St. Louis Activist Events for April 13 -19

Hi everyone, there are lots of very exciting events coming up! It's a week of weeks at college campuses: with "Social Justice Week" at WashU, "Get the Hate Out Week" at St. Louis Community College - Meramec, and "Palestine Awareness Week" at SLU. It's also a week of days: on Saturday there will be an evaluation of Obama's first 100 days in office from a progressive and forward-looking perspective. Also, please let me know if you are interested in contributing to our new blog . We've already had six different contributors, and I installed Google Analytics last week and found that we've had well over 300 page views and over 100 unique visitors to the site in just the last few days. So if you have something to say about local, state, or national issues, please let me know.

This week's events:

All week long, it's COCA's "Mad Money Week". Shopping at local restaurants on various days supports the Center of Creative Arts; go to this page.

Monday, April 13, from 11 AM to 2 PM, the Focus on Ability Club at SLCC-Meramec is holding an "Awareness Challenge" at the Student Center Quad and Portico. The event will help to educate people about living with disabilities. Find out more here .

Also Monday, Amnesty International at Lafayette High School is hosting, "Lafayette, You Can Stop Violence Against Women," which will feature a speaker about the lives of women in the Congo. The event is at 6 PM in room 180, and you can RSVP at this page .

Also Monday, at 7 PM, the Social Justice Center (SJC) at WashU is hosting a discussion of Religion on Social Justice at January Hall. The event will be a town-hall style forum, with facilitated discussion on the relationship between religious beliefs, practices, activism, and idealism, especially as it applies to college students seeking to reconcile the two. Find out more here.

Tuesday, April 14, several local groups, including Women in Black and the Instead of War Coalition, are holding a "Tax Day Protest and Vigil to End the Israeli Occupation." starting at 11:30 AM. The event starts outside the St. Louis Bread Company on the loop; view the full schedule and more info at the IOW calendar.

Also Tuesday, WashU's Pride Alliance will be facilitating "I know pronounce you man and..." as part of the Controversy n' Coffee Series. The event is from 7 to 8:30 PM in the Danforth University Center room 276. Details are here.

Also Tuesday, at 7 PM, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will be speaking on "Our Environmental Destiny," at the St. Louis Science Center. Details are at this link.

Also Tuesday, at 8 PM, the SJC at WashU is hosting a screening of "Milk" at Rebstock 215. If you haven't yet seen this movie, now is the time! RSVP here!

Also Tuesday, also at 8 PM, the St. Louis Chapter of Veterans for Peace is showing the movie, "8 Things to ask your representative" at the Schlafly Tap room (2100 Locust). Find out more at the IOW calendar.

Wednesday, April 15, a group at the Brown School of Social Work is hosting "Student Loan Debt Forgiveness," an event that will discuss the idea of forgiving loans for people who work in areas of high need, specifically from the perspective of social workers. Dean Edward Lawlor will be speaking. The event is from 12:15 pm to 1:15 pm in Goldfarb 124 on the Danforth Campus at WashU, and you can find out more here.

Also Wednesday, from 4 to 7 PM, Webster University's Amnesty chapter is hosting "Tie-Dye Thai Nite!" There will be awesome homemade Thai food and a discussion of human rights in Thailand, and all donations will go to the Suksa Song Kroh Orphanage in Thailand. The event will be at the WVA Clubhouse, and you can find out more at the facebook page.

Also Wednesday, Gallery Visio and the Center for International Studies at UMSL is hosting an "International Studies Photo Contest" from 4 to 6 PM at the Galery Visio - 170 MSC (lower level). There will be photographs from around the world by faculty, staff, and students traveling abroad. Check it out.

Also Wednesday, SLU Solidarity With Palestine will be showing the documentary "Occupation 101: Voices of the Silenced Majority" at 7 PM in the Lee Lecture Hall. Find out more here.

Also Wednesday, the St. Louis Independent Media Center group is having a meeting at the Community Arts and Media Project, 3026 Cherokee, at 7:30 PM.

Thursday, April 16, NARAL Pro-Choice Missouri and Faith Aloud are hosting "Whose Conscience: Conscience Clauses and Pharmacy Refusal," a discussion of some pharmacists' refusal to dispense emergency contraception. The event is from 7 to 8 PM at Eden Seminary (475 E. Lockwood Ave.), and you can find out more at this page.

Also Thursday, the SJC at WashU is teaming up with the College Republicans to ask, "Can Conservatives be Pro-social justice?" at 7 PM in the McMillan Cafe. As someone who was studied philosophy for several years, I already know the answer to this one... it depends what you mean by "conservative"!

Friday, April 17, the Diversity Alliance at Lafayette Senior High School is participating in a "Day of Silence" for all people who are oppressed. They're asking people to wear red shirts to mark the day, and you can find out more at this page.

Also Friday, the Global Justice Project at SLCC-Meramec is hosting a Darfur Die-In. So far, details are sparse, but you can stay updated here.

Also Friday, SLU Solidarity with Palestine is hosting a Hookah Night and bake sale from 5 to 8 PM in the Edward Koening Plaza. All proceeds go to Islamic Relief Services.

Also Friday, Left Bank Books-CWE hosts author Tania Katan, who will be speaking about her book, "My One Night Stand with Cancer" at 7 PM. Details are at the Left Bank page.

Also Friday, Amnesty at SLU is hosting "Jamnesty," a fundraiser for International Crisis Aid. The event will be at the Billiken Club starting at 9 PM, and you can find out more here.

Also Friday, Metro-East Pride and SIUE's Gay-Straight Alliance are teaming up to celebrate "A Day of Silence" with a "Night of Noise" at the Club Escapade, 133 W. Main Street. There are two different facebook pages for the event: so take your pick from
this and this page . The event is 18 and up, and both groups will be selling shots to raise money for good causes.

Saturday, April 18, Someone from Metro-East Pride is going to have to drag themselves out of bed after Friday's fundraiser, because the group is accepting donations for a rummage sale starting at 7 AM. Go here to find out how you can donate.

Also Saturday, the Catholic Action Network is hosting a Women Led Liturgy at the Center for Theology and Social Analysis at 1077 S. Newstead from 9 AM to 10:30 AM. RSVP here.

Also Saturday, the Justice Institute of St. Louis has partnered with several other local groups to put together "First 100 Days of the Obama Administration," a chance for reflection about Obama's actions so far and for thinking about how to organize around key issues. The discussion will be moderated by State Rep. Jeanette Mott-Oxford and Post-Dispatch Columnist Sylvester Brown, and will feature a wide variety of progressive leaders from the St. Louis area. If you're interested in helping St. Louis become a more progressive place, sign up now! The event at 1 PM.

Also Saturday, Green Action at WashU is hosting "Focus the Nation," an event aimed at bringing legislative clean-energy issues to the constituents. The event starts at 1 Pm on Saturday at the 560 Music building on 560 Delmar; for more info contact Will Fischer at fischerwill@gmail.com or 708.256.0994 . The event will feature Vanessa Crawford of Missouri Votes Conservation and local elected officials.

Also Saturday, in response to the Nazi Party rally in downtown St. Louis (no, I'm unfortunately not kidding), the Anti-Defamation League is hosting their own counter-rally at 2:30 at Art Hill in Forest Park. More info is here.

Also Saturday, the WashU Co-op is having it's belated 6-year birthday party! The event is listed as going from 10 pm to 9 am, so don't be showing up at 9:30 am on Sunday expecting to party! Find out more of the party details at this page .

Have a fun and meaningful week!

Adam