Unless otherwise specified,
all events take place in the NAC Building at the City College
of New York (CCNY).
Directions:
The main entrance to campus is located at the corner of 138th
St. and Amsterdam Ave. The nearest subway is the #1 at 137th
St. You can also take the A/B/C/D to 145th St. or 135th St.,
but if you get off at 135th St. you'll have to walk up some
very high steps through St. Nicholas Park. For bus and driving
directions, click
here.
Speakers:
Vanessa James,
Parents in Action for Leadership and Human Rights
Dr. Leonard Jeffries,
Department of Political Science, CCNY; former Chair of City
College Black Studies Department
Luz Schreiber
is a creative writer major at Hunter College, co-founder
and vice-president of the Hunter Parent Union, a former
member of SLAM (Student Liberation Action Movement), where
she worked in the campaign to defend Open Admissions, a
member of Atl-Tlachinolli, an Aztec dance circle based in
Queens, and a founding member of Ollin Imagination
Mark Torres,
former CCNY student activist, founder of Students for Educational
Rights (S.E.R.), Board member of the Morales/Shakur Community
Center and member of the Hostos Educators' Association
Hank Williams, Ph.D.
Candidate in English and Africana Studies at the City University
of New York, instructor at City College and NYU, former
board member of the Brecht Forum, involved in political
organizing for nearly a decade around Open Admissions in
the CUNY system, police brutality and the criminalization
of youth of color with the Student Liberation Action Movement
and with the Africana Studies Group at the CUNY Graduate
Center
Moderator:
Maria Arettines is
a CUNY Social Forum organizer and a Hunter
College student majoring in Political Science and Women
and Gender Studies. She has worked with Long Island Freespace,
Bluestockings Bookstore, For a Better Bronx, Mexico Solidarity
Network, the Institute for Popular Education, Esperanza
del Barrio, and We Got Issues! She is also a writer, artist,
and dancer.
La Pregunta, 1528 Amsterdam
Ave., between 135th and 136th St.
$5 recommended donation
Affirmative Action: Responding to
Institutional Racism In Pedagogy, Faculty Hiring and Graduate
Admissions 40 Years After Open Admissions
Speakers: Anamaría Flores, Professor Leonard Jeffries,
Jitu Weusi
Moderator/Respondent: Hank Williams
Room 0/201
The panel will focus on effectively identifying
and responding to faculty racism that generates unnecessary
student failure and maintained racial exclusion in faculty
hiring and graduate admissions at CUNY and connect with similarities
in institutional racism in the NYC public school system. In
particular, the panel will consider the effects of faculty
racism on African-American students and faculty and some of
the problems faced by working class women of color. Panelists
will include Professor Leonard Jeffries (Former Chair of CCNY
Black Studies), Jitu Weusi (Community activist who organized
campaign for community control of public schools and the campaign
to establish Medgar Evers College in Bedford-Stuyvesant, and
Anamaría Flores (PhD candidate in English, CUNY Graduate
Center; Writing Fellow, Hostos Community College; Adjunct
Faculty, Queens College). CUNY Ph.D. candidate Hank Williams
will moderate.
-------------
The Role of Students in the Domestic
Workers Movement
Domestic Workers United
Room 1/201
Domestic Workers United is an organization
of nannies, housekeepers and elderly caregivers in New York
City, organizing for power, respect, fair labor standards
and to help build a movement to end exploitation once and
for all. Currently workers are mobilizing to demand the passage
of the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights, legislation which
would establish living wage increases tied to the annual cost
of living and provide health care, paid vacations, sick leave,
and protection from discrimination to all domestic workers
in New York State. Therefore, what role can students play
in such an important campaign, and how can students organize
in solidarity to push forth the demands of the Domestic Workers
Bill?
-------------
BAYAN-USA
Speakers: Bernadette Ellorin, Jackie Mariano, Valerie
Francisco
Facilitator: Christina Hilo
Room 1/202
Over 3,000 people leave the Philippines everyday
in search of a better future; Filipino migrant workers are
dispersed in 196 countries all over the world. However even
in their flight, immigrants and migrants alike still create
and maintain ties to their native land, whether it is economic
support through remittances or political organizing and solidarity
work. This workshop is designed to discuss how immigrant communities
in New York are linking their local struggles to the issues
in their native lands. How do we connect the two? Is there
a need for these linkages? This session will include a short
film screening, presentations from speakers and a dialogue
with the people in the session about connecting local to global
struggles.
BAYAN-USA is an alliance of progressive Filipino
groups in the U.S. representing organizations of students,
scholars, women, workers, and youth; it serves as an information
bureau for the national democratic movement of the Philippines
and as a campaign center for anti-imperialist Filipinos in
the U.S.
Christina Hilo is the Northeast Coordinator
for BAYAN USA, the vice-chair for Filipinas for Rights and
Empowerment (FiRE), and works for Philippine Forum, an organization
serving the Filipino Community since 1996 located in Queens,
NY.
Jackie Mariano is a student at CUNY Hunter
College, currently working towards a bachelor's degree in
Media Studies with a minor in Asian-American Studies. She
is the External Education Discussion Director of Filipinas
for Rights and Empowerment (FiRE) in New York City.
Bernadette Ellorin is the current national
secretary-general of BAYAN USA, an alliance of 12 Filipino
organizations in the United States, as well as a member of
the NY Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines (NYCHRP),
a local education and advocacy group. In her capacity for
both, she heads the executive secretariat of BAYAN USA in
the multi-sectoral national campaign-steering for its member
organizations as well as leads NYCHRP in its local efforts
to expose and oppose the human rights crisis in the Philippines,
including the role of US military aid in the human rights
crisis.
Valerie Francisco is a doctoral student at
CUNY, The Graduate Center in sociology. She is the chairperson
for Filipinas for Rights and Empowerment (FiRE) and a national
representative of GABRIELA-USA, a national alliance of progressive
Filipino women's organization. In her women's political organizing,
she works with young people and domestic workers in the Filipino
community in Queens.
-------------
Educators: Promoting Social Justice
in and out of the Classroom
Federacion de Maestros de Puerto Rico-Support Committee,
Black New Yorkers for Educational Excellence, and the Hostos
Educators' Association
Room 1/203
Educators can play a vital role in promoting
social justice in and out of the classroom. This interactive
workshop will discuss the problems facing public education,
k-university, and highlight classroom and community methods
which have proven to be effective tools in promoting social
change, including lesson planning, classroom management, participation
in the union or in coalitions.
-------------
CUNY Total Access
PSC International Committee
Speakers: Howard Pflanzer, Edwin Mayorga, Shirley Rausher,
a representative from Accion Comunitaria L'Aurora
Moderator: Laura Kaplan
Room 6/114
This panel will focus on obstacles to access
to CUNY for poor, working class and immigrant students and
begin a mobilizing committee formed of faculty, students,
parents and community activists to plan specific actions to
reverse detrimental policies. Recently major banks voted to
deny loans to community college students. In addition, the
NY State legislature voted this summer on budget cuts, including
$50.6 million in cuts to CUNY. Chancellor Goldstein said that
CUNY could "absorb" these cuts, despite the fact that they
will inevitably lead to more tuition hikes. We will discuss
the effects these policies will have on students, and begin
to chart a specific course of action to force the banks, our
state representatives, and Chancellor Goldstein to be held
accountable and to reverse these decisions.
Howard Pflanzer is an award-winning playwright,
Fulbright Scholar in Theatre (India) and an Adjunct Associate
Professor of Speech and Theatre at John Jay College. His most
recent play, "On the Border", about the last night
on earth of Walter Benjamin, the German-Jewish cultural critic
was produced by Medicine Show last season. Other plays and
musicals have been produced at LaMaMa ETC, Playwrights Horizons,
Symphony Space, Medicine Show, Kraine Theater ("Cocaine
Dreams"), Laurie Beechman Theater ("The Terrorist")
and broadcast over WNYC FM and WBAI FM.
Edwin Mayorga is a doctoral student In Urban
Education at the CUNY Graduate Center, and is a member of
the New York Collective of Radical Educators (NYCoRE), a grass-roots
collective of current and former
public school educators who work for a social justice inside
and outside the class. Prior to becoming a doctoral student
Edwin was an elementary school teacher in the NYC public school
system.
Shirley R. Rausher has taught f/t at Brooklyn
College until fiscal exigency NYC, p/t Kingsborough CC,
Baruch College and at BMCC (presently in English since 1991).
Represented PSC (Professional Staff Congress) at U.S. Social
Forum, Atlanta, 2007, and presented on contingent faculty
at Eastern Regional Conference of Social Forum in NYC. Formerly
Exec. Council, PSC, as Community College Officer, continuing
Delegate to Delegate Assembly from BMCC. Member,International
and Academic Freedom Committees PSC. Many years community
activist: civil rights, civil liberties, anti-Vietnam War,
lobbying NYC Council and NY Legislature re funding and rejecting
tuition increases, pro Open Admissions.
Representative from Accion Comunitaria L’Aurora,
a community-based organization in Washington Heights that
organizes around issues of social justice that affect the
members of their immigrant community.
Laura Kaplan taught ESL in the CUNY Language
Immersion Program (CLIP) at Hostos Community College for six
years. She currently teaches ESL at Bronx Community College
and is in the Urban Education Doctoral Program at the CUNY
Graduate Center. Laura is a member of the PSC International
Committee.
-------------
Independent Parents Organizations
Room 5/101
Review of the historical racial and class
struggle which dominated the Ford Foundation-supported Demonstration
Districts for Community Control of NYC Public Schools in Ocean
Hill-Brownsville, Loisada, and Harlem (IS 201). We will conduct
an interdisciplinary review of the volatile history of incendiary
racial "warfare" between the Black/Puerto Rican
communities and the largely Jewish, fledgling United Federation
of Teachers led by Albert Shanker; and the incendiary teacher
strikes that shut down the public school system and openly
exposed a hateful and enduring split between these communities
and the UFT that has perniciously and silently festered for
the last four decades since 1968.
Time and format permitting, we will provide
contextual references to the turbulence and insurgencies that
erupted in urban centers and heavily chronicled in the news
media, yet relatively and severely neglected in teacher college
curricula and social science literature. We will submit for
discussion, the case that the confluence of racism, "classism,"
and union self interests evident in the Conflict for Community
Control was not acknowledged or addressed in any meaningful
way and that the same factors, notwithstanding schizophrenic
manipulation of school governance (centralization-decentralization-recentralization,
etc.) is manifested in the blatant race/class disparities
that have become a new cottage industry that feeds many colleges
researchers and employs and increasingly white teachers, the
demographics of both are inversely at odds with the increasingly
browning student population.
A bibliography will be provided in advance
to facilitate attendee generated, social justice/civil rights
paradigms for the achievement of true equity in education.
This input can form the beginning of a new source of meaningful
and continuing community input for reform policy which is
urgently needed at this juncture in view of the NY Court of
Appeals mandates for the State to provide a "sound basic
education" for all children; and the implementation of
this historic decision pursuant to NY Regents/NYSED Contracts
for Excellence; and the NYCDoE Los Ninos Primero (Children
First) Reforms with needs-based allocations weighted in favor
of Black, Latino, poor, immigrant/English Language Learners
and Special Needs students.
Implications of the race/class divide or educational
apartheid will be examined in the context of the foregoing,
as well as its daily impact on the education of students in
the failing schools concentrated in communities of color which
constitute the large majority of the school population and
the sequelae manifested in unjustifiable and morally reprehensible
disparities in expulsion/drop out rates; special education
referrals and placements; disciplinary action; academic achievement;
non-uniform teacher quality and inability to deploy more high
quality teachers in schools with high-need students, among
other factors.We hope to create a safe space for an open and
honest exchange. We are in touch with partners in academia,
participants in the Ocean Hill- Brownsville Conflict, civil
rights lawyers, emerging CUNY and other scholars, and community
advocates, activists and parents, elected and civic leaders
and some from the social justice and anti-racist movements.
-------------
The Use of the LSAT Produces Unequal
Access to CUNY Law School
A. Beltran
Room 1/211A
The Law School disproportionately denies admission
to black, Latino, Asian American and Native American students,
in part, on the basis of the LSAT. In our workshop, we will
briefly present a history of the use of the LSAT as a factor
in admissions at CUNY Law School and then invite participants
to share their thoughts, experiences, and recommendations
with respect to the use of the LSAT in admissions. Participants
that are interested in a more formal brief discussion of the
failures and biases in standardized testing at the senior
colleges are advised to attend the "Standardized Tests
Produce Unequal Access to CUNY's Senior Colleges" workshop.
-------------
SWANK / Sex Workers Project
Room 1/211B
Addressing topics of decriminalization of
sex work, diverse perspectives in the anti-human trafficking
movements, sex worker rights and discrimination against sex
workers, and sex worker media.
Representatives from SWANK include current and former sex
workers as well as their allies, and members from the staff
of $pread Magazine, a quarterly publication published by current
and former sex workers and addressing issues around sex work.
The Sex Workers Project at the Urban Justice
Center provides legal training, policy advocacy and documentation
around the subject of sex work. The lawyers at the Sex Workers
Project work in the fields of "criminal justice reform;
trafficking in persons; and human rights documentation."
The lawyers from that project will provide a technical and
legal perspective as well as a comprehensive understanding
of the law surrounding both trafficking in persons and sex
workers rights.
An opportunity for community discussion and
awareness raising around the often misunderstood situations
faced by largely under- or mis-represented current and former
sex workers.
-------------
Anarchist People of Color (APOC-NYC)
Room 3/201, Morales/Shakur Center
This workshop will explore the roles and participation
of people of color in horizontal, anti-authoritarian, autonomous
and democratic political work in the United States and around
the world. We will begin by providing brief historical context
and later explore the ways in which people of color can create
spaces of autonomy and self-determination in their own lives,
from our education, to our livelihoods, to building movements
with other people of color within our neighborhoods and city.
G.I. Johns: Militarism
and the Sex Trafficking Industry
GABRIELA Network
Facilitators: Olivia Quinto & Catherine-Mercedes B. Judge
Room 1/202
The session will include a discussion about
how the military – particularly the US military -- fuels
the growing demand for sex trafficking
There will be short briefings and situationers of current
events, using visuals and possible cultural presentations.
These will be followed by a discussion on the mechanisms of
militarism, how it has promoted the trafficking of women,
and how does women's commodification as trafficked victims
influence "gendered" military violence.
The last part will be strategizing, as women in the United
States, for a CONCRETE PLAN OF ACTION to combat military violence
against women in all its forms by examining examples of resistance
by women's groups in different parts of the world.
Olivia Quinto is the newly elected National
Education Director for GABRIELA Network. She works for an
employee civil rights law firm and writes freelance for several
ethnic media publications.
Catherine-Mercedes B. Judge is the newly elected New York/New
Jersey Chapter Coordinator for GABRIELA Network. She is a
senior at Queens College majoring in Urban Studies with a
concentration on Labor and Women's Studies. She also works
as the Women's Committee Coordinator for the NYC Carpenter's
Union.
-------------
The Coalition for the Revitalization
of Asian American Studies at Hunter (CRAASH)
Room 1/211B
The Coalition for the Revitalization of Asian
American Studies at Hunter (CRAASH) is a student-led organization
that began in April 2007 in response to the inadequate conditions
of the Asian American Studies (AAS) Program at Hunter College.
Last year, CRAASH's organizing work culminated in its first
annual conference entitled "Strengthening Education:
Empowering Asian American Studies," which addressed the
need for support for AAS in higher education. While CRAASH
aims to continue organizing the Hunter community and spreading
awareness about AAS, there is much to be done. Members of
CRAASH hope to use the space of the social forum to speak
about the organization's history and current work and more
importantly, to address why CRAASH's work is reflective of
a larger CUNY struggle as area and "ethnic" studies
courses continue to be neglected. This workshop will then
engage concerned members of the CUNY community in a discussion
on the oftentimes the apolitical nature of many Asian Americans
who themselves neglect to engage in AAS courses, as well as
on building solidarity across racial lines in order to build
a more comprehensive organizing strategy.
-------------
"Look Who's REALLY Teaching and
Learning at CUNY": Student-Adjunct Alliances Fighting
for a Better CUNY
The Adjunct Project
Speakers: Jesse Goldstein, Alyson Spurgas, John Boy
Room 1/211A
The Adjunct Project is a group of Graduate
Center students who work as adjuncts within the CUNY system.
The conditions under which we work and students learn are
inseparable. More than half of all classes at CUNY are now
taught by adjuncts instead of full-time professors who have
the time, money, and job security to provide the quality education
that all CUNY students deserve. Adjuncts, on the other hand,
are paid at below poverty-level wages and have no job security
and minimal benefits. Despite the passion and dedication with
which adjuncts approach their teaching, our precarious situation
negatively impacts the quality of CUNY's learning environment.
The interests of adjuncts and students are aligned. Together
we can fight for a better CUNY.
At this session, we will analyze the neoliberal transformation
occurring at CUNY, throughout New York, and beyond. Working
together, we will ask: What drives the 'adjunctification'
and 'corporatization' of our university? What are its effects?
How can CUNY students and adjuncts work together to resist
these transformations of our university, our city, and our
lives?
We are planning to have a brief intro to
the Adjunct Project and adjunct issues at CUNY, and how they
relate to larger trends. The bulk of our time will be spent
in an interactive brainstorming and Q&A session - with
the aim of molding our time to the needs and interests of
those present - while of course focusing on student-adjunct
alliances and the struggle to transform CUNY.
Jesse Goldstein is an adjunct at Baruch College,
a member of the Adjunct Project, and a graduate student in
Sociology at CUNY Graduate Center. Alyson Spurgas is an adjunct
at Queens College, a member of the Adjunct Project, and a
graduate student in Sociology at CUNY Graduate Center. John
Boy is an adjunct at Queens College, a member of the Adjunct
Project, and a graduate student in Sociology at CUNY Graduate
Center.
-------------
Stop the Raids
NYC Solidarity Without Borders
Room 5/101
Speakers: Joseph Nevins, speakers from DRUM, Desis Rising
Up and Moving, Janis
In unpredictable locations at unpredictable
times the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement
(ICE) agency is engaging in hostile detentions and deportations
of Immigrant workers in the U.S. Solidarity without borders
will facilitate a workshop that opens a conversation about
the nature and the impacts of these raids on the migrant members
of our communities and the City of New York, as well as training
on ways to prepare our friends, neighbors and coworkers on
how to react strategically when confronted by ICE. Through
presentations from speakers representing different city-wide
components of outreach for immigrant workers, the workshop
will offer participants different avenues to participate in
existing networks of support for workers and their families
who are victims of ICE raids in New York City. The workshop
will include presentations on the history and contemporary
realities of raids, legal training and information on the
rights of non-citezens during raids, opportunities for open
discussion, and opportuniites on how to participate in taking
control of what the future of ICE activity means for CUNY
students and the greater NYC community.
The workshop will begin with presentations
by three different organizations/speakers and close with open
conversation and questioning for the presenters.
Solidarity Without Borders is a collective
of allies coordinating action and support for local and international
campaigns. New York City Solidarity Without Borders is a collective
created to coordinate action in support of campaigns in Latin
America and in our own communites that fight for justice,
autonomy, and respect for the humane and free movement of
people across borders.
Joseph Nevins is author of Operation Gatekeeper:
The Rise of the 'Illegal Alien' and the Remaking of the U.S.-Mexico
Boundary; and Dying to Live: A Story of U.S. Immigration in
an Age of Global Apartheid.
DRUM (Desis Rising Up and Moving) organizes
to build power amongst South Asian low-wage workers, families
fighting deportation and youth in New York City for immigrants
rights, justice and dignity.
Janis Rosheuvel is from Families for Freedom
(FFF), a New York-based multi-ethnic defense network by and
for immigrants facing and fighting deportation.
-------------
CUNY Student Struggle: Past, Present
and Future
Speakers: Ron McGuire, Vicente Montero, and Brother
Shepard McDaniel
Moderator: Esperanza Martell
Room 1/203
This school year marks the 40th anniversary
of the 1969 student strike that initiated open admissions
at CUNY and it also marks the 20th anniversary of the 1989
student strikes which unleashed the struggles of the 1990s.
It is our intention to organize a workshop which will bring
together CUNY activists from the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s and from
current periods to learn from past struggles, discuss the
current situation and propose ideas to reactivate the CUNY
student movement so it can address current legislative efforts
to limit access and excellence at our university.
-------------
Resisting Censorship on Campus
Facilitator: Brian Pickett
Room 1/201
On college campus-es, censorship can include
taking down art projects, stifling scientific research, withdraw-ing
funding, canceling controversial discussions, stopping theatre
performances, and the list goes on. From a social justice
viewpoint, censorship, whether direct or indirect, is not
only a threat to free speech, but can also create a “chilling
effect”, stifling intellectual debate, and undermining
students’ ability to advocate for themselves and the
issues and ideas they believe in.
What does censorship look like? Feel like? Who is censoring?
Why are they censoring? And when threats to our free speech
occur, how well equipped are we to respond? In the first half
of this workshop we will explore these questions. Using short
films and interactive popular theatre techniques we will examine
the censorship we encounter in our own lives and gain a better
understanding of the effects of this censorship. In the second
half of the workshop we will examine recent incidents of censorship
on college campuses, and in small breakout groups, strategize
how to respond to such incidents. The session will close with
a report back from each group and a chance for folks to share
their thoughts on how to move forward on the issue.
Brian Pickett is a teaching artist, educator
and activist. He coordinates youth programs for the National
Coalition Against Censorship. He also works with PEP (The
Palestine/Israel Education Project) and is the co-creator
of Vote Debs in ’08, a radical presidential campaign
performance alternative.
-------------
La Peña del Bronx
Room 3/201, Morales/Shakur Center
This workshop explores giving direct power
to people to make their own decisions regarding political
process and self-sufficiency. In focus is the potential of
the South Bronx as a catalyst for empowerment that could shape
the nation as well as lessons from Chile's endeavor into popular
power. Workshop will be conducted in Spanish.
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Challenging Anti-Arab and Anti-Muslim
Racism in Our Public Schools
Communities in Support of KGIA (CISKGIA)
Speakers: Debbie Almontaser, Paula Hajar, Mona Eldahry, Edwin
Mayorga, Donna Nevel, Perla Placencia
Moderator: Adem Carroll
Room 0/201
Communities in Support of KGIA (CISKGIA) is
a coalition of individuals and organizations from a multitude
of communities and backgrounds, who have come together in
support of the Khalil Gibran International Academy (KGIA),
NYC's first Arabic-language Dual Language program. Last year,
before the school opened, KGIA was attacked by a group of
fear-mongering bigots who labeled it a "terrorist school"
and a "madrassa." As a result of this vicious anti-Arab
and anti-Muslim smear campaign, the founding principal was
forced to resign and, over the past year, the school has suffered
several setbacks as a result of the NYC Department of Education's
(DOE's) lack of commitment to its vision and mission. None
of the original KGIA teachers remain at the school, many of
last year's families have left the school, and the school
is at a new location far from an Arabic-speaking community.
Had the school and its principal received
the support they deserved from the Department of Education
(DOE), the Mayor, New Visions for Public Schools, and the
President of the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) and had
the parents, community members, and teachers been part of
the decision-making process, rather than the decision being
handed down by the Mayor, voices of racism and bigotry would
not have prevailed.
A member of the CUNY Board of Trustees was
a leading voice attacking the founding principal and the school.
We believe this raises a critical question: What is the role
and responsibility of a public university like CUNY to respond
to anti-Arab/anti-Muslim attacks from a member of its Board?
We propose to first share briefly with the
group the history of KGIA, the public attacks on it, and the
organizing that has taken place to support it. We will then
open the discussion to analyze together CUNY's responsibility
to take action regarding these issues: How can the CUNY community,
CISKGIA, and other concerned New Yorkers organize together
to insure that bigotry will not be allowed to influence which
public schools should exist and who should lead them? How
can we join together to make sure we have a public education
system that is accountable to all our communities?
Debbie Almontaser is the founding principal
of KGIA. Paula Hajar is an educator and writer on Arab-Americans.
Mona Eldahry is a member of Arab Women Active in the Arts
and Media. Edwin Mayorga is a member of the New York Collective
of Radical Educators and is at CUNY Graduate Center. Donna
Nevel and Perla Placencia are members of the Center for Immigrant
Families. Adem Carroll is a member of the Muslim Consultative
Network.
Financial Meltdown and Bailout: What
does it mean for us?
Speakers: William Tabb, Professor of Economics Emeritus,
Queens College and Anwar Shaikh, Professor of Economics, New
School for Social Research
Moderator: Jackie DiSalvo, Baruch College
Room 5/108
This session will offer a panel and discussion
focused on an analysis of the financial crisis in global capital
markets. Experts on crisis using layman’s terms and
a Marxist perspective will help us to explore the present
economic breakdown, including
1. The causes of the crisis.
2. Will the bailout work and are there alternatives?
3. The domestic implications for the U.S. working class.
4. The international implications, including prospects for
intensified inter-imperialist rivalry .
5. What, given this analysis, should the working class fight
for?
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The Presidential Election from a Communist
Perspective
Progressive Labor Party
Room 1/211B
This workshop will be an interactive reading
and presentation to discuss the communist perspective on elections,
specifically focusing on the Presidential election in November
2008. Discussion will address issues of both major parties
involved, and will address what it means to continue electing
a capitalist system into power.
The purpose of facilitating this is to bring
a class analysis to what elections mean to both the working
and ruling classes in the United States and around the world.
Topics of how elections affect working class students, such
as the people who attend CUNY schools, will be covered heavily.
The workshiop will be co-led, as to asssure all issues are
covered, and all atendees have an opportunity to speak.
Those statements and opinions given and addressed
will reflect the political lines of the Progressive Labor
Party. For more information, please visit http://www.plp.org
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The U.S. Presidential Election
League for the Revolutionary Party
Speaker: Walter Daum
Moderator: Mark Turner
Room 6/114
In the face of spreading economic crisis and
the interminable horror of the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan,
millions across the United States and billions across the
globe hope the current presidential elections will bring them
relief. But the bitter truth is that those hopes will be dashed.
Despite their differences, John McCain and Barack Obama share
a common loyalty to the capitalist system and the interests
of the American imperialist ruling class. They can offer the
working-class and poor people of the world only more wars,
oppression and exploitation. Join the League for the Revolutionary
Party for a workshop and discussion of this crucial issue.
Walter and Mark have both been active as staff
members in many CCNY struggles. Walter was a member of Faculty
for Action, which supported the Black and Latino student fight
for Open Admissions in 1969. Walter and Mark were participants
in the movements against tuition and cutbacks in 1975, 1989,
1991 and 1995. In 2001, Walter was denounced by the New York
Post and CUNY trustees for “seditious” statements
against the imperialist war in Afghanistan at a CCNY teach-in.
The League for the Revolutionary Party (LRP)
is dedicated to the restoration of authentic Marxism and the
political independence of the working class everywhere. We
publish the political and theoretical magazine Proletarian
Revolution. The decisive task today is the building of working-class
revolutionary parties in every country to provide the necessary
leadership for the mass upheavals ahead. For more information,
visit www.lrp-cofi.org.
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The Revolutionary Struggle of Nepal
Kasama Project
Speakers: John Mage, Mike Ely, Freddy Bastone
5/101
The Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) led
a decade long people's war that began in 1996 and ended in
2006 with the defeat of the Nepalese Monarchy. Two years of
political struggle with other political parties throughout
Nepal, the Maoists emerged with the plurality of votes in
a Constituent Assembly election and now hold significant areas
of political power throughout the country. With the on-going
revolutionary struggles throughout South Asia, Nepal looms
as the unmentioned story of the decade. The Maoists went into
people's war on the basis of fighting to overturn a semi-feudal
and backward system and create a socialist one. But by far,
this has yet to be achieved. What are the prospects for revolutionary
political struggle in Nepal? How do we situate the Nepalese
Maoist struggle in the rest of South Asia and Globally? This
panel plans to present the importance of the history of this
revolutionary struggle and the continued political battle
in Nepal.
John Mage is an editor of Monthly Review and
Nepal scholar, he has observed events in Nepal first hand.
Mike Ely is author of the True Story of Maoist Revolution
in Tibet and the Nine Letters to our Comrades and a member
of the Kasama Project. Freddy Bastone is a member of CUNY
Hunter Students for a Democratic Society
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Political Parties, Social Movements
and the State: Strategic Questions for Organizing
Speakers: Mike Menser, Stanley Aronowitz
Respondent: Kazembe Balagun
Room 1/201
Is the nation-state part of the problem or
part of the solution, or both? What are the most effective
organizations for social and political change given the complexity
and crisis-ridden nature of the present moment? Are political
parties necessary or outdated? Do we need a new type of party?
And what about social movements? Can they transform-or smash-the
state in order to produce a more just society? In this sessions,
we shall examine two perspectives on these questions: one
that emphasizes the need for a new kind of political party,
the other advocates for social movements and community based
and network models, but both recognize the problematic nature
of the reform/revolution distinction and the need to understand
the way in which the state has been transformed without 'withering
away' over the last two decades.
Mike Menser is an Assistant Professor Philosophy
at Brooklyn College and author of "Disarticulate the
State." Stanley Aronowitz is Professor of Sociology atCUNY
Grad Center and author of "Left Turn: Forging a new Political
Future." Kazembe Balagun is an instructor at the Brecht
Forum and a former member of Hunter SLAM!
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Trabajadoras Por la Paz
Room 3/201, Morales/Shakur Center
Womyn Workers for Peace. The important role
womyn play in changing, maintaining and advancing the human
project will be explored. In addition to laying out a strategy
for peace and a current analysis of the prospect, ways to
overcome difficulties to be able to move forward will be discussed.
Workshop will be conducted in Spanish.
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Organizing Against Racism in a 'Post-Racial'
Society
Radical Caucus of the Modern Language Association
Moderator: Prof. Pat Keeton
Speakers: Prof. Pat Keeton, Prof. David Lewis-Colman, Tynesha
McHarris, undergraduate students from Ramapo and CUNY
Room 5/110
Despite being in the midst of an historic
Presidential election campaign, racism remains an institutional
reality across the country on campuses and in the communities
from which students come. This workshop of faculty and students
will analyze the rhetoric and realities --- and discuss strategies
and the necessity for organizing against racism in the so-called
"Post-Racial" society. There will be short presentations by
panelists on key issues in the debate around organizing against
racism in a so-called "post-racial" society followed
by open discussion among panelists and audience.
Pat Keeton is a professor of Communication
Arts at Ramapo College of NJ, and faculty co-advisor of RAW
(Ramapo Against the War). David Lewis-Colman is a professor
of African American History at Ramapo College of NJ, and faculty
co-advisor of RAW (Ramapo Against the War). Tynesha McHarris
is a graduate student in English at Rutgers Newark
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CUNY Contingents Unite
Room 1/211A
CUNY students are being cheated and faculty
are being exploited by a neo-liberal system where contingent
workers teach 57% of courses. CUNY Contingents Unite proposes
to run a workshop focusing on strategies to collectively mobilize
students and faculty around issues of common concern. We would
use the session to identify short and long term activist-oriented
goals and identify concrete ways in which groups such as CUNY
Student Union and CCU can work together. This workshop is
designed to complement a program being organized by the Graduate
Center’s Adjunct Project to educate folks on the adjunctification
of our university.
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The Art of Struggle Tour 2008 / 2009
Movement In Motion Artist & Activist Collective
Speakers: Spiritchild, Freeborn, Kahjee Khan, Realities, Ileia
Burgos
Room 1/202
What is the role of the arts in today? Struggle
for peace and justice? Our artists will share personal creations,
spark dialogue, explore music and media as effective tools
for working towards social change. We ask students, community
members, artist and activist how they can create artwork that
examines the issues of institutionalized racism and poverty
from a new perspective. The participants will gain valuable
insights into how to turn their expressions into effective
mobilizing strategies and raise awareness in their community.
Spiritchild is a rhythmic poet of mental
notes. He is the leader of the hip hop fusion band Mental
Notes (Xspiritmental Hip Hop Fusion Band) and the founder
and chair of Movement In Motion Artist & Activist Collective.
Visit his homepage at www.myspace.com/spiritchildmentalnotes
for more information.
Movement In Motion (MinM) is an Artist &
Activist Collective that disseminates information through
cultural mediums. We create rhymes, music, films and other
forms of artwork to dialogue with our respective communities
for social, economical and political change. Visit our website
at www.movementinmotion.org.
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US Held Political Prisoners &
POW's: Panel Discussion
Organizations: National Jericho Amnesty Movement and The Safiya
Bukhari-Albert Nuh Washington Foundation
Speakers: Sis. Dylcia Pagan, Bro. Dhoruba Bin Wahad, Bro.
Masai Ehehosa, Sis. Cleo Silvers, Bro. Mark A. Smith, Bro.
Carlito Ravira
Moderator: Bro. Ashanti Omowale Alston
Submitted by: Shepard McDaniel and Ashanti Alston
Room 0/201
Panel Discussion of U.S. Held Political Prisoners/POW's
with "original" members and former PP/POW's from
the Black Liberation Army; FALN; Young Lords Party & Black
Panther Party. A Domestic & International Focus On: What
Has Been Done; What Is Being Done; and What Needs To Be Done!
Co-Facilitated By Both The Jericho Amnesty
Movement And The Safiya Bukhari-Albert Nuh Washington Foundation:
Past, Present And Future Strategies Will be Addressed By This
Experienced Panel Regarding The Building Of A Local, National,
And International Movement; To Decriminalize And Win Freedom
For All U.S. Held Political Prisoners/POW's And Political
Exiles.
Sis. Dylcia Pagan- Revolutionary Artist/Poet/Film
Maker; Former (19) Year FALN Puerto Rican Political Prisoner;
A 60's & 70's CUNY Student Leader And; Current Speakers
Bureau Member & Board Advisor To The Safiya Bukhari-Albert
Nuh Washington Foundation.
Bro. Dhoruba Bin Wahad- Former (19) Year
BLA Political Prisoner; Former Member Of The "Original"
Black Panther Party And; Current Speakers Bureau Member &
Board Advisor To The Safiya Bukhari-Albert Nuh Washington
Foundation.
Bro. Masai Ehehosa- Former (14) Year BLA
Political Prisoner; Citizen Of The Provisional Government
For The Republic Of New Afrika; Current Speakers Bureau Member
To The Safiya Bukhari-Albert Nuh Washington Foundation And;
Representative For U.S. Political Prisoner Imam Jamil Abdullah
Al-Amin aka "H. Rap Brown"
Sis. Cleo Silvers- Former Member Of Both
The "Original' Young Lords & The Black Panther
Party; Noted Union And Housing Organizer And; Current Speakers
Bureau Member And Board Advisor To The Safiya Bukhari-Albert
Nuh Washington Foundation.
Bro. Mark A. Smith- One Of The Most Elder
Former Member Of The "Original" Black Panther Party;
Current Speakers Bureau Member And Board Advisor To The Safiya
Bukari-Albert Nuh Washington Foundation.
Bro. Carlito Ravira- Former Member Of The
"Original" Young Lords Party; NYC Coordinator For
The Harlem ANSWER Coalition; Current Speakers Bureau Member
Of The Safiya Bukhari-Albert Nuh Washington Foundation.
Bro. Ashanti Omowale Alston- Former (12)
Year BLA Political Prisoner; Former Member Of The "Original"
Black Panther Party; National Co-Chairperson Of The Jericho
Amnesty Movement; Current Speakers Bureau Member & Board
Advisor To The Safiya Bukhari-Albert Nuh Washington Foundation
And; A Noted Representative For The International Revolutionary
Black Anarchist Movement.
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Standardized Tests Produce Unequal
Access to CUNY's Senior Colleges
CUNY Is Our Future
Speakers: William Crain, Tasha Prosper, Susan DiRaimo
Moderator: William Crain
Room 1/203
In 1999, the CUNY Board of Trustees banned
remedial courses in the senior colleges. The Board also ruled
that applicants must meet cutoff scores on standardized skills
tests to enter the colleges. Since then, CUNY has raised the
test cutoff scores, even though the tests are weak or worthless
predictors of success at the University and disproportionately
deny admission to black and Hispanic students. In our workshop,
we will briefly present data on the failures and biases in
standardized testing and then invite participants to share
their thoughts, experiences, and recommendations with respect
to standardized testing.
William Crain is Professor of Psychology at
The City College of New York and director of CUNY Is Our Future.
Tasha Prosper is a former MA student at The City College and
is now a PhD candidate in counseling psychology at Teachers
College, Columbia University. Susan DiRaimo is an adjunct
instructor of English as a Second Language at The City College
and Lehman College and a member of the Professional Staff
Congress/CUNY Executive Council.
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Generation Debt: Student Life Under
Neoliberalism
International Socialist Organization
Room 5/109
Neoliberalism and privatization are having
a devastating impact on students. Rising tuition and limited
access to loans means many students can't afford to stay in
school. Privatized insurance means many students don't have
health insurance. Lack of childcare facilities means parents
can't attend classes. Budget cuts lead to the hiring of more
part time adjuncts an fewer full time professors. These attacks
on education aren't an accident. They're the logical result
of a system that prioritizes profits over human need. Join
the International Socialist Organization for a presentation
and discussion about education under capitalism and how we
can fight for better world.
Autonomy and Struggle
in Theory and Practice
Bluestockings Books
Room 1/211B
Today, CUNY represents several
key sites of conflict that are diffuse across the city: the
control over our production and use of knowledge in daily
life, the reproduction of the labor force, the creation of
hierarchies and divisions across lines of race, ethnicity,
class and gender. As we familiarize ourselves with these struggles
and forms of inequality (both in theory and as lived experience),
we must also ask about resistance and the flight lines from
the hierarchicalization process. Join students and adjuncts
from the Graduate Center as well as across CUNY campuses in
formulating a vision for how to construct an autonomous university
adequate to these concerns. To meet the challenges of thinking-in-common,
as students, workers and residents of New York City, we call
for a community dialogue on the question of what autonomy
means for our lives.
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Term Limits, Wall Street Bust and
the End of the NYC Real Estate Boom: An analysis and presentation
on the growing citywide resistance against Bloomberg's Agenda
to Gentrify Low Income Communities
Harlem Tenants Council
Speakers:
Nellie Hester Bailey, Executive Director, Harlem Tenants Council
David Galarza, Sunset Park alliance of Neighbors (Queens)
Sergio Aguirro, Committee for Defense of Willets Point
Representative, Coalition to Protect Chinatown/Lower East
Side
Representative, Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn (invited)
Representative, Coalition Against East 125th Street Development
Project
Tom Angotti, Urban Planner (invited)
Room 1/201
New York is Home to All: Citywide Organizing
Against Bloomberg's Agenda to Gentrify Low Income Communities
in New York City. Join us in a round table analysis and interactive
discussion on Bloomberg's racist Master Plan to ethnically
cleanse New York City's low income neighborhoods by employing
his weapons of mass displacement: Sell-out Elected Officials,
The City Planning Department, the New York City Council, the
Empire State Development Corporation, Zoning, Eminent Domain,
Bogus Community Benefit Agreements and Paid Off Community
Base Front Groups. What is the relationship between these
entities and how are grass roots groups throughout the City
organizing resistance and fight back? In addition, Bloomberg
is attempting to defy the democratic process by abolishing
Term Limits to complete his racist development agenda even
in midst of the worst economic crisis the city and nation
have ever faced. A look at the scheme to overturn Term Limit
as it relates to furthering the gentrification process in
addition to an analysis of the end of NYC's real estate boom
and its impact on development projects including Harlem's
fame 125th Street!
The core of the discussion will center on the growing citywide
movement to "Dump Bloomberg" in protest of the Mayor's
housing program that has razed low income communities from
Harlem to Sunset Park to Willets Point to make way for more
profitable luxury developments catering to a wealthy elite
while sacrificing working families and small businesses that
built the city. While the majority of residents in the City
are living from paycheck to paycheck Bloomberg's personal
fortune has increased from $14 to 2$22.5 billion, making him
the 8th richest person in the nation. Don't miss this critical
workshop.
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Film Screening and Discussion: "Afghan
Women"
Moderator: Glenn Kissack
Speaker: Kathleen Foster
Room 1/203
We will show segments of the film "Afghan
Women" as the foundation for a discussion of the U.S.
occupation of Afghanistan. We'd like participants to consider
how the war has affected CUNY students, how it will likely
affect students in the future, and whether it's correct to
consider Afghanistan to be a "good war" that merits
an increase in the number of U.S. troops. The director of
"Afghan Women," Kathleen Foster, will speak.
Kathleen Foster has been a New York-based
photojournalist and documentary filmmaker since the 1970's.
Her photographs of Afghanistan were exhibited at the Leedell
Gallery in Soho and portfolios were published in various photography
magazines such as Creative Camera and British Journal of Photography.
She has directed and produced a number of documentaries that
address issues of social significance, including "Point
of Attack," about the detention of Arab and Muslim men
after 9/11. Glenn Kissack, taught mathematics at Hunter College
High School, where he was the adviser to Progressive Forum,
a student club, and was active in the PSC.
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The Role of Women in Our Struggle
for Liberation from Ancient Kemet to Present Day
The Healing Drum Collective
Speakers: Akiwa Gizzel, Human Rights Activist; Ina Allick,
MXGM; Viola Plummer, December 12th Movement; Sistah Khadijah,
NBPP; Mama Nonkululeko, Midwife/Harlem Birth Action Committee;
Prof. Venus Green (CCNY); Monique Code, Activist
Moderator: M. Ndigo Washington
Room 0/201
We will examine how women contributed to the
fight against colonialism, imperalism and racism. We will
also discuss the challenges they face to raise a family and
organize their communities through block and tenant associations.
We will also look at the need to help teenage girls and young
adults develop positive self-images within a society that
promotes miscogny and degrading of an African culture.
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Beehive Collective on Political Art
Room 5/101
The slide show uses political drawings as
a means of talking about some of the injustices in our current
economic system, U.S. dependences/oppression of other parts
of the Americas, and the ways that we each contribute to that
with our consumerism. The goal is to raise awareness, and
to encourage dialogs on how to create more sustainable conscious
consumerism.
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CUNY Time: Taking Back Our University
Speakers: David Spataro, Justin Myers, Jesse Goldstein, Renee
McGarry
Room 6/114
Throughout the city and across CUNY's campuses,
students, faculty and staff are witnessing CUNY's slow transformation
by the tides of corporate privatization and the elimination
of social welfare support from the state. The powers of privatization,
militarization and corporatization have entered into a holy
alliance, and our CUNY, our city, our entire globe have fallen
under its spell. But there is something in the air, working
to counteract this process. People are starting to come together.
Faculty, students and staff across the campuses, across the
city, and across the world are pushing back. Our aim is to
remember CUNY's radical past, contribute to its radical present,
and to envision and build its revolutionary future. The CUNY
disorientation guide, as both a living, radical document and
a practical handbook of alternative resources is merely one
component of this struggle.
This workshop will have three main purposes:
(1) Discussing what the Disorientation guide is, as a political
project devoted to a counter-narrative of the University,
and what content you would like to see in the guide;
(2) Discussing the ongoing Neoliberalization of CUNY and why
this must be opposed, and;
(3) Engaging in a collaborate framework to discuss what type
of CUNY we the community, students and faculty desire and
how we are going to realize this goal.
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CUNY Law School: Responding to Institutional
Racism In Pedagogy
Speaker: A. Beltran
Moderator: A. Beltran
Room 1/211A
This workshop will focus on effectively identifying
and responding to faculty racism that generates unnecessary
student failure. In this workshop we will discuss the history
of testing at the law school and the manner in which faculty
racism combined with testing are (1) linked directly to dismissals
and (2) raise a barrier to the achievement of students of
color. As one observer has keenly noted,"CUNY Law's academic
policy, also disproportionately affects people of color. Naturally,
women are often the most affected by these situations. Both
in preparation for attending school, taking the LSAT, and
then, succeeding in law school... consider a woman of color
that relies wholly on financial aid, has children, and is
going to school full time. Not everyone has the financial
resources to apply to ten billion schools, reapply, retake
their LSATs, restart and repay tuition, or to attend a one
year Pipeline class."
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US Held Political Prisoners &
POW's: Interactive Workshop
Organizations: National Jericho Amnesty Movement and The Safiya
Bukhari-Albert Nuh Washington Foundation
Facilitators: Bro. Sadiki "Shep" Ojore Olugbala,
Sis. Akilah "Pam Hannah" Olugbala
Room 6/115
Co-Facilitated By Both The Jericho Amnesty
Movement And The Safiya Bukhari-Albert Nuh Washington Foundation:
This Interactive Workshop Will Be Facilitated By Seasoned
PP/POW Activists: Who Will Be Utilizing The Following Outline.
1. Show & Discuss The First half Of The Internationally
Renowned PP/POW Film "Can't Jail The Spirit/Break Down
the Walls" (30 Minutes)
2. Provide Clarity And/Or Take Any Unanswered Questions From
The Just Held PP/POW Panel. (15 Minutes)
3. Review The Primary Local, National, And International Tactics,
Projects And Programs That Are Currently Being Utilized By
Both The Jericho Movement & The Safiya-Nuh Foundation.
(15 Minutes)
4. Actually Have All Of The Workshop Participants Sit-down
& Write Letters To The Captured Freedom Fighters Regarding
Their Own Impressions On The PP/POW Panel, Workshop &
Exhibit And; What They Will Now Be Personally Committed To
Do "To Free Our U.S. Government Held Political Prisoners"
Copies Of The Jericho Current List Of PP/POW names, addresses;
paper; pens; envelopes and stamps will be provided.
Bro. Sadiki "Shep" Ojore Olugbala-
Former Member Of The "Original" Black Panther Party;
Former Co-Chairperson Of The Coalition To Free Mumia Abu Jamal;
1970's CUNY Student Leader; Special Advisor For The Universal
Zulu Nation And; Cofounder/Program Officer For The Safiya
Bukhari-Albert Nuh Washington Foundation.
Sis. Akilah "Pam Hannah" Olugbala-
Former Member Of The "Original" Black Panther Party;
Executive Advisor/Production Assistant To The Field Up Films
Productions On Political Prisoner Sundiata Acoli & The
1970's Case Of The Panther 21. Sistah Akilah Is Also A Current
Speakers Bureau Member And Board Advisor To The Safiya Bukhari-Albert
Nuh Washington Foundation
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Building Wealth and Healing Our Nation
Community Empowerment Organization
Speakers: Jamila Steele, Chris Holder, Franklin Smith,
Moderator/Facilitator: A. Antonia Barry
Room 1/202
In the spirit of the World Social Forum credo
that "Another World is Possible," this proposal answers the
question: "How Can CUNY Contribute To Furthering Struggle
for Democracy & Social Justice in New York City and Beyond?"
It all starts and ends with economics. The current system
as we know it is dying and grasping for breath! Capitalism
has made excess and greed its credo and consequently, that
greed is reaping what it has sown. What we need is: "A
New Breed of Professional for the New Century!" As we
turn the corner to a new millennium, a new role model is emerging
for the business world. Replacing the acclaimed corporate
executive of the 20th Century will be the entrepreneur of
the 21st Century. It is predicted that with the advancement
of technology and the World Wide Web, entrepreneurship will
surface as the defining trend of the business world in this
century.” This conclusion was identified in a survey of leading
Americans, commissioned by Ernst & Young. Both employees and
employers are candidates for this new form of capitalism.
These entrepreneurs will become the leading economic drivers-so
much so that it is expected that the 21st century could well
become known as the "entrepreneurial age." The profession
most likely to advance this entrepreneurial age is network
marketing (NM)--an industry embodying ten million Americans,
and more than three times that many worldwide. NM, the fastest
growing industry in the world, is emerging as an alternative
way to make a living and to live.
The difference between a corporate and a NM
pyramid is simple and straightforward. In a multilevel marketing
pyramid, individuals start out at the top, as the president
and CEO of their own business. They then proceed to build
their organization, in pyramidal fashion from the top down,
looking first for their vice presidents who make up the “front
line” of their corporation. Those so inclined can in turn
set themselves up as the CEOs of their own business; and that
process can be duplicated repeatedly. NM brings democracy
back to the workplace. We are in charge of our own lives.
No one tells us what to do. We don’t have a "job,"
in the traditional sense of the world. We don't commute to
work. We don't race out of the house to catch the 7:15 to
Grand Central Station, or fight the freeways in a carpool.
We conduct our business from home something that will exponentially
reduce global warming. Working from home offers a low-risk
venture with the potential of an exceptionally high return
with no overhead, accounts receivable, payroll and no geographical
restrictions.
NM is a business you can conduct from anywhere
in the world. Anyone can become a networking success, irrespective
of gender, race, cultural heritage, education, or other social
or economic background. The essential determinant of success
is the individual’s personal connections and genuine commitment
to hard work, sustained over time. As more professionally
educated and financially successful attorneys, physicians,
dentists, teachers, chiropractors, professors, corporate CEOs,
and entrepreneurs and socially conscious individuals join
our industry…the kind of experience and credibility they bring
can only enhance network marketing, making the industry even
more effective in creating a legitimate, efficient, and rapidly
growing channel of distribution for moving an ever-broadening
array of products and services to customers around the globe.
For those of you who chose to become part of this profession,
we welcome you and congratulate you for a thoughtful decision.”
(Mr. Rene Reid Yarnell). Mr. Donald J. Trump, one of the world's
most successful multi-billionaires and spokesperson of the
phenomenal company you will learn of today said: "This
is better than real estate; I like real estate, but this is
better."
1. Introduction of Speakers
2. Brief Discussion of Thesis
3. Video Presentation
4. Discussion
5. Closing Remarks
Community Empowerment Organization
Mission: To Build Wealth and Heal ALL Nations by facilitating
the introduction and advancement of “A New Breed of
Professional for the 21st Century!” – while effecting
positive social change, personal growth and the financial
resurrection of the world’s inhabitants and institutions.
Jamila Steele, Regional Vice
President, ACN – Former chemical engineer with Merck
and Pfizer; and a real estate and telecommunications entrepreneur.
Left the system almost three years ago to become a millionaire
and “A New Breed of Professional for the 21st Century”
in 2006.
Chris Holder, Team Coordinator,
ACN – Former stock and mortgage broker; and marketing
representative with Sony. Left the system eight months ago
to become “A New Breed of Professional for the 21st
Century” in 2006.
Franklin Smith, C.O.O., Community
Empowerment Organization – After working for more than
34 years in various positions within corporate America and
city government, he left to become “A New Breed Professional
for the 21St Century” and strives to assist people from
all walks of life in doing the same.
A. Antonia Barry, CEO, Community
Empowerment Organization – An avid pursuer of education
who also works diligently to assist her son, Massinissa Barry-Smith,
currently serving in the U.S. Army, in helping to uplift and
empower individuals and institutions while building the wealth
needed to heal all nations and our environment.
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Beyond Dreams: The Other World is
Here
Bronx CC, Hostos CC and Hunter College
Room 3/201, Morales/Shakur Center
The CUNY SF is an interactive discussion with
and for the mutual sharing of strengths among CUNY professors,
CUNY and NYC students to build a better CUNY by elimination
of learning difficulties. The professors demonstrate their
contribution to the creation of the learning environment,
of a level playing field and ask for participation from the
audience of CUNY and public school students in solutions to
eliminating the difficulties they encounter in the mathematics
classrooms of the Bronx and the community development project
in Tamil Nadu. Their methodology in India adapted from the
one developed in the Bronx, is a Bronx success story. Mathematics
as a critical pedagogy in and out of the classroom, and its
utility vs. its utilization could be the emerging topic for
continued online discussion after the interactive face-to-face
workshop at the CUNY SF.
Speakers:
Nellie Hester Bailey,
co-founder and director, Harlem Tenants Council
Esperanza Martell,
co-founder of Casa Atabex Ache, board member and teacher
at the Brecht Forum, coordinator of the ProLibertad Campaign
to Free Puerto Rican Political Prisoners/POW's and end US
colonialism in Puerto Rico, B.A. from City University of
New York and M.S.W. from Hunter College School of Social
Work
Ashanti Alston Omowali,
former member of the Black Panther Party, the Black Liberation
Army, and northeast coordinator for Critical Resistance;
current co-chair of the National Jericho Movement, member
of Estación Libre, and board member of the Institute
for Anarchist Studies
Roger Wareham,
Human Rights Attorney, Political Activist and advocate for
reparations for descendents of victims of the African slave
trade, Member of the International Secretariat of the December
12th Movement
Moderator:
Mike Menser,
Assistant Professor, Philosophy Department, Brooklyn College;
CUNY Social Forum organizer
Community Responsibility
Speakers: Hasan Salaam, Spirit Child
Room 6/268
Local artists and activists address the issue
of our communities and our job to improve them. Panelists
include Hasan Salaam and Spirit Child. They will discuss some
conventional and nonconventional ways of involving people
in taking ownership over their communities to take a part
in improving and building a better community leading towards
a better society and future for us all.
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Community Food Solutions
Community Vision Council
Speakers: Asantewaa Gail Harris, Iya Amy Olatunji, Brother
Abdul
Room 3/201, Morales/Shakur Center
Community Vision Council/CVC began grass roots
organizing in NYC to address community issues relating to
food insecurity, high rates of obesity, diabetes and other
food related health conditions burdening people of color that
are PREVENTABLE. We will introduce our inter-generational
partners who are traditional & non-traditional health professionals
who are using culturally based creative ways (music, dance,
spoken word, books & film) to advance healthy choices for
healthy living. Our work reaches thousands who reside in NYC's
communities of color. We will highlight a few of the successes
& challenges that we face in our campaign to promote WELLNESS.
For more information, please visit CVC's website
at www.cvcouncil.blogspot.com.
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Ending CUNY Complicity in the War
Campus Antiwar Network
Room 6/310
As recruitment becomes more desperate as support
for the Iraq lessens, military recruiters are going to greater
lengths (and greater lies) to recruit CUNY students. Military
recruitment in H.S. also prevents working class students from
the opportunity to get a college education at CUNY. Increasingly,
CUNY is also becoming a place where vets are returning to
campus often, in the case of Matthis Chiroux, being denied
access to an education by receiving stop-loss orders to return
to Iraq. This panel will include students who have been active
in counter-recruitment efforts at CUNY and a place to generate
future campaigns around vets and divestment.
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The Cradle-to-Prison Pipeline Industry
Parents in Action for Leadership and Human Rights
Room 0/201
Compulsory Public Schooling, Forced Special
Ed, Drugging of Children, Foster Care, Juvenile Justice, Prison,
Homeless and Mentally Ill Industries teaming together to criminalize
the largest possible number of children in New York City,
particularly children of color. Let's explore together the
depths of the Social Engineered disempowering of certain populations
to the benefit of others. The sorting and tracking of children
beginning with a Public Schooling system designed to dumb
down the masses rather than educate them. The forced use of
Special Ed classes to destroy the brightest and bravest of
the population of color, while getting 3.5 times more funding.
The use of so-called Child Protective Services as a weapon
to force compliance by parents. The "legal" kidnapping
of children of poor parents, under any imaginable excuse.
The use of Family Court to give an aura of legality to the
racketeering white collar enterprise of the Child Slave Trade.
The systematic making of disabled children who enter Foster
Care in order to get 3.5 times more funding. The forced drugging
of Special Ed and Foster Care children in order to keep them
compliant.
For more information, please visit our website
at www.parentsinaction.net.
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What is Feminism and Why is it Needed
on Our Campuses?
CCNY Radical Women club
Speakers: Diana Sierra, Emily Parson, Elan Ferguson,
Betty Maloney, Emily Woo Yamasaki
Room 1/203
CCNY Radical Women club representatives will
talk about a grassroots definition of feminism that is distinguished
from the mainstream, liberal feminists who are the focus of
the media's attention. Bring your thoughts and questions to
an open discussion which will address how militant feminist
leadership is key to campus struggles to save Women's, Ethnic,
and LGBT Studies; to fight for free, bilingual and multicultural
childcare; to oppose CUNY budget cuts; and more.
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African Internationalist
Student Organization (AISO)
Room 1/202
This workshop will cover the following topics:
- An historical critique of the U.S. capitalist economy
in relation to African people
- Reparations to African people from the U.S. government
- Free education to all African students worldwide
- No tuition fees for a students
- How to achieve more African centered curriculum
- How to achieve more African faculty and staff
We will also do the following:
- show excerpts of a DVD entitled ITRAP (International
Tribunal for Reparations to African People)
- Distribute AISO informational leaflet
- Sell the Burning Spear Newspaper
The African Internationalist Student Organization
(AISO) is the student wing of the revolutionary African People's
Socialist Party (APSP), which is a political party that represents
the class interests of the African working class and poor
peasants around the world. As the constituent organization
of the Party, AISO and its members are expected to tow the
Party line and bring revolutionary action back onto high school,
college, and university campuses around the world.
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Totalist Politics/Liberating Theory
The New School for Social Revolution
Room 6/311
What are the organs of society? What are institutions?
Is the economy really the "base" of society? Does
one oppression have supremacy over the others, or are they
all interconnected? Is it possible that society's four spheres
of social life and activity (the economy, polity, kinship,
and community) are mutually determinant of each other, co-reproduce
each other's core characteristics and, in fact, accommodate
one another? How does this pose a challenge to past monist
and pluralist theories? Do these monist and pluralist theories,
conceptualized in their own respective reality, really reflect
our social reality in 2008? Why is it important for a social
movement to adopt a theory that takes a complementary and
holistic approach to explaining society?
Please join us in answering these questions
and discussing what Liberating Theory means, the importance
of vision for a social movement, and strategizing ways to
achieve this vision.
We will be using "Liberating Theory,"
published by South End Press, as a reading guide (no purchase
necessary).
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No Boundary! Queensborough-CUNY
Joel Kuszai
Room 5/101
Undocumented students are allowed to attend
CUNYís 2-year community colleges, but receive no public
assistance, paying their own way and often unaware that with
a high-school diploma in-hand they are eligible for in-state
tuition. Undocumented students' social networks are local,
informal, and, for good reason, underground. This panel brings
together young people engaged in creating a new, Queens-based
youth publication, No Boundary. This tabloid-format publication
will feature student and youth journalism, resource information,
narratives of immigrant experience, cultural and creative
writing, and social criticis--all of it delivered in a playful,
positive spirit and with pride. Drawing upon the ethnic, cultural
and linguistic diversity of New York City (and Queens in particular)
this is not a publication for immigrant students, but by them.
This presentation outlines this new publication, brings some
of the students involved together to discuss the project.
Hopefully it will serve as a gathering point for others seeking
to participate as contributors, editors, or supporters, of
this new endeavor.
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Ya Basta! Buiding Another World is
Possible: Creating Autonomous Communities in NYC
Casa Atabex Ache
Facilitators: Dayanara Marte, Toyin Adebanjo, Karen Lopez
Room 6/313
Come join Casa Atabex Ache as we explore in
community how the movements of the Global South like the Zapatistas
have insipired us to build autonomous alternative forms of
resistance to take care, nurture and love our communities
(immigrants, working class, womyn of color, queer poc, etc).
We say Ya Basta! to the oppressive capitalist institutions
that have had a long standing negative impact our communities.
Come learn about how the Zapatistas build autonomy in their
communities and come together to create some demands for our
own communities. Our workshop will be participatory and will
include an interactive presentation, group dialogue/work,
and some large group activity.
Toyin Adebanjo uses her skills in filmmaking,
community organizing, spirituality, cultural practices to
direct a womyn of color not for profit organization in the
South Bronx that empowers young and adult womyn of color to
reclaim their lives, heal from trauma, become leaders and
activist to end violence against womyn.
Dayanara Marte is a single identified lesbian,
mother of two, has been with Casa Atabex Ache since its inception
in Mott Haven and key designers of Casa's youth program, Fuerza/Power.
creating the program curriculum and model. She also actively
trains nonprofit organizations, throughout the New York Metropolitan
area, in self-healing techniques, which emphasize the integration
of personal and political change and re-education.
Karen Lopez is a 23 year Colombiana that has
been organizing communities of color, womyn of color, immigrants
and young people for the last 4 years. She gets her inspiration
from the popular social movements in Latin America
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Who Will Take Out The Garbage?
John Kim
Room 1/211B
Revolutionary fervor during periods of popular
upsurge often blind many to the sophisticated and protracted
organizing efforts that must be laid in order for the gains
of such periods to have a lasting effect. Radical insurgents
have often misidentified their priorities by viewing conflicts
that they faced as being narrow one-dimensional struggles.
In doing so they simplify their antagonist "the system"
as something – a creature to be overthrown by rallying
popular dissent, dismissing underlying complexities such as
systems of control whether they be psychological or institutional.
The neo-liberal assault on CUNY developed
over time but 1995 saw unleashed a new period of attacks against
popular gains by another group of right-wing insurgents led
by a one Newt Gingrich and the G.O.P. stampede that sought
to channel their objectives through the very institutions
of power often seen as being the very enemy itself!
The Student Liberation Action Movement (SLAM!)
was (and is) a radically oriented student organization that
grew from the 1995 CUNY Coalition for Public Education. Composed
of many tendencies and ideologies SLAM! produced a body of
political organizing work that attempted to redefine radical
and revolutionary traditions on many levels (in the areas
of press development, mass protest, youth organizing and direct
action).
Ironically the aspect of their work least identified with
radical social change was their on-campus work at Hunter College
as they held Student Government in coalition with campus activists
for over half a decade. Often times it is the style and not
the substance of an organization that defines them.
This workshop seeks to identify political
work at the institutional levels of governance, guiding political
theory and their role in creating social change. SLAM!'s political
work will be analyzed and reevaluated at the institutional
level to find what lessons can be learned by today's young
progressives.
Reparations as a Solution for the
Issues Facing Black People in the 21st Century
December 12th Movement
Room 1/201
Roger Wareham is a member of D12's International
Secretariat, a prominent international human rights activist,
author and lecturer, and one of the leading attorneys seeking
reparations for the descendents of slaves held in the United
States. For over 20 years Mr. Wareham has personally participated
with other members of D12 in many international conferences,
including many U.N. programs in Geneva and Africa such as
the 2001 U.N Conference on racism in Durban, South Africa.
D12 has been one of the leading forces in
the struggle to link the movement for reparations and self-determination
for African-Americans with the struggle for self determination
for Africa and reparations for the African countries that
were victimized by the slave trade.
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Immigrant Youth Organize!
New York State Leadership Council
Speakers: Marisol Ramos, Jennifer Carino, Jose Luis
Zacatelco
Room 5/101
The NYS Youth Leadership Council promotes
the advancement of immigrant youth and children of immigrants
through leadership development, organizing and advocacy. We
believe in equal access to higher education regardless of
immigration status. The NYS Youth Leadership Council has empowered
youth to take a leading role in cultivating the next generation
of leaders, and to sustain and build on the momentum of this
historic period in the immigrant rights movement by providing
a venue for young people to assume a leadership role in educating
and organizing other youth around the issues that affect their
lives.
Our workshop will cover our organizing efforts
on behalf of access to higher education and legalization for
immigrant youth. We will discuss the challanges that undocumented
immigrant students face and how through organizing we are
empowering immigrant youth and their families.
Marisol Ramos, is co-founder of the NYSYLC
and a Hunter alumni. Jennifer Carino is co-founder of the
NYSYLC and a NYU student. Jose Luis Zacatelco is co-founder
of the NYSYLC, a La Guardia CC student, and an ESL teacher
at NICE.
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A Participatory Introduction to Housing
Types in New York City, Local Tenant Struggles and Victories,
the Neoliberal Attack on Affordable Housing, and the Tenant
Movement's Fight for Change
Real Rent Reform Campaign.
Speakers: Joe Catron, Ericka Stallings, Andres Mares Muro
Room 6/310
The three presenters will give basic information
on the topics listed in the title plus information on the
Real Rent Reform Campaign and then open it up to questions.
Joe Catron is a tenant organizer working
for the Metropolitan Council on Housing, a citywide tenants'
organization founded in 1959. He lives in Sunset Park, Brooklyn.
Andres Mares Muro is Tenants & Neighbors’ coordinator
for its Rent Regulation program. He lives in West Harlem
-------------
What Would It Look Like to Win? Building
a Successful CUNY Student Union
Facilitators: Rachel Haut, Atlee McFellin, and Dave
Shukla
Room 6/311
An interactive workshop engaging participants
in the questions: -What would it mean for the CUNY Student
Union to win? -What are our long term goals? -What are our
short term goals? -How do we get there? We will use the Midwest
Academy's campaign organizing model to present participants
with the ways and methods to start organizing successful campaigns
on their campus and throughout CUNY. Workshop is part of the
curriculum of the NYC Youth Chapter, a collective of young
activists working to develop youth leadership through popular
education on grassroots organizing skills.
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Daring to Struggle, Daring to Win!
Building a Radical Student Movement
Students for a Democratic Society
Speakers: Daniel Tasripin, Rahel Aima, and Ateo Laureano Peruyero
Bracero
Moderator: Robyn Tang
Room 0/201
CUNY has a long history of struggle, which
has never just emerged within CUNY itself, but has been connected
and a part to the greater New York Community and the politics
of its time. How can we learn from the struggles of our communities
in the past & today, of students throughout the New York
Public Education System, and connect that to the possibility
of building a radical student movement with organic roots
in our communities? Students for a Democratic Society members
look at what are our possibilities, what our duties as politically
conscious students are, and what kind of transformation we
want to see.
Students for a Democratic Society re-emerged as a new organization
in 2006. Since then, SDS has grown into a national organization
with over a hundred chapters and thousands of members.
Robyn Tang is an aspiring artist. She was
the former vice-president of the Philosophy Club of Hunter
College, and is now a current member of Hunter SDS.
Daniel Tasripin was a member of Student Liberation
Action Movement (SLAM) and a member of CUNY Hunter SDS, as
well as a representive of the People of Color Caucus in National
SDS organization. He has helped organized the first Iraq Moratorium
events in NYC and is the prolific author of the blog Hegemonik.
Rahel Aima has been a member of Columbia Univeristy
SDS for more than two years and has organized against David
Horowitz and the Islamofascist week, and is currently organizing
against the re-introduction of the ROTC to the Columbia campus.
Ateo Laureano Peruyero Bracero is a Nuyorican
born, raised and resides in the borough of The Bronx, he has
now come to learn more of his oppressive history in the United
States and in Puerto Rico. He is a member of Queens College
SDS and a member of La Tertulia (The Spanish Club) on campus
seeking to help educate other Latino/a students on their history
and issues inside the United States and in Latin America,
while also seeking to learn from others.
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Social Unionism and the Work of PSC
Committees
PSC International Committee
Speakers: Jim Perlstein, Marcia Newfield, Renate Bridenthal
Moderator: Laura Kaplan
Room 1/211B
This panel will focus on work that PSC Committees
have done, emphasizing our social unionism. We will discuss
the PSC history of organizing with Latin American teacher
unions through IDEA, and the Tri-national Coalition (teachers'
unions from the U.S., Canada and Mexico), and solidarity campaigns
with FECODE from Colombia, Oaxaca Mexico teachers' union Oaxaca
Seccion 22 and the FMPR (Federacion de Maestros Puertoriquenos).
We want to begin a dialogue of where we should go from here.
Jim Perlstein chairs the Solidarity Committee
of the PSC and represents retirees on the PSC Executive Council.
He taught history for 43 years at various CUNY campuses, the
last 38 at BMCC.
Marcia Newfield is the Vice-President fot
he over l0,000 Part-time Personnel at the Professional Staff
Congress (PSC, AFT local 2334), the union for 22,000 CUNY
faculty and staff. She also serves as Adjunct Grievance Counselor,
as well as the union Grievance Policy Committee of the PSC.
She is co-chair of the Women's Committee.
Renate Bridenthal is Professor Emerita of
History at Brooklyn College and editor of and contributor
to volumes on German and European Women's History, and editor
of two volumes on World History, and is currently Chairperson
of the PSC International Committee.
Laura Kaplan taught ESL in the CUNY Language
Immersion Program (CLIP) at Hostos Community College for six
years. She currently teaches ESL at Bronx Community College
and is in the Urban Education Doctoral Program at the CUNY
Graduate Center. Laura is a member of the PSC International
Committee.
-------------
The Shakti Center Collective for Gender
and Sexuality-Based Activism (based in Chennai, India)
Facilitators: Padma Govindan and Aniruddh Vasudevan
Room 3/201, Morales/Shakur Center
The Shakti Center is a non-profit collective
that focuses on strengthening the LGBTIQ community and building
a public dialog on gender and sexuality in Chennai, India.
The goal of this discussion-based workshop is to interrogate
both the meaning of, and need for transnational solidarity
on issues of queer identity and rights, and to explore strategies
for building links between American college students and international
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