Events

On September 11, 1973, President Salvador Allende's democratically elected Chilean government was overthrown in a bloody coup led by General Augusto Pinochet. Patricio Guzmán and five colleagues had been filming the political developments in Chile throughout the nine months leading up to that day. The bombing of the Presidential Palace, in which Allende died, would now become the ending for Guzmán's seminal documentary The Battle of Chile (1975-76), an epic chronicle of that country's open and peaceful socialist revolution, and of the violent counter-revolution against it.

The Insurrection of the Bourgeoisie examines the escalation of rightist opposition following the left's unexpected victory in Congressional elections held in March, 1973. Finding that democracy would not stop Allende's socialist policies, the right-wing shifted its tactics from the polls to the streets. The film follows months of activity as a variety of increasingly violent tactics are used by the right to weaken the government and provoke a crisis.

Join us every Wednesday evening in February at 7:00 pm for a different installment of this ground-breaking documentary. 

Tickets are on sale NOW at Food for Thought Books. Suggested Donation: $ 25.00 - 12.00 (we encourage you to purchase a seat even if you cannot attend)

We are so proud to present this evening of powerful voices that join us as we honor the legacy of resistance in the Haitian community.

Featuring: Djola Branner, Myriam Chancy, Dee Dee Desir, Martin Espada, Jean Dany Joachim, Lenelle Moise and Patrick Sylvain with the soul-stirring music of REBIRTH.

Tickets are available at Food for Thought Books. There is a suggested donation per ticket of $ 25.00 -12.00. Community
members are encouraged to support the fundraising effort by purchasing seats even if they are unable to attend. There will be an additional ask during the evening.

In support of our extended community Food For Thought Books is offering our space for a fundraiser for the family of Justin Gordon, 17, who was recently murdered in Springfield. We hope you can make it.

On September 11, 1973, President Salvador Allende's democratically elected Chilean government was overthrown in a bloody coup led by General Augusto Pinochet. Patricio Guzmán and five colleagues had been filming the political developments in Chile throughout the nine months leading up to that day. The bombing of the Presidential Palace, in which Allende died, would now become the ending for Guzmán's seminal documentary The Battle of Chile (1975-76), an epic chronicle of that country's open and peaceful socialist revolution, and of the violent counter-revolution against it.

The Coup d'Etat opens with the attempted military coup of June, 1973 which is put down by troops loyal to the government. It serves as a useful dry run, however, for the final showdown, that everyone now realizes is coming. The film shows a left divided over strategy, while the right methodically lays the groundwork for the military seizure of power. The film's dramatic concluding sequence documents the coup d'etat, including Allende's last radio messages to the people of Chile, footage of the military assault on the presidential palace, and that evening's televised presentation of the new military junta.

Join us every Wednesday evening in February at 7:00 pm for a different installment of this ground-breaking documentary.

Join us for a screening of Born in Flames, a 1983 documentary-style feminist science fiction film by Lizzie Borden that explores racism, classism, sexism and heterosexism in an alternative United States Socialist Democracy.

Post-screening discussion w/ OutNow and Justice for Jason Organizers!

This 6-week series is being taught by SENSEI JAMES ARANA, 4th Degree Blackbelt, in GOJU Karate.

Sensei Arana has over thirty-five years experience teaching the history and philosophy of GOJU and practical street self-defense to students of all ages and diverse backgrounds. We are excited to host him here and know he will create an exciting, gender-equitable & family friendly environment for us to learn some self-empowerment skills!

Classes are a suggested donation of $5.00 each to support Sensei James. No one turned away for lack of funds.

This book club meets the last Monday of the month to discuss theory, literature, activism, radicalism, and queerness.

Our February read is Yours in Struggle: Three Feminist Perspectives on Anti-Semitism and Racism
by Elly Bulkin, Minnie Bruce Pratt & Barbara Smith.

Everyone welcome! Come join us!

In order to improve accessibility, we ask that you please refrain from wearing scented products the day of the event. Thank you.

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A reception & book signing with local author & UMass Sociologist Millie Thayer

This ethnographic study examines the transnational relations among feminist movements at the end of the twentieth century, exploring two differently situated women’s organizations in the Northeast Brazilian state of Pernambuco.

The conventional narrative of globalization tells the story of inexorable forces beyond the capacity of individuals to mute or transcend. But this study tells a different story, one of social actors purposefully weaving cross-border relationships. From this vantage point, global social forces are not immaculately conceived. Instead, they are constituted by human actors with their own interests and identities, located in particular social contexts.

Please join us for a community reading and art exhibit with local Native American artist & author Robert Peters.

4:00–4:30pm: Community reading of Da Goodie Monsta

The book Da Goodie Monsta is a tale based on a dream his son Robert Junior had at age 3. The illustrations captured his son’s imagination with masterful etching in colorful halftones shades that express the mood and timeline of the story. 

On September 11, 1973, President Salvador Allende's democratically elected Chilean government was overthrown in a bloody coup led by General Augusto Pinochet. Patricio Guzmán and five colleagues had been filming the political developments in Chile throughout the nine months leading up to that day. The bombing of the Presidential Palace, in which Allende died, would now become the ending for Guzmán's seminal documentary The Battle of Chile (1975-76), an epic chronicle of that country's open and peaceful socialist revolution, and of the violent counter-revolution against it.

The Power to the People deals with the creation by ordinary workers and peasants of thousands of local groups of "popular power" to distribute food, occupy, guard and run factories and farms, oppose black market profiteering, and link together neighborhood social service organizations. First these local groups of "popular power" acted as a defense against strikes and lock-outs by factory owners, tradesmen and professional bodies opposed to the Allende government, then increasingly as Soviet-type bodies demanding more resolute action by the government against the right.

Join us every Wednesday evening in February at 7:00 pm for a different installment of this ground-breaking documentary.

Join us for an interactive dialogue and
workshop with Rachel Rybaczuk where we will explore our individual class experiences and the way that
they impact us, our relationships , our communities, our work and so many other
things.

Rachel is currently a professor at UMass Amherst, teaching a class on
socioeconomics in higher education. As a graduate student (also at
UMass) she was a part of the Roosevelt Institute and has worked extensively with Class Action.

Our six-week self-defense course continues!

Taught by SENSEI JAMES ARANA, 4th Degree Blackbelt, in GOJU Karate. Sensei Arana
has over thirty-five years experience teaching the history and philosophy of
GOJU and practical street self-defense to students of all ages and diverse
backgrounds.

We are excited to host him here and know he will create an
exciting, gender-equitable & family friendly environment for us to learn
some self-empowerment skills!

Please join us as we host People of Color United (POCU) Students of Amherst High School for this special fundraiser screening of: POTO MITAN: Haitian Women, Pillars of the Global Economy (50 mins).

"Told through compelling lives of five courageous Haitian women workers, Poto Mitan gives the global economy a human face. Each woman’s personal story explains neoliberal globalization, how it is gendered, and how it impacts Haiti: inhumane working/living conditions, violence, poverty, lack of education, and poor health care. While Poto Mitan offers in-depth understanding of Haiti, its focus on women’s subjugation, worker exploitation, poverty, and resistance demonstrates these are global struggles. Finally, through their collective activism,
these women demonstrate that despite monumental obstacles in a poor country like Haiti, collective action makes change possible."

Hearing only the official version, a generation of young Chileans has grown up with little knowledge of the historical facts surrounding the events of September 11, 1973.

Patricio Guzman's landmark film The Battle of Chile (1976) documented the "Popular Unity" period of Allende's government, the tumultuous events leading up to the coup, and Allende's death. But the memory of those times and events, captured so powerfully in The Battle of Chile, was largely barred from the collective consciousness of the Chilean people. Now, Guzman has returned to show The Battle of Chile in his homeland for the first time, and to explore the terrain of the confiscated (but maybe reawakening) memories of the Chilean people.

Join us for a screening of Slingshot HipHop, a 2008 documnetry tracing the history and development of Palestinian hip hop, from the time DAM pioneered the art form in the late 1990s.

Slingshot Hip Hop braids together the stories of young Palestinians living in Gaza, the West Bank and inside Israel as they discover Hip Hop and employ it as a tool to surmount divisions imposed by occupation and poverty. From internal checkpoints and Separation Walls to gender norms and generational differences, this is the story of young people crossing the borders that separate them.

Be there!

This 6-week series is being taught by SENSEI JAMES ARANA, 4th Degree Blackbelt, in GOJU Karate.

Sensei Arana has over thirty-five years experience teaching the history and philosophy of GOJU and practical street self-defense to students of all ages and diverse backgrounds. We are excited to host him here and know he will create an exciting, gender-equitable & family friendly environment for us to learn some self-empowerment skills!

Classes are a suggested donation of $5.00 each to support Sensei James. No one turned away for lack of funds.

Join us for a special evening with Tina Reynolds and members of The Prison Birth Project.

Tina Reynolds is Co-founder and Chair of Women on the Rise Telling Her Story (WORTH), adjunct lecturer at York College/CUNY and co-author of Interrupted Life: Experiences of Incarcerated Women in the U.S. (University of California Press. January. 2010). She will be joining us to discuss the issues that effect incarcerated mothers and how we can better organize and support them as a community- as well as the success of WORTH in incarcerated moms leading and winning the fight to pass anti shackling legislation in Massachusetts.