia.edu/Event/black-girl -movement-conference.
HIP-HOP - “Show & Prove” Hip Hop Studies Conference is dedicated to being a platform for scholars from around the world who do focused work on Hip Hop culture. April 8-9, in Riverside, CA.
Contact: 900 University Ave, Riverside, CA 92521; 951-827-1012; http://ideasandsociety.ucr.edu/conferences/otherwise_worlds.
ABORTION - CLPP (Civil Liberties and Public Policy) 35th anniversary annual conference, From Abortion Rights to Social Justice: Building the Movement for Reproductive Freedom, will take place April 8-10, 2016 at Hampshire College in Amherst, MA.
Contact: Civil Liberties and Public Policy, 893 West Street, Hampshire College, Amherst, MA 01002; 413-559-6976; [email protected]; http://clpp.hampshire.edu/conference.
MILITARY SPENDING - April 13 is a Global Day of Action on Military Spending. Events are planned worldwide.
Contact: http://demilitarize.org/.
POETRY - The annual Split This Rock Poetry Festival: Poems of Provocation & Witness 2016 will be held April 14-17, in Washington, DC. This year’s theme is Poems of Provocation & Witness.
Contact: Split This Rock, 1112 16th Street NW, Suite 600, Washington, DC 20036; 202-787-5210; [email protected]; http://www.splitthisrock.org/.
ANARCHIST BOOKFAIR - The 10th Annual New York City Anarchist Book Fair will be held in its original site at Judson Memorial Church, April 16, with workshops, books, childcare, video projections, art, panels, more. The Anarchist Art Festival will be April 15-16.
Contact: [email protected]; http://anarchistbookfair.net/.
CLIMATE - April 16-18, thousands will mobilize in Washington, D.C., to spur a Democracy Awakening, Rally for Democracy and call for a Congress of Conscience. The Awakening will feature panels and workshops, music, and speakers and activists from around the country, joining together to demand solutions.
Contact:democracy awakening.org/.
CLIMATE - Global Climate Convergence is organizing days of action - Mother Earth Day (April 22)-May Day (May 1) - including civil disobedience, boycotts and creative community alternatives. Events worldwide are listed online.
Contact: TheClimateStrike @gmail.com; http://global climateconvergence.org/.
WORKERS - The Vermont People’s Convention, April 30-May 1 in Montpelier, is being organized by the Vermont Human Rights Council, an alliance of grassroots community and labor organizations in Vermont, and by Grassroots Global Justice Alliance.
Contact: 294 N Winooski Avenue, Burlington, VT 05401; 802-861-4VWC; http://www.workerscenter.org/.
BLACK WOMEN - Black Women’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, April 28-May 1, will have Intergenerational Testimony, Truth-Telling from Black Women Survivors, Justice for Communities of Black Women Survivors, and more.
Contact: Black Women’s Blutprint, P.O. Box 24713, Brooklyn, NY 11202; 347-533-9102; [email protected]; http://www.blackwomensblueprint.org/tribunal.html.
WORKERS / FILM - The 5th Annual Workers Unite Film Festival will be May 4-21, in New York City.
Contact: http://www.worker sunite film festival .org/.
MARIJUANA - On May 7, the first Saturday in May, marijuana legalization activists will hold informational and educational events, rallies and marches in over 300 cities around the world.
Contact: http://cannabisparade.org/.
MOTHER’S DAY - The 19th Annual Mother’s Day Walk For Peace will be May 8, in Dorchester, MA.
Contact: http://mothersday walk4peace.org/.
WOMEN/LABOR - The Regina V. Polk Women’s Labor Leadership Conference will be held May 12-15, in Grafton, IL. The Conference has been educating working women throughout the Midwest.
Contact: reginavpolk @gmail.com; https://www.regina polkschool.org/.
CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTOR - International Conscientious Objectors Day is marked around the world each year on May 15.
Contact: http://www.ppu.org.uk/ nomorewar/a_conscientiousObjection/coDay2.html.
INCARCERATION/YOUTH - May 15-21 is National Week of Action Against Incarcerating Youth. Events are organized in cities nationwide.
Contact: http://savethe kidsgroup.org/.
MALCOLM X - May 19th is the birthday of Malcolm X. Calls have been issued for a holiday, Claim Malcolm X Day, to celebrate the birthday of a freedom fighter.
LABOR - The Pacific Northwest Labor History Association Conference will be held May 20-22, in Portland, Oregon, where historians, students, unionists and others come together to share information and exchange views on past events that shaped the labor movement in both the United States and Canada.
Contact: 206-406-2604; [email protected]; https://pnlha.wordpress.com/.
LEFT FORUM - The 2016 Left Forum will be held May 20-22, at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City.
Contact: 212-817-2003; leftforum @leftforum.org; http://www.leftforum.org.
FOOD/MONSANTO - March Against Monsanto will be May 21 in New York City and elsewhere.
Contact: http://www.march-against- monsanto.com/.
MULTICULTURE- The annual National Conference on Race & Ethnicity in American Higher Education (NCORE) will take place May 31-June 4, in San Francisco, CA.
Contact: SWCHRS, 3200 Marshall Avenue, Suite 290, Norman, OK 73072; 405-325-3694; [email protected]; www.ncore.ou.edu.
WHISTLEBLOWING - June 1-7 is International Week to Support Whistleblowing. Events and actions are planned all over the world.
Contact: Stand Up For Truth, c/o Institute for Public Accuracy, 980 National Press Building, Washington, DC 20045; 202-347-0020’ [email protected]; http://standupfortruth.org.
BIKES - Bikes Not Bombs is holding its 29th annual Bike-A-Thon in Boston, MA on June 5.
Contact: Bikes Not Bombs, 284 Amory St., Jamaica Plain, MA 02130; 617-522-0222; [email protected]; www.bikesnot bombs.org.
FEMINIST CAMP - Feminist Camp is open to all who are interested in learning more about transforming feminist theory into practice. Camps are scheduled June 5-10 in New York City, and July 18-29 in Amherst, MA.
Contact: http://www.feministcamp.com/.
PEACE - The Ohio Peace Festival will be June 6-14, in various parts of Ohio. The Ohio Peace Festival is a celebration of community, unity, and peace in all its forms. Emphasizing events by the people of Ohio for the people of Ohio, the Festival focuses on peaceful collaboration within and among communities.
Contact: 1501 Neil Avenue, Columbus, OH, 43201; 614-327-8389; [email protected]; http://www.ohiopeace.com/.
RADIO - The 40th Annual National Federation of Community Broadcasters Community Media Conference will be held June 8-11, in Denver, CO, with break-out sessions, two keynotes, affinity group summits, panel discussions and tours around the host city.
Contact: 1101 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Suite 600, Washington, DC 20004; 202-756-2268; comments @nfcb.org; http://www.nfcb.org/.
PEACE CONFERENCE - Peace, Justice and Security is an international conference on conflict resolution and festival hosted in Columbus, OH, June 8-13.
Contact: http://www.creducation.org/.
CLASS - The Center for Study of Working Class Life at SUNY Stony Brook will host the How Class Works 2016 conference at Stony Brook,: June 9-11, 2016.
Contact: [email protected]; http://www.stonybrook.edu/workingclass/; http://www.stonybrook.edu/workingclass/.
JUNETEENTH - June 16 is Juneteenth, a holiday celebrating the announcement of the end of slavery in Texas and in the rest of the U.S. through the Emancipation Proclamation; June 19 is Juneteenth Independence Day
Contact: http://nationaljuneteenth. com/Juneteenth_Movement.html.
MEDIA - The 18th annual Allied Media Conference will be held June 16-19, in Detroit. Held every summer, the conference brings together a community of people using media to incite change: filmmakers, radio producers, technologists, youth organizers, writers, entrepreneurs, musicians, dancers, and artists.
Contact: Allied Media Projects, 4126 Third St., Detroit, MI 48201; 313-718-2267; http://alliedmedia.org/.
VEGAN FEST - The annual Mad City Vegan Fest will be held in Madison, WI, June 18. The annual event features food, speakers, and exhibitors.
Contact: 122 State Street, Suite 405 B, Madison, WI 53701; madcityveganfes [email protected]; http://veganfest.org/.
SOCIALISM - The Socialism 2015 Conference is scheduled for July 1-4 in Chicago, featuring talks and panel discussions.
Contact: [email protected]; http://www.socialismconference.org.
PEACESTOCK - On July 9, the 14th Annual Peacestock: A Gathering for Peace, will take place near Cannon Falls, MN. The event is a mixture of music, speakers and community for peace. Sponsored by Veterans for Peace and others.
Contact: Bill Habedank, 1913 Grandview Ave., Red Wing, MN 55066; 651-388-7733; [email protected]; http://www.peacestockvfp.org.
LA RAZA - The annual National Council of La Raza (NCLR) Conference is scheduled for July 23-26 in Orlando, with workshops, presentations and panel discussions.
Contact: NCLR Headquarters Office, Raul Yzaguirre Building, 1126 16th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20036; 202-785-1670; www.nclr.org.
Contact: Netroots Nation, 1559B Sloat Blvd #316, San Francisco,CA 94132; http://www.netrootsnation.org.
CLEAN ENERGY - The March for a Clean Energy Revolution will be July 24, the night before the Democratic Convention, in Philadelphia.
Contact: http://www.cleanenergy march.org/.
FOOD/MONSANTO - July 27 is Korean Armistice Day. Commemoration events are planned nationwide.
Contact: http://www.veteransforpeace.org/.
ACTIVIST CAMP - Youth Empowered Action (YEA) Camp will have sessions in July and August in CA, OR, and NY. YEA Camp is designed for activists 12-17 years old who want to make a difference in the world.
Contact: [email protected]; http://yeacamp.org/.
FOLK FESTIVAL - The Falcon Ridge Folk Festival will be held August 5-7, in the Berkshires, NY.
Contact: [email protected]; http://www.falconridgefolk.com/.
SCHOOLS - The Satyagraha Institute: Training Leaders in the Traditions of Nonviolence, will be August 7-19, in the Black Hills of South Dakota.
Contact: Satyagraha Institute, c/o Carl Kline, 825 Fourth Street, Brookings, SD 57006; 605-692-8465; [email protected] agrahainstitute.org; http://www.satya grahainstitute.org.
VETERANS/PEACE - Veterans for Peace is holding the 31st annual convention is August 11-15 in Berkeley, CA. This year’s theme is, Peace At Home, Peace Abroad: A Just and Sustainable Future for the World’s Children.
Contact: http://www.vfpnationalconvention.org/.
MEDIA - Alliance for Community Media (ACM) and the National Alliance for Media Arts & Culture (NAMAC) will host a joint conference in Boston, MA, August 18-20.
Contact: http://www.allcommunitymedia.org/annual-conference.
WOMEN’S CONFERENCE - The annual Twin Oaks Women’s Gathering will be held August 19-21.
Contact: 138 Twin Oaks Road # W, Louisa, VA 23093; 540-894-5126; [email protected]; http:// womensgathering.org/.