Making Cents of Discount Clothing
Three female Bangladeshi garment workers speak about their working and economic conditions at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Gallagher Student Center Theater at Xavier University. The average garment worker in Bangladesh earns 13-18 cents an hour working up to 14 hours a day. The clothes are then sold as discount fashion apparel in stores such as Wal-Mart. Joining the speakers is Charles Kernaghan, executive director of the National Labor Committee for Worker and Human Rights, which is leading a campaign to increase their wages by 25 cents an hour. Contact Debora Del Valle at 513-745-3925 for more information.
Sip, Watch, Learn
A group of activists is showing political documentaries at 8 p.m. Mondays at Kaldi's Coffee House and Bookstore on Main Street from now through the Nov. 2 election. The first film is Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism. Open discussion follows the movie.
Admission is free.
Rooting the Square
Stephen Leeper, President and CEO of the Cincinnati Center City Development Corporation (3CDC), meets with the Urbanists from 6-8 p.m. Wednesday at Crowne Plaza Hotel downtown. The Urbanists plan to discuss 3CDC's proposed changes to Fountain Square.
Artists for Change
Politics gets an artistic treatment Thursday and Friday when Artists for Change takes over Fountain Square for a 24-hour protest against apathy. Sponsored by Cincinnati Experimental Arts (CineX Art), the event features Only We Who Guard the Mystery Shall Be Unhappy, a new work by acclaimed playwright Tony Kushner. Organizers also hope to see a wide spectrum of artistic works on themes ranging from the need for regime change in the United States to changes in Cincinnati's homophobic city charter. "Artists for Change" runs 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Thursday and 11 a.m.-midnight Friday. To enter an artistic work, contact Jason Bruffy at 513-319-9385 or [email protected]; visit www.cincyfringe.com for more information.
Can I Have A Pilsner With That Point?
Don't watch Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum pose for voters all by your lonesome. Cincinnati's League of Pissed Off Voters hosts the first of three presidential debate parties Thursday at Carol's on Main downtown. "We promise not to look at you funny when you yell at the screen," organizers say. "Really, spare your pet the confusion."
We're Punks and We Vote
The Punk Voter Rock Against Bush tour rolls onto the University of Cincinnati campus Friday. First stop is a 1 p.m. rally with Global and Vote Mob Ohio on Tangeman University Center plaza — think free concert tickets, buttons and stickers. At 2 p.m. in Swift Hall room 500, the co-producer and co-director of Unprecedented: the 2000 Presidential Election discusses the movie after a screening. Then Anti-Flag, Midtown, Strike Anywhere, The Nightwatchman, the AKAs and others play Bogart's that night. For more information, visit www.punkvoter.com, www.ivaw.net and www.votemob.org.
Drink Him Back to Texas
The Wednesday Group, a gathering of artists and communications professionals, convenes Beers Against Bush from 3-10 p.m. Sunday at Rosie's Tavern in Covington. Proceeds from draught beer sales will help pay for art supplies for public spectacles before the Nov. 2 election. For more information, visit www.wednesdayslist.com.
Cream, Sugar and Community
Local peace and justice organizations are invited to take their coffee with a shot of collaboration by joining 20 other groups for breakfast from 10:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Oct. 9 at the Mockbee, 2260 Central Parkway. After an informal breakfast and brief introductions, participants will discuss ways to collaborate, the timing and structure of more regular meetings and any other topics activists care to advance. RSVP by Oct. 5 to Saad Ghosn of SOS Art: [email protected].
Dine for Freedom
Congressman Walter Fauntroy, a founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus, is the guest speaker when the Cincinnati Branch of the NAACP hosts its 49th annual Freedom Fund Dinner at 6 p.m. Oct. 8 at the Cincinnati Museum Center. Networking is followed by dinner at 7 p.m. sharp. For more information call 513-281-1900.
War on Human Rights
William Schulz, executive director of Amnesty International USA, speaks at 11 a.m. Oct. 10 at Receptions in Erlanger, Ky., as part of "Celebration 2004," a Unitarian Universalist event. Schulz just returned from the first officially sanctioned human rights mission to Darfur, Sudan; he'll also speak about the global impact on rights of the current "war on terror" and about his latest book, Tainted Legacy: 9/11 and the Ruin of Human Rights. Contact 513-961-1994 or [email protected] for details.
Rock the Vote
Rock the Vote has a free festival from 1-5 p.m. Oct. 16 at the main branch of the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County. The festival includes live music, panel discussion, films and a meet-up at noon with State Sen. Mark Mallory. For more details, contact [email protected] or 513-369-6971 or visit CincinnatiLibrary.org.
Protect the Election
You, too, can help defend democracy Nov. 2 by becoming an Election Protection Volunteer. The Election Protection Coalition has designated Ohio a state at high risk for voting rights violations and is seeking volunteers in Akron, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Toledo and Youngstown. For more information and training, visit www.workingforchange.com/vote.
Dead Man Living
Shujaa Graham, a former death row inmate, speaks out against the death penalty at 7 p.m. Oct. 14 before a showing of the Ghosts of Attica in the UC Tangeman University Center Theater. The film chronicles the Attica prison uprising.
Karma for the Vote
A vigil for the electoral transformation of the country takes place at Lone Star Pavilion in Clifton from 5:30-8:30 p.m. Saturday and again on Oct. 23. The vigil starts with a potluck picnic at 5:30 p.m., followed by meditation and non-verbal prayer through music, dance and drama. From 8-8:30 p.m. participants will line Clifton Avenue with signs and banners as a public statement of their commitment to reversing America's course in the upcoming election. The New Jerusalem Community seeks co-sponsors for the event; contact Anne at 513-591-2942 or [email protected].
Policing the Police
Wendell France, the new head of the City of Cincinnati's Civilian Complaint Authority, is the guest speaker for the annual Justice Watch Dinner, 5-8 p.m. Oct. 23 at St. Joseph Church in the West End. France led the investigation into the death of Nathaniel Jones while in police custody; the CCA found evidence that police used excessive force.
NAFTA and the Disappeared Women in Mexico
The International Caravan for Justice stops by the University of Cincinnati at 3 p.m. Oct. 24 in the Tangeman University Center Atrium. The caravan is traveling the country to fight for justice for women in Juarez and Chihuahua, Mexico, where almost 400 young women have been murdered in the last decade. Half of them worked in maquiladoras opened in Mexico under the North American Free Trade Agreement. See www.mexicosolidarity.org/juarezcaravans.html for more information.
Lobby Your Neighbors for Kerry
Cincinnati Labor Council AFL-CIO is gearing up for an election year battle to deliver Ohio to Sen. John Kerry. Volunteers are needed for the annual Get Out the Vote Ward Walk, a neighborhood canvassing operation in support of labor-endorsed candidates. The walk takes place October 29-31, the weekend before the election. Sign up by calling 513-421-1846.
