Gender: Female
Status: Swinger
Age: 33
Sign: Sagittarius
City: PHILADELPHIA
Country: US
Signup Date: 8/25/2004
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Sunday, November 15, 2009
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Thursday, November 19 7:30pm An Evening with Cristy Road and Ketch Wehr WhenThu, November 19, 7:30pm – 9:00pm DescriptionThursday November 19th 7:30PM An Evening with Cristy Road and Ketch Wehr Slideshow, Reading, and Artists' Talk Wooden Shoe Books 704 South Street Philadelphia, PA 19147 sabot@woodenshoebooks.com http://www.woodenshoebooks.com After touring the South with her band The Homewreckers, renowned underground artist/writer Cristy C. Road will be visiting the city she once called home. She will be reading new work and from her book Bad Habits, accompanied by a slideshow presentation of illustrations. Cristy will be joined at the Wooden Shoe by local artist Ketch Wehr. Cristy C. Road is a 27-year-old Cuban-American illustrator and writer. Blending social principles, sexual deviance, mental inadequacies, and social justice- she thrives to testify the beauty of the imperfect. Her obsession with making art accessible began when publishing GREEN'ZINE in 1996- a fanzine entirely devoted to Green Day. The exclusivity of high art disgusted her, as she fell in love with a xerox machine. Eventually, she made friends, found solace outside of a single band, and began including blurbs on other punk rock bands, gender identity, masturbation, sexuality, aimless travel, and anarchist organizing. Her preferred medium is Micron Ink pens, Sharpies, and Chartpak markers. Today, Road has moved onto illustrated novels, taking both writing and visual elements a step more seriously, her visual diagram of lifestyles and beliefs stay in tune to the zine’s portrayal of living. Her repertoire consists of ten years of independent publishing, two graphic novels, and countless illustrations for a broad slew of magazines, record album art, concert posters, and political organizations. In early 2006, Road released an anomalous illustrated storybook, entitled INDESTRUCTIBLE (Microcosm Publishing). It’s a 96-page narrative about her experience as a teenager, where Road tackles the themes of being Latina, class, rebellion, gender, queerness, mental health, and death; all beneath the topical umbrella of being a teenage Floridian punk rocker in the early 90‘s. Road has recently completed a Collection of postcards featuring art from 2001-2007, entitled DISTANCE MAKES THE HEART GROW SICK (Microcosm Publishing). Road just released BAD HABITS (Soft Skull Press), an Illustrated love story about a faltering human heart's telepathic connections to the destruction of New York City. Road currently is working on paintings, short stories, and her punk band THE HOMEWRECKERS . She hibernates in Brooklyn, NY with a short attention span and a killer gas problem. “Cristy Road’s burgeoning multi-media empire really speaks to me….I think the universality of Road’s stories is a testament to her writing ability and the proof that the more we think our situation is unique, the more we should realize we have a network of support available.” — Punknews.org “Cristy Road’s work makes me so happy. Where else can you see drawings of a black genderqueer boy flashing his top surgery scars and grinning, or two girls hitchiking in the desert holding a sign that reads `Indigenous Soverignty or Bust,’ all drawn with love, color, and punk rock grit?” — Bitch Magazine “Indestructible explores the toxic impact gender bias and proscribed norms have on questioning youth, while encouraging inquiry and protest against social constraints. So powerful is Road’s candid portrayal of growing pains, it provides the perfect comfort for angsty, self-loathing youth and sends older readers back down memory lane.” — CURVE Magazine Ketch Wehr is a feral fairy transfeminist artist with a focus on the human consumption of animals and animal imagery as metaphor and meat. Raised amongst rescue animals and born with a wolfpack in his heart, Ketch is a 24-year old illustrator and artist. Since moving to Philadelphia, he has ripped through the maladies of the service industry with his webzine, Bitter Bleachbeast, become a member of the infamous artists’ collective Space 1026, and been a major designer and organizer for the Queer fundraising superparty, The Next Big Thing. His four solo shows this year all considered various issues of human perception of non-human animals, the consumption of images of animals as a form of self-serving metaphor, and the commodification of living things based on overpopulation or scarcity. Ketch is currently working on his next show due on December 4th at Eden in Scranton, PA, and feverishly struggling to save for a dogpack of his own. Friday, November 20 7:00pm What is Anarchist Communism? WhenFri, November 20, 7:00pm – 8:30pm DescriptionFriday November 20th 7:00PM What is Anarchist Communism? @ Wooden Shoe Books 704 South Street Phila PA 19147 215-413-0999 sabot@woodensho..ebooks.com www.woodenshoeb..ooks.com Join members of Educate & Liberate for an introduction and discussion of Anarchist Communism. Anarchist Communists seek to establish the egalitarian vision of communism by popular and democratic revolution, as opposed to seizing state power with a party of professional revolutionaries... We live in a nation plagued by systemic inequality, mired in a recession, and engaged in unjust wars abroad. We find hope in the growing number of working people organizing in their communities and workplaces for a democratic and economically just future. However we feel that revolutions require organization and political vision. Anarchism is often accused of being subcultural and disorganized, Communism has obvious associations with the Soviet Union and other oppressive nation states. We invite you to explore how Anarchist Communism might offer a vision of the future that emphasizes freedom while retaining organization and dedication to the working class. Saturday, November 21 3:00pm My Baby Rides the Short Bus: The Unabashedly Human Experience of Raising Kids with Disabilities WhenSat, November 21, 3pm – 4pm DescriptionSaturday November 21st 3:00PM My Baby Rides the Short Bus The Unabashedly Human Experience of Raising Kids with Disabilities with editor Jennifer Silverman In lives where there is a new diagnosis or drama every day, the stories in this collection provide parents of “special needs” kids with a welcome chuckle, a rock to stand on, and a moment of reality held far enough from the heart to see clearly. Featuring works by “alternative” parents who have attempted to move away from mainstream thought--or remove its influence altogether--thi..s anthology, taken as a whole, carefully considers the implications of parenting while raising children with disabilities. From professional writers to novice storytellers including Robert Rummel-Hudson, Ayun Halliday, and Kerry Cohen, this assortment of authentic, shared experiences from parents at the fringe of the fringes is a partial antidote to the stories that misrepresent, ridicule, and objectify disabled kids and their parents. Reviews: "This is a collection of beautifully written stories, incredibly open and well articulated, complicated and diverse: about human rights and human emotions. About love, and difficulties; informative and supportive. Wise, non-conformist, and absolutely punk rock!" --China Martens, author of The Future Generation: The Zine-Book for Subculture Parents, Kids, Friends and Others "If only that lady in the grocery store and all of those other so-called parenting experts would read this book! These true-life tales by mothers and fathers raising kids with "special needs" on the outer fringes of mainstream America are by turns empowering, heartbreaking, inspiring, maddening, and even humorous. Readers will be moved by the bold honesty of these voices, and by the fierce love and determination that rings throughout. This book is a vital addition to the public discourse on disability." --Suzanne Kamata, editor of Love You to Pieces: Creative Writers on Raising a Child with Special Needs "This is the most important book I've read in years. Whether you are subject or ally, My Baby Rides the Short Bus will open you--with its truth, humanity, and poetry. Lucky you to have found it. Now stick it in your heart." --Ariel Gore "Disability is a uniquely humbling and equal experience, sometimes expected, often striking without warning. These parents are honest about both the distressing and illuminating facts of their lives; the stories are caustic, exhilarating, fierce, funny, harrowing. Yet despite the intricate and often overwhelming challenges they face, these parents and children never succumb to maudlin stereotypes, because, as one contributor learns, 'it isn't saintly to take care of someone you love.'" --Bee Lavender, author of Lessons in Taxidermy: A Compendium of Safety and Danger Jennifer Silverman is an optimist in a pessimist’s clothing. She lives, writes and agitates in NYC, where she is raising two boys, one of whom is autistic. Jennifer has most recently been published in Off Our Backs and Hip Mama, but has written for a variety of parenting publications and community newspapers. She has spoken about her experience raising her son while being an activist at conferences in Washington DC, Minneapolis, Providence and New York with m*a*m*a, a now defunct collective of radical mothers. 7:00pm Submerged: Tales from the Basin WhenSat, November 21, 7pm – 9pm DescriptionSaturday November 21st Submerged Tales from the Basin with editor Lauren González @ Wooden Shoe Books 704 South Street Phila PA 19147 215-413-0999 www.woodenshoeb..ooks.com sabot@woodensho..ebooks.com Submerged: Tales from the Basin is an anthology of literature, memoir, and art created by more than thirty women to benefit those who survived Hurricane Katrina. The title refers to a fear many of us had as young children, of having our heads submerged under water while our mothers washed our hair. The stories, essays, poems, and art of Submerged are an exploration of each contributor’s relationship with her hair, in most cases emotional, often humorous, and consistently generated from youth. An African American writer discusses having her hair ironed straight in the 1960s, with her mother trying hard to keep her from looking like a Black Panther. A Southern writer laments her childhood braid lying in a box in perpetual youth while she, herself, ages. A young woman watches her aging grandmother go bald. A lonely widow rediscovers intimacy from the remote touch of her wax technician. A New Orleans performance group talks about Hurricane Katrina, gender stereotypes, and hair as stagecraft. Artist Lorien Jordan has created a series of drawings in response to these essays, memoirs, and poems. A percentage of the book’s proceeds will help support charities based in New Orleans that work with ongoing relief efforts for Hurricane Katrina survivors. Lauren González is a writer, editor, and co-creator of the anthology Submerged: Tales from the Basin. Lauren grew up in Illinois and has since lived in California and New York. She received her MFA in writing from Sarah Lawrence College in 2006, and was a Hispanic Scholarship Foundation/McNa..mara Family Creative Arts Project fellow that year. She is completing a book of profiles called Animal People, as well as a collection of short stories, [Sic] of the Times. Her narrative profile of workers on New York’s Old Fulton Fish Market was published in The Reading Room literary magazine. She has finished her first novel, The Junkyard, and is currently working on her second, They Met During a War. Lauren’s career includes a long list of editorial, writing, and TV projects on the West Coast, including work as the host of GameSpot TV. She lives and works in New York and the Bay Area, and teaches writing to children in San Francisco. Ellen Hagan is a writer, performer, and educator. She received her MFA in fiction from New School University and her work can be found in the pages of Failbetter, Monologues for Women by Women, Check the Rhyme, America! What's My Name?, Underwired Magazine and upcoming in Connotations. She has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, and has an upcoming residency at Louisiana ArtWorks in New Orleans. Her debut book of poems: Crowned is coming out from Sawyer House Press in January 2010. Ellen's contribution to Submerged includes three poems: "young thangs," "times" and "The Bazaz Curse." She is a founding member of the Conjure Woman Writing Collective. Find her recent projects online at www.ellenhagan...com, www.girlstory.o..rg, and www.becomingwom..an.com. Carla Porch was born in Millville, New Jersey. She received her MFA in creative writing from Sarah Lawrence College, and her BA in philosophy and psychology from Rutgers University. Carla’s work and educational experience include projects in photography, film, and graphic design, and she has been working as a writer for eight years. In Carla’s contribution to Submerged, “A Haircut in the Kitchen,” a preadolescent girl foretells her adult life in Greenwich Village during the cutting of her single childhood braid. This rite-of-passage memoir explores life in the South Jersey Pinelands against the backdrop of a loving family dynamic, intensified by the length of the girl’s hair. Carla is currently researching a book on landscapes, and the relationship between humans and their topographies. Carla lives in Brooklyn, New York. Skye Van Saun grew up in Chatham, New Jersey and is a poet, writer, photographer and musician. She returned to school in 2001 to complete her BA in psychology at Drew University followed by her MFA from Sarah Lawrence College that she received in 2006. She is an advocate for victims of domestic violence and has worked in the Superior Court of NJ, Domestic Violence Unit, taught poetry to inmates at Valhalla Prison, and served as guest speaker and featured reader for many groups and events including the Women’s History Conference “Women’s Stories, Women’s Lives,” under the category: “Unspeakable Violence” at Sarah Lawrence College and at the Gun Violence Awareness Conference, Harvard University. She recently finished a chapbook, Versus Verses, and her first memoir, Moving Violations, both about her own experience with domestic violence. Her work has also appeared in Lumina, Insanity’s Horse and Art Not Guns. Skye has been invited to be a Dodge Poetry Festival poet to read her work at what has become the largest poetry gathering in the world (also known as Wordstock) in late September, 2008. She also recently completed a photo montage of spring in Frenchtown, NJ where she lives by the Delaware River with her dogs, cats, guitars and a canoe. “Hide Nor Hair,” her poem about a young girl hiding behind her hair to avoid confrontation, appears in Submerged. Jean Kahler was born in North Carolina, lives in Brooklyn and dreams of New Orleans. She received her MFA in creative nonfiction from Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, New York, and a BA in theatre with a minor in women’s studies from Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts. Jean’s career experience includes work at the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago and with the Columbia University School of Social Work, and she teaches writing at Purchase College, State University of New York. Her publications include “So You Want To Be A Drag King” in Lumina, and a book on the ruins of Staten Island, with photographs by Jessica Rowe, forthcoming from Furnace Press 2010. Jean wrote two pieces for Submerged: “Learning to Speak New Orleans,” an essay about the experience of visiting New Orleans before and after Hurricane Katrina, and “One Braid,” an essay on hair as a reminder of mortality. Rebecca O. Johnson is a writer and social change activist. She was born in Akron, Ohio and currently lives in Dorchester, Massachusetts, where she is completing Love’s Bright Fire, a work chronicling the lives of African American men born in the early 20th century. She is a writer transitioning from a lifetime of community organizing, with her MFA in creative nonfiction from Sarah Lawrence College, as well as an MS in community economic development and a BS in human services, both from Southern New Hampshire University. Her writings appear online on her blog Urban Ecology (urbanecology.b..logspot.com) and at her website, rebeccaojohnson...net, and her publications include work in Callaloo and the Women’s Review of Books. Rebeccca’s contribution to Submerged, “A Brief History of My Nappy Head,” reflects on a lifetime of hairstyle mandates and choices she faced as an African American woman. Sunday, November 22 7:00pm Arc and Hue, with poet Tara Betts, a reading and book signing with Q & A WhenSun, November 22, 7pm – 8pm DescriptionSunday November 22nd 7:00PM Arc and Hue with poet Tara Betts, a reading and book signing with Q & A @ Wooden Shoe Boo ks 704 South Street Philadelphia PA 19147 www.woodenshoeb..ooks.com sabot@woodensho..ebooks.com Arc and Hue, the debut poetry collection by Tara Betts, marks the journeys and transitions of a black-identifie..d interracial young woman from the Midwest. Inspired by hip hop, African-America..n literature, and formalist poets, Arc and Hue is an exploration of family, womanhood, resistance, politics, and history. Tara’s writing style can be considered a blend of autobiography, formalism, lyric, and narrative poetry. Her poems take on a variety of subjects such as the rats that plagued Chicago’s tenements, a hurricane talking about his sister Katrina, the girl who is hyper-sexualize..d by the media, and the pretentious ideas about poetry that separate craft from storytelling. Arc and Hue is about what we remember and what we miss in moments drenched with nostalgia. The poems not only remind us of what we have lost, but also urge us to recall the shapes and colors of the scraps worth keeping. Tara Betts’ deftly crafted stanzas are infused with a relentless lyricism and a Chi-town girl's sensibility. This debut collection solidifies her status as a defiant and singular voice, joyous indication of20a fresh new direction in poetry. --Patricia Smith, author of Blood Dazzler Tara Betts is a poet who doesn’t seem to miss a thing. She knows that the leak in a sl umlord’s ceiling means “pouring yellow water from a plastic pail.” She understands the nature of the deal when the tenants count the poisoned rats and hand them to the landlord in exchange for three months’ rent. The poet sees well beyond these walls, however, into the grave of Emmett Till or the faces of a lynch mob. Against the violence of daily life and the violence of history Betts gathers a chorus of strong voices to sing through her, from Billie Holiday to Tina Turner to Pablo Neruda (who fires off an email to all slam poets). No voice, however, is stronger than her own, which she has committed to speaking for those without voice, the dead girl found in a drainage ditch, a city swept away when the levees broke. Tara Betts is a poet who pays exquisitely close attention to the world. It’s high time the world repaid the favor. —Martín Espada, author of Alabanza and The Republic of Poetry Tara Betts understands a fundamental paradox: the more deeply we honor the poetic on its own terms, the more pressure poetry brings back on the world. In Arc and Hue, Betts transforms language into an email from Neruda, a canzone, an exhortation to a New Orleans levee, a sestina, a survey, a furious lament for Emmett Till. Gifted with exuberant imagination, a genuine poetic ear, and an unblinking readiness to look at the harrowing problems of the world, she is a poet to watch, a "weathervane willing / to announce a shift in the wind." —Annie Finch, author of Calendars Monday, November 23 WhenMon, November 23, 7:00pm – 8:30pm DescriptionMonday November 23rd 7:00PM The Black Body A book event featuring thirty black, white, and biracial contributors celebrate the black body's dramatic role in American culture, with editor Meri Danquah and contributer and philly native Tonita Austin-Hilley @ Wooden Shoe Books 704 South Street Philadelphia PA 19147 215-413-0999 sabot@woodensho..ebooks.com www.woodenshoeb..ooks.com In The Black Body, thirty black, white, and biracial contributors celebrate the black body's dramatic role in American culture. Award-winning actors, artists, writers, and comedians—inclu..ding voices as varied as Barack Obama’s inaugural poet Elizabeth Alexander, comedy writer Anne Beatts, Village Voice journalist Greg Tate, filmmaker S. Pearl Sharp, award-winning actor Hill Harper, acclaimed writer Kenneth Carroll, and more—come together to offer their personal takes on a fascinating and fundamental question of our times: what does it mean to have, or love, a black body? Ranging from deeply serious to playful, sometimes hilarious musings, these essays explore desire, old age, obesity, sex, hunger, parenting, and friendship with passionate wisdom and a deep sense of history. Meri Danquah’s unprecedented collection illuminates the incredible diversity of identities and individual experiences that define the black body in our culture. Praise: Meri Nana-Ama Danquah's The Black Body is a bold, cutting-edge and ultimately uplifting anthology destined to become a classic in African-America..n literature. There is a hunger for redemption in these ethereal essays which is triumphant. -Douglas Brinkley This singularly brave book recounts with poignancy, wit, and fierce passion the ways that Americans, black and white, have come to understand the black body. These are exquisite stories of what it is to see, and love, and to be seen, and be loved. They make an utterly compelling collection. -Andrew Solomon MERI DANQUAH's previous work includes the groundbreaking memoir Willow Weep for Me: A Black Woman’s Journey Through Depression and two critically acclaimed anthologies, Becoming American and Shaking the Tree. She earned an MFA in creative writing and literature from Bennington College. A native of Ghana and a single mother, Danquah lives in Los Angeles, California.
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Friday, August 07, 2009
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Canticle of Idols A Poetry Night with Raina J. León Wednesday August 19th 7:00PM @ Wooden Shoe Books 508 s. 5th Street Phila PA 19147
Raina J. León, Cave Canem graduate fellow (2006) and member of the
Carolina African American Writers Collective, has been published in
The Sixers Review, The Externalist, Minglewood, The Cherry Blossom
Review, Natural Bridge, African American Review, OCHO, Spindle
Magazine, Black Arts Quarterly, Poem.Memoir.Story, Womb, Boxcar Poetry
Review, Salt Hill Journal, Xavier Review, MiPoesias, Torch, Poetic
Voices without Borders, Gathering Ground: A Reader Celebrating Cave
Canem's First Decade, Growing Up Girl: An Anthology of Voices from
Marginalized Spaces, AntiMuse, Farmhouse Magazine, Furnace Review,
Constellation Magazine and Tiger's Eye Journal among others. Her
first collection of poetry, Canticle of Idols, was a finalist for both
the Cave Canem First Book Poetry Prize (2005) and the Andres Montoya
Poetry Prize (2006) and is now available through Wordtech
Communications. She has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. She
headed the High School Literacy Project at the University of North
Carolina and is currently teaching English and Spanish at an American
high school in Germany.
Reviews:
“Raina León is a fiery and courageous poet. The poems in this, her first collection, are explosions of pain and transcendence, jagged epiphanies, surreal, haunting, erotic and anguished by turns. Whether challenging Catholic orthodoxy or celebrating her Afro-Puerto Rican legacy, remembering the struggles of an addict or the touch of a lover, León’s poetry sings hymns to life in the midst of death. Listen.”
--Martín Espada, professor at University of Massachusetts-Amherst and author of The Republic of Poetry and Alabanza: New and Selected Poems 1982 - 2002
“There is something of Eden adhering to any first book. Raina Leon brings us lyric reports from a place where Adam the name-giver meets Juana la Loca. "what's your name / the ones who know are dead" Readers can only hope that she is able to keep some of that moist earth visible around her roots. She'll need it. We'll need it. "Sculptors chisled my feet / on the Devil's neck" she writes. That would be the devil we know. What we don't yet know, she just might help us learn.”
--A.L. Nielsen, first winner of the Larry Neal Award and author of Heat Strings and Reading Race
“Here is the work of a poet who possesses the graceful sensuality of dusk & the unflinching eye of the butcher. One senses here, that Leon is committed to pulling back the red curtains of our historical, familial, cultural mythologies, & rendering what is found there into deep song. The result is a landscape of lyrical acuity fueled by a myriad of languages, characters, & centers. These poems give us the voice of The Marys, the sister, abuela 'Buela, the lovers. In Leon, you have an Orpheic poet who dives into the underworld of every thing--& comes back with the news.”
--Aracelis Girmay, author of Teeth
“What wonderful ideas and moods a keen, artistic observer provides. Raina Leon writes with a sense of grace and awareness of details that magnifies with elegant clarity. Through the lens of her verses, those seemingly small things appear larger, more pronounced; here, what was distant becomes close, closer. Hers is a poetic voice that deserves our attention.”
-Howard Rambsy II, professor and literary critic, Southern Illinois University - Edwardsville
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Friday, August 07, 2009
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Saturday August 15th 5:00-6:30PM G-20 Protests Philadelphia Consulta @ Wooden Shoe Books 508 s. 5th street Phila PA 19147 215-413-0999
On September 24th and 25th finance ministers, central bank governors and heads of state from the worlds 19 largest economies will arrive in Pittsburgh to discuss world economic policy. This group is also known as the G-20. Come to the Wooden Shoe Saturday, August 15th at 5pm for a presentation from some Pittsburgh locals who are organizing protests against those meetings. For those unfamiliar with the G20 or the resistance against it, this presentation will answer questions like What is the G20? Why should we protest the meetings? and What is being done already to resist the G20?
Stay for a discussion afterwards where we can decide what we as Philadelphia-area residents can do to help and what we might expect to get out of it.
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Thursday, July 30, 2009
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Thursday August 27th 7:30PM
The Dispossessed
by Ursula K. LeGuin
with the Wooden Shoe Science Fiction Reading Group
@
Wooden Shoe Books
508 s. 5th Street
Philadelphia PA 19147
215-413-0999
sabot@woodenshoebooks.comwww.woodenshoebooks.com
Ursula K. LeGuin's The Dispossessed is perhaps the most popular and celebrated anarchist novel ever written. Winner of both the Hugo and Nebula awards in 1975, it was heralded by the science fiction community as a superb sociological examination of the utopian spirit. It is the story of twin worlds: one, Annares, a libertarian syndicalist utopia, the other Urras, an authoritarian statist hell-planet.
It is also the story of a man named Shevek, who travels to Urras when he feels shunned and stifled by his Annaresti comrades. Though the Urrasti tempt Shevek with wealth and fame, he maintains the Odonian convictions he was raised with. LeGuin's Odonian philosophy blends social ecology with a sort of taoism, and the
book contains a number of effective critiques of property, power,
governments, money, and language. It also provides a convincing model
of what a highly technological, fully voluntary economy might look like
and how it would work in conjunction with the ecological systems of a planet.
However, the book is
not merely eco-anarchist propaganda; LeGuin is deeply worried about how
an exceptional individual (like Shevek) would fit (or not fit) into
such a world. She subtitled the novel An
Ambiguous Utopia because it asks difficult questions about how human
beings relate to each other within social systems and whether those
systems can ever truly be said to be free.
The Wooden Shoe Science Fiction Group will be discussing The Dispossessed on August 27 at 7:30. The discussion will be in round-table format and open to anyone who has read the novel. The Group meets monthly at the Wooden Shoe to discuss science fiction novels with radical political themes.
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Friday, July 24, 2009
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Category: News and Politics
Thursday August 13th 7:00PM
@
Wooden Shoe Books 508 s. 5th Street Philadelphia, PA 19147
For almost 900 years, England has occupied Ireland. Throughout that time, the modern prototype of colonialist state was developed, in installing ruling classes and administrators to replacing the indigenous population with settlers. This model became thoroughly used throughout the world. Even so, the Irish never stopped resisting.
Join history enthusiast James Generic for an evening of Irish History 101.
Subjects to From the Old Anglo-Norman invasion and the Pale of Dublin, to the Protestant Ascendency, the Flight of the Earls, Battle of the Boyne and the Ulster Plantation, the Confederacy of Limerick, The Penal Lawsthe 1798 & 1803 Rebellions, to the Catholic Emancipation movement, the Great Potato Famine, the Irish Republican Brotherhood, to the Easter Rebellion, War of Independence and Civil War, the Troubles, and current situation in the Peace Process
We'll explores characters like St. Bridget, Grace O'Malley, Hugh O'Neill, Wolf Tone, Robert Emmett, James Connolly, Patrick Pearse, Michael Collins, Maud Gonne, Éamon de Valera, Bobby Sands, and Gerry Adams.
James is a longtime Wooden Shoe collective member and majored in history at Temple University. He was recently in Ireland for a 3 week trip.
Suggested donation of $5 for Wooden Shoe's moving fund.
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Tuesday, July 21, 2009
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Last year Cafe Rebelion, our direct supplier of fair-trade-plus coffee
grown by people in Zapatista municipalities in Mexico, went out of
business suddenly. We've been carrying coffee since then, but none
that benefited Zapatista rebels as directly and fully as Cafe Rebelion
had. We're very happy to announce that we've found a new group of
people importing Zapatista coffee who are, like us, all volunteers, so
100% of the money they bring in (after covering their material
expenses) goes directly to autonomous education and
medical initiatives of the Zapatista Autonomous Municipality, Ricardo
Flores Magon located in Chiapas, Mexico. Wooden Shoe now has Organic Dark French Roast, Medium Vienna Roast and a French/Vienna blend for sale in 1 lb bags. Info from the http://cafeparalavidadigna...com/ website:
Cafe Para La Vida Digna
is an offically recognized cooperative and project of the Autonomous
Municipality in Rebellion, Ricardo Flores Magon of Chiapas, Mexico. The
Café Para la Vida Digna coffee project is dedicated to supporting the
process of achieving sustainability for the autonomous education and
medical initiatives there.
Background and Commitments Made
In
2005 we came together in Chiapas and made agreements on how this
project would define its principles, processes and commitments. Below
are our Palabras.
This is a partnership between the
Cooperative Lekil kux lejal within RFM, Municipality Ricardo Flores
Magon and Project Cafe Para La Vida Digna
An all Volunteer work force would be established to sell the coffee and promote the work We will sell the coffee on time and for agreed upon price and to good businesses and people We
will send 100 percent of the proceeds back to RFM. Proceeds is defined
as all the money left over after paying for the coffee itself,
transportation, roasting, the bags and labels, etc. Volunteers are
creating the accounts, taking the orders, making the deliveries,
shipping the coffee, etc at no cost. The Municipality will use the proceeds for education, medical & other self deemed municipality projects Only Zapatista Coffee would be supplied to the project No Chemicals, herbicides, pesticides will be used (Note: these have never has been on these lands) Fair
Trade prices paid to growers. We realize that we are dealing with a new
kind of Trade where more than just a fair trade price is being paid to
the producers. In this project all of the communities that belong to
the Municipality Ricardo Flores Magon will get there schools and
clinics funded. In fact we are wondering if this should be called Z
Trade or AE Trade - Zapatista Trade or Autonomous Economy Trade. We
will be meeting to talk about this concept. Only high altitude coffee will be supplied that is above 1200 feet
http://cafeparalavidadigna...com/
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Friday, July 10, 2009
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Science fiction is a genre that examines how problems are solved or
created by technology. It is a genre uniquely suited to the examination
of social and political issues. From the dystopian tradition that arose
in response to Communism and fascism in the 20s, 30s, and 40s to the
examination of gender and sexuality in the 60s and 70s. Authors have
used the genre to speak out against oppression, warn against power, and
challenge accepted social and political ideas.
This discussion
will include a brief overview and discussion of major works by authors
including Yevgeny Zamyatin, Theodore Sturgeon, Ursula K. LeGuin, and
Samuel R. Delany. After the program, participants who would like to be
part of the political science fiction book club can select a novel to
read for the next event.
The host, Frank Fucile, is an adjunct instructor at Temple University and also a Wooden Shoe collective member.
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Tuesday, June 16, 2009
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Announcement:
Wooden Shoe Books is moving!
To Our Friends,
The
Wooden Shoe Books Collective is moving about two blocks away to 704
South Street in the fall. For 32 and a half years, we’ve been
distributing radical literature, serving as an informational space for
radical movements in Philadelphia. By October, we will be relocated to
704 South Street, in a bigger space with a little more flexibility and
a bit more foot traffic than we have now.
We
are excited about this! We have been at our current location for twelve
years and it has been nice, but we feel like we have reached the
limitations of what we can achieve with the space.
We will be embarking upon a fundraising campaign this summer and hosting multiple fundraiser events up until the fall.
Some ways YOU can help:
-You can give us a donation! Every bit helps, and we are aiming to raise $7000 by October 1st!
-You can become a “Friend of the Wooden Shoe”. With a $25 donation you get a 10% discount for 1 year!
-You
can buy your books, music, buttons, magazines, zines, pamphlets, and
other goodies from us, your local all-volunteer anarchist collective!
-You
can join our collective and take part in the moving! We always need new
people and welcome fresh ideas and spare hands! You can also volunteer
to just help with the move!
In Solidarity,
Wooden Shoe Collective
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Thursday, June 11, 2009
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(save the date)
Friday, June 26th, 6:30pm, Universal Healthcare and the LeftWhat is it and how do we get it?
@ Wooden Shoe Books 508 s. 5th Street Philadelphia, PA 19147 215-413-0999 www.woodenshoebooks.comsabot@woodenshoebooks.com
As
the healthcare system continues to collapse, the President has said he
wants healthcare reform legislation passed within the year. Possible
proposals include individual mandates, a public option, minor
regulations on the market, or simply trusting private insurers to
reduce costs on their own. Politicians, unions, and pundits say
these proposals can achieve “universal coverage.” The President
campaigned on universal healthcare. But what do they mean by
"universal"? If we agree that universal healthcare means 100% of
the population is insured with no barrier to coverage, then these
proposals won't work. So what plan will provide universal
healthcare, and why aren't they discussing it in Washington? What plan
actually takes into consideration the traditional ideals of the left
(people over profits, democratic inclusion, and the guaranteed right to
healthcare without exceptions)? Join us for a discussion on
universal healthcare and the left. We'll discuss why a single-payer
healthcare system (national health insurance, or Medicare for all) is
the solution that will not only cover everyone in the US, but will also
reduce healthcare costs. Panel:Jeff Muckensturm was a
community activist in Camden, NJ and now lives in Philadelphia where he
works for the grassroots community organization Healthcare-NOW! Bill
Zoda works on international human rights issues and is also a union
staff representative for healthcare workers at Temple University
Hospital. Marty Harrison has been a political activist and a
registered nurse for fifteen years. She currently works at Temple
University Hospital and is a union steward.
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Thursday, June 11, 2009
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July-August Schedule
@
Wooden Shoe Books
508 s. 5th Street
Philadelphia PA 19147
215-413-0999
sabot@woodenshoebooks.com
www.woodenshoebooks.com
Saturday July 4 7:30PM Wounded Heart: Pine Ridge and Sioux
American Indians and government officials discuss poverty, racism,
domestic violence, child abuse, inadequate health care, and drug and
alcohol problems that besiege the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in SW
South Dakota. Pine Ridge is home to the Lakota Tribe of the Sioux. The
Sioux produced some of the greatest North American Indian leaders the
world has known including Crazy Horse, Sitting Bull, Red Cloud and
Russell Means. (70 Min)
Saturday July 11 7:30PM Noam Chomsky: Rebel Without A Pause
Called "the most important intellectual alive" by The New York Times,
Noam Chomsky, speaks openly about 9-11, the US War on Terrorism, Media
Manipulation, the US and Iraq, and social activism, providing a
critical voice that many audiences feel is missing in the world today.
Featuring candid interviews with his wife, Carol Chomsky, as well as
activists, fans, and critics REBEL WITHOUT A PAUSE is a timely,
must-see film that offers an alternative voice and explores the truths
and myths about the most important intellectual of our time. (74 Min)
Saturday July 18th 7:30PM
BiG TeA PaRtY Sustainable Living Shorts Night!
“Ending an
Epidemic: Act Up, Fight Back” [6 min.] ACT UP Philadelphia is a unique
and special group that employs empowerment-based grassroots organizing,
aggressive non-violent direct action tactics, and an analysis of the
AIDS epidemic as a political crisis that can be solved. Meet some of
the members of ACT UP Philadelphia and see them in action.
“Books without Borders” [3 min.]
Giant
chain booksellers are killing the independent bookstore. An intimate
look at a collectively run Anarchist bookstore, The Wooden Shoe, shows
us that we must preserve these specialty stores or we run the risk of
losing valuable alternative points of view.
“No Butts About It” [12 min.]
A
hilarious health video offering gentle encouragement to eat better and
not smoke cigarettes. Host Elizabeth Fiend asks tailgating Eagles
football fans and grassroots activists at a Clark Park BioDiversity
event their opinions about smoking, vegetarians and breakfast.
“Unconventional
Coverage: The Message and The Means” [1 hr] This hour long insightful
and witty commentary was filmed during the protests that erupted when
the Republicans first nominated George Bush for president at their
national convention in Philadelphia in 2000. The first segment, “The
Message,” communicates the issues radicals sought to air in
Philadelphia through sit-downs, parades, street theater, banners,
music, songs, and speeches. Alongside is detailed information on the
sorry state of health care in America, our problems with gun violence
and our eroding rights to dissent. The second segment, “The Means,” is
an invaluable primer covering the Four Big Things that made the
Philadelphia demonstrations effective: Direct Action; How to Stage a
Protest; Do It Yourself Media (the birth of Philly’s IMC); and Dealing
with Police Repression. Talk about your Anarchist Home-Ec!
Winner Best Documentary, Festival of Independents, Philadelphia Film Festival
ABOUT BiG TeA PaRtY Sustainable Living:
Created and Produced by: Elizabeth Fiend: writer / host; Valerie Keller: editor.
Creating
independent media since 1998, BiG TeA PaRtY’s mission is to promote a
sustainable living trinity — nutrition, environmentalism and community
activism — a practical, rewarding lifestyle where one’s actions won’t
have a negative effect on future generations. We use digital media, the
written word and public events to share ideas for leading a creative,
low-impact, low-cost, politically engaged lifestyle. We embrace the DIY
‘do it yourself’ philosophy which emphasizes the power of the
individual.
BigTeaParty.com the best in international and national sustainable news, plus videos, original content and more.
Saturday July 25 7:30PM Waging A Living
Tender and eye-opening, WAGING A LIVING takes an unwavering look at
America’s working poor--people who work hard and play by the rules but
never seem to get ahead. Over three years, the film follows four
hard-working individuals as they strive for their piece of the American
Dream but find only low wages, dead end jobs, and a tattered safety net
in their way. As they raise children, try to get a college degree, and
take care of sick relatives, these working class heroes make you root
for them to overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Mixing
stunning facts about poverty and social injustice with the personal
testimony of real-life workers, two-time Academy Award-nominated
director Roger Weisberg cuts through the fog of politics and prejudice
to bring the disturbing reality of the working poor into the light of
day. "A film with immense compassion and riveting drama" (San Francisco
Weekly), WAGING A LIVING will anger, inspire, and rouse the soul. (84 Min) Saturday August 1 7:30PM The Empire in AfricaThe rebels who started the civil war in Sierra Leone 15 years ago
wanted only one thing: to reclaim the richness of the country from
foreign corporations in order to end the exploitation of its people. In
response the international community decided to wage a war on this
country with bombs executions torture rigged elections and manipulation
of the international media. This created one of the worst humanitarian
disasters of the 20th century. (87 Min)
Saturday August 8 7:30PM V-Day: Until the Violence Stops
Extraordinarily empowering and heartbreakingly funny, the Sundance
favorite V-DAY: UNTIL THE VIOLENCE STOPS chronicles how Eve Ensler's
hit Broadway solo show The Vagina Monologues grew into V-Day, an
international grassroots movement to stop violence against women and
girls. The first of its kind, The Vagina Monologues has been widely
recognized as "a celebration of women's sexuality and a condemnation of
its violation" (The New York Times) and praised as "frank, humorous and
moving" (Chicago Tribune). Over eight hundred cities around the world
have participated in V-Day by staging benefit performances of The
Vagina Monologues. From locales as diverse as New York, the
Phillippines and Kenya, director Abby Epstein's UNTIL THE VIOLENCE
STOPS features emotionally charged interviews and readings by everyday
and celebrity women (including Rosie Perez, Salma Hayek, Rosario
Dawson, Jane Fonda and LisaGay Hamilton), all of whom courageously
reveal their intimate experiences and bond together to break the
silence that surrounds abuse. More than just a group testimonial, UNTIL
THE VIOLENCE STOPS is a moving celebration of community awareness that
leaves us with the hope that change can happen. (73 Min) Saturday August 15 7:30PM ZCosta-Gavras chronicles the overthrow of the democratic government in
Greece. When a liberal politician is murdered in an attack during a
peace demonstration, the right wing established figures in the military
and the police try and hide not only their parts in it, but try to
cover up the murder as well. The magistrate must act as a detective in
order to go through the cover up. While historically accurate, it is
told as a combination mystery and thriller. (127 Min) Saturday August 22 7:30PM Skid RowLiving on the dangerous, drug-infested streets of downtown L.A. for
nine days and andights, Grammy Award winner Pras Michel of the Fugees goes undercover
as a homeless person. A compelling life-changing stroy of Pras learning
to fend for himself on the streets of Los Angeles; while discovering
the dark, volatile and very human side of Skid Row. (95 Min)
Saturday August 29 7:30PM Romero
Romero is the true story of the catholic priest Archbishop Oscar Romero
who lived in El Salvador during the political unrest in the 1980s. The
government has launched a 'terror campaign' against the guerillas in an
attempt to crush them. Archbishop Romero's protests against
governments' actions is perceived as disloyalty. As an example to
others, the government begins to destroy churches and murder priests.
Despite persecution, Romero continues to speak out against the
atrocities the government is committing against the people of El
Salvador, until his untimely death. (102 Min)
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