"This is What Democracy Looks Like" was one of the chants at Binghamton's iteration of the international Women's March and it was 3000 strong with a great diversity of people attending. Donna Lupardo our State Assembly rep and Jason Garner, our new County Exec, both urged women to run for office on every level of government, especially, as Lupardo pointed out, "2017 is the 100th anniversary of women's right to vote in New York State." The March was organized by Citizen Action, BC Democratic Women, and the NAACP, among others.
Popular signs were "Make America Kind Again," "Make America Think Again," "Love Trumps Hate," "Hands Off!" indicating an anti-Trump feeling--and worry about the future. Others: "Black Live Matter More Than White Feelings," "Love is Love," and "Protect Your Sisters not just your Cis-ters." Several people expressed concern about the loss of insurance coverage when the Affordable Care Act is repealed.
CNN, the NY Times and other media outlets have declared that the March was the largest ever demonstration in one day. Jeremy Pressman U of Connecticut and Erica Chenoweth of U of Denver are keeping track of attendance figures worldwide. Although it is a work in progress they estimate 3.3 -4.6 million people attended in 642 locations. (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1xa0iLqYKz8x9Yc_rfhtmSOJQ2EGgeUVj...)
Encouraged by the tremendous numbers of people resisting the Trump agenda, the true test will come in strategically mobilizing people to vote and organize. Locally, Claudia Tenney, newly elected Congress person and arch conservative is likely to be a special target for activists. Nationally, Michael Moore and other have called for "100 Days of Resistance." A publication called Indivisible: A Practical Guide for Resisting the Trump Agenda is gaining attention among organizers. It deconstructs the success of the Tea Party and sets out a plan to do the same for the progressive movement. It was (and continues to be) written by volunteers who have Congressional experience and have watched the far right hijack the Obama agenda. For a copy and updates to the guide go to www.IndivisibleGuide.com. OR Download below
March on Washington, we mean, BINGHAMTON~ Sat Jan 21 noon at Martin Luther King Promenade marching to the Courthouse with a party afterwards at Atomic Tom's on State ST.
download flyer.
NEWS FLASH: Two of the Three buses secured by the Women's March Binghamton chapter were canceled summarily by the bus company. Organizers were trying to get alternate vehicles and create car pools. Some will undoubtably join the binghamton march.
UPDATE: Local March on Saturday, Jan. 21 at noon gathers at Martin Luther King Promenade.
Activists have been busy the week before the Inauguration and the protests surrounding it. A chapter of the national group Pantsuit Nation met at the Lost Dog Cafe Thursday Jan 12th to a lively crowd. On the same evening local #womensmarch organizers had a well attended poster making session. And the Dept of Public Art sponsored two sign making workshops Jan 8th and another on the 15th. In addition to the #womensmarch, there is another protest march on the day of the Inaugural Jan. 20th. They will gather in front of Union Station and walk toward the White House and a "Freedom Festival" at McPherson Square. There is a bus from Rochester for $60 with some scholarships 585 436-6458. Four buses from this area are going to the Women's March. The Aphrodite Access Fund, an abortion fund at the office of Dr. Amy Cousins office, is giving marchers "goody bags" with water and a snack with literature from the Abortion Conversation Project; the national activist group Shout Your Abortion is helping with the bags. (download handout below)
Citizen Action continues to have organizing meetings on Wed. evenings with several committees working on several issues. For more information, visit their website.
Stay involved, stay connected, sign up for our weekly e-news. We'll try to keep you up on all the events. (Please let us know what going on in your progressive organizing.)
6th BOB JOHNSTON MEMORIAL PHOTOGRAPHY SHOW AND COMPETITION
SPONSORED BY Cooperative Gallery 213 and the Two Rivers Photography Club January 6 – 28, 2017
The exhibit received 105 entries, which have been judged by Chuck Haupt, a former photographer at the Press and Sun-Bulletin and a member of the Cooperative Gallery. “The response from area photographers has been outstanding,” commented Haupt, “and the quality of the photos is excellent.”
The winners are as follows: Best of Show “Clyde” by Peter Mason; Judge’s Choice Color: “Liberty Hosta” by Thomas LaBarbera and “Harbored” by Sandra Kirker; Judge’s Choice Black and White: “Turbulence” by Mary Lou Shapinas and “Another Dimension” by Paula Friedman.
Honorable Mentions: “II” by JM Hogan; “Gone Fishing” by Mary Lou Shapinas ; “Flatlined” by Jessica Fridrich; “Snow on My Nose” by Grant LaBarr; “Under the Bridge” by Andrew Thayer; “Circles” by Lesli Van Zandbergen; “Summer Moonrise” by Kirk Van Zandbergen; “Ballooning” by Mike Ricciardi; “Preserved in a Puddle” by Dan Harendza; “Defying the Odds” by Jessica Fridrich; “Asylum” by Greg Chianis; “Lion” by Scott Anderson.
To see some of the winners follow this link: https://spark.adobe.com/page/JM40Wqr9B9PRf/
The Competition is named for Bob Johnston, a lifelong photographer and a gallery member who died in 2010. “Bob Johnston was an ‘Ansell Adams’ kind of photographer who worked mostly in black and white film and favored both urban and natural landscapes,” said Bill Gorman, also a photographer and member of the Cooperative Gallery. Bob Johnston defined a good photo this way: “For me, the successful photograph is one in which both the abstract elements and the subject matter of the image reinforce each other to provide an emotional experience for the viewer.”
The Cooperative Gallery, a popular stop on the First Friday Art Walk, located at 213 State Street in Binghamton, is open on Frist Friday 3- 9 pm and regularly Fridays from 3-6 and Saturdays from 12- 4 pm. Find us on Facebook at Cooperative Gallery 213 and sign up for our weekly e-newsletter on our website at www.cooperativegallery.com or on our Facebook page.
FOR A COMPLETE LIST OF EVENTS DOWNLOAD BELOW!
Update: SOLIDARITY Women’s - Human Rights March in Binghamton - Saturday, January 21 – March in Binghamton in support of the Women’s March on Washington and to protest the Trump Agenda. Location County Courthouse in Binghamton, Gather 12 noon Martin Luther King Statue – March to Court House for Speakers – Followed Music & Refreshments at Atomic Toms on State St.
Since the election local organizers have been busy and at Citizen Action over 100 people attended an organizing meeting and offering a pledge to resist the Trump agenda. The Women's March on Washington January 21st has a Binghamton organizer and have secured 5 buses and are organizing other activities. Check out their event page on Facebook The Dept of Public Art will sponsor a sign making workshop January 8th at 2 pm at the Cooperative Gallery. The March Binghamton organizers have scheduled a sign making session on Thurs. Jan 12th 5-7:30pm in the Violet Room of the Lost Dog Cafe. They have also commissioned a white scarf for the delegation, #womensmarch Memorial Scarves. The Binghamton Bridge will be a resource for keeping the community connected--please let us know of any events--binghamtonbridge@gmail.com.
Here is the latest from Citizen Action:
A bus to Washington to join the Women’s March on Washington The bus trip will be leaving from the Citizen Action office at 5AM and then leaving DC at around 6PM or whenever the rally is done. Expected time of arrival back in Binghamton is midnight. We'll have two stops, one in the morning for breakfast and one on the way home for dinner, and we'll be bringing bagged lunches, water, snacks, etc. so we can stay at the march for the long hall and not have to wander out for food. To sign up and pay the $70:00 fee call Citizen Action at 723-0110.
Can you join me? Click here for details and to RSVP: https://actionnetwork.org/events/march-on-washington?source=email&
Tuesday, January 10 7:00 A.M. - bus trip to Albany leaving from Citizen Action to call on Cuomo and the NYS Legislature to Unite New York around Progressive Change, Protect NY against the Trump Agenda, Support Public Education, Sustainable Clean Environment. Deposit (to be returned after trip) of $5.00 to reserve seat on bus. Expected time of return is early evening. For information, call Citizen Action at 607-723-0110 or Larry Parham at 607-743-5877.
Wednesday, January 11 at about 7:30 AM – car pooling to Albany for HCFANY’s (Health Care for All New York) annual winter meeting in Albany at SEIU building, 155 Washington Ave., Albany. Expected time of return early evening. Meeting begins at 11:00 and runs until 3:30, lunch provided (offering accepted).
We will discuss HCFANY's plan for achieving quality, affordable health coverage for all New Yorkers in 2017. For information, call Citizen Action at 607-723-0110.
Wednesday, January 18 – 5:00 - Anti Racism Training at Citizen Action from 5 pm to 8:30 pm – maximum of 25 people, to sign up call Citizen Action at 607-723-0110.
Saturday, January 21 5:00 A.M. - bus to Washington to join the Million Women’s March.
The bus trip will be leaving from the Citizen Action office at 5AM and then leaving DC to come home around 6PM or whenever the rally is done. We'll have two stops, one in the morning for breakfast and one on the way home for dinner, and we'll be bringing bagged lunches, water, snacks, etc. so we can stay at the march for the long hall and not have to wander out for food.
Saturday, January 21 – Binghamton rally in support of the Million Women’s March and to protest the Trump Agenda. Location County Courthouse in Binghamton, details to come.
Wed/Thurs January 25 or 26 - 7:30 - RAP’s (Renew the American Promise) semiannual meeting in Albany. Car pooling from Citizen Action, leaving about 7:30 and returning early evening. Statewide organizing meeting, organizing to stop the attacks on our Social Safety Net and the Trump Agenda. Details to come.
Thursday, January 26 – 6:00 to 9:00 pm - How to Organize – basic organizing skills. For information, call Citizen Action at 607-723-0110.
Every Saturday in February (4 in total) – 11:00 am to 1:00 pm Self Defense Training place TBA - $10.00per session/$40.00 total. Details to come.
The Women and Gender Studies Activism class at Binghamton University is announcing to the media that we will be having an open, public speak out in support of Fund Essential Menstruation legislation on December 7th at city hall at 6:30pm during the scheduled city council meeting.. We have written a proposed legislation titled Fund Essential Menstruation (FEM) Hygiene Act 2016. See their Facebook Page for more info.
Our mission statement is as follows: One of the most difficult things about being homeless is being a person who menstruates. There is no single “rulebook” guiding homeless people to the resources they need. Not every person has the privilege of reaching into their purse and grabbing a sanitary napkin. Without access to these sanitary items, they are susceptible to a range of health challenges including, but not limited to, yeast and bacterial infections and toxic shock syndrome.
Therefore, we are proposing legislation entitled, Fund Essential Menstruation (FEM) Hygiene Products Act 2016, requiring the city of Binghamton to provide feminine menstrual products in all city owned public facilities. Menstrual hygiene products should be included alongside the other sanitary items currently provided by the city of Binghamton in its public facilities.
If Binghamton City Council passes this legislation, we will be one of the first cities in the country to provide sanitary items for free.
Dear RiverRead Books supporters,
We have just sent a press release to the media announcing the closure of RiverRead Books effective January 31, 2017.
We are heartbroken to say the least. When Pat, Jane and I sat down to plan the store and order the 10,000 books needed to offer a good selection, we had stars in our eyes and were so excited to be creating this great ‘third place’. We took almost an entire year to plan, design and order for the store. We wanted to do it just right. To this day, we still get comments from locals and visitors from away, about the beauty and atmosphere of our store and the great selection. Our plan was to offer a gathering place for all things literary and artsy, a place to share ideas and converse with the community. Well, we did just that … in eight years we held almost 900 events. Planning those events was important because we wanted to offer something for everyone. We wanted to highlight the very talented local authors, to give them a chance to share their words with those who might never have known about their books. We hosted monthly poetry open mikes, facilitated by the ever faithful J. Barrett Wolf, to whom we own a great debt of gratitude. We enjoyed hosting musicians once or twice a month for everyone’s listening pleasure and we ALWAYS hosted a new visual artist every month. We designed the store with a gallery wall specifically for that purpose! We wanted people to drop in, browse the stacks, have a cup of coffee (or warm cider), ask some questions, compare notes and in general, share our enthusiasm for books. Due to limited space, we needed to curate carefully … to be sure to offer titles to cover all interests. And we established ourselves as the ‘go to’ place for ordering books.
When we moved into the store, the surrounding area was pretty sad. Although the Riverwalk was completed, it was underutilized. The old Fair Store became empty when the county employees who had temporary offices there returned to the newly refurbished County buildings. We were visited daily by homeless people living out of shopping carts and on benches on the Riverwalk. We became involved several times when someone was stricken with illness or were huddled in the cold. We collected bottles and cans for them. As the city has changed and more shelters were offered, the homeless moved on and the city began to host events at the Peacemaker’s Stage. Every other month or so there were some very nice events there. Downtown has been transformed with all of the new student housing and eateries and we are happy and proud to have been a part of that. Even though it didn't work out for us, we hope people will make an extra effort on behalf of all those who have taken a chance on downtown and support businesses, new and old, by spending their dollars locally. We will miss having the store and for that matter, the entire bookselling community, other booksellers, authors and publishing reps. But most of all, we will miss the people who came in regularly and visited with us. We will miss you each and every day.
You can help us though. We are discounting the books at some great rates. We need to clear out the inventory. We hope that you'll be able to help us do that! The stock is new and current. Stock your shelves with new and classic books! Gift the children in your life with books from our wonderful collection. We have t-shirts, socks, tote bags, mugs, clutches, book plates, stationery, cards, jewelry, toys, games and more ... at fantastic prices! And we are keeping the inventory current ... if we see something selling often, we WILL reorder it. And we are still accepting special orders until further notice.
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