In This Issue:
-Trade Justice 2010 Kick-Off
-Food Sovereignty in Kenya, report back and guest speaker!
-AGRA Watch Film Nights: "Faat Kine"
-Self-Determination
in Guatemala
-Find CAGJ on Flickr, and our blog!
-Regional Food Policy Council Approved
-2010 Seattle's "Year of Urban Agriculture"
-CSA season is almost here, sign-up today!
-Community Calendar
Upcoming CAGJ Organizing Meetings
Tues March 9: Food Justice Project, 6:30 at CAGJ office
Wed March 10: CAGJ Steering Committee, 6:30 at CAGJ office
Tues March 16: AGRA Watch, 6:30 location TBD (contact us for more info!)
Wed March 17: SLEE Organizing, 6:30 at CAGJ office
Tues March 23: Trade Justice, 6:30 at CAGJ office
Contact us for more info!
2010 Trade Justice Kick-Off Meeting
Tuesday, March 23rd, 6:30-8:30pm
At the CAGJ office, 606 Maynard Ave S #252, Seattle, WA 98104
After organizing the People's Summit to mark the 10 year anniversary of
our victory over the WTO, CAGJ's Trade Justice committee is gearing up
for two campaigns in 2010. Come to this organizing meeting to find out
how you can get involved! We will discuss CAGJ's role in...
-The CISPES
Anti-Mining Campaign: The environmental and workers' movements in El Salvador are fighting the Pacific Rim Mining Company, based in Canada, to prevent them from opening a dangerous gold mine in the Cabañas area. Two Salvadoran anti-mining activists have been assasinated, and Pacific Rim is suing the government of El Salvador under the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) for lost profits due to two denied permits. You can read more about the campaign at the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES) National website. Cameron Herrington, CISPES Seattle's Director, will give a brief
presentation, and we will discuss CAGJ's role in supporting the campaign. For an on-the-ground perspective from Guatemala, see the upcoming event on mining and indigenous rights.
-Fighting
for Washington State Support for the TRADE Act! While over 130 Representatives have signed on to co-sponsor the TRADE Act, legislation supporting a
model of trade that upholds environmental protections, workers' and human rights, and seeks to reverse the failed WTO/NAFTA model, not one of Washington's Democratic Representatives have joined
this important statement for a new US trade policy. Kristen Beifus, Washington
Fair Trade Coalition's Director, will brief CAGJ on the Coalition's work
on the TRADE Act
-We'll be woking on strengthening and strategizing around how to mobilize CAGJ's Trade Action Network for 2010 and beyond. This is a a group of committed CAGJ members who respond to action alerts at least 5 times per year by contacting congresspeople via phone or email about important trade agreements or bills, writing letters to the editor, and more. First time you're hearing about it, and want to take part? Become a Member and check the "Join our Trade Action Network" support option.
From the Grassroots: Reports from Kenya on Food Sovereignty,
Agricultural Development and the Gates Foundation
Saturday, March 27, 6:30 – 9:00 PM
Hidmo Eritrean Restaurant, 2000 S Jackson St. Seattle,
98144
Come to hear from Kenyan Farmer & Community Organizer Joshua
Machinga, Director of Common Ground in Kenya, and Travis and
Heather
English Day of CAGJ, who will report back on their travels to
Kenya and
Uganda, where they are learning about the new "green revolution"
in
Africa and the alternatives, including a visit to Joshua's
program.
Common Ground Program works in many areas, with a special focus on
increased food security, crop diversification and the protection
of
natural resources. Their sustainable agriculture projects provide
families and communities with vital technical and material
resources
for improving nutrition and increasing income generation. The
projects
also enable rural farming communities to adapt and survive in the
face
of challenges to their livelihoods, including globalization,
commercialization of food production and climate change. You can
read more about Heather and Travis's experiences on
their blog.
Event is free. Eritrean food available for purchase, full bar
available. All ages welcome to attend! For more info, contact
agrawatch@seattleglobaljustice.org;
Or call 206-405-4600.
AGRA Watch film nights – Our Second film!
"Faat Kine"
Saturday, March 13th, 5:00 – 8:00 PM
At Heather's house
in Madison Valley (please RSVP to agrawatch@seattleglobaljustice.org
for directions and address).
About the Film:
In "Faat Kine", Ousmane Sembene, the unquestioned father of
African
cinema, calls his fellow Africans to a reckoning of the
post-independence
era at the beginning of a new century. At 77, he sums up 40 years
of
path-breaking filmmaking with a penetrating analysis of the
interplay
of gender, economics and power in today's Africa. Sembene
accomplishes
all this through the deceptively light domestic drama of Faat
Kine, a
gas station operator born, significantly, the same year as
Senegalese
independence, 1960.
Followed by a discussion of the film. AGRA Watch is holding monthly film nights,
check out our calendar for future dates and films! Please RSVP if
possible, and send questions to AGRA Watch; Or
call 206-405-4600
"Mining and Indigenous Rights: The Struggle for Self-Determination in Central America"
Friday, March 5th, 6:30-8:30, FREE
Ethnic Cultural Center at the University of Washington
3931 Brooklyn Ave NE, Black Room
A panel discussion featuring Guatemalan indigenous community leader Pascual Bernabe Velásquez, Assembly of Huehuetenango in Defense of Natural Resources
Let the Communities Decide!
More than 600,000 people participating in
community consultations have voted NO to the expansion of harmful
mining projects in Guatemala. At the same time, mining companies are using
DR-CAFTA to sue the government of El Salvador for refusing to approve
mining projects. In his presentation, Pascual Bernabe Velásquez will speak about the consulta movement and civil resistance against the expansion of mining projects in Guatemala.
With a photo exhibit by James Rodriguez
Hosted by the UU Central America Network and Seattle CISPES
Co-sponsored by the University of Washington Center for Human Rights,
the UW Student Labor Action Project, Casa Latina, and the Community
Alliance for Global Justice. Speaking tour organized by Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala (NISGUA)
Photos from the People's Summit, Teach-outs, and more!
We've posted tons of new pictures from different events, and many different photographers, to our new flickr page. Head there to pick yourself out of group shots, vicariously experience events you missed, and contribute photos to our flickr group. We've also added an easy way to see posts from all CAGJ projects to our website - you can find more project-specific articles, posts, and events on each project's page, but at the Blog you can see all the last posts from any project and email, share them with friends, and subscribe to our RSS feed!
New Regional Food Policy Council Approved
An excerpt from Seattle City Councilmember Richard Conlin's Newsletter
"On Thursday, January 28, the Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC)
approved the creation of a Regional Food Policy Council. The Regional
Food Policy Council (RFPC) will work with community, business,
agriculture, and government partners to identify gaps in the region’s
food system and develop integrated policy recommendations and actions
that will help our region move towards a food system that supports
healthy people and communities and environmental sustainability.
A local Acting Food Policy Council, with modest funding support from
WSU Cooperative Extension and lots of volunteer energy, has been
working for several years, and has been a very important partner in
developing the Local Food Action Initiative (LFAI) and in the
implementation work that has happened since the LFAI was approved by
Council in May of 2008. Part of the work program for the LFAI has been
to create a permanent Food Policy Council, as has been done in a number
of other cities and regions around the US and Canada..."
"...Once the new body is established and funded, it will bring together
representatives from across the food system, including those involved
in production, processing, packaging, distribution, consumption, and
food waste, as well as agencies addressing environment, housing,
emergency preparedness, and economic development issues. This group
will develop policies that will protect farmland, foster economic
development, improve public health, and increase access to fresh, local
food."
Click here to read the full article
2010 To be Year of Urban Agriculture
An excerpt from Seattle City Councilmember Richard Conlin's Newsletter
"On Wednesday, February 3, Mayor Michael McGinn and [Richard Conlin] announced the
launch of ‘The Year of Urban Agriculture’, a campaign to promote
community agriculture efforts and increase access to locally grown
food. This campaign will work through city agencies and private
organizations to encourage more food growing in Seattle, develop new
policies to promote local food at the City level, and support the work
of providing adequate food, healthy choices, and better nutrition for
Seattle residents. Details on the program will be posted at www.seattle.gov/urbanagriculture as specific initiatives are launched."
See some other reactions around the community: "Will Allen Says Stop Talking and ACT: Seattle Declares 2010 Year of Urban Agriculture", Urban Food Link
"Mayor McGinn and City Council Officially Announce Seattle's Year of Urban Agriculture", Ashley DeForest at Urban Farm Hub
Don't forget to sign-up for your CSA!
Community Supported Agriculture programs will start soon, as the Puget Sound spring planting and summer harvest seasons approach. Signing up for a CSA is a great way to support local economies everywhere, by supporting a local farmer with a purchase of part of their season's fresh fruits, vegetables, eggs, and much more. The diversity and quality of the usually organic and/or sustainable grown produce is a great deal! You can browse CSA programs at Ecovian, and Puget Sound Fresh usually has lots of resources.
Let's Get Connected! Internet and Social Justice in Central and South Seattle
WED MARCH 3rd, 5:30-7:30pm, at Garfield Community Center
Hidmo Community Empowerment Project,
Reclaim the Media and NW MAG-Net present a
community forum on winning better, faster, and more affordable Internet
access in the historically underserved neighborhoods of the Central
District and Beacon Hill.
Mayor Mike McGinn was elected in part based on his proposal to
connect all Seattle homes and businesses with next-generation
fiber-optic Internet service--providing affordability, customer choice,
and speeds many times faster than what is currently available to many in
Seattle's underserved neighborhoods of the Central District and Beacon
Hill. Between the FCC's recent call for gigabit-speed Internet, Google's
announcement of fiber-broadband test projects, and Federal broadband
stimulus funds, it appears that 2010 could be a big year for Internet
access in the US. How will the changes be felt in Seattle?
Participants in the March 3 "Let's Get Connected" event will be
invited to share their own experiences with local Internet access, while
community media producers document their stories on audio and video.
Featured guest speakers will discuss the history of telecommunications
access in central and South Seattle, present-day challenges for fair,
affordable access, and ways the City can respond to public outcry for
digital justice. More info at Reclaim the Media's website.
National Day of Action to Defend Higher Education - Student Strike and Rally
THURS MARCH 4th, 1-2pm, at The Quad on the UW Campus
"UW is facing massive budget cuts which means tuition hikes, cuts to
financial aid, and overcrowded classrooms for students. It means
layoffs, overwork, dangerous working conditions, and union busting for
workers. On March 4th we will fight back to defend our education
and our jobs! Students and workers across the country will be striking
on that day, responding to a call emerging from the mass movement
against budget cuts in California. Activists in some California cities
are even organizing to build for city-wide strikes and actions on the
4th!" For more info check out the Facebook event page or the No UW Budget Cuts blog
International Women's Day Rally
SAT MARCH 6th, 2 pm, at Occidental
Park, S Washington St & Occidental Ave S, Seattle;
The World March of Women
2010 calls for women of all nations to raise our voices
together and demand an end to militarization, violence
against women, and poverty. Celebrate the 100 year
anniversary of the Declaration of International Women's
Day. Endorsers include: AFSC (American Friends Service
Committee Pacific-NW), Allyship, Asian Pacific Islander
Women & Family Safety Center, Committee for Solidarity and
Justice in Chile, Community Alliance for Global Justice,
Chaya, Community Acupuncture Clinic of Columbia City, DAWN
(Domestic Abuse Women's Network), Dyke Community Activists,
Electrical Workers Minority Caucus-Seattle, Hermanas, Hidmo
Community Empowerment Project, International Brotherhood of
Electrical Workers-Local 46, KC Coalition Against Domestic
Violence, Khmer in Action, Ladies First, League of Women
Voters of Seattle, LELO, Mothers For Police Accountability,
National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum-Seattle,
October 22 Coalition Against Police Brutality, Pinay Sa
Seattle-GABRIELA USA, Puget Sound Older Lesbians Organizing
For Change, Radical Women, Revolution Books-Seattle, Rroma
Against Racism, Sahngnoksoo, Seattle Jewish Voices for
Peace, Seattle NOW, Seattle Young People's Project, Sistah
2 Sistah, Sisters in the Building Trades, TET in Seattle, 2
Brown Chicks Family Farm, U.S. Women and Cuba
Collaboration, Vietnamese Friendship Association, WHEEL,
Women in Black-Seattle, World Can't Wait. Info 206-722-
0729 or inter.womensday2010@gmail.com
Monthly Vigil at Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma
SAT MARCH 13th, and subsequent 2nd Saturdays, noon - 3 pm, at Northwest Detention Center, 1623 E J St, Tacoma; DEMAND HUMAN RIGHTS AT TACOMA IMMIGRATION PRISON! The government is using racial profiling and violating the rights of immigrant workers whose only "crime" is working. Coffee and food, support and solidarity offered to visiting families. An injury to one is an injury to all! For carpool/ ride from Seattle call 206-218-4417
Arundhati Roy at Town Hall Seattle
MON MARCH 29, 7:30 pm, at Town Hall Seattle, 1119 8th
Avenue at Seneca Street, enter on Eighth Avenue, Seattle;
Seattle Arts & Lectures and Elliott Bay Books presents
Arundhati Roy. She has written just one novel, but what a
debut. The God of Small Things won the Booker Prize in
1997, and ever since, the Indian activist has concentrated
her writing on political issues. Tonight, she'll read from
her latest book of political essays, FIELD NOTES ON
DEMOCRACY, followed by a Q&A moderated by Anthony Arnove
and a book signing. Presented by Seattle Arts and Lectures
and Elliott Bay Book Company. Tickets are $15 general/$30
patron at http://www.lectures.org
or 206-621.2230. A
patron ticketholders' reception at the Sorrento Hotel
begins at 9 pm. info http://www.lectures.org
Thanks for reading CAGJ's Newsletter!
Community Alliance for Global Justice | 206-405-4600 | contact_us@seattleglobaljustice.org
606 Maynard Ave S #252
Seattle, WA 98104