[Antiracism] The Roots of Victory: Innovative Approaches to Organizing + events Nov 3-5

[Marc Rodrigues]

*please forward widely*


"The Roots of Victory: Innovative Approaches to Civil Rights and Labor Rights."

Saturday, November 5
1:00 - 5:00 PM
UMass Campus Center Room 168C

Come hear the inspirational stories of dynamic grassroots labor activists
speaking about the opportunities, dangers, obstacles and victories in organizing
low-wage workers in the Southeast United States in the new millennium.  

Discussion topics will include: organizing immigrant workers; farmworker
victories in North Carolina and Florida; labor rights as human rights; and
strategies for organizing, advocacy and research.

Featured Speakers:

Jaribu Hill, Mississippi Workers Center for Human Rights

Ashaki Binta, Black Workers for Justice and United Electrical Workers Local 150

Anne Braden, civil rights activist and Kentucky Alliance Against Racist and
Political Repression

Baldemar Velazquez, Farm Labor Organizing Committee

Lucas Benitez, Coalition of Immokalee Workers

Marc Rodrigues & Sean Sellers, Student/Farmworker Alliance

Co-Sponsored by the UMass Labor Center & Legal Studies Department and the
Greensboro Justice Fund. Additional support provided by the UMass Women's
Studies and Afro-American Studies Depts.

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*Also check out these related events happening Nov. 3-5:
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Workers vs. Transnational Corporations: Stories from India, Turkey and the US

Thursday, November 3
11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Gordon Hall - Rm 302
418 N. Pleasant St., Amherst

This past year, workers around the world have resisted efforts to lower wages,
increase hours of work, and eliminate jobs. Three UMass-Amherst students were
able to work with some of these workers.

Devrim Duman was an intern with the United Students Against Sweatshops, based in
Turkey. There, workers held a sit-in outside a Coca-Cola plant to protest mass
firings and faced police repression.

Srinivas Lankala worked with students supporting workers at Honda Motorcycle and
Scooters outside of Delhi, India. The workers staged a protest to demand the
reinstatement of fired co-workers, and were attacked by police.

Marc Rodrigues spent the summer working with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers
in southern Florida. The Coalition recently won a multi-year, historic campaign
against Taco Bell.

Sponsored by the Labor Center

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"Civil Rights/Labor Rights: Women of Color Organizing in the U.S. South"

Friday, November 4, 2005.
12 noon to 2 pm
Smith College Campus Center Room 103-104

Featuring:
Jaribu Hill and Ashaki Binta.

Sponsored by the Smith College Departments of Afro-American Studies,
Anthropology, American Studies, Government, and Sociology, American Studies
Diploma Program, Otelia Cromwell Day Committee, & Smith College Lecture Committee.

More info: http://www.gjf.org/files/Nov4poster

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Greensboro Justice Fund 25th Anniversary Dinner Celebration

Saturday November 5
7:00pm
Northampton Center for the Arts
17 New South Street, Suite 303, Northampton

Featuring:

Keynote Speaker, Long-time Civil Rights Activist Anne Braden;

MC Rachel Maddow;

And honoring:

Lucas Benitez, Ashaki Binta, Jaribu Hill, and Baldemar Velazquez.

Food provided by the Great Wall Chinese Restaurant.

Tickets $30 per person, $50 per couple.

For more information, contact Marty Nathan at martygjf at comcast.net or visit:
http://www.gjf.org/