Indigenous Established Infoshop in Flagstaff, AZ – Anti-colonial & Anti-capitalist Community Space

3rd Annual Liberate Earth Day – April 24 – Schedule & Workshop Descriptions

Sunday April 24, 2011
1PM – 8PM
Taala Hooghan Infoshop
FREE!

Earth day has become an act of ritualized consumption by corporations and state agencies that greenwash their eco-cidal actions. Join us for workshops, discussions, films, food and more for the liberation of Mother Earth!

SCHEDULE:

1PM – Opening Introduction
1:15 PM – Anarchist Understandings of Nature and Social Change
2:20 PM – Moon Time Liberation
3:25 PM – An Affordable Way to Catch and Dispense Your Water
4:30PM – Food Break
5PM  – Green Consumerism: The Misguided Discourse on Sustainability
6PM – The Green Washing of the Prison Industrial Complex
6:30 PM – Film Presentation: “Animal Exploitation, Heteropatriarchy and the Three Pillars of White Supremacy.”
7:05 PM – Underlying Contradictions in Liberation Struggles: A Discussion on Strategies Towards Meaningful Support and Solidarity

WORKSHOP/PRESENTATION DESCRIPTIONS:

Anarchist Understandings of Nature and Social Change – 1 hour
Facilitated by Russell Crawford
DESCRIPTION: This workshop will explore the political and philosophical dichotomy
between Western and Anarchist ways of understanding nature.  We will discuss the goals, strategy, and tactics of each worldview in regards to environmental interaction and political organizing.

Moon Time Liberation – 1 hour
Facilitated by Margo Nelson
DESCRIPTION: In the colonial United States, wimmin’s moon times have been socially stigmatized to the point that instead of relishing in our creative capacities, many of us are ashamed, embarrassed and silent about this special connection we have to the earth. We will talk about the political importance of reconnecting to our moon times, how to start understanding the intricate process that unfolds within us, and how to become empowered in creating our own menstrual products rather than relying on corporations. All who are interested and respectful are welcome to attend regardless of one’s own ability to menstruate!

An Affordable Way to Catch and Dispense Your Water – 1 hour
Presented by Jessie Demaree
DESCRIPTION: A D.I.Y. workshop on how to install spigots and attach multiple barrels together.

Green Consumerism: The Misguided Discourse on Sustainability – 1 hour
Presented by  Kyle Boggs
DESCRIPTION: This workshop will take a critical look at advertising that uses terminology we’re all used to by now: green, eco-friendly, sustainability, MORE eco-friendly…it goes on and on. But the truth is, these words have no working standard industry definition. The bottom line is their bottom line – to keep us buying rather than asking meaningful questions. By taking advantage of a growing concern about the dominant culture’s effect on the planet, green consumerism actually promotes a mindset that is harmful, while at the same time reinforces false virtues of capitalism.
This mindset is harmful because not only does it undermine the scope of the problems we face, but it promotes an immature, and frankly, irresponsible fantasy that everything can be made sustainable, that nothing fundamental about the way we live on the planet has to change as long as we “green up” everything we buy. This also places the focus on sustainable production and development, rather than de-development and de-industrialism through dismantling inherently unsustainable and oppressive systems.

The Green Washing of the Prison Industrial Complex – 30 min
Presented by Justin Strong
DESCRIPTION: Analyzing green washed consumerism as well as understanding the contradiction of sustainable prisons.

Film Presentation: “Animal Exploitation, Heteropatriarchy and the Three Pillars of White Supremacy.” 30 min
DESCRIPTION: In this film presentation Andrea Smith observes that in developing coalition politics, activists often rely on comparisons between oppressions. In her talk, Andrea will reflect on the Incite! process of moving away from comparisons to a model that focuses on interlocking logics of oppression.

Underlying Contradictions in Liberation Struggles: A Discussion on Strategies Towards Meaningful Support and Solidarity – 1 hour 15 min
Facilitated by Kyle Boggs and Klee Benally.
DESCRIPTION: This discussion will focus on solidarity building through understanding our intersections of oppression.

~TH~