A R E A

:::Please Repost and Spread the Word Widely, We Never Know Who Knows What:::

Another Chicago #3
Summary:
02.12 Fundraiser for Chicago Independent Media Tonight
02.17 Dont Forget: Tenant Congress Meeting for All Chicago Renters and
Housing Activists
02.20 Anti-Gay Pledges and Teacher Education Public Forum
02.24 Angelic Organic Learning Center in Woodlawn is having an Open House
02.24 Discussion about Sex Offenders "Where did they come from + Where
are they going?"
02.25 Punk Planet Magazine Fundraiser
02.26 AREA#4 "No Justice, No Peace" Release Event: Mark your Calendar!
03.01 AREA Featured in Columbia College Art Show: "DIY Chicago"
03.02 Polvo Fundraiser: One of the most interesting self-organized
cultural spaces in town
03.08 Who has the Right to the City (Lecture by Don Mitchell)
03.09 Crossroads Fund Benefit Party
03.10 Louder Than a Bomb: Young Chicago Authors Citywide Poetry Slam
03.10 Celebrate! : Abortion Provider Appreciation Day @ Acme Arts
03.13-14 Imokolee Tomato Workers Need Your Presence at McDonald's Actions
03.14-15 + Latin American Solidarity Conference IV in Chicago April 14-15
+ The Free Store is Open Until the End of February!
+ Version>07 Festival Call for Participation
+ Do you know members of Chicago New Left 60s/70s groups? Help uncover
some history!
+ "Critical Resistance" Launches Campaign Against Juvenile Detention
Center (Spread the Word!)
+ Chiditarod on March 3: Shopping Cart Race Call for Participation
+ Chicago Underground Library New Regular Hours
+ Volunteer Opportunities with mid south side Home Building org
+ Check out Southwest Youth Collaborative New Events Calendar
+ Pedagogical Factory at Hyde Park Art Center this Summer: Call for
Collaborators!
+ Make sure to plan on going to the US Social Forum in Atlanta June
27-July 1, 2007

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Details:
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Event Date: Feb 12, Mon, 10-2 am,
Danny's Tavern, 1951 W Dickens
PEACE PARTY: Benefit for Chicago Independent Television

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Event Date:  Saturday February 17, 2007 1:00pm to 3:00pm

Chicago Tenants Rally for Change:
2007 COMMUNITY CONGRESS FOR TENANTS RIGHTS

WHAT:  Tenants from across the city of Chicago will convene a
Community Congress to call Chicago community residents to better
tenants' rights.  This gathering will be modeled on the historic forum
which led to passage of the landmark Residential Landlord Tenant
Ordinance (RLTO) of 1986.  The RLTO has protected the rights of
tenants across the city for the past 20 years.  Decent, affordable
rental housing is an issue that cuts across economic and racial
barriers to address the concerns of all of Chicago's tenants.

WHY:  Rents are rising across the city.  Condo conversion is out of
control and limiting the amount of affordable housing available to
Chicago city residents.  At a time when public housing developments
have been destroyed and thousands of people are displaced, this is a
critical issue to address.  An agenda for future work around tenants'
rights will be set at the Community Congress.

WHERE:  United Church of Hyde Park 1448 E. 53rd Street in Hyde Park

HOW:  MTO is returning to the success of the forum that won Chicago
its landmark Residential Landlord Tenant Ordinance.  By building a
coalition of tenants, community organizations, religious communities,
politicians and others concerned with housing issues, we will set an
agenda for future work around tenants' rights.  In addition, we will
empower the community of Chicago tenants to hold legislators
accountable in working for stronger and more effective tenants'
rights.

WHO:  Metropolitan Tenants Organization www.tenants-rights.org
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Event Date: Tuesday, Feb. 20                                 5:30-7:30 PM

Anti-Gay Pledges and Teacher Education: A Dialogue about the Tensions Between
Private Beliefs and the Public Good

Illinois is home to several colleges with anti-gay pledges. In 2006 Erica
Meiners and Therese Quinn, both professors of education, attended a public
conference for colleges with teacher education programs on the campus of
Wheaton College, a private institution. The school, asks all applicants for
admission to sign a Community Covenant that describes "homosexual behavior" as
a form of "sexual immorality" which is condemned.   Wheaton also prepares
students for certification to teach in public schools.

Where:                  Jane Addams Hull House Museum
                               800 S. Halsted Street
                             Residents'Dining Hall
                               (312) 413-5353

Who:                    Teachers, students of education, LGBTQ community members

What:   5:30-6:00. Refreshments
6:00. Remarks--Kevin Kumashiro
6:15. Framing questions--Quinn and Meiners, Wheaton representatives (invited)
6:30-7:15. Discussion and planning-everyone
7:15-7:30. Wrap-up

This event is co-sponsored by the Jane Addams Hull House Museum, The Center for
Anti-Oppressive Education, and the Coalition for Education on Sexual
Orientation.

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Event Date: Saturday  February 24, 11:00am - 1:00pm

Angelic Organics Learning Center Open House,
You're invited to learn more about what we're doing in the city to help
people build local food systems. We look forward to chatting with you and
answering questions about how you can get involved, and how we can assist
you. If you want to start an urban agriculture/food system
project, are looking for learning opportunities in Chicago or at the farm,
or want to volunteer, please join us! Refreshments provided.

Angelic Organics Learning Center
OPEN HOUSE
at our Chicago Office
6400 S Kimbark Ave
Chicago, IL 60637
(in First Presbyterian Church - Woodlawn)
Saturday, February 24, 11:00am - 1:00pm

Please pass this invitation along to school teachers and students,
community and congregation group leaders, other friends, and anyone else
who you think might be interested.

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Event Date: Saturday  February 24, 2-4pm

"Where did they come from + Where are they going?"

Hosted by the S.O. Work Group and local therapists to provide facts
and analysis about sex offenders in the US. Part of the "Captive
Audience" Gallery Exhibition about Prisons and Art

Gallery 400
400 S Peoria St
gallery400.aa.uic.edu

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Event Date: Sunday February 25th

Punk Planet Magazine Fundraiser @ the Hideout
http://www.hideoutchicago.com/
1354 w wabansia chicago il 60622
773.227.4433
http://www.punkplanet.com/


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Event Date: Monday February 26, 6:30-8:30pm

AREA Chicago Art/Research/Education/Activism Issue #4

No Justice, No Peace: Confronting the criminal justice system,
challenging mass incarceration, and defining justice on our own terms

Where do we get our definitions of "justice?" How do ambiguous uses of
the term "justice" impact social struggles? How can we better
articulate the kinds of justice we demand?

Available in print or online at areachicago.org (see website for
distribution locations or to get involved)

With contributions by or about:
Affordable Power to the People, Ajitha Reddy, Beyondmedia Education,
Blocks Together, Blue Light Cameras, Bridgeport Volunteer Center,
Campaign in Support of C# Prisoners, Catherine Chandler, CCJTDC "Audy
Home," Changing Systems Thinking, Charles Bagget, Charlie Fornia,
Cheryl Graves, Chicago County Fair, Chicago Ghost Bike Project,
Chicago Justice Project, Chicago Tribune Company, Community Justice
and  Philanthropy, Community Justice for Youth Institute, Community
Organizing and Family Issues (COFI), Craig Harshaw, Critical
Resistance Chicago, Crossroads Fund, Dakota Brown, Daniel Alvarez, Dan
S. Wang, Daniel Tucker, Dave Pabellon, David Saxner (RIP), Deborah
Bennett, Deborah Harrington, Developing Justice Coalition, Diamond
Sharp, Eréndira Morales, Erica R. Meiners, Ericka Adams, Hull House
history, James Yaki Sayles, Jamillah James, Jason Reblando, Jean
Hughes, Jeanne Kracher, Jessi Lee Jackson, Jitu Brown, Josina Morita,
Julien Ball, Karen Benita Reyes, Sarah Ross, Kari Lydersen, Kellie
Magnuson, Kevin Glover, Kristen Cox, LaTosha Traylor, Lauren
Shrensel-Zadikow, Laurie Jo Reynolds, Laurie Schaffner, Lisa Yun Lee,
Lowell Elementary School, Malachi Ritscher, Marc Fischer, Margaret
Hughes, Martine Caverl, MessHall, Michael Piazza (RIP), Michelle
VanNatta, Mitchell Szczepanczyk, Nelida Torres, Nik Theodore, Ora
Schub, Pat Zamora, Paul Fitzgerald, Paul McKenna, Paul Street, Peter
Newman, POWER-PAC, Prisoner Release, Rape Crisis in Women's Prison,
Restorative Justice City, Robert Spicer, Robyn Clark, Ryan Hollon,
S.O. Work Group, Samuel Barnett, Sarah Atlas, Sarah Kanouse, Sex
Offender Registry, Shadell Jamison, Shontae Walker, Shirley Jones, St.
Leonard's High School, Steven Wade, Tessa Catlett, Tousaint Losier,
Whitewalls, womenandprison.org, Woods Fund, Young Chicago Authors,
Yusufu Mosley, and more...


Mark Your Calendars!!!!

Release Party for Issue #4: Come pick up your free copy!
Monday, February 26 2007 6:30-8:30pm
Jane Addams Hull-House Museum
800 S. Halsted (for map see http://tinyurl.com/2ee4we)

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Event Date:  Thursday March 1, 2007 5-8pm (Opening Reception)

AREA Featured in Columbia College Art Show:
Pass It On: Connecting Contemporary Do-It-Yourself Culture

@ Art & Design Gallery of Columbia College
http://diychicago.org/
619 S. Wabash Ave.
Chicago, IL 60605
t 312.344.8686

Show Runs from March 1 – April 14, 2007
Curated by Kevin Henry, Doro Boehme, and Lindsay Bosch

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Event Date: Friday March 2, 2007 from 6pm-10pm
Go to the Fundraiser for Polvo Arte Gallery in Pilsen
http://polvo.org

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Event Date: Thursday, March 8, 6:00 pm,

Newberry Library, 60 W. Walton

Don Mitchell, Syracuse University
Pretexts, Paranoia and Public Space: Rethinking the Right to the City
after 9/11

How has post 9/11 fear led municipalities to seek new modes of
regulation of public space?  Dr. Mitchell argues that many of these new
modes are simply pretexts.  Claiming to target one issue, they actually
target specific classes of people. Is the novel use of no trespassing
ordinances applied to public property helping to construct a city based
on social prohibitions rather than social inclusion?

Don Mitchell is a McArthur fellow and Professor of Geography at Syracuse
University. His most recent book is "The Right to the City: Social
Justice and the fight for public space" (Guilford, 2003).
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Event Date: Friday March 9

Crossroads Fund Benefit Party at the Chicago Cultural Center
www.crossroadsfund.org

Crossroads Fund supports community organizations working on issues of
social and economic justice in the Chicago area.
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Event Date: Saturday March 10

Louder Than a Bomb: Young Chicago Authors Citywide Poetry Slam

Poetry Slam Finals
Illinois Institute of Technology
Hermann Hall Auditorium
3201 S. State St.
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Event Date: Saturday, March 10th from 4-7pm

Celebrate! A bake sale event for choice

at Acme Art Works, 1741 N. Western

March 10th, 2007 commemorates the 14th year anniversary of the death
of Dr. David Gunn at the hands of an anti-choice, "pro-life"
extremist. Since 1996, pro choice advocates have begun to claim this
day National Day of Appreciation For Abortion Providers and have
turned this day of mourning into a day of remembrance of our losses,
mobilizations for activism and celebration for our gains.

This March 10th, join Chicago Abortion Fund and Pomegranate Health
Collective for a celebratory, informative and yummy event at Acme Art
Works, located at 1741 N. Western from 4-7pm.

Celebrate! will consist of:
A Bake Sale*
A Cake Walk with cakes donated from local bakeries and bakers.
A Raffle with donations from Women and Children First Bookstore, Early
To Bed, Chicago Women's Liberation Union Herstory Project, local
artists and more!
Performers and Speakers
Short Films relating to abortion rights and choice
Stress Relief Acupuncture
lots of information to browse and cards to send to abortion clinics and doctors!

Free Admission!

*The bake sale and cake walk will be peanut-free, along with some
accommodation for other allergies and ethical diets such as veganism.

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Event Date(s): Friday, April 13 and Saturday the 14th (details below)

Support the Coalition of Immokalee Workers as they take on McDonald's

The Coalition of Immokalee Workers announces major mobilization for
farmworker justice, April 13-14, 2007, in the greater Chicago area.
Make plans to join us for historic actions that will usher in a new
phase in the Campaign for Fair Food.

Nearly two years have passed since Taco Bell and the CIW announced a
historic initiative to address the ever-deepening poverty and decades
of degradation faced by farmworkers in Florida.

McDonald's has refused to meet that challenge. Despite increasing
public pressure, McDonald's has refused to recognize the seriousness
of the exploitation of tomato pickers exposed through the Taco Bell
boycott, and refused to work with the CIW to address that
exploitation. Instead, it has taken measures that appear aimed at
undermining the hard-won advances in wages and working conditions
established in the agreement with Taco Bell.

After nearly two years of waiting for McDonald's to join us in
addressing the crisis of human rights abuses and sub-poverty wages in
its tomato supply chain, we are tired of waiting. We are tired, as
Martin Luther King Jr. said, of "relying on the good will and
understanding of those who profit by exploiting us."

Our members and allies feel that it is time to intensify our efforts.
As such, the campaign is entering a new phase this year, and support
from our allies across the country will be more important than ever.

Mark your calendars and start organizing to bring members of your
community join us in a:

•Major rally outside McDonald's global headquarters in Oak Brook, IL,
Friday, April 13, 2007.

•Carnaval and Parade for Fair Food, Real Rights, and Dignity -
Saturday, April 14, 2007 in downtown Chicago.

We strongly encourage our allies to participate in the colorful
carnaval and parade action. Groups are encouraged to organize floats
and delegations. Contact workers@ciw-online.org for info.

For background, campaign and action updates, and more information,
visit http://www.ciw-online.org .

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Event Date(s): Saturday and Sunday March 14-15

Latin American Solidarity Conference IV in Chicago April 14-15
"Alternatives to Empire"
www.lasolidarity.org
info@lasolidarity.org

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ONGOING EVENTS AND CALLS FOR PARTICIPATION
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+ Announcement/Call For Participation

FREE STORE (Everything is FREE)
Open for business at the Gosia Koscielak Studio & Gallery through
February 28, 2007
Store Hours:

Tuesday + Friday 11am - 6pm
Wednesday + Thursday 11am - 9pm
Saturday 11am - 6 pm

Gosia Koscielak Studio & Gallery
1646 N Bosworth Ave
(just east of the Kennedy expressway and north of North Avenue)
Chicago
http://www.gosiakoscielak.com
info@gosiakoscielak.com
 T.847.858.1540

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+ Announcement/Call For Participation

Version07 call for participation. Event Dates: April 19- May 6
 Deadline March 7, 2007.
An unconventional network of creators, workers, musicians,
organizations, artists, activists, producers and organizers are
collectively waging asymmetrical warfare on the established systems of
control in our cultural, political and art worlds.

Version is a massive complex DIY festival with many components. Choose
your own adventure.
To submit a project to Version07 we ask you to select a category or platform
And look at our call for participation site:
CALL FOR PARTICIPATION
http://adoptanamerican.com/version07/exhibitions.html#uged

 ONLINE SUBMISSION FORM
http://adoptanamerican.com/version07/submit/add.php

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+ Help Uncover Hidden History

Currently looking for veterans of JOIN Community Union, the Young
Patriots Organization and Rising Up Angry to interview for a book on
community organizing of poor whites during the sixties. Did you belong
to one of these groups or work with them? If so, we want your story.
Please contact James Tracy at partisanblock@earthlink.net or (415)
260-9496.

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+ Announcement/Call For Participation

Dear friends and allies,

Critical Resistance - Chicago (www.criticalresistance.org) is launching the
No Child Left Behind Bars Coalition which aims to gather youth, family members,
individuals and organizations to challenge and discuss the Cook County Juvenile
Temporary Detention Center.

We have begun to plan a meeting for late-March that will officially mark
the beginning of the coalition, featuring a speak-out by formerly
incarcerated youth and family members of incarcerated youth about their
experiences with the JTDC.  We are thrilled to announce the hiring of our
project coordinator for this campaign meeting, Yusufu Mosely.  Yusufu
brings years of experience organizing around juvenile justice and
community issues in Chicago to Critical Resistance - Chicago and the No
Child Left Behind Bars coalition.

We are asking for your support!  There are three ways that you can
participate, and we ask you to choose one or more:

1) Come to the planning meetings for the late-March speak-out.  These
meetings are held every other Monday (Feb 19, March 5, March 19) 7-8:30pm
at the Chicago Legal Advocacy for Incarcerated Mothers (CLAIM) office at
70 E. Lake, Suite 1120 (short walk from CTA trains).

2) Participate in the late-March meeting.  Speak out about your
experiences with the JTDC or encourage your members and friends to do so.
Or, come to the meeting as an individual/organization interested in
joining the NCLBB coalition.  Come hear the stories of those most affected
by the JTDC!

3) Create turn-out for the late-March meeting.  Critical Resistance -
Chicago can provide information and advertisements, but we ask you to
build the numbers!  Introduce the idea at your meetings, talk it up at
your talking groups, encourage those already working on juvenile justice
issues to attend the late-March meeting.  Talk to folks most affected by
the JTDC (youth, parents, families) and those that support them - tell
them about the important work the No Child Left Behind Bars coalition can
do!

Thank you for your attention to the importance of *justice* in Juvenile
Justice.

For Freedom,

Critical Resistance - Chicago
(312) 281-1463
70 E. Lake Suite 1120
Chicago, IL 60602
crchicago@criticalresistance.org

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+ Announcement/Call For Participation

The Second Annual Chiditarod 2007
The most epic shopping cart race in Chicago
March 3rd, 2007
www.chiditarod.org

Here ye! Here ye! Distribute far and wide. The Second Annual
Chiditarod approaches!

What is it?
The Chiditarod is Chicago's very own Urban Iditarod. The Alaskan
Iditarod is an annual dogsled race that begins on March 3rd, 2007. The
Chiditarod is an artistic spin on this yearly event; instead of dogs,
we have costumed humans. Instead of the Alaskan tundra, we will race
through the cold Chicago streets. And instead of sleds, teams compete
for glory using tricked out shopping carts.

Prepare for glory! See you on race day!

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+ Ongoing

info@underground-library.org

Starting Saturday, January 20 Chicago Underground Library will now be
open from 1-5pm every Saturday at MoJoe's, 2849 W. Belmont. So
Come on down and flip through a book, help us catalog, or just bask in the
glow of our large brown file cabinet.
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+ Announcement/Call For Participation

AREA Readers!
Rebuilding Together*Metro Chicago is happy to request your help for
the upcoming Rebuilding Day event on April 28, 2007.   Rebuilding
Together provides free home repairs and modifications for low-income
homeowners in the Chicagoland area.   Rebuilding Day combines the
volunteer labor of the skilled trade unions (plumbing, carpentry and
electric) with teams of handy volunteers and donated materials to
improve the homes of families and seniors.   This year we are looking
forward to working on homes in the Englewood/West Englewood
Neighborhoods and in Markham, IL.

Volunteer Opportunities!
One day to Rebuild Chicago! Rebuilding Day: April 28th, 2007 8am-4pm -
join a team and lend a hand to paint, patch and do other handy work.
Individuals & groups welcome!
Committees for Rebuilding Together-- if you have skills and want to
share them, Rebuilding Together needs your help.  Logistics,
Marketing, Fundraising & others.

Contact Andrea Fritsch at (312)201-1188 or email rtmc@rebuildingtogether-chi.com
www.rebuildingtogether-chi.com

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+ Announcement/Call For Participation

Pedagogical Factory
Exploring strategies for an educated city
Hyde Park Art Center
July 22-September 23, 2007

The Pedagogical Factory will be an open demonstration of ideas and
experimentations, using Gallery 1 at the Hyde Park Art Center (HPAC)
as a temporary public laboratory. Stockyard Institute, an artist
project in Chicago is compiling projects and soliciting proposals from
a wide range of individuals, groups, producers and organizations to
use the space to initiate forums at the intersection of arts and
education. The project will have two primary components: 1) To start
collaboratively developing a primary text and curriculum for schools
and alternative learning sites about contemporary artistic strategies.
2) To create small publications and recordings for public access and
exhibit examples and strategies for living and creating an educated
city. The HPAC will be re-purposed to accommodate working, meeting,
organizing, and producing by including a portable research center,
convertible staging area, radical library, office shop, free school
supply exchange, mobile audio studio, lounge space, reading room and
exhibit area. Pedagogical Factory will work in association with AREA
Chicago Art/Research/Education/ Activism in organizing content for
Issue #5 How We Learn.

On July 28, AREA and the Neighborhood Writing Alliance/Journal of
Ordinary Thought will sponsor a symposium dealing with informal
educational practices geared towards adults at the HPAC. (see
www.jot.org for more information)

We call on you to get involved and join this exploratory process.
There are several ways to get involved. 1) You can make a 11x17 poster
about present day or historical example of critical, radical, or
informal educational practice in Chicago. Submit these posters via
mail or email to AREA Chicago. 2) You can submit a text to the
upcoming issue of AREA Chicago (see call for participation online or
in this issue). 3) You can propose an event (screening, meal,
discussion, workshop) to happen in between July 22-Septemer 23 at
HPAC. 4) You can propose a public project that would make use of the
mobile audio studio that will be available for Pedagogical Factory.

If you are interested in discussing the project in detail or getting
involved, please contact Jim Duignan at factory07@gmail.com Further
information about programming will be posted at
www.stockyardinstitute.org

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+ Announcement/

Check out this new Event Calendar!
http://www.swyc.org/event

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+ Announcement/Call For Participation

U.S. Social Forum
http://www.ussf2007.org/
June 27-July 1, 2007
Atlanta, Georgia
20,000 participants are expected to convene to build a broader
national movement for social justice around the world.
Atlanta/General: alovelace@mindspring.com
Regional/Mid West – Tom Goldtooth: ien@igc.org