DON'T see your item listed?!? Don't let us make that mistake again! Please send your calendar listing to CCAWR (at) aol.com with the subject heading “CALENDAR.” So as to promote the principle of equal participation by all, please indicate whether or not your venue is wheelchair accessible.

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FEATURED ITEMS:

Monday, June 13 – Chicago Demonstration to Extradite Luis Posada Carriles to Venezuela. 5 pm at the Immigration and Naturalization Services (INS) Building, 10 W. Jackson (just east of State St.), as part of a National Day of Action – The World is Demanding Justice – No Asylum for this mass murderer – Stop the 45-year U.S. war against Cuba! This demonstration will be part of locally-coordinated actions across the U.S. with a regional demonstration in El Paso, TX during Posada’s immigration hearing. The Chicago demonstration is being called by A.N.S.W.E.R. (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) Chicago. Info: 773.878.0166 or answerchicago (at) gmail.com

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Friday, June 17 - The family of Howard Morgan has decided to postpone the next solidarity rally for Mr. Morgan. Instead of June 10th, the next solidarity rally will take place at 7 pm, Friday, June 17th at the Morgan family church, Church of the Living God, 1738 W. Marquette Road. Mr. Morgan, an African American policeman for the Burlington Northern Railroad, was shot 25 times by four white Chicago cops on February 21st. Father of two, grandfather of two, a long-time resident of Chicago and now barely able to walk thanks to the trauma of the 25 bullets, he remains shackled to his hospital bed, held on $2 million bail. Contributions to Howard Morgan’s bail and legal defense fund can be made by making checks payable to the “Howard Morgan Defense Fund” and mailing them to P. O. Box 368817, Chicago, IL 60636.

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For more than a year, workers at a grocery store in Pilsen have been trying to form a union and have faced the most egregious union-busting tactics from the store's owners. The owners have tried creating a company union, cutting down workers hours, intimidating workers and a host of other unfair labor practices.

Recently, Alfonso Diaz's car was firebombed in front of his house in Pilsen. Alfonso has been leading the way to organize a union at his workplace, a grocery store called La Casa del Pueblo, located at 18th & Blue Island. Last fall, Alfonso was featured in a story in the Chicago interfaith Committee on Worker Issues newsletter. The article reported that over 80% of the workers at the store had experienced wage & hour violations or other worker rights abuses. Last week, the National Labor Relations Board concluded a months-long investigation of Unfair Labor Practices and reached a settlement with the store, requiring the store to pay over $30,000 in back wages to several workers who had been laid off or had their hours cut in retaliation for their organizing activities. The store also had to post a sign promising not to engage in any of a two-and-a-half page list of illegal union busting activities that workers had reported experiencing at the store. While no evidence has been found tying the firebombing to the owner of the store, there is wide speculation that this crime could be a response to the settlement and the latest and most egregious retaliation that Alfonso and his coworkers have experienced for their union activities.

Tom Cordaro, a Legislative Advocacy Committee member of the Chicago Interfaith Committee on Worker Issues asks people to help Alfonso Diaz and the other workers at La Casa del Pueblo by doing the following:

1) Pray for the safety and strength of Alfonso, his family, and the rest of the workers at La Casa del Pueblo.

2) Make a donation to help Alfonso and his family. The car that was destroyed was his family's only vehicle. Donations of any amount will help; please make checks out to CICWI, and put Alfonso Diaz in the memo line. Mail them to CICWI, 1020 W. Bryn Mawr, 4th floor, Chicago, IL 60660. If you would like to enclose a note of encouragement to Alfonso and his family, please do so and we will pass those along to him.

If you have a car in good repair that you would like to donate to Alfonso, please contact Antonia Dempsey right away at 773-728-8400 x31 or adempsey (at) nicwj.org to discuss this further. Info:www.chicagointerfaith.org

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ONGOING - 24/7 Union Picket - Support the Congress Hotel Strikers! Congress Hotel, 520 S. Michigan. Sponsor: HERE Local 1. Info: www.congresshotelstrike.info

ONGOING – "Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room," film documentary at the Landmark Century Cinema, 2828 N Clark (just north of Diversey). Info: 773.248.7744

Thru Sunday June 5 – A series of workshops designed as a crash course to get you up to speed as a quality mask maker! Jeff Semmerling offers a week of workshops to get you started making Professional Masks. June 1 thru June 3: Sculpture For Mask Making, 6:30 pm - 9:30 pm at Inside Out Art Studio, 2005 W. Montrose. Designed to teach, in three workshops of three hours each, the fundamentals of sculpting for mask making in many materials. Students will also sculpt and cast a professional papier mache mask. Tuition is $150. June 4 and 5: Casting Rubber Masks, 1 pm - 5 pm at Inside Out Art Studio, 2005 W. Montrose Learn the ins and outs of casting sculptures for rubber slip molding. Students will sculpt a small mask and cast a slip mold of it while observing the creation of full size molds and techniques of casting rubber slip mold masks and puppets. Tuition is $150.

Friday, June 3 - Come to the City Council Hearing on the Right to Know ordinance! UNITE-HERE Local 1 is supporting a new law called "The Right to Know" ordinance. The Right to Know would require Chicago hotels to notify customers of a strike before they book their stay. Many visitors have unknowingly booked at the Congress Plaza Hotel, because the Congress refuses to tell customers the truth about the strike. 10 am, City Council Chambers, 2nd Floor of City Hall, 121 N. LaSalle

Friday, June 3 – Chicago premiere of “Rachel: An American Conscience," a documentary film about Palestine rights activist Rachel Corrie, who was killed while trying to stop Israeli home demolitions in the Occupied Territories. 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm at Healing Earth Resources, 3111 N. Ashland Avenue. $6 suggested donation. Twenty-three-year-old Rachel Corrie gave her live defending human rights and freedom two years ago, and with her death, her work and message became a beacon of hope in a sadly dark world. Mr. Yahya Barakat, director of this powerful 90-minute documentary, goes beyond the politics of the Occupation to depict the facts on the ground. He shows the Palestinian struggle, and shows what motivates concerned individuals from around the world to come to Palestine to resist demolition of Palestinian homes and lives. Rachel was not an Israeli nor was she a Palestinian. But she was a member of the International Solidarity Movement and a member of the international civil society. In her actions she affirmed her responsibility for upholding the inherent dignity and equal rights of all people. She opposed non-violently the violence that occupation does to the Palestinians. Info: ISMinChicago (at) aol.com or 773.489.3505

Friday, June 3 – Important court date for Aaron Patterson. At 1:30 pm Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer will rule on whether or not the case against Aaron should be thrown out. Please attend the hearing in her courtroom, Room 2119, 219 S. Dearborn. In order to attend, you will need to pass through a metal detector and must have picture identification. Wheelchair accessible.

Friday, June 3 –"Gentrification, Chicago-Style," a CAN TV show featuring Rogers Park Community Action Network's Kellie Germond, COURAJ's Marc Kaplan and Eleanor Badesch from UIC Planner's Network, talking about the ongoing land grab in Rogers Park, Uptown, and Pilsen. The panel was part of the May 1st Chicago Social Forum. 9 am, Cable Channel 21 in Chicago, 75 minutes. Info: Sean Reynolds, JoveIsMad (at) Juno.com

Friday, June 3 - "Against US Intervention in Iran," a one-hour program (filmed at the May 1st Chicago Social Forum) featuring speakers from Progressive Iranian-Americans of Chicago addressing the issue of self-determination for the people of Iran and answering audience questions on the same subject. 10 pm, CAN TV, Cable Channel 21 in Chicago. Info: Sean Reynolds, JoveIsMad (at) Juno.com. Also airing at 5 pm, Sunday, June 19 and 10:30 pm, Friday, June 24.

Friday, June 3 - Come to the City Council Hearing on the Right to Know ordinance! City Council Chambers, 2nd Floor of City Hall, 121 N. LaSalle at 10:00 am - One of two events in the struggle of the UNITE-HERE Local 1 workers at the Congress Hotel UNITE-HERE Local 1 is supporting a new law called "The Right to Know" ordinance. The Right to Know would require Chicago hotels to notify customers of a strike before they book their stay. Many visitors have unknowingly booked at the Congress Plaza Hotel, because the Congress refuses to tell customers the truth about the strike.

Friday, June 3 thru Sunday, June 5 - RadFest/Midwest Social Forum, an annual weekend conference for progressive activists organized by the Havens Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The central purpose of the forum is to contribute to social movement building by providing organizers, activists, community members, and intellectuals the opportunity to come together to discuss issues, strengthen networks, and devise strategies for progressive social, economic, and political change. In recent years, the forum has grown considerably, and this year's program is by far the biggest yet. It includes over fifty panels and workshops, including plenary sessions on "The New Voting Rights Movement" and "Building a Multi-Racial Movement," strategy sessions designed to foster strategic coordination among participating organizations and individuals, a RadFilmFest hosted by Free Speech TV, musical performances by Taste Emcees (www.gorillapromo.com/spot_taste.html) and One Drum (www.onedrum.net/), visual art displays, and daytime recreational activities. The conference will be at the Lake Geneva Campus of Aurora University in Williams Bay, WI, about 50 miles southwest of Milwaukee, 70 miles southeast of Madison, and 80 miles northwest of Chicago. Free buses (suggested donation $5-10) will be leaving for RadFest from Chicago on Friday afternoon and returning Sunday afternoon. For information on the complete program, housing, transportation, child care and registration, go to www.radfest.org or email info (at) havenscenter.org

Saturday, June 4 - Attend the opening reception of a collaborative photo exhibit celebrating the people and places of the Pilsen community. Experience a cultural environment that indulges your senses with art, poetry, music, food and a good party. 6 pm - 11 pm, Casa de la Cultura "Mestizarte," 1440 W. 18th Street. Featuring: Third Coast Press Photographers, Andrew Bruah, Nazul Montesinos, and Adeline Sides. Photographers include Roberto Arredondo, Elias Corral, Arturo Diaz, Juan Carlos Frias, Isaura Gonzales, Jose Juan Lopez, Christina Obregon, and "Mauricio" Mauro Vasquez Poet C. J. Laity will read from:8:30 pm to 9 pm, and musicians Alfredo Benito, Rebecca F. & The Memes and Grupo Rock Experimental aka "LFT" will perform after that. Recommended donation: $2.50. Info: www.casadelaculturamestizarte.com, www.thirdcoastpress.com, and www.nazulmontesinos.com

Saturday, June 4 - Film showing of “Revolution: Why It’s Necessary, Why It’s Possible, What It’s All About.” 1:30 pm, Unity Temple, 875 Lake, Oak Park. Excerpts will be shown in Gale House (behind the Temple), 124 N. Kenilworth. This is a film of a talk delivered in 2003 by Bob Avakian, Revolutionary Communist Party Chairman in the United States. It is full of heart and soul, humor and seriousness and will challenge you and set your heart and mind to flight. Bob Avakian is a creative and wide-ranging thinker who maintains a profound sense of the actual struggles, trends and sentiments among the masses, the movements of opposition, and society broadly. Jonathan Rosenbaum of the Chicago Reader, wrote, "It's a tribute to the skill and charisma of Avakian as a lecturer that I wound up watching nearly all 11 hours and 15 minutes of 'Revolution: Why It's Necessary, Why It's Possible, What It's All About.' [Avakian's] communist analysis is graceful, and he lucidly explains concepts ranging from dialectical materialism to irony without condescending to his audience." Donation requested. No one turned away. Info: Martha Conrad, conrad_martha (at) hotmail.com

Saturday, June 4 – Palestinian and Israeli Health Workers Unify to Oppose the Occupation. Ellen Isaacs, a New York physician spent time earlier this year as part of a U.S. group to provide medical assistance and gather information in partnership with Israeli and Palestinian human rights groups. She will speak and present a slide show about her experiences. Dr. Isaacs is a cardiologist in private practice and a graduate of the University of Chicago. She participated in a program sponsored by the Boston based organization, Visions of Peace With Justice in Israel/Palestine. 7 pm, Chicago Methodist Temple, 77 W. Washington, James Parlor, 2nd floor (parking on street or in lot at Madison, west of Clark). Sponsored by Concerned students and workers in the Medical Center District. Info: 847.251.8057

Saturday, June 4 – "Without Sanctuary: Lynching Photography in America," an exhibit of images from outspoken anti-lynching activists documents the murder of 5,000+ African Americans between 1882 and 1968. Chicago Historical Society, 1600 N. Clark.

Sunday, June 5 - Monthly Potluck Dinner Meeting of the Chicago chapter of the International Solidarity Movement, 5 pm – 7 pm at the ISM-Chicago apartment. Info: ISMinChicago (at) aol.com or 773.489.3505.

Sunday, June 5 - Action Against the Israeli Apartheid Wall on the 38th Anniversary of the Occupation of the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem. Noon to 2 pm, Water Tower Park, 830 N. Michigan Avenue. Event will include a vigil, and an educational recreation of the Wall and an Israeli checkpoint. All people of good will are invited to join us; we ask that you respect our dedication to peace between the two peoples. Signs and banners will be provided. Sponsored by Not In My Name, a predominately Jewish group that works to oppose the obstacles to peace between Palestinians and Israelis. Sponsor list in formation. Call 312.409.4845 or e-mail info (at) nimn.org.

Sunday, June 5 – "25 Shots: Justice for Howard Morgan," a program in which leaders of Chicago's civil rights community and others discuss the path forward. Howard Morgan is Black and a retired Chicago cop – he was shot twenty-five times, several times in the back, by four white police officers who have not been disciplined. He is now shackled to his hospital bed as a $2,000,000-bail “flight risk” with virtually no media coverage of his case. 7:30 pm, CAN TV cable channel 21 in Chicago. Then get ready for the next rally on June 17th! Info: Sean Reynolds, JoveIsMad (at) Juno.com

Sunday, June 5 – Hear activist Julie Coyne discuss the "Education and Hope Project in Guatemala. 10 am, Third Unitarian Church, 301 N. Mayfield.

Monday, June 6 - "The Oil Factor: Behind the War on Terror," a documentary film directed by Gerard Ungerman and Audrey Brody (producers of Hidden Wars of Desert Storm) will be shown for one night only at 7 pm at Facets Cinematheque, 1517 W. Fullerton Avenue (35mm, 90 minutes). A reception and question and answer session with Ungerman will follow the film. Narrated by Ed Asner, this new documentary examines the link between the oil industry and current U.S. foreign policy. It includes original footage shot over a four-month period in Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan and interviews with an array of personalities including Bush administration officials. The film takes a candid look at the economic rationale behind Operation Iraqi Freedom. 2004. Tickets $10 at the door, $8 with advance reservation. Call the Peace Pledge Hotline to reserve tickets at 312.494.5840.

Monday, June 6 – Bob McGuire leads a discussion of "Revolt in East Germany, June 1953." 6:30 pm, News & Letters Office, 36 S. Wabash Avenue, Room 1440. Info: www.newsandletters.org

Monday, June 6 thru Wednesday, June 15 - After 6 months of developing new works, the participants of the 2005 New Play Development Workshop of the Women’s Theater Alliance invite you to have a listen and give your feedback. Join them at 7:30 pm each night at the Theatre Building Chicago, 1225 W. Belmont. Monday, June 6: "The Red Hands" by Liza Lentini, directed by Gregory Gerhard; Tuesday, June 7: "Lowe Self Esteem or The Yellow Badge of Cowardice" by Dan Marrero, directed by Carmen Cavello; Wednesday, June 8: "The Girls Together Again" by Francesca Peppiatt, featuring Brian Bogulski, Carmen Cavello, Alex Goodman, Jill Hames, Laura Hooper, Mildred Lombardi, Nic Losurdo, Rick March and Michael Stailey; Monday, June 13: "Two One Acts" by Charles Greenia, directed by Francesca Peppiatt and featuring Amy Barber, Sherry Bondi, Bridget Clymore, Alex Goodman, Daniel Jessup, Michael Stailey and Kendra Stevens; Wednesday, June 15: "Vending Machine" by Rachel Rozycki and "Being Friends With Her Will Make You Fat" by Carolyn Wright, directed by Gregory Gerhard. The Women's Theatre Alliance of Chicago has been providing theatre opportunities for emerging female theatre artists and theatre professionals since 1992. WTA is a union of theatre artists and theatre organizations which support women, helping to promote leadership and provide opportunity within the theatre community. Alliance members are encouraged to share their advice, knowledge and expertise in the hopes of creating an environment of mutual support and unity in which women's theatre can flourish. WTA works to build a unified voice so that we can more effectively be advocates for women in theatre, publicize and promote our members and increase positive public awareness of our goals.

Tuesday, June 7 – Planning meeting for CCCLR's Patriot Days of Action to defend civil liberties, scheduled for July 2 – 8. The planning meeting will be at 6:30 pm at a location to be announced. Info: brentmesick (at) yahoo.com

Wednesday, June 8 – The Center For the Study of Race, Politics and Culture invites you and your family to attend the CSRPC End Of Year Barbeque, 4:30 pm at CSRPC, 5733 S. University. An RSVP would be helpful to know how many to expect for the caterer. Info: 773.702.8063

Thursday, June 9 - Open University of the Left Activist Glenn Fritz presents "Beyond the Fringe: Reading Jon Ronson's 'Them.'" Ronson's book (full title: "Them: Adventures with Extremists") is a lighthearted romp through America’s heartland of darkness. Ronson sets out to find the people who control everything. Does such a cabal exist? He finds rumors of them everywhere and learns of theories by conspirators about other conspirators. Ronson's extremists, though dangerous in groups, come off as disarming and sometimes pathetic as individuals. 7 pm, Acme Art Works, 1741 N. Western. $5 donation requested. Info: 773.384.5797.

Thursday, June 9 – Stan West keynotes the Social Eye of the Arts annual colloquium of the Urban Life Center. West is an interdisciplinary, border-crosser and lecturer who has had a distinguished career in journalism, publishing, radio, TV, film, union organizating, human rights and education. Performance by Young Chicago Authors, Chicago’s premiere teen literary artist organization. Poets will perform works from the recent “Louder than a Bomb” Slam Poetry Festival. Dinner catered by Bhabi’s Kitchen. 6:30 pm, Regents Park Penthouse Suite in Hyde Park. Tickets, $15. Info or tickets: 773.363.1312.

Friday, June 10 – Tell the Illinois "Family" Institute that opposing equal rights for gay people is BIGOTRY. The Illinois "Family" Institute (IFI) is about to launch an attempt to write bigotry into the Illinois State Constitution. They are about to begin a campaign for an amendment to ban equal marriage rights for Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals and Trans people. Join the Gay Liberation Network and all those who oppose legislative gay bashing at a demonstration outside the last in a series of IFI fundraising galas around the state. We will meet on Friday, June 10 at 6:00 PM outside the Columbia Yacht Club located at 111 N. Lake Shore Drive. The keynote speaker of their $100-a-plate event is Phil Burress, the architect of Ohio's draconian constitutional amendment banning legal recognition not only of same-sex marriage, but any same-sex relationships. The IFI is announcing their attack on equal rights at this time in an attempt to use the 2006 Illinois gubernatorial election to demonize gay and lesbian people. Tell the Illinois "Family" Institute that their crusade for hate throughout the state is bigotry. STOP the drive for an anti-gay constitutional amendment in Illinois. Stand up for equal rights! Protest at the Columbia Yacht Club, 6 pm to 7:15 pm, Monroe Harbor, Randolph Street and Lake Shore Drive. Directions: Go to 111 N. Lake Shore Drive, at the foot of Randolph Street, under Lake Shore Drive. By public transportation, take the Red Line "el" to the "Monroe" stop, and walk east on Monroe Street through Grant Park to Lake Shore Drive. Cross Lake Shore Drive, turn left and walk north on the bicycle path to Randolph Street. By car, park in the Grant Park garage (entrance on Columbus Drive, just north of Monroe). Info: Gay Liberation Network, www.gayliberation.org/ or LGBTliberation (at) aol.com

Friday, June 10 – The Howard Morgan Solidarity rally is POSTPONED to JUNE 17th. See entry under that date for details.

Saturday, June 11 – Pride Kickoff! "I Was a Teenage Feminist," part of Chicago Filmmakers' Dyke Delicious Series, presented in conjuction with Chicago N.O.W. 6 pm and 9 pm screening; 8 - 9 pm social hour at Chicago Filmmakers, 5243 N. Clark Street. Filmmaker and former Chicagoan Therese Shechter in person for the Chicago premiere of her new documentary, "I Was a Teenage Feminist" (2005, 67 mins.). Is feminism dead, hibernating, or trapped below the radar? Have the goals of the '70s been accomplished or has Victoria's Secret won out? "I Was a Teenage Feminist" is a first-person journey into the movement that once sparked social revolution, yet now commonly evokes discomfort, indifference and even disdain. Armed with a video camera, an inquiring mind, and an irreverent sense of humor, Shechter crisscrosses the country and her own psyche in the hope of reclaiming feminism as a source of personal and political power.

Saturday, June 11 – "Celebrating the Bridges We Have Built," a luncheon celebrating the Building Bridges Project of the Chicago Interfaith Committee, places women & minorities into union building trades apprenticeship programs. Noon - 2 pm, Wyatt Community Center, 8950 S. Stony Island. Info: 773.728.8400, x18

Saturday, June 11 – The College of Complexes will be presenting an initial event celebrarting the 100th Anniversary of the founding in Chicago of the Industrial Workers of the World ("the Wobblies"). Featured will be inflammatory speakers from Haymarket Local 670 and folksinger Ann Stange with songs to fan the flames of discontent! Info: www.iww100.org/ or www.collegeofcomplexes.org/ 8 pm, the Lincoln Restaurant, 4008 N. Lincoln Avenue. Tuition is $3 to help defray costs, with a request by the restaurant for a food/drink purchase. One block from the "Irving Park" stop of the Brown Line "el." Free parking. Info: cpaidock (at) hotmail.com

Saturday, June 11 - The History and Politics of Rhythm and Blues of the 1970s. A black music month event! Darrell Gordon, long time queer activist, will be presenting a video/narrative workshop that will illustrate the parallels between the political movements of the early ‘70s and their acceptance of message tunes on radio and TV. The emphasis is placed on the singer and songwriter along with groups who wrote and played their own music. The presentation will explore the negative impact that the disco demolition movement of 1979 had on the African American and queer populations. This presentation will show footage of Edwin Starr, The Honey Cone, Stevie Wonder, The Jackson 5, Rufus with Chaka Khan, War, Chic, and Roberta Flack. 5 pm, New World Resource Center, 1300 N. Western Avenue. Info: 773.227.4011

Saturday, June 11 - “Stop CAT” Coalition Monthly Meeting, 1 pm – 3 pm at the New World Resource Center, 1300 N. Western Avenue. Organizational representatives and individual solidarity activists are invited to join us. Info: www.stopcat.org/, www.catdestroyshomes.org/, or info (at) stopcat.org.

Saturday, June 11 - Benefit Art Show, Film Screening and Discussion sponsored by Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW). The event will include a photography exhibit of work done by IVAW member Aaron Vogel and others during their time spent in Iraq, a documentary film screening by IVAW member Nick Przybyla, and a discussion forum. Come get to know those who've served in Iraq and see what life is like for them while deployed and afterwards. 6 pm – 11 pm, 1278 N. Milwaukee Avenue, #4W. RSVP requested but not required. $5 donation suggested. Info: 847.308.4666

Saturday, June 11 - "Reversing the Decline of American Health." Attend a free film, "Eating," a 2004 movie by Michael Anderson that reviews the decline of American Health over the last 100 years (1 hour, 40 minutes). 1:30 pm - 4 pm, Uptown Public Library, 929 W. Buena (4200 North). Changing from a plant-based to an animal-based diet, refined foods and corporate farming methods is cited as the main factor causing once-rare diseases to become the leading causes of death and ill health. The last portion of the film looks at the environmental, health and animal treatment consequences of an animal-based diet. The film empowers the viewer to strategize alternatives to the standard American diet. Question and answer session follows. Presented by Unitarian Universalists for Social Justice. Info: 773.248.3012

Saturday, June 11 – Choice Rocks! A Benefit for Northwest Chicago Choice featuring Traci Kunatu, Ludus Love Style, Firelight Rising, NYCO, Castration DJ, Captain Krack, and other guests. Doors open 8:30 pm, starts at 9 pm at Phyllis’ Musical Inn, 1800 W. Division Street. Info: 773.486.9262

Saturday, June 11 – World Naked Bike Ride Day to protest oil dependency au naturale. Bare as you dare, clothed riders are okay too. 9 pm, 1666 N. California Avenue. Info: www.worldnakedbikeride.org/chicago

Saturday, June 11 - Counter-Recruitment Summer Training. Get ready for the summer's counter-military recruitment activities, with this three hour training organized by the Chicagoland Committee Opposed to the Militarization of Youth (CCOMY). The training will include an orientation to information and strategies needed to effectively work against military recruiters at public events and in schools. Following the training, CCOMY volunteers will head out to the Chicago Blues Festival for hands-on training. After the training, join a volunteer network to work with CCOMY at at public events through the summer. 1 pm – 4 pm, Grace Place, 637 S. Dearborn, Lower Level. Info: Darlene Gramigna, 312.427.2533 or dgramigna (at) afsc.org

Sunday, June 12 - The Chicago Committee to Free the Cuban 5 presents "Butterflies on the Scaffold," about how an historically poor and abandoned Afro-Cuban neighborhood of Havana is transformed by beautiful and charismatic drag queens. Cuba's first and only "dragumentary" takes us on stage for the show, backstage for the preparation, and out to the community, where interviews with community leaders who how their attitudes changed and their insight grew. In English, with Spanish subtitles, at 2 pm, DePaul University's Lincoln Park Campus, Schmitt Academic Center, 2320 N. Kenmore, Room 254 (near the "Fullerton" stop on the Red Line "el"). Info: 773.376.7521, 773.465.0177, or uscubachi (at) hotmail.com

Sunday, June 12 – "Stress and the Activist," discussed by activists Jean Darling and Darlene Grossman. 10 am, Third Unitarian Church, 301 N. Mayfield.

Sunday, June 12 – Hear human rights lawyer Jennifer Harbury discuss "Torture by the U.S.—From Guatemala to Abu Ghraid: We Can't Remain Silent." 2:30 pm, Oak Park Public Library, 834 Lake Street. Sponsored by the Friends of the Third Unitarian Church of Chicago. Info: 773.626.9385 or tucoffice (at) yahoo.com

Monday, June 13 – Chicago Demonstration to Extradite Luis Posada Carriles to Venezuela. 5 pm at the Immigration and Naturalization Services (INS) Building, 10 W. Jackson (just east of State St.), as part of a National Day of Action – The World is Demanding Justice – No Asylum for this mass murderer – Stop the 45-year U.S. war against Cuba! This demonstration will be part of locally-coordinated actions across the U.S. with a regional demonstration in El Paso, TX during Posada’s immigration hearing. The Chicago demonstration is being called by A.N.S.W.E.R. (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) Chicago. Info: 773.878.0166 or answerchicago (at) gmail.com

Monday, June 13 – Women & Children First Bookstore’s “Pride Reading,” their annual LGBT open mic, featuring a great line-up of Chicago writers including Gregg Shapiro, Karen Lee Osborne, Kurt Heintz, and Robert McDonald. To guarantee a space for your own poem or short prose piece on the open mic, call the store at 773.769.9299. 7:30 pm, Women & Children First Bookstore, 5233 N. Clark Street.

Monday, June 13 - NOW President Kim Gandy is speaking at the Rainbow/PUSH 34th Annual Conference at the Sheraton Chicago Hotel & Towers. The conference theme is "A More Perfect Union: Building on the Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Lyndon B. Johnson." Some of the most controversial but relevant issues in th U.S. today will be addressed, such as the renewal of the Voting Rights Act. Info: RainbowPush.org

Monday, June 13 - The 73rd Annual United States Conference of Mayors is coming to Chicago June 10-14, where the City Council voted to condemn the USA PATRIOT ACT. Yet on Monday, June 13th, at the Chicago Hilton & Towers, the Conference of Mayors has invited two of the chief enforcers of the PATRIOT Act to present: Michael Chertoff, the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, and US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. DePaul Students Against the War is calling for a rally outside of the Hilton, 722 S. Michigan Ave, from 8:30 am until the mayors break for lunch at noon. We feel that some of the highest officials of the Bush Regime whose positions are to enforce the repression of Muslims, activists and others, including the deportations of the undocumented, must not be given a grand welcome to our working class, immigrant, and militant city. We are calling for all concerned in the Chicagoland area to come out with signs, noisemakers, and spirit, and any groups or organizations to please contact us to endorse this demonstration. See also: chicago.indymedia.org/newswire/display_any/57452, and chicago.indymedia.org/newswire/display_any/57018. DePaul Students Against the War was founded by a collective of anti-imperialist students at DePaul after the invasion of Afghanistan in October, 2001.

Tuesday, June 14 – Women & Children First Bookstore presents Pamela Marin discussing her new memoir “Motherland.” Marin uses her considerable skills as a journalist to unravel the mystery of her mother, who left the family in Evanston when Pamela was 14, to go die far away, untreated, from breast cancer. This powerful memoir is about coming to terms with a mother’s life—and one’s own. 7:30 pm at Women & Children First Bookstore, 5233 N. Clark Street. Info: 773.769.9299

Tuesday, June 14 - The Congress Hotel Strike is nearing its 2nd anniversary, and is calling for a rally in solidarity – 3 pm at the Congress Hotel (Congress Parkway & Michigan Avenue). This is one of two events in the struggle of the UNITE-HERE Local 1 workers at the Congress Hotel UNITE-HERE Local 1 is supporting a new law called "The Right to Know" ordinance (see event listing for June 3). The Right to Know Ordinance would require Chicago hotels to notify customers of a strike before they book their stay. Many visitors have unknowingly booked at the Congress Plaza Hotel, because the Congress refuses to tell customers the truth about the strike.

Tuesday, June 14 – "Animal Protection Through Legislation," a discussion sponsored by the Humane Society of the United States. 6:30 pm – 9 pm, Merlo Library, 644 W. Belmont Avenue.

Wednesday, June 15 – Attend the Illinois Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty's annual celebration, 5:30 pm - 8 pm, at the Spertus Museum, 618 S. Michigan Avenue. Keynote speaker is New York Assemblyman Joseph R. Lentol, the legislative leader of this year's successful fight to end the death penalty in New York. Joining him to receive the 2005 Legislative Leadership award will be Illinois State Senator Mattie Hunter, the chief sponsor of the Illinois abolition bill. The Coalition is also pleased to honor Joey Mogul of the Peoples Law Office with the Legal Advocacy Award for her work to eradicate homophobia and sexist bias in the criminal justice system. Retired Chicago Police Officer Frank Laverty will be honored with the Unsung Heroes Award for courageously exposing secret police files hidden from defense lawyers in criminal cases. Info: 312.847.2279

Thursday, June 16 – The Irish American Heritage Center presents "Bloomsday 2005," its sixth annual event celebrating the legacy of writer James Joyce. On June 16, 1904, writer James Joyce met his wife, Nora Barnacle, and immortalized the date in his monumental epic, “Ulysses.” Modern Joyce aficionados have denoted June 16th "Bloomsday"; a day set aside throughout the world to honor the great man and his controversial and thought-provoking works. Entertainment will include readings, music and song presented by notables from Chicago's theater and music community. The group will perform excerpts from Joyce's "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man," "Dubliners," "Ulysses" and "Finnegan's Wake," as well as biographical detail on Joyce's life. Directed by Center member, Josephine Craven, the evening will begin with cocktails at 6:30 pm and dinner at 7:30 pm at the irish American Heritage Center, 4626 N. Knox. The cost for the celebration is $40 and includes wine and soft drinks with dinner. International Joyce, a traveling exhibit on the life of James Joyce, sponsored by the Cultural Division of the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs, will be on display at the Center during the month of June. The Irish American Heritage Center fosters the practice, study and celebration of Irish, Celtic and Irish-American cultural traditions. Membership in the Center is open to anyone with an interest in these traditions. Info: 773.282.7035 or www.irishamhc.com.

Thursday, June 16 – Historian and former Chicago area resident David Roediger discusses his new book, "Working Toward Whiteness," which examines how American ethnic groups "became" white. 7 pm, 57th Street Books, 1301 E. 57th Street.

Thursday, June 16 - Zsa Zsa Gershick discusses her new book, “Secret Service: Untold Stories of Lesbians in the Military,” 7:30 pm at Women & Children First Bookstore, 5233 N. Clark Street. Don’t ask, don’t tell? Zsa Zsa Gershick served, and then became an award-winning journalist, and now she’s telling: stories of scores of women who were willing to die for their country, whose main battle was the discrimination and fear of disclosure they faced every day. Info: 773.769.9299

Thursday, June 16 thru Sunday, June 19 - The 17th Onion City Experimental Film and Video Festival. Onion City presents a diverse selection of the best in experimental film and video from around the world over four days. Check our website or contact us in mid-May for a complete schedule. Opening Night on June 16 will be held at the Gene Siskel Film Center and will feature a specially selected program of new work by some experimental film greats.

Friday, June 17 - The family of Howard Morgan has decided to postpone the next solidarity rally for Mr. Morgan. Instead of June 10th, the next solidarity rally will take place at 7 pm, Friday, June 17th at the Morgan family church, Church of the Living God, 1738 W. Marquette Road. Mr. Morgan, an African American policeman for the Burlington Northern Railroad, was shot 25 times by four white Chicago cops on February 21st. Father of two, grandfather of two, a long-time resident of Chicago and now barely able to walk thanks to the trauma of the 25 bullets that violated his body, he remains shackled to his hospital bed, held on $2 million bail. Contributions to Howard Morgan’s bail and legal defense fund can be made by making checks payable to the “Howard Morgan Defense Fund” and mailing them to P. O. Box 368817, Chicago, IL 60636.

Friday, June 17 - Iraqi Trade Unionists Speak. Hear Falah Awan, President, Federation of Workers Councils and Unions of Iraq (FWCUI), and Amjad Ali Aljawhry, Representative of the FWCUI &
Union of the Unemployed in Iraq (UUI) for North America. Sponsored by Chicago Labor Against the War (CLAW) and Chicago Labor for Peace Prosperity and Justice (CLPPJ), this event is part of the Iraq Labor Tour, U.S. Labor Against the War. The tour goals are to: 1) Inform U.S. labor movement about conditions facing Iraq's labor movement, including challenges of privatization, outsourcing, attacks on workers rights; 2) Build international labor solidarity with Iraqi union movement; 3) Present U.S. audiences with seldom heard progressive, secular voices of Iraqi people; 3) Call for the AFL-CIO to demand an immediate end to the occupation, and reallocation of funds from militarism to meeting human needs. The FWCUI have led and assisted in strikes and job actions for better conditions in textile, leather, Pepsi and other industrial enterprises. Prior its formation in 2003, many of its leaders and activists had been active in the Union of Unemployed Iraqis, a network operating in several cities of Iraq that mobilized for jobs or benefits for unemployed Iraqis. The Federation's goal is to build workers' organizations in Iraq that are independent, democratic, and free of governmental control. Furthermore, they seek to build unions free of religious, political, gender, and ethnic discrimination. FWCUI representatives have campaigned internationally for workers rights in Iraq. The FWCUI has also called for the immediate end of the occupation. 6 pm, UNITE Hall, 333 S. Ashland Avenue. Info: www.uslaboragainstwar.org

Friday, June 17 thru Thursday, June 23 - African Diaspora Film Festival. Info: www.Facets.org

Saturday, June 18 – "Free Palestine" Guerilla Theater. A guerilla theater company is forming for summer actions. The Chicago chapter of the International Solidarity Movement and the Stop CAT Coalition are calling on other Palestine solidarity activists interested in participating in guerilla theater actions this summer to attend our first planning meeting. All are welcome! We need actors and prop makers of all ages. No prior skills are necessary. New World Resource Center, 1300 N. Western Ave, Noon – 2 pm – Info: isminchicago (at) aol.com or 773.489.3505

Saturday, June 18 – Help place a referendum on the 2006 statewide ballot calling for universal healthcare. Attend the Illinois Health Care Referendum 2006 Leadership Training. Time and location to be announced. Info: michelle (at) taufmanngroup.com or 773.489.6645

Saturday, June 18 and Sunday, June 19 – "Mas Alla Del Mar" ("Beyond the Sea"), Lisandro Pérez-Rey’s documentary on the 1980 Mariel Boatlift from Cuba. 1 pm, Facets Cinémathèque, 1517 W. Fullerton.

Sunday, June 19 - "Against US Intervention in Iran," a one-hour program (filmed at the May 1st Chicago Social Forum) featuring speakers from Progressive Iranian-Americans of Chicago addressing the issue of self-determination for the people of Iran and answering audience questions on the same subject. 10 pm, CAN TV, Cable Channel 21 in Chicago. Info: Sean Reynolds, JoveIsMad (at) Juno.com. Also airing at 10 pm, Friday, June 3 and 10:30 pm, Friday, June 24.

Sunday, June 19 - Young Feminist Book Group Potluck & Selection Night, 6 pm at Women & Children First Bookstore, 5233 N. Clark Street. The group picks its selections for the upcoming year tonight; bring food or drink to share, along with your suggestions. Past selections are listed in the Recommendations Section of the bookstore's website, www.womenandchildrenfirst.com, if you want to see what we’ve already covered. Info: 773.769.9299

Monday, June 20 – The Pomegranate Radical Health Collective will be having its next public meeting at 6 pm - 8 pm at Association House, 1116 N. Kedzie (near Kedzie and Division, wheelchair accessible). Please use the side entrance of the building as a receptionist can direct you to where we are meeting. Open to all genders. Pomegranate Radical Health Collective is devoted to issues of healthcare from a radical feminist, anti-authoritarian perspective. They address issues of physical, mental, reproductive, and sexual health in a women-friendly, queer-friendly and trans-friendly framework. They are dedicated to offering resources and information on the mainstream healthcare industry and alternatives to it through education and outreach, including, skill shares, workshops, underground publications and literature and demonstrations and actions. Everyone is encouraged to take their health into their own hands. Everyone should have equal access to healthcare regardless of income, legal status, race, ethnicity, age, sex, gender or sexual preference, size, marital status, immigration status, religion, and physical and mental ability.

Tuesday, June 21 - Women’s Book Group at Women & Children First Bookstore discusses “The Veil and the Male Elite: A Feminist Interpretation of Women’s Rights in Islam,” by Fatima Mernissi. 7:30 pm at the store, 5233 N. Clark Street. By examining the foundations of Islam, Fatima Mernissi came to a different interpretation of “Islamic fundamentalism.” She argues that neither the Prophet, nor the Allah as the source of Holy Law, desired anything other than equality between the sexes.

Thursday, June 23 – Legendary folk singer Utah Phillips at the HotHouse, 31 E. Balboa. Info: www.hothouse.net/ or 312.362.9707

Thursday, June 23 thru Sunday, June 26 – "100 Years of Workers’ Struggles: Commemorating the Centenary of the Founding of IWW," featuring performances by the legendary Utah Philips and John McCutcheon and a two-day conference. In June 1905 delegates from across the United States and Canada gathered in Chicago to launch a new labor movement, the Industrial Workers of the World. In the years that followed, the IWW revolutionized the labor movement, organizing workers who the traditional craft unions had written off and creating a form of direct action, rank-and-file militant unionism that inspired workers around the world even as it led terrified employers to unleash a savage wave of repression. Today, while the mainstream labor movement seems headed to oblivion, workers are reclaiming and reinventing earlier modes of struggle. Workers’ centers, solidarity unionism, and the contemporary resurgence of the IWW demonstrate that workers continue to resist exploitation and to struggle for control over their working lives. We are commemorating the 100th anniversary of the founding of the IWW with a number of events over the weekend of June 23-26. Thursday, June 23: Benefit Concert for the IWW, featuring Utah Philips & John McCutcheon, $25, 8:30 pm, doors open at 8 pm, at the Hot House, 31 E. Balboa Avenue (21 & over unless accompanied by a legal guardian). Friday, June 24: Centennial Dinner at Svithiod Hall, 5518 W. Lawrence Avenue, eats at 6 pm, program at 7 pm, $10 cover (seating is extremely limited, call Jenny Ohlson at 773.505.2331 to reserve your place). Saturday, June 25 & Sunday, June 26: "IWW Centenary Conference: The Once and Future Labor Movement and Alternative Forms of Worker Organizing." The first day of the conference will focus on how the IWW and its ideas have inspired, and continue to inspire, a wide array of social movements. The second day will focus on alternative forms of worker organizing as workers grapple with globalization, contracting-out and other aspects of the new economy in the face of an increasingly hostile labor law regime. Info: 215.222.1905 or centenary (at) iww.org. Saturday, June 25 (evening): IWW Centenary Concert featuring Mark Ross, The Citizens Band, Rebel Voices, Larry Long, Anne Feeney, Charlie King with Len Wallace, and a special guest appearance by Utah Philips. 8 pm, Bradley Center, 941 W. Lawrence (just east of Sheridan). Tickets $20, $15 for members of any union, are available at New World Resources Center, 1300 N. Western Ave. or from Jenny Ohlson, 773.505.2331. More info: www.iww.org/chicago

Thursday, June 23 thru Saturday, June 25 – "Souls' Fire," the second national conference of the African American Roundtable of the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies in Religion and Ministry, focusing on the theme, "Re-Imagining Black Religious Identity: Race, Class, Gender & Sexuality." African American LGBT people of faith spearhead a conference in Chicago to discuss race, class and sexuality in the church. "Souls' Fire" presents a rare opportunity to hear African American lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people of faith from around the country -- along with their straight allies -- speak publicly about some of the most controversial issues in the church today -- race, faith, gender, class and sexuality. The conference also breaks new ground by bringing together scholars, artists and faith community leaders for collaborative, cross-disciplinary discussion. Panelists will include religion scholars, artists, pastors and social service workers. Participants include Johari Jabir of the University of California, Santa Barbara; Juan Reed of St. Martins Episcopal Church, Chicago; Maurice Charles of the University of Chicago; and Irene Monroe, doctoral candidate at Harvard Divinity School and religion columnist. On Thursday, June 23rd the conference will be at the University Church, 5655 S. University Avenue; on Friday, June 24th the conference will be at the Chicago Theological Seminary, 5757 S. University Avenue; and on Saturday, June 25th, the conference will be back at the University Church. For Friday and Saturday events, register in advance through the CLGS website www.clgs.org. The advance registration fee is $25 until May 31. The fee after May 31 is $35. Tickets are available at the door. Sponsor: The Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies in Religion and Ministry and The African American Roundtable of CLGS, which seeks the full inclusion of black lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in communities of faith in support of social justice for LGBT people by fostering dialogue about the intersections between faith and sexuality among black church and faith leaders (including scholars of religion), black church congregations, black LGBT persons and between each of these constituencies. Co-sponsors: Chicago Theological Seminary,Pillar of Love Fellowship Church, St. Martins Episcopal Church, MOCHA Collaborative,YWCA of Metropolitan Chicago-Loop, and SAFE Services LGBT Program. Info: www.clgs.org or contact the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies in Religion and Ministry at 510.849.8206, 800.999.0528, or clgs (at) clgs.org

Friday, June 24 - Critical Mass Bike Ride, 5:30 pm, Daley Plaza. Info: www.critical-mass.org

Friday, June 24 - A benefit for Room to Read, a program that promotes literacy in Southeast Asia. Enjoy cocktails, appetizers, dessert and inspiration with a cool crowd in a cool space, for the benefit of a great cause. This event will raise money to provide scholarships for girls who otherwise would not have the opportunity to go to school! A presentation by Room to Read Chapter President Tina Sciabica will give an overview of Room to Read's exciting work. Find out why Room to Read has been honored as an innovative charity by "Fast Company," and featured in "Time" and "Forbes." 7 pm - 11 pm, Chi Healing Center, 1733 N. Milwaukee Avenue in Bucktown. Donation amount is at your discretion (they are tax-deductible). RSVP by June 23 to RNKOPP (at) aol.com. Info: Http//www.roomtoread.org

Friday, June 24 - "Against US Intervention in Iran," a one-hour program (filmed at the May 1st Chicago Social Forum) featuring speakers from Progressive Iranian-Americans of Chicago addressing the issue of self-determination for the people of Iran and answering audience questions on the same subject. 10 pm, CAN TV, Cable Channel 21 in Chicago. Info: Sean Reynolds, JoveIsMad (at) Juno.com. Also airing 10 pm, Friday, June 3 and 5 pm, Sunday, June 19.

Friday, June 24 thru Sunday, June 26 – The U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, an local organizer conference for national change at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Join the US Campaign and the Madison-Rafah Sister City Project, a Madison-based member organization of the US Campaign, for a weekend-long regional conference to enhance grassroots organizing efforts in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and beyond! Hear expert presentations about Israel/Palestine and U.S. policy toward the Middle East, find new individuals to participate in your local organizing efforts, jumpstart new local organizing efforts in your area, enhance your skills in media outreach, political outreach, and direct action, receive educational materials and resources to disseminate in your home community, formulate a plan of activism that is focused on your region’s needs, and plug into national organizing efforts through U.S. Campaign task forces. Location: University of Wisconsin, Madison – Grainger Hall of Business Administration. Registration is $25 and includes all conference materials and entrance into all conference forums. Included are "Understanding the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict: A Primer by Phyllis Bennis," two breakfasts and one lunch. $10 for students and low-income people. Visit www.endtheoccupation.org/article.php for a draft agenda of the weekend's program. For an additional $10 in advance or $15 at the door, attend a benefit reception, dinner and panel with the family of Rachel Corrie and the Nasrallah family whose home has been rebuilt by the Rebuilding Homes Alliance. To register online visit www.endtheoccupation.org/article.php. To register by phone, call 202.543.1778. To co-sponsor the conference, email outreach (at) endtheoccupation.org or call Jesse Bacon, 312.622.4139

Saturday, June 25 - New Date of Spring Fundraiser for the Urban Life Center. Bailiwick Repertory Theatre presents “Marlowe,” a new work by Harlan Didrickson based on the tempestuous life of Elizabethan playwright Christopher Marlowe. During his brilliant 29 years of life, Christopher Marlowe was a controversial and successful artist and activist. His play “Edward II” from 1590 is called the first gay play by many sources. The Urban Life Center will also present their annual First Voices Humanitarian Award to David Zak, Artistic Director of Bailiwick, for the role of Bailiwick Theatre as a beacon for the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgendered community in Chicago. Wine and cheese reception and silent auction. 7 pm at the Bailiwick Theater, 1229 W. Belmont. Tickets, $40. Info or tickets: 773.363.1312.

Saturday, June 25 - Queer and Trans Anarchist Feeder to Dyke March 2005, sponsored by the Queer and Trans Caucus of the Chicagoland Anarchist Network. Join us for a friendly anti-authoritarian, anti-capitalist Feeder March through Uptown. We are marching through Uptown for both radical queer & trans visibility and to protest the gentrification of Uptown which is brought on in part by middle class white gays and lesbians moving into Uptown from Boystown and Andersonville, displacing many poor and working class people (predominantly people of color), including poor and working class queers. 11:30 am, picnic at Clarendon Park (Clarendon & Wilson); 12:30 pm, feeder march steps off from Clarendon and Wlison, goes west on Wilson to Broadway, north on Broadway to Foster, west on Foster to Ashland; 1:30 pm, arrive at gathering point for Dyke March; 2 pm, Anarchist Contingent in the Dyke March (Dyke March steps off from Foster and Ashland at 2 pm). Say NO to assimilation and YES to queer liberation! Organized by the Queer and Trans Caucus of the Chicagoland Anarchist Network.

Saturday, June 25 – Annual Chicago Dyke March. Assemble at 1:30 pm at the Trumbull Elementary School's playground on the corner of Ashland and Foster.

Saturday, June 25 – “Taking It to the Streets,” IMAN's most popular and well-known project is a daylong community festival held every other summer in Marquette Park on Chicago's Southwest Side. Takin' It To The Streets unites thousands of people from all over the Chicagoland area in a day of festivities, musical performances, sports tournaments and carnivals. The event also provides inner-city residents with a dynamic opportunity to break down social, religious and cultural barriers. Health and legal clinics are also provided, while prominent activists and leaders in the community conduct various engaging workshops in English, Spanish and Arabic throughout the day. While Takin' it to the Streets is only a daylong festival, it takes a good seven to nine months of planning and involves dozens of volunteers. This process is in itself part of the goal, in that it brings people together to organize and work towards something that we plan and hope has a lasting and positive effect on the community. Featured speakers on June 25th include: Imam W.D. Mohammed, Imam Hamza Yusuf, Imam Zaid Shakir, Imam Siraj Wahhaj, Imam Umar F. Abd-Allah, Ilyasah Shabazz. Featured performers on June 25th include: Rock Steady Crew, All Natural, Jurassic 5, Brother Ali, Napoleon, MPAC, Allah Made Me Funny (National Comedy Tour), M-Team, Jamila Fidrause, Kuumba Lynx & Native Lynx. Topics include "Unity: Holding Fast to the Rope of Allah," "Muslims & Hip Hop - A Forum for Outreach and Activism," "Getting Involved with the Day Laborer Campaign" (In Spanish and English), "Gender Issues & Islam," "The Prophetic Tradition and Working for Social Justice: An Interfaith Perspective," and "Prisoner Reentry and Public Safety Hearings." Sponsored by Inner-City Muslim Action Network. Cosponsored by the Southwest Organizing Project and the Developing Justice Coalition. Info: www.dhs.state.il.us/reentry/Ready/PublicHearings.htm, 773.434.4626, www.imancentral.org, or iman (at) imancentral.org

Sunday, June 26 – Join the "Money for Health Care, NOT for Warfare" contingent in this year's Gay Pride Parade!! The contingent, initiated by the Gay Liberation Network, is a superb opportunity to outreach with an anti-war, pro-gay message to 400,000 Lesbian, Gay, Bi and Trans people and our allies. Participating organizations in the contingent include the newly-formed Chicago chapter of Code Pink, Peace Pledge, Not In My Name, and the Queer and Trans Caucus of the Chicagoland Anarchist Network. Meet at the corner of Halsted and Diversey at 11:30 am. We strongly suggest that you do NOT drive to the parade (if you must drive, park your car near a Brown or Red line stop of the "el" and take the train to the "Diversey" stop of the Brown line el, then walk about four blocks east on Diversey to Halsted). If you and/or your organization would like more info about joining the contingent, contact us at LGBTliberation (at) aol.com, 773.209.1187, or www.GayLiberation.org

Wednesday, June 29 - CocoBean Undergroup Open Mic Spoken Word. 7 pm – 10 pm, No Exit Café, 6970 N Glenwood (west side of Red Line Morse El stop). This event supports the work of the Workers Coop for Big Change mobilizing for a public voice at the AFL-CIO National Convention at Navy Pier week of July 24 28. No Exit is an intimate space with tasty soups and breads. Original poetry or whatever in your way of speaking to the times is requested. Everyone is invited. Bilingue encouraged. Tabling space. Announcements. Say what you think, help with the next one. Info: Chicago Cinqueras j-pendergast (at) northwestern.edu 773.973.6529

Friday, July 1 – “Uncovered, the Whole Truth about the Iraq War” and “Eyes Wide Open,” part of the Progressive Film Series of the Wellington Avenue United Church of Christ’s Outreach Committee, 615 W. Wellington Avenue (call the church at 773.935.0642 for screen time). “Uncovered” takes you behind the walls of the U.S. government as CIA, Pentagon and Foreign Service experts address the government's reasons for launching the “preemptive” war on Iraq in 2003. Through interviews, more than 20 experts (including weapons inspectors and a former CIA ope rative) offer their views on what they claim was distortion of intelligence information by the Bush administration to purposely mislead the public. Directed by Robert Greenwald (2003, 56 minutes). “Eyes Wide Open” is a 30 minute television program produced by the Greater Chicago Broadcast Ministries for Sanctuary, ABC-TV Chicago. It documents the American Friends Service Committee’s widely-acclaimed exhibition on the human cost of the Iraq War, featuring a pair of boots honoring each U.S. military casualty, a field of shoes and a Wall of Remembrance to memorialize the Iraqis killed in the conflict, and a multimedia display exploring the history, cost and consequences of the war. Wellington's own Lydia Talbot is the Executve Producer and Jackie Rivet-River is the Producer (2005, 25 minutes).

Friday, July 1 thru Monday, July 4 – "Socialism 2005: Build the Left Alternative," a conference sponsored by the International Socialist Organization. More than 100 meetings on topics ranging from Marxist theory to the politics of sports, bookfair, films, entertainment. Hyatt Regency O'Hare, 9300 W. Bryn Mawr Avenue in Rosemont, IL, near Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. Registration, $85 (lower rates for single day and single session attendees). Featured speakers include Mike Alewitz (Labor Art Mural Project*), Peter Camejo (California Green Party*), Monique Jeanne Dols and Hadas Their (Campus Antiwar Network*), Sam Farber (author of "Before Stalinism" and "Revolution and Counterrevolution in Cuba"), Joshua Frank (author of "Left Out: How the Left Helped Reelect George Bush"), Luciano Genro (of Brazil's Party of Socialism and Liberty*), Elaine Herrera (author of "Civil Rights in Peril: The Targeting of Arabs and Muslims"), Ernesto Herrera (editor of "Correspondencia de Prensa"*). Marlene Martin (Campaign to End the Death Penalty*), Camilo Mejia (the first Iraq War veteran to refuse a second tour), Ahmed Shawki (editor of "International Socialist Review"), Sharon Smith (author of "Women and Socialism"), Dave Zirin (columnist, Edge of Sports), David Meggyesy (former NFL linebacker), and Kevin Zeese (Democracy Rising*). * = organizations listed for identification purposes only. We live in a time when billions are spent on an increasingly unpopular war while politicians plot to rob retirees and the disabled of their Social Security; when the Democratic Party talks more about finding "common ground" with conservatives than of opposing them; and when the media acts as a propaganda arm of the Pentagon and the U.S. government. Clearly, the need for an alternative on the left—an alternative that speaks to the millions of ordinary people who are fed up with war, attacks on workers and threats to our civil rights—is more pressing than ever. Building that alternative is up to us—and Socialism 2005 is a great place to start. "Socialism 2005" provides a forum where activists from today's fightbacks can come together to discuss how we can rebuild the left and win a world where ordinary people will decide the priorities of our society. Online registration at www.socialismconference.org/register.html, or by phone at 773.583.8665. More info: www.socialismconference.org/ or info (at) socialismconference.org

Saturday, July 2 – Staff Sgt. Camilo Mejia, the first Iraq veteran to refuse a second tour of duty, speaks out about his conscientious objection to the war on Iraq. 7 pm in the Pilsen neighborhood, Casa Juan Diego Youth Center, 2020 S. Blue Island Avenue. Pilsen welcomes Conscientious Objector Camilo Mejia, who refused to return to Iraq because he was unwilling to partake in the killing of innocent civilians, including children. Saying that this war is an “illegal” war and that no war is a just war, this young Army staff sergeant preferred to serve a 9 month prison term instead of participating in war crimes. For many he is considered a true American hero, a man with strong convictions, a man who believes that war is not the answer. Youth are especially invited to hear Camilo's testimony (no admission charge). Sponsored by The Committee Against the Militarization of Youth. Info: 312.226.6161.

Saturday, July 9 and Sunday, July 10 - Peace Fest, the annual musical celebration/inspiration of the local peace and justice movement near Montrose Harbor (Montrose Avenue and the lakefront). Info booths, food, speakers, and more! Info: 708.212.2035 or www.genralpatton.com/

Sunday, July 10 - The Chicago Committee to Free the Cuban 5 presents “Greening of the Revolution,” about how Cuban farmers and scientists work to reinvent sustainable agriculture based on ecological principles and local knowledge, rather than imported agricultural inputs. Cuba is now the most advanced country in organic farming. Told in the voices of Cuba’s campesinos, researchers, and organic gardeners, this film reminds us that First and Third World nations alike can choose a healthier life and still feed their people. In English, with Spanish subtitles, at 2 pm, DePaul University’s Lincoln Park Campus, Schmitt Academic Center, 2320 N. Kenmore, Room 254 (near the “Fullerton” stop on the Red Line “el”). Info: 773.376.7521, 773.465.0177, or uscubachi (at) hotmail.com

Monday, July 11 and Wednesday, July 13 – Hearings for Andy Thayer and Brad Lyttle (July 11 and July 13, respectively), two of the defendants from the March 19th anti-war protest on the two year anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. As important as these hearings are for defendants, they carry much wider implications. The hearings will determine whether or not the City of Chicago unconstitutionally used the “disorderly conduct” charge to disperse the protest against the war. Please attend the hearings, 9 am each day at 1340 S. Michigan (look for the defendants' names on the computer printout posted on the wall of the lobby to determine which room they will be in).

Saturday, July 16 and Sunday, July 17 - Every summer the City of Evanston hosts a two-day Ethnic Arts Festival that features a variety of arts, crafts, food, music and performances that represent scores of cultures from around the world (www.cityofevanston.org/departments/parks/ethnic.shtml). This summer it is taking place in Dawes Park next to Lake Michigan in Evanston, and will feature spoken word with readers compensated by the Evanston Arts Council. If you are interested in acquiring a spot on the line-up (readings will run from 1 pm - 5 pm on both days), and have something appropriate for spoken word/performance at this event, please contact Brent Ritzel at brentritzel (at) yahoo.com or 847.866.3696. The minimal time slot is 15 minutes, with the maximum being 45 minutes if you have something really special to offer. We are encouraging small group or duo readings, and also are partial to performances that integrate music and/or dance. The content must be decisively ethnic in nature or representing the culture of a foreign nation.

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