Monthly Archives: July 2013

Reclaim the Dream March on Washington, August 24, 2013

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Greetings!

This year marks the 50th Anniversary of the famous March on Washington.

On Saturday, August 24, 2013 another historic rally will take place on the National Mall, led by the National Action Network, fifty years after MLK delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech. GIAC, Southside Community Center, the Multicultural Resource Center and the Dorothy Cotton Institute are co-organizing a bus so people from our community can attend the march. The bus will leave GIAC at 4:00am sharp. We will spend the day on the National Mall and return that night to GIAC around 1 or 2:00am. Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis and tickets are $60 per seat. Priority will be given to GIAC and Southside youth and their chaperones, and if there is enough interest we will book two buses. Participants should plan on bringing breakfast and lunch, and dinner will be on your own in DC. More details about the day’s events and what to bring will follow. Please reserve your seat by August 12, 2013. If you need financial assistance, please talk with one of the organizing agencies. To reserve a seat contact Liz Field at 607-280-1960 or lizlovesmusic@gmail.com.

The rally is not just to commemorate the March on Washington, but to give us a chance to address compelling issues of the day, such as the gutting of the Voting Rights Act, and to stand against discriminatory practices such as “Stop and Frisk” in NYC and dangerous laws like the ‘Stand Your Ground’ law in Florida and 31 other states that allow murderers like George Zimmerman to walk away free. This March is about Reclaiming the Dream. Read the full press release here: http://nationalactionnetwork.net/press/rev-al-sharpton-martin-luther-king-iii-along-with-labor-leaders-clergy-elected-officials-and-activists-to-march-on-washington-saturday-august-24-2013-for-the-national-action-to-reclaim-the-d/

Among the groups and individuals joining with Rev. Al Sharpton and Martin Luther King, III are: The King Center, A. Philip Randolph Institute (APRI), NAACP, NAACP LDF, National Council of Negro Women, National Urban League (NUL), Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), National Coalition on Black Civic Participation (NCBCP), Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), American Federation of Teachers (AFT), Communities Without Boundaries International, Inc., Service Employees International Union (SEIU), 1199 SEIU, United Federation of Teachers (UFT), United Here, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, American Federation of Government Employees, AFGE, Military Families Speak Out, Fair Vote, United for Peace & Justice, Veterans for Peace, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, National Congress of Black Women (NCBW), , National Coalition of 100 Black Women, Inc. (NCBW), Black Women’s Health Imperative, Human Rights Campaign (HRC), National Black Justice Coalition, Family Equality Council, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, Old Lesbians Organizing for Change, League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), The Hip Hop Caucus, Operation Hope, Impact Black Youth Vote, Our Time.org.

Read here about additional events planned, some happening on Aug. 28, the actual anniversary of Dr. King’s I Have a Dream speech.

http://www.nationalmall.org/news/washington-marks-50th-anniversary-martin-luther-kings-iconic-i-have-dream-speech

Reimagining Our Infrastructure

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by Jeff Piestrak

Building Bridges is founded on a vision where our social, economic and political structures exhibit and support equality and fairness, where control, opportunities and benefits are shared with everyone, and our decisions respect the earth and our local and regional ecosystems. In this post, part of an ongoing conversation already underway in our community and beyond, I’d like to begin exploring how we might go about Reimagining Our Infrastructure, and what is holding us back.

Continue reading →

Summer of Solutions Reading & Discussion Series: July 25, 31, and Aug. 4

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Literature and Food Justice

Featuring: Professor Helena Maria Viramontes

Thursday, July 25th

7pm – 9pm

116 Ferris Place

Potluck at 6pm

You’re invited to a reading and discussion this Thursday, July 25th at 7:00pm at 116 Ferris Place with Cornell Professor Helena Maria Viramontes. Viramontes is a professor of English at Cornell University. Her powerful writing is based in politics and is grounded in the sociological reality of working-class Latinas. She is the author of The Moths and Other Stories (1985), Under the Feet of Jesus (1995), and her most recent novel, Their Dogs Came with Them (2007).

Please join us at 6pm at 116 Ferris Place for a potluck before the discussion. The potluck and discussion are open to the public and we encourage people of all ages and backgrounds to attend.

 

The reading and discussion is hosted by the Solutionary Reading and Discussion Series, a project of Summer of Solutions Ithaca focusing on the union of arts and activism, direct education, and recentering environmental struggles around critical analyses of intersectionality. Summer of Solutions Ithaca is an eight week youth-led climate justice program exploring the social roots of the climate crisis and providing our generation with the knowledge and tools needed to weather the oncoming storm.

Summer of Solutions Ithaca is hosting two more major events this summer, and we hope to see you there:

  • Wednesday, July 31st 7pm – 9pm – Reading and Discussion with Professor Jolene Rickard, Chair of the American Indian Program at Cornell University to discuss Indigenous Issues and Visual Analysis.

  • Sunday, August 4th 12pm – 6pm – Anti-Oppression Training with Jenna Peters Golden of the Anti-Oppression Resource and Training Alliance (AORTA), a national collective of educators striving to strengthen movements for social justice and the solidarity economy.

To find out more about the reading and discussion series, please email Mary Anne Rojas at rojam15@suny.oneonta.edu. For more information about Summer of Solutions Ithaca or to get involved, please email summerofsolutionsithaca@gmail.com.


The Summer of Solutions Ithaca project is led and run by young people, ages 16-23. You can support program leader stipends and help us continue to provide high quality, free climate justice programming in Ithaca. Please consider donating here.