State political systems are hierarchical and inherent sites of inequality, despite their claims to be democratic. The Occupy Wall Street and Arab Spring movements remind us of the unequal distribution of wealth and differential access to basic rights of food, shelter, health care and education. Political activists, seeking justice and equity, challenge states to live up to their democratic and humane ideologies. The purpose of this film series is to facilitate knowledge about and understanding of social justice movements from diverse perspectives, both international and domestic.
- February 27th, 5-7 PM in the Student Center Sprague-Carlton Room: "Veiled Voices" with Ghassan El-Eid, Ph.D.
Women across the Arab world are redefining their role as leaders in Islam. Veiled Voices investigates the world of Muslim women religious leaders through the eyes of three women in Lebanon, Syria and Egypt. Filmed over the course of two years, Veiled Voices reveals a world rarely documented, exploring both the public and private worlds of these women. The stories featured in the film give insight into how Muslim women are now increasingly willing to challenge the status quo from within their religion, promoting Islam as a powerful force for positive transformation in the world. Each triumphs over difficult challenges as they carve out a space to lead—both in Islam and in their communities.
- February 28th, 12:15-2 PM in the Student Center Philbrick Room: "La Guagua aerea "a flight of hope" with Serafin Mendez-Mendez, Ph.D.
It is Christmas 1960 and a varied group of Puerto Rican origin approach the famous midnight flight of the now defunct airline Trans Caribbean Airways which will arrive at dawn to the Mecca of the Puerto Ricans then: New York. With this group flies hopes, dreams, frustrations, fears. But mostly, they are accompanied by the deep roots that keep them connected with their homeland: customs, beliefs, traditions, proverbs, superstitions.
- POSTPONED TO DATE TO BE DETERMINED: February 29th, 5-7 Pm in the Student Center 1849 Room: "Favela Rising" with Mary Ann Mahony, Ph.D.
Haunted by the murders of his family and many of his friends, Anderson Sá is a former drug-trafficer who becomes a social revolutionary in Rio de Janerio's most feared slum. Through hip-hop music, the rhythms of the street, and Afro-Brazilian dance he rallies his community to conteract the violent oppression enforced by teenage drug armies and sustained by corupt police. Just as Anderson's grassroots Afroreggae movement is at the height of its success, a tragic accident threatens t osilence the movement forever.
- March 1st, 5-7 PM in the Student Center Philbrick Room: "Viva la Causa: The Story of Cesar Chavez and a Great Movement for Social Justice"
On a warm evening in 1965, hundreds of Mexican farmworkers packed into a church hall in the small farming town of Delano, California. A momentous decision lay before them - should they join a strike against California grape growers started 11 days prior by their Filipino counterparts? Would this improve their appalling working conditions in the fields and help them earn enough to feed their famiklies? Viva la Cause tells the story of how the powerless stood up to the powerful and gained their victory, not by violence and weapons, but by their stong will.
- March 2nd, 12:15-2 PM in the Student Center Camp Room: "COINTELPRO 101" with David Kideckel, Ph.D.
COINTELPRO may not be a well-understood acronym, but its meaning and continuing impact are absolutely central to understanding the governments wars and repression against progressive movements. COINTELPRO represents the state's strategy to prevent movements and communities from overturning white supremecy and creating racial justice. COINTELPRO is both a formal program of the FBI and a term frequently used to describe conspiracy among government agencies - local, state, and federal - to destroy movements for self-determination and liberation for Black, Brown, Asian, and other indigenous struggles, as well as mountaining an institutionalized attack against allies of these movements and other progresive organizations.
During the Rise of The Black Power Movement in the '60s and '70s, Sweedish Television journalists documented the unfolding cultural revolution for their audience back home, having been granted unprecedent access to prominent leaders such as Angela Davis, Stokely Carmichael, and Black Panther Party founders Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale. Now, after more than 30 years in storage, this rarely seen footage spanning nearly a decade of Black Power is finally available. Director Göran Hugo Olsson presents this mixtape, highlighting the key figures and events in the movement, as seen in a light completely different from the narrative of the American Media at the time. Talib Kweli, Erykah Badu, Abiodun Oyewole, John Forte, and Robin Kelley are among the many important voices providing commentary, adding modern perspective to this essential time capsule of African-American history.