10-11 We’ve been told that a vegetarian diet can feed the hungry, honor the animals, and save the planet. Lierre Keith believed in that diet and spent 20 years as a vegan. But in The Vegetarian Myth, she argues that we’ve been led astray–not by our longings for a just and sustainable world, but by our ignorance. The truth is that agriculture is a relentless assault against the planet, and more of the same won’t save us. In service to annual grains, humans have devastated wild lands, driven countless species extinct, altered the climate, and destroyed the topsoil–the basis of life itself. Keith argues that if we are to save this planet, our food must be an act of profound and abiding repair: it must come from inside living communities, not be imposed across them. Part memoir, part nutritional primer, and part political manifesto, The Vegetarian Myth will challenge everything you thought you knew about food politics.
Lierre Keith is a writer, small farmer, and radical feminist activist. She is the author of two novels, as well as a work of nonfiction, The Vegetarian Myth: Food, Justice, and Sustainability (2009, Flashpoint Press). She is currently co-writing a book with Derrick Jensen and Aric McBay about strategy for the environmental movement, and is also working on a young adult fantasy novel. She splits her time between Northampton, MA and Humboldt County, CA. You can read more about Lierre, including excerpts of her work, at http://www.lierrekeith.com.
11-12 Anarchism’s Principles and Prefigurative Practices by Cindy Milstein
There are nearly as many definitions of anarchism as there are anarchists, and yet perhaps the best introduction can be found in exploring its basic principles and how those play out in its prefigurative praxis. This talk will look at some of the key ethical orientations that distinguish anarchism, sprinkled with a sampler of how anarchists try to struggle for, organize toward, and especially (re)construct a free society along these lines.
Cindy Milstein is an Institute for Anarchist Studies board member, a co-organizer of the Renewing the Anarchist Tradition conference, and a Black Sheep Books collective member. She taught at the anarchist summer school known as the Institute for Social Ecology, and is involved in the anarchist political group Unconventional Action. Her essays appear in several anthologies, including “Globalize Liberation” and “Realizing the Impossible: Art against Authority,” and her own book, “Anarchism and Its Aspirations,” is forthcoming on AK Press.
12-1 Jessica from Bar-None will present
2-3 Women’s Caucus –We are hoping to talk about our visions for change in Humboldt County and what are some first steps in getting there over the next year.
Please come and bring your friends — again we want to be as inclusive as possible: people who identify as women, people who have been socialized as women and genderqueer people!
3-4 Andrej Grubacic is a radical historian and sociologist from the Balkans.
His talk on “wobblies, zapatistas and anarchism for 21st century” will address some of the central concerns of contemporary anarchist movement. How can we institutionalize direct action? What is revolution? What would a revolutionary strategy premised on direct action look like? How can we “build structures of new society in a shell of the old?”
4-5 Franklin López will present clips from his upcoming film END:CIV. It is a film that examines our culture’s addiction to systematic violence and environmental exploitation, and probes the resulting epidemic of poisoned landscapes and shell-shocked nations. Based in part on Endgame, the best-selling book by Derrick Jensen, END:CIV asks: “If your homeland was invaded by aliens who cut down the forests, poisoned the water and air, and contaminated the food supply, would you resist?” END:CIV is currently in production.
About Franklin López and subMedia
Franklin Lopez is an award filmmaker based in Vancouver. His politically charged films have been floating around the internet for 10 years and have been viewed by millions. Frank’s work includes films about shoplifting to George Bush video Mash-Ups. He is currently producing a snarky vlog/TV show called “It’s the End of the World as We know it and I feel fine” and a film inspired by writer Derrick Jensen titled END:CIV. You can view some of Frank’s work at http://www.submedia.tv
5-6 Practical Cracking by Steven DeCaprio- East Bay Radical Housing Advocate
A presentation on opening abandoned houses for radical applications. DeCaprio has years of experience with the many aspects of the activity commonly known as squatting. Hear a realistic perspective on liberating spaces. Learn to avoid common legal pitfalls through this presentation, and stay for discussion and Q & A.
Don’t miss the documentary Shelter: A Squatumentary, which will be shown Friday night HSU in Arcata.
Surviving Trauma by Ashley McNamara
In this workshop, we will open a discussion about the ways our minds and our behaviors are changed by the things that break our hearts and terrify us out of our skins – and how we manage to survive afterwards. Death, abuse, rape, war, police brutality, violence, poverty, and oppression are all sources of massive trauma that transform us forever. We’re not just crazy and chemically imbalanced; all kinds of distress — like anxiety, panic attacks, flashbacks, nightmares, depression, addiction, compulsion, and dissociation – can have their origins in trauma. Telling the story of what we’ve lived through can begin the process of saving us. Discovering that other people have emerged from the same fires can help us endure. Trauma often initiates recognizable patterns, and people have learned a lot about how we can
heal; please come to listen, to join the discussion, to share skills, or to learn about resources you may not have encountered in your own journeys.
Ashley McNamara is an artist, activist, writer, and gardener living in the Bay Area. A co-founder of The Icarus Project and the Bay Area Radical Mental Health Collective, she has facilitated workshops on mental health in a mad world across America and the UK, and co- authored Navigating the Space Between Brilliance and Madness.
Humboldt Grassroots 