Join CWEALF for Sneak Peek Screenings of ZERO WEEKS! Nov. 3 and 17

CT Women’s Education and Legal Fund is hosting a series of “sneak peek” screenings of ZERO WEEKS, a new documentary that makes the case for paid family and medical leave for all workers across the country. Though the film will be officially released early next year, the Zero Weeks team identified CT as one of their target states and is allowing an exclusive first look. Students and Seniors free. $10 suggested donation at the door to benefit the CT Campaign for Paid Family Leave.

First Screening: Friday, November 3, 7-9 p.m. University of New Haven’s Alumni Lounge, 300 Boston Post Rd., West Haven.

Second Screening: Friday, November 17, 6-8:30 p.m., First Congregational Church of Old Lyme, 2 Ferry Rd, Old Lyme.

Holiday Gift Bazaar and Craft Show Dec. 2

by Patty Nuelsen, New Haven/León Sister City Project

Once again this year the New Haven Bioregional Group in conjunction with the New Haven/León Sister City Project will hold its annual gift bazaar Saturday, Dec. 2 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Unique in the New Haven area, all items are handcrafted, locally produced or fair trade.

The local crafters and artists will be selling their products and you can talk with them adding more meaning to your purchases. Beautiful rubber stamped clothing and socks, dish towels, etc.; mounted photos of the New Haven area and cards; pottery; jewelry; hemp products; hats, scarves, and more … all beautiful and created with skill and love.

The New Haven/León Sister City Project will be selling Nicaraguan coffee, woven goods and chocolate as well as Syracuse Cultural Workers calendars, Swords Into Plow-shares honey and beeswax candles, bowls from India made from recycled wire, Palestinian olive oil, CT produced soap and much more. All proceeds benefit the work of the NH/LSCP in New Haven and two rural communities in León, Nicaragua.

People’s Action for Clean Energy (PACE) Annual Meeting Dec. 2

PACE’s Annual Meeting will be held Saturday, Dec. 2, 7 p.m. at the Unitarian Society of Hartford, 55 Bloomfield Rd., Hartford. The keynote address, “Renewables-Driven Community Micro-grids,” will be given by Craig Lewis, Founder and Executive Director of the non-profit Clean Coalition. Music will be provided by State Troubadour Kate Callahan.

People’s Action for Clean Energy (PACE) is an all-volunteer non-profit that has been educating the public and advocating for clean energy since 1973. PACE conducts annual tours of energy-efficient homes and electric vehicles, and urges participants to “try this at home!” PACE’s 100PercentCT Project is working with individual towns across the state to transition to 100% clean, renewable energy. For more information, go online at www.pace-cleanenergy.org or contact PACE President Mark Scully at [email protected].

Art Supplies – reBoutique – Workshops. Upcoming Classes at EcoWorks

Friday, November 3, 6 – 8 p.m., Wine On9: Trivets On9

Join us for Downtown New Haven’s Wine On9. Our craft activity will be making trivets from wine corks! Can be used as trivets, wall hanging or jewelry racks. This activity is free. Led by artist, singer, songwriter Shula Weinstein. EcoWorks will be open during these hours for shopping too!

We are also hosting the Wine On9 wine tasting. To participate in wine tasting, tickets can be purchased from Down-town New Haven.

Saturday, November 18, 1 – 3 p.m. Embroidery for Beginners with McKenzie Chapman. Create a beautiful, embroidered hoop to hang in your home! This is a beginner’s workshop, so you’ll learn basic embroidery stitches while completing a lovely pattern. The pattern will be pre-traced onto the fabric and already stretched onto a 6 inch hoop. You’ll be learning the satin, back, lazy daisy, and french knot stitches. Leave with new skills and a cute hoop you can be proud of! Facilitated by McKenzie Chapman who embroiders clothing, hoops and makes patches for her Etsy site. All materials provided. Ages 14+ $20.

Register at ecoworksct.org.
EcoWorks, Inc.
262 State St.
New Haven
(203) 498-0710.

Open Thursdays 1-7 p.m. and Saturdays 10 a.m.-4 p.m., plus special events.

Courageous Women of Resistance Tour in CT — Oct. 21-29

by Tree of Life Education Foundation, tolef.org

In the history of popular struggles, a most important chapter will be the role of women who with courage and unflagging determination work for justice and human rights in their communities. Women helped to bring clean water to Cheyenne River Reservation in South Dakota, and women were at the forefront of the encampment at Standing Rock, by the contagion of their spirit helping to build an international community of resistance.

Likewise in Israel and Palestine, in the refugee camps in Jordan, Lebanon, Gaza and the West Bank, in organizations such as “Bedouin Women for Themselves” and “Grassroots Jerusalem,” women are helping to build a non-violent resist-ance movement. By refusing to be silenced or compromised by the militarism of settler colonialism, these women are speaking truth to power and in doing so, they are helping to bring enlightenment and engagement in the struggle to build a better and more peaceful future for their children.

This program will be taking place at the following locations: Saturday, October 21, Yale, New Haven – details to come. Sunday, Oct. 29, The First Congregational Church of Old Lyme, 2 Ferry Street, Old Lyme – details to come.

The Courageous Women speakers: Madonna Thunder Hawk, a member of the Oohenumpa band of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, has a long history of grassroots activism prior to her formative work for Lakota People’s Law Project (LPLP) as a Tribal Liaison. She is co-founder of Women of All Red Nations (WARN), as well as the Black Hills Alli-ance—which prevented corporate uranium mining in the Black Hills and proved the high level of radiation in Pine Ridge reservation’s water supply.

Fayrouz Sharqawi works as the Advocacy Coordinator at Grassroots Jerusalem, a platform for Palestinian community-based mobilization, leadership and advocacy in Occupied Jerusalem. They believe that the challenges and responses of Palestinian communities must be articulated and led by them.

Creating an Alternative US-Cuba Relationship with Cuban Poet and Producer Marcel Lueiro Reyes

Please join us for this timely community conversation and as we celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month! The presentation and discussion will be held on Monday, Oct. 16, from 6 – 8 p.m. at the New Haven Free Public Library, 133 Elm Street.

Marcel Lueiro Reyes is a popular educator and socially-conscious media producer who has worked at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Center in Havana for the past twelve years. Marcel is a specialist in the fields of popular communication, culture and the arts in Cuba. Many of his poetry collections have been published and some have even won national literary prizes. Marcel has traveled to many countries, as both a popular educator and a journalist. During this tour Marcel will share the reality of the Cuban people, focusing on community-based experiences in the struggle to create a more inclusive and democratic socialism. Marcel is eager to discuss the perception of US policies on the island as well as the influence of people from the US on beloved aspects of Cuban life, such as baseball, music and film. Marcel’s blog: lueiropoeticas.blogspot.com.

This event is in Spanish with English translation. Cosponsored by Witness for Peace witnessforpeace.org. For more info email [email protected] or call (203) 946-7450.

On the 200th Birthday of Frederick Douglass Sept. 16

Al Marder, Amistad Committee

A public meeting commemorating the 200th birthday of the prominent African-American voice against slavery, Frederick Douglass, will be held on Saturday, Sept. 16, at Criscuolo Park, Chapel and James Street, New Haven at 10 a.m.. It was at this Park, then called Grapevine Point, that Douglass, traveling the country to encourage enlistment in the Army, addressed the volunteers for the 29th Connecticut Colored Infantry Regiment.

Invited as keynote speaker is Danny Glover, acclaimed actor and civil rights activist. Nathan Richardson, poet actor, will perform. Music will be provided by the Heritage Choral Society. Remarks by Connecticut political figures are also on the program.

“It is important, at this time, when the present administration is attacking all the social gains for which we have struggled all these years, that the New Haven community rally, recalling the past for the present. The Frederick Douglass Commemoration will provide that opportunity. Whatever the issue, we must come together,” declared Al Marder, President, Amistad Committee and Chairman, State of Connecticut Freedom Travel Commitee.

The event, which is free, is sponsored by the Amistad Committee, Inc., Office of the Mayor of New Haven, the Descendants of the 29th Connecticut Colored Infantry Regiment and the State of Connecticut Freedom Trail Committee.  Rain venue will be at the John Martinez School on James Street.

Take a stand for Connecticut’s environment

Do you care about our climate? Do you care about breathing polluted air? Do you care about energy costs?

Then you need to care about Connecticut’s proposed energy strategy. Ready to take a stand for our energy and environment?

Tell the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) Connecticut should be a climate champion. Tell the DEEP the proposed energy strategy falls short. The DEEP issued its draft 2017 Comprehensive Energy Strategy, which will shape state energy policy for the next three years.
BUT, the draft CES plan does not put us on a path to meet our 2020 climate goals and DEEP needs to hear from you!

Here are three key messages you need to tell DEEP:

  1. Ask DEEP to expand the Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) to 50% by 2030. We need a stronger RPS that requires electric providers to buy a certain percentage of the energy they sell from renewable sources (solar, wind, etc.).
  2. Ask DEEP to establish a better solar market and a statewide, shared solar program.  More rooftop solar and a vibrant shared solar program (for those who can’t put solar on their roof) are vital to help reduce our greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, create a resilient electric grid, and strengthen our local economy.
  3. Ask DEEP to speed up adoption of Electric Vehicles (EVs), and clean up our transportation pollution.
    Connecticut must meet its promise of 154,000 electric vehicles on the road by 2025. Cars and trucks cause nearly 40% of our GHG emissions so we must establish stronger incentives for EVs and add more charging stations.

Comments are due by September 25, 2017, at 4 p.m. Email your comments to: [email protected].

You can also mail a hard copy to: Debra Morrell, DEEP – Bureau of Energy and Technology Policy, 10 Franklin Sq., New Britain, CT 06051.

You can also get more information and speak up at one of DEEP’s public meetings:

Wednesday, Sept. 6, 4 p.m., CT DEEP, 79 Elm St., Hartford.
Thursday, Sept. 7, 6:30 p.m. Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station (CAES), Jones Auditorium, Britton Building, 2nd Floor, 123 Huntington St., New Haven.

More information is available at ctenvironment.org.

People’s Congress of Resistance Sept. 16-17

Allan Brison, Party for Socialism and Liberation

Time to Fight Back! Join the People’s Congress of Resistance!

The Trump-Pence regime is waging an all-out assault on the people’s hard-fought rights and vitally needed programs. The US Congress serves the already-rich. It cannot, has not, and will not resist.
A grassroots People’s Congress of Resistance (PCoR) will convene in Washington, DC on Sept. 16-17. Join resisters from LGBTQ groups to Black Lives Matter, to immigrant rights, climate justice, trade union, women’s rights organizations as we unite our communities in real resistance.

A large group of individual conveners and local chapters of peace organizations, Green Party chapters, civil rights organizations such as Showing Up for Racial Justice and Black Lives Matter, anti-fascist organizations and the ANSWER Coalition are endorsing the PCoR.

Individual conveners include:

  • Cindy Sheehan, peace activist
  • Dennis Banks, American Indian Movement
  • Kevin Zeese, Popular Resistance
  • Ben Manski, Liberty Tree Foundation; and many others.

The PCoR recognizes that the US Congress’ agenda is only marginally better than that of President Trump. We will be setting the agenda for the many issues in which we need to build mass movements to resist both Trump and Congress. And we will develop the tools to build these movements.

To learn more, email: [email protected]; or Google People’s Congress of Resistance. You may learn more about it through the ANSWER coalition.

There will also be a meeting on Thursday, Sept. 7 at 6:30 p.m. at the First Unitarian Universalist Society at 608 Whitney Ave. in New Haven. This meeting is an opportunity to learn more about the Congress and to get involved.

CT Folk Festival & Green Expo, Saturday, Sept. 9

On Saturday, Sept. 9, from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., the CT Folk Festival & Green Expo presents their annual free festival of live music, cultural performances, green workshops, children’s activities and more at New Haven’s beautiful Edgerton Park. Enter on 75 Cliff St.

The Green Expo highlights over 75 exhibitors that include handmade artisans and exhibitors with innovative ideas and products for sustainable lifestyles. The New Alliance Foundation Performance Tent will host cultural performances such as Healing Drums percussion workshops, environmental presentations, and garden tours. For all families, the Green Kids’ Village offers hands-on activities and entertainment to engage children of all ages including our huge puppet parade at 3:45 p.m.

Festival Director, Nicole Mikula and the CT Folk Board of Directors will unveil a lineup that celebrates the best in folk music and beyond. New for 2017, The Ballroom Thieves and Livingston Taylor will co-headline the main stage as well as highlighting Forlorn Strangers. Also, the stage for the Grassy Hill Song Circle will be End of America and LadyBird, named appropriately after the festival’s top sponsor, Grassy Hill Entertainment.

Now in its second decade, The CT Folk Festival & Green Expo has organically grown into one of Connecticut’s leading folk festivals as well as presenting the largest Green Expo in the state. The festival has earned its reputation by attracting premier talent across all mediums to provide a landscape meant to please all the senses.

Proceeds will benefit CT Folk, a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to traditional and contemporary roots music and to caring for the Earth.

$5 suggested donation to continue CT Folk’s efforts. Info: Nicole Heriot-Mikula, Festival Director [email protected]. Call: 917-576-9147, or go to www.ctfolk.org.

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