History: Fall 2007 Programming

Wednesday, August 29, 7:30pm: Can Venezuela Build Socialism in the 21st Century? Featuring Martin Sanchez, Venezuela's consular general in Chicago and the editor of venezuelanalysis.com and Lee Sustar, labor editor of the International Socialist Review. Cosponsored by the International Socialist Organization, the UW Latin American, Caribbean, and Iberian Studies Program, and Community Action on Latin America. 1111 Humanities, UW-Madison, 7:30 p.m.

Tuesday, September 11, 7pm: Pozon: A Model of High-Road Development in Venezuela, a video about a co-op that produces fruits, vegetables, and medicinal herbs presented by Kellie Germond who lives in Venezuela. Cosponsored by WORT, WCCN, Rainbow Books, the Wisconsin Green Party, CALA, Hands off Venezuela, the Havens Center, Just Coffee, Liberty Tree. Escape Java Joint, 916 Williamson St. Flyer

Thursday, September 13, 6:30pm: V For Venezuela: The struggle for democracy has only just begun, a public talk by Bernardo Álvarez Herrera, Ambasador of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to the United States of America. Cosponsored by WORT, WCCN, Rainbow Books, the Wisconsin Green Party, CALA, Hands off Venezuela, the Havens Center, Just Coffee, Liberty Tree. Check TITU in the Memorial Union for location. Flyer

Thursday, September 20, 7:30pm: One Man's Story: Philip Agee, Cuba, and the CIA, a screening and discussion with Bernie Dwyer, the Irish co-director (and possible live telephone hook-up with Philip Agee for questions and answers). L140 Chazen Museum of Art.

Tuesday, October. 2, 7:00 pm: Politics of Immigration, author Jane Guskin discusses her recent book and facilitates a discussion on immigration. Cosponsored with the Immigrant Workers Union (UTI). Rainbow Bookstore, 426 W. Gilman. [PDF flyer]

Saturday, October 6, 7:30-11:30pm: Rock for Rights Welcoming the Citizens Not Terrorists tour of the US-El Salvador Sister Cities Network. Bonobo Secret Handshake (eclectic blues-rock), Tony Brown (reggae, blues, r&b) Marques Bovre & SoDangYang (americana-folk-rock). Featured speaker: Pedro Juan Hernández, Economist, leader in the Salvadoran social movement, and critic of the implementation of neo-liberal and free trade policies in El Salvador. Labor Temple, 1602 South Park Street, Madison.

Monday, October 8, 7:00pm: Posada Carriles - Terrorism Made in USA. On October 6, 1976, a passenger plane with 73 people aboard crashed into the ocean just near Barbados. Two explosions brought the airliner down, four men, CIA trained, were responsible for this heinous act. One is still at large. Free showing. View movie trailer. Madison Public Libary 20 W. Mifflin St. room 202.

Tuesday, October 9, 7:00 pm: Citizens, not terrorists: Lessons from the fight for free speech and the right to organize in El Salvador. Pedro Juan Hernandez, economist and activist from El Salvador. Rainbow Bookstore, 426 W. Gilman. [JPG flyer]

Tuesday, Oct 23, 7pm - 8pm: Film and Discussion: SIPAKAPA NO SE VENDE - Mining and popular resistance in Central America, followed by open forum with Mario Garcia Serra and Martin Alvarado, local activists working on mining issues in Guatemala and El Salvador
The global corporate mining industry has recently turned it’s eye on Central America as the site for a 21st-century gold rush. Facing the prospect of environmental devastation and no economic development from these ventures, indigenous peoples in Guatemala organized and won their campaign to stop gold cyanide mining in their community. Rainbow Bookstore, 426 W. Gilman, Madison. JPG flyer / PDF flyer

Wednesday October 31, 6 pm: A Field of One's Own: Feminism in Rural Nicaragua. Free talk by La FEM (Nicaraguan coffee cooperative) co-director Juana Villareyna. A Room of One's Own Bookstore, 307 W. Johnson St. Co-sponsored by the Wisconsin Coordinating Council on Nicaragua. [jpg flyer]

Friday, November 2, 7:00 - 9:00 pm: Women, Coffee and Flowers - Organizing for Social Justice in Nicaragua and Colombia. Talk featuring Lydia Lopez from the Colombian Flower Workers Union and Juana Villareyna from La Fem coffee coop in Nicaragua. UW-Madison Memorial Union (Check Today in the Union for exact location). Co-sponsored by the Wisconsin Coordinating Council on Nicaragua. [jpg flyer | pdf flyer]

Saturday, Nov. 3rd, 6 - 8 pm: Sowing Seeds of Resistance Colombia Flower Unions, US Policy and the Struggle for Dignity. Talk by Lydia López, President of Untraflores (National Flower Workers’ Union) in Colombia. A perfect example of Colombia’s complicated and painful truth is found in the flower industry. While we in the United States enjoy the beauty of store-bought flowers for special occasions; anniversaries, graduations, and birthdays; the Colombian flower growers are being exploited on a daily basis by giant US corporations. The United States is a primary destination of cut-flowers produced in Colombia. The Dole Food Company specifically is the largest exporter of these flowers. ESCAPE COFFEEHOUSE 916 Williamson St. next to Star Photo. Co-sponsored by: Community Action on Latin America, Family Farm Defenders and Colombia Support Network. [jpg flyer | pdf flyer]

Tuesday, November 13, 7pm: Join us in Madison to support Immokalee workers. Community Action on Latin America and Family Farm Defenders Present a Screening of "Y ahora que?" The CIW's Latest Video combining exclusive footage from the protests in Chicago this past April - Including Zack de la Rocha and Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine. Background: Tomato pickers in Florida face sweatshop conditions every day, including sub-poverty wages that have not increased in 30 years and the denial of basic labor rights: no right to overtime, to organize, or to benefits of any kind. In the most extreme cases, farmworkers face conditions of modern-day slavery. By leveraging its high-volume purchasing power, Burger King plays an active role in creating the miserable conditions in Florida’s fields. The Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) - an organization of mainly Latino, Haitian and Mayan Indian farmworkers - has established groundbreaking agreements with Yum Brands (parent company of Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and others) and McDonald's to directly improve farmworker wages and working conditions. Rainbow Bookstore Cooperative 426 West Gilman (just off State) [jpg flyer]

Friday November 16, 6:30pm - 7:30pm: Vigil for Latin American Victims of Violence. A prayer vigil remembering the victims of violence in Latin America. The vigil also calls for closing the School of the Americas, whose graduates from militaries and police forces in Latin America have been found responsible for murders, torture and other atrocities in their home countries. The vigil will begin at 6:30 p.m. with a solemn funeral procession around the Capitol Square, starting at State Street, and conclude with a vigil service at Grace Episcopal Church, 116 W. Washington Ave. A novenario, nine days of prayer for victims of the violence, will begin on Thursday, November 8, and conclude with the vigil. Persons wishing a copy of the novenario or more information about the vigil should contact Dennis Collier at dennis.collier@hotmail.com or (608) 221-8025. Capitol Square. [pdf flyer]

Monday, November 19, 7pm - 8pm: "Compromiso Cumplido" (True to My Pledge) is the first of a two-part documentary about the human rights violations during the current conflict in Oaxaca. The flim documents some of the horrors committed against the civil society of Oaxaca, and shows the strategy of state terrorism employed by the local governor. To date 25 known deaths have been reported, and yet there have been no criminal accusations or investigations for these murders. Madison-Oaxaca Solidarity and the Student Labor Action Coalition http://www.maldeojotv.net. Memorial Union, (check Today in the Union TITU for exact location).

The 11th Annual Fair Trade Holiday Festival
Fair Trade Education & Gifts Made by Real People Making Real Wages

Date:  Saturday, December 1, 2007
Time: 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Location:  MATC's downtown campus

Shop with a joy at the 11th Annual
Fair Trade Holiday Festival !

Give a gift that brings joy to both the recipient and the producer. Fair Trade gifts pay a living wage to the artist or craftperson creating them and create sustainable economic development around the world.

You will find hundreds of gifts from around the globe at the Holiday Festival. Art and crafts from Africa, South America, Central America, India, Mexico, Asia and the Pacific provide a colorful array of choices. Sweaters, rugs, pottery, ornaments, jewelry, clothing, art, sculpture, woodcarving... the list goes on. Hungry shoppers will also find fair trade coffee, tea, and chocolate, and our famous bake sale and hot coffee.

Plus, visit our room of local vendors selling products made right in Wisconsin through small businesses and cooperatives: cheese, soap, bread, and more.

The festival is at the MATC Downtown Education Center on the 2nd floor in the conference area and cafeteria. Parking is available in the State Street Capitol Ramp, behind the Orpheum Theater. Enter on Johnson Street or Carroll Street.

Sponsored by CSW Member Community Action on Latin America and MATC's Global Horizons Program. For more information, write festival@calamadison.org or call Carol at 608-286-0865.

Download a letter-sized poster
Download a 4-up sheet of fliers

Tuesday, December 18, 7pm - 9pm: After the referendum: Venezuela, Chavez and the United States. Featuring the Film "¿Puedo Hablar? / May I Speak?" (2007) Dir: Chris Moore. A look at last year's Venezuelan presidential election, presenting viewpoints from throughout the Venezuelan political spectrum. On December 2nd, Venezuelans cast their vote to decide if Hugo Chavez could serve another term as president. A thorn in the side of the Bush administration's foreign policy, Venezuela's Bolivarian Revolution presents an alternative model to free trade and US dominance in South America. Will Venezuela continue on the road of social development through oil revenues,? Join us for an update, discussion and a film. Rainbow Bookstore - 436 W. Gilman St, right off State St.

'Tis the season for worker justice...

...FA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA!

The Student Labor Action Coalition and Community Action on Latin America invite the Madison community to carol for worker's rights on the UW campus this Monday at 4 pm.  It's been a long year for those of us involved in labor and Latin America issues, but one more action is needed before we head home for the holidays.

How would you feel if you were still owed back pay from 2 years ago?

How would you feel if you'd been recently fired for trying to organizing a union in your factory?

What if an institution of higher learning in Madison Wisconsin could use it's leverage to right these wrongs?

Join us as we stand in solidarity of with the workers who make UW clothing and apparel. We will reinvent the season's songs to make an appeal to the decency and generosity of Chancellor John Wiley and university administrators.  

Join us to sing "We wish you would do the right thing" - (to the tune of "We wish you a merry Christmas") or  "I'm dreaming of a just Christmas" (to the tune of I'm dreaming of a white Christmas), "Wiley the Chancellor" (to the tune of "Frosty the Snowman") and other holiday favorites.

 We will meet Monday the 17th at the Memorial Union Round Table South at 4 pm and will carol and bring consciousness and cheer to the UW community.

Did we mention there will be hot chocolate?

This will be done in support of two labor justice campaigns related to the University of Wisconsin:

• The first is our long-running campaign against the UW’s contract with adidas. In 2005, a factory in El Salvador, Hermosa Manufacturing, which produced collegiate apparel for adidas, improperly shut down. In the process, workers were abandoned by the factory owner, by the government, and by adidas. They are still owed over $825,000 in backpay, severance, and health care payments. The UW’s contract with adidas bounds them to a code of conduct, which holds adidas directly responsible for ensuring that its workers throughout the supply chain are properly compensated. This code has been violated by adidas, and the Hermosa workers have called on the UW to cut its contract.

• Our second campaign involves New Era Cap Company, a UW licensee, which produces UW-logo baseball caps and holds a contract granting it the right to do so. Workers at a New Era plant in Mobile, Alabama earlier this year formed a union in response to issues of racism, favoritism, and unsafe working conditions. In response, New Era management launched a strong anti-union campaign, firing 24 workers in retaliation for their organizing. Recently, New Era announced plans to fire over 30 more workers, even as it refuses to cooperate with the Worker Rights Consortium, the monitoring body contracted by the UW to investigate such cases.