Green Left Weekly Activist Calendar: 2011-11-23

Green Left Weekly Activist Calendar

November 23, 2011

Community rally Support the nurses! Defend safe patient care! Defend nurse-patient ratios! Thursday, November 24, 12:30pm. Assemble 12:30pm, Bourke St mall, City. Then march to Parliament House, Spring St, City. Community picnic Occupy Melbourne's 'Dare to share' teddy bears picnic Saturday, November 26, 11:30am-2:30pm. Treasury Gardens, cnr Spring & Flinders Sts, City. : . It's about sharing! Kids get it, why doesn't everyone?! Currently, in Victoria funding is being cut to 9000 'take a break' occasional care places, impacting on shift workers, single parents and families in crisis. Meanwhile the 1% continues to grow richer. Join the 99% for a day of fun and kids activities at Occupy Melbourne's picnic! Bring a blanket and some snacks and let's show the 1% how this 'strange concept' called sharing is done. Organised by Occupy Melbourne Kids & Carers Committee. For more info visit Occupy Melbourne. This is the regular Melbourne activist calendar compiled by Green Left Weekly. Emailed to subscribers each Wednesday fortnight, it is a one-stop listing of the main left and progressive events in Melbourne and Geelong. Since it began in early 1991, Green Left Weekly has offered an indispensable alternative to the lies of the big-business media and has helped build the various movements for social change. To subscribe to Green Left Weekly, visit our secure online website for rates and payment at Green Left Weekly or call our national hotline on 1800 634 206. You can also contact us at the Resistance Centre, 5th floor, 407 Swanston St, City; ph 9639 8622. In Geelong we are at the Activist Centre, Trades Hall, 127 Myers St (opening hours: Mon 2-4.30pm, Fri 10am-4.30pm); ph 5222 6900. New email address? Not already receiving this calendar regularly? Want to subscribe someone else? Let us know at Greenleft Melbourne. Green Left Weekly needs your help We hope you are finding the fortnightly Green Left Weekly Activist Calendar a useful resource. Perhaps you also check out Green Left Weekly itself online or buy or subscribe to the print version. Green Left is a people-powered independent media project. We run against the stream in a society where public debate is dominated by the slick, self-serving corporate media which uses all its resources to try and shape our attitudes and limit our imaginations. The Green Left Weekly project costs money. We rely wholly on the support of our readers to keep going. And as we near the end of the year, the thermometer shows our national fundraising effort is significantly behind schedule. Can you help us finish the year in a stronger financial position? All donations, large and small, are very much appreciated. You can donate online to the Green Left Fighting Fund. Direct deposits can be made to Greenleft, Commonwealth Bank, BSB 062-006, #0090-1992. Otherwise, you can send a cheque or money order to PO Box 515, Broadway NSW 2007; donate with your credit card on the toll-free line at 1800 634 206; or you can drop into the Resistance Centre (address above). Other coming events Wednesday, November 23 Public meeting with Rubén Pereira: For the 99%: Social movements and political change. Speaker: Rubén Pereira from Venezuela, Coordinator of Social Movements for the Bolivarian Alliance of the Peoples of Our America (ALBA). The rise of the Occupy movement, from Wall Street to Sydney, reflects the mass dissatisfaction and growing anger about the injustices of capitalism. In Latin America, a united organisation that reflects and fights for the needs of the people against the greed and destructiveness of the corporations is changing the shape of politics across the continent. ALBA was launched by Cuba and Venezuela in 2004 and now includes eight Latin American nations. Rubén Pereira is a member of its executive secretariat. 7pm. New International Bookshop, Trades Hall, cnr Victoria & Lygon Sts, Carlton South. Hosted by the Venezuelan Embassy in Australia. Supported by the Australia-Venezuela Solidarity Network & Latin American Forum. For more info ph 9639 8622 or Sean 0415 122 135. Public meeting: 50th Anniversary of the pill in Australia. An incomplete revolution. Featuring: Nelly Thomas (comedian), Leslie Cannold (author & Age columnist), Louise Keough (lecturer, Melbourne University) & Mary Crooks (executive director, Victorian Women's Trust). To mark 50 years since the introduction of the pill we will reflect on the promise of the sexual revolution, and the reality of what has been delivered for young women today. 5:45pm. BMW Edge Federation Square. Sponsored by the Victorian Women's Trust. For more info, email Pill. Public meeting: Choosing between progress & planet. Is the world split between those who want to save the planet and those who want to save themselves? In Quarterly Essay 44, Andrew Charlton exposes the rift that will shape our future: progress versus planet, rich versus poor. Across the globe, economists and environmentalists are locked in a struggle over who has the right response to climate change, population and food security issues. Charlton argues that our descendants will only thank us if we find a way to preserve both the natural world and human progress. 6:15pm. The Wheeler Centre, 176 Little Lonsdale Street. Free entry. Bookings recommended. Bookings at Wheeler Centre. Thursday, November 24 Rally: Stand up for our services> Action by public sector workers. 10:45am. Cnr St Andrews Place & Macarthur St, City (back of Parliament House). Community rally: Support the nurses! Defend safe patient care. Defend nurse-patient ratios. Assemble 12:30pm, Bourke St mall; march to Parliament House, Spring St, City. Protest against Gunns pulp mill. 10:15am. Outside Gunns AGM, Sofitel Hotel, 25 Collins St, City (assemble back entrance Sofitel Hotel, Flinders Lane, near carpark before moving around to the front entrance). Participating groups include TAP, Pulp the Mill, Tasmanian Wilderness Society & Friends of the Tamar Valley. There is a possibility that members from Occupy Melbourne will also attend. For more info ph Lucy Landon-Lane 0417 105 390. Film screening: Screaming Queens: The Riot at Compton's Cafeteria. This Emmy Award-winning documentary tells the story of the first-known collective uprising against queer and transgender oppression. A multi-racial rebellion in San Francisco's Tenderloin district, led by drag queens, that took place three years before the Stonewall Riot in New York. The revolt connected to issues of police harassment, housing rights, war resistance, and sexual liberation. 7pm. Solidarity Salon, 580 Sydney Road, Brunswick. Dinner from 6pm. $8. For more info ph 9388 0062. Public meeting: The battle of Chile: Free, quality education for all. Speaker: Cristian Milla Curiñanco (Mapuche student visiting Australia, representative of one of the Chilean grass roots students organisation, Convergencia Estudiantil, fighting for free, quality education in Chile). Organised by Latin American Solidarity Network (LASNET). Supported by Chile Solidarity Melbourne. 7pm. LaTrobe University City Campus, 215 Franklin St, City. Saturday, November 26 Rally: Defend the Fertility Control Clinic Campaign for Women's reproductive rights stands with Occupy Melbourne against its eviction by Mayor Robert Doyle. 10am. 118 Wellington Parade, East Melbourne. For more info ph 9388 0062. Community Picnic: Occupy Melbourne's 'Dare to share' teddy bears picnic. It's about sharing! Kids get it, why doesn't everyone?! Currently, in Victoria funding is being cut to 9000 'take a break' occasional care places, impacting on shift workers, single parents and families in crisis. Meanwhile the 1% continues to grow richer. Join the 99% for a day of fun and kids activities at Occupy Melbourne's picnic! Bring a blanket and some snacks and let's show the 1% how this 'strange concept' called sharing is done. 11:30am-2:30pm. Treasury Gardens, cnr Spring & Flinders Sts, City. Organised by Occupy Melbourne Kids & Carers Committee. For more info visit Occupy Melbourne. Tuesday, November 29 Public meeting: Humphrey McQueen & Kenneth Davidson on the state of the world economy. Humphrey McQueen is a Canberra-based freelance historian and cultural commentator who has written extensively on Australian society, culture and the labour movement. Kenneth Davidson is a Fairfax columnist, a Walkley Award winning journalist and a committed Keynesian, who in his spare time is a co-editor of Dissent magazine. 3CR presenters Bill Deller, Lalitha Cheliah and Diana Beaumont will join Humphrey and Kenneth in a conversation about capitalism's most recent crisis, the role of the banks, and its fallout. 7pm. Meeting Room 1, Trades Hall, cnr Lygon & Victoria Sts, Carlton. Entry by Donation. Wednesday, November 30 Book launch: We built this country: Builders' Labourers & their unions Speaker: Humphrey McQueen. His new book charts the history of Australian builders' labourers and their unions, from their early beginnings through to the radical days of the green bans and workers' control of the 60s. 6:30pm. New International Bookshop, Trades Hall, 54 Victoria St, Carlton South. $5/$2. Presented by New International Bookshop & Community Radio 3CR. Thursday, December 1 West Papua national day: Raising of the flag. 10:15am. Trades Hall, cnr Lygon & Victoria Sts, Carlton. Saturday, December 3 Sydney Rally for marriage equality at ALP Conference. This is a national protest. Equal Love groups from across the country are organising for their supporters to make the trip to Sydney. What better reason to make a trip to Sydney than this! Equality advocates are urged to gather at Hyde Park to march to the Labor Party national conference as they debate their policy on marriage. 12 noon. Hyde Park North at the fountain. Book launch: Aborigines in the Yarra Valley and Northern Dandenongs. Performances by Gabony Yubupi Yinggabbai (First Children Sing) Choir and the Valley Crew Hip Hop group. 2pm. Mt Evelyn Station House, Wray Crescent, Mt Evelyn. Organised by Mount Evelyn History Group. For more info, ph 9736 2935 or email Mt Evelyn History group. RVSP by November 30. Sunday, December 4 Sydney Rally for refugees at ALP conference. End mandatory detention. Refugees are welcome. Not in Malaysia, not in Nauru: No offshore processing. 12 noon. Meet Sydney Town hall to march to the ALP conference at Darling harbour. Organised by Refugee Action Coalition Sydney. Initial endorsements: Chilout, Refugee Action Coalition, Labor for Refugees (NSW), National Tertiary Education Union (NSW), Australian Services Union (NSW & ACT (Services)). Monday, December 5 BZE December discussion. Greens senator Richard Di Natale explains his vision for Australia. Entry by gold coin donation. 6:30pm. Fritz Loewe Theatre (entry via level 2), McCoy Building, University of Melbourne, cnr Elgin & Swanston Sts, Carlton. Tuesday, December 6 Film screening: The Yes Men fix the world. The second screwball true story about two gonzo political activists who, posing as top executives of giant corporations, lie their way into big business conferences and pull off the world's most outrageous pranks. Who knew fixing the world could be so much fun? Entry by donation. 6pm. Ross House, 247 Flinders Lane, City. For more info ph 9650 1599. Presented by Environment Victoria. Wednesday, December 7 Public meeting: International Human Rights Day 2011: What does the future hold for Human Rights in Australia?Speakers: Rob Stary & Malcolm McClure. 6:30pm. Preston City Hall, 284 Gower St, Preston. Organised by City of Darebin. For more info ph 8470 8888 or visit City of Darebin. AAWL workshop: Living wages, not repression. To mark International Human Rights Day, an open workshop with international and local activists. Discussion on how to fight the repression labour movement activists in many countries face where workers can be jailed or killed for demanding improvements in wages and conditions. Genuine labour movement representatives from the Philippines, Korea, Thailand, Pakistan and West Papua have been invited to participate via Skype link. All welcome. 6pm. Trades Hall, cnr Lygon & Victoria Sts, Carlton. Presented by Australia Asia Worker Links. Thursday, December 8 New International Bookshop Christmas party! 6pm til late. New International Bookshop, Trades Hall, cnr Lygon & Victoria Sts, Carlton. Sunday, December 11 Public meeting: YGender's 1st birthday and Christmas party Wow what a year it has been! Now it's time to have a big party with the entire family! We have decided to have a joint christmas and birthday party. We would like to invite you and whomever else you wish to bring whether its that special someone, your best friend or even your supportive parents.This is a chance to celebrate the great first year that we have and be thankful to all those people that have supported and encouraged us. 5pm. ALSO Building, Level 10, 225 Bourke St, City. Saturday, December 17 Rally: Vigil for Bradley Manning on his 24th birthday On this day Bradley Manning will have been incarcerated for 571 days. On this day in Melbourne we will gather at the US Consulate on St Kilda Rd to stand in solidarity with him. 5pm. Forecourt of Consulate General of the United States, 553 St Kilda Road, City. Sunday, December 18 Fundraiser: Rhythm, rock, reggae, rap, recycle benefit concert. For books for libraries and schools in newly independent South Sudan. With The Mystic Trio ,Quashani Bahd, Culture Crew, Majak & Deng, Black Orchid String Band, West Papuan Dance Group, Ben Jackson Band, Flybz. Speakers from South Sudan and West Papua. 2:30pm. Fitzroy Town Hall, 201 Napier St Fitzroy. Entry fee: Bring a book (new or 2nd hand) to donate to school/university libraries in South Sudan (children's and recent text books welcome) and/or donation to help with rebuilding after years of war. Organised by SSPARC (South Sudanese People in Australia Relief and Care, Auspiced by Multicultural Arts Victoria, with thanks to the City of Yarra.For more information contact Esther 0439 555 291 or Tania 0438 702 528. Thursday, January 12, 2012 Concert: Immortal Technique first Australia & NZ tour. Slingshot is proud to announce the long awaited tour of battle emcee, activist, revolutionary and philanthropist Immortal Technique. After many attempts over the years, Immortal Technique will finally bring his raw political commentary to Australia in January 2012. Born in a military hospital in Peru, Immortal Technique moved to Harlem, New York with his family in the early 80s. Here he became captivated with Hip Hop culture, writing graffiti and discovering his passion for rhyming. After some trouble with the law, he spent a year in prison, where he began to prolifically write down his ideas about what he had lived and seen in the struggle of New York and his visits back to his native land. 8pm. The Espy, 11 The Esplanade, St Kilda. Friday, January 20 Rally: Freedom fighters Tunnerminnerwait & Maulboyheener. Tunnerminnerwait and Maulboyheenner were among five Tasmanian Aborigines who conducted a campaign of resistance to European settlement in 1841 around Western Port and South Gippsland near Melbourne. After three military expeditions they were finally captured and brought back to Melbourne for trial. They were not allowed to give evidence themselves. The two men were found guilty of murder, with the jury saying due to the circumstances mercy should be granted. No mercy was given and Tunnerminnerwait and Maulboyheenner were the first judicial executions to take place in Melbourne on January 20, 1842 before a crowd of 5000, a quarter of the population of Melbourne at the time. 12pm. RMIT entrance, cnr Bowen & Franklin Sts, City. Thursday, January 26 Canberra Rally: Stand up & be counted on Sovereignty Day. Invitation to the 40th anniversary of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy. Friday, February 17-Sunday, February 19 Festival: Sustainable Living Festival 2012. Federation Square & Birrarung Marr Event Park, near cnr Swanston & Flinders Sts, City. For more info visit SLF.