Chris Hedges giving the keynote address on March 29, 2014 at the Connecticut Conference One Nation–Under Surveillance: Building Networks of Solidarity in Defiance of NSA Spying and the Erosion of Civil Liberties
Hello friends,
Online registration and mail-in registration are both now closed.
If you have not yet registered online then you can still register at the conference on a first come, first serve basis.
To avoid crowding the doors and slowing down the program:
– Please arrive early (registration begins at 9:00am. Program begins at 10am sharp!)
– If you are registering on the day of the conference we prefer that you purchase your ticket at the Student Center information desk (See the campus map here: http://web.ccsu.edu/campusmap/) before heading to the conference in Davidson Hall (Torpe Theater)
– If you have already registered, or are concerned about getting lost or walking too much for health reasons, just come on over to Davidson Hall.
You can park in the Welte Garage or Student Center lot at CCSU
This handy dandy campus map shows where all the buildings and parking areas are located!
http://web.ccsu.edu/campusmap/
See you tomorrow morning!
Advance Ticket Sales Open This Week
You can now purchase tickets at the Information Desk in the CCSU Student
Center starting Tuesday at noon
Campus Map: http://web.ccsu.edu/campusmap/
You can also register online and purchase your tickets at:
ctstopindefinitedetention.com
Saturday Morning? 1. Go to Student Center and purchase ticket if not previously registered. 2. Go to Davidson Hall, Torp Theater area to sign in and find tables and entry to opening event.
One Nation—Under Surveillance
A One-Day Conference about Building Networks of Solidarity
In Defiance of NSA Spying & the Erosion of Democratic Rights
Keynote: Pulitzer-Prize Winning Journalist Chris Hedges
Registration and Literature Tables in Torp Theater, Davidson Hall, beginning
at 9 am.
Program Begins at Torp Theater, Davidson Hall at 10 am.
Tickets and Registration: Solidarity Price: $25; Non-CCSU Students &
Unemployed: $10.
CCSU Students Free; Scholarships are available.
Pay via credit card online at ctstopindefinitedetention.com or Send checks
made out to the “CT Coalition to Stop Indefinite Detention,” c/o Nancy Bowden, at 7 Scotland Rd., Bloomfield CT 06002, 860-212-9596. For more information, contact Isa Mujahid at imujahid@acluct.org 860-471-8473, Daniel Adam at 860-985-4576, or Mongi Dahoudi at mdhaouadi@cair.com or 860-514-8038.
Initiated by the CT Coalition to Stop Indefinite Detention, the ACLU of CT,
the Council on American Islamic Relations-CT, United Action-CT.
Sponsored (Gold) by the Tree of Life Foundation of CT and CCSU Center for
Public Policy & Social Research, CCSU Student Affairs.
Sponsored by Boston United for Justice with Peace, Middle East Crisis
Committee, Promoting Enduring Peace, Greater New Haven Peace Council,
Rosenberg Fund for Children, Project SALAM, Socialist Action CT, United
National Antiwar Coalition, Occupy Hartford Trust, RI Coalition to Defend Human & Civil Rights.
Endorsed by Greater Hartford Central Labor Council, National Lawyers Guild ofCT, KnowDrones, Norwich NAACP, New London NAACP, ANSWER CT, Greater Hartford Coalition on Cuba, Boston Stop the War, CT United for Peace, Norwich Area Green Party, Activate CT, JusticeParty of CT. Hosted by CCSU Youth for Socialist Action.
Program
Keynote:
Chris Hedges, former New York Times reporter, Pulitizer-Prize wining
journalist, columnist for Truthdig, author of 12 books, and was a plaintiff in
the historic lawsuit “Hedges vs. Obama,” a court challenge to the indefinite
detention provisions of the National Defense Authorization Act.
Panelists:
–Dawud Walid, Executive Director, Council on American Islamic Relations of Michigan
–Professor Khalilah Brown-Dean, Author, Once Convicted, Forever Doomed: Race,Crime, and Civil Death.
–Tania Unzueta, National Day Laborer’s Organizing Committee
–Ana Maria Cardenas, Interreligious Foundation for Community Organization /Pastors for Peace Project
–Bruce Miller, Executive Board of the Rosenberg Fund for Children
–Robert King, former Black Panther who served 23 years as one of the Angola
Three.
–Saru Jayaraman, Author, Behind the Kitchen Door and founder of Restaurant
Opportunities Centers United.
–Lynne Jackson, Project SALAM and the leader of the Journey for Justice in
defense of Yassin Aref
–Brett Kaufmann, National Security Fellow in the ACLU’s National Security
Project.
============================================================
Workshops and Facilitators:
Criminalizing Communities of Color and The System of Mass Incarceration: What You Can Do: Barbara Fair, People Against Injustice; Beatrice Codianni, Reentry Central; Sandra Enos, Author,Mothering from the Inside: Parenting in a Women’s Prison.
Don’t Deport My Mother: The Fight to Stop Deportations Today: Tania Unzueta, National Day Laborer’s Organizing Committee; John Jairo Lugo, Unidad Latina en Accion; Patricia Rosas Blanco, Los Manos Unidos.
Islamphobia, Entrapment, Surveillance, and the So-Called War on Terror:
Defending Muslim Americans Today: Mongi Dhaouadi, CAIR CT; Dawud Walid, Michigan CAIR; Steve Downs, Project SALAM and the National Coaliiton to Protect Civil Freedoms.
The Right to Do Palestine Solidarity Work—in the Community and on the Campus: Rev. David Good, Tree of Life Foundation; Maxwell Geller, Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at Northeastern University Law School.
The Fight Against Domestic Surveillance Drones Takes Off!: Nick Mottern of
KnowDronesand organizer of the 2014 national Spring Days of Action; Isa
Mujahid, Field Organizer, ACLU of CT.
Individual Defense Cases—True Stories and Lessons: Lynne Jackson of Project SALAM and the Yasin Aref case; Robert King, one of the Angola Three; Jorge Limeres, Comite Pro Independencia de Puerto Rico en Connecticut and supporter of Oscar Lopez Ramirez
Report Back from Lobby Day; The Civil Liberties Legislative Agenda in CT and the Nation: ACLU of CT; Council on American Islamic Relations CT; CT Green Party.
Labor, War, and Free Speech—World War I: Lessons for Today: Steve Thornton, author of A Shoeleather History of the Wobblies: Stories of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) in Connecticut
The Democratic Right to Organize: Low Wage Workers: Saru Jayaraman, author,Behind the Kitchen Door with be joined by activists with the campaign for a
domestic workers Bill of Rights, the Fight for Fifteen minimum wage campaign, and the new effort to recover wages from McDonalds.
Do Women Have the Right to Study Unmolested? Title 9 Case Plaintiffs from the Yale and University of Connecticut campuses.
============================================================
Schedule
9:00 am Literature Tables Open and Onsite Registration Begins
10:00 am Welcome; Overview of Goal and the Flow of the Day
10:15 am Panel
Finding Strength by Defending Our Democratic Rights–Together: Voices from the Movements to for Muslim American Civil Liberties, Low Wage Workers, Political Prisoners, Immigrants, and International Solidarity.
11:45 am: Bag Lunches Provided ($8 for non-CCSU students), Book signings
Keynote Address: 1:00 pm: Chris Hedges
2:15 pm Workshops
3:45 pm Panel
What Will Effective Solidarity Look Like Today? What Divides Us and What Can Bring Us Together to Achieve Democratic Rights for All?
Discussion: A plan for organization, education, & mobilization in 2014.
Workshops and Facilitators:
Criminalizing Communities of Color and The System of Mass Incarceration: What You Can Do: Barbara Fair, People Against Injustice; Beatrice Codianni, Reentry Central; Sandra Enos, Author, Mothering from the Inside: Parenting in a Women’s Prison.
Don’t Deport My Mother: The Fight to Stop Deportations Today: Tania Unzueta, National Day Laborer’s Organizing Committee; John Jairo Lugo, Unidad Latina en Accion; Patricia Rosas Blanco, Los Manos Unidos.
Islamphobia, Entrapment, Surveillance, and the So-Called War on Terror: Defending Muslim Americans Today: Mongi Dhaouadi, CAIR CT; Dawud Walid, Michigan CAIR; Steve Downs, Project SALAM and the National Coaliiton to Protect Civil Freedoms.
The Right to Do Palestine Solidarity Work—in the Community and on the Campus: Rev. David Good, Tree of Life Foundation; Maxwell Geller, Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at Northeastern University Law School.
The Fight Against Domestic Surveillance Drones Takes Off!: Nick Mottern of KnowDrones and organizer of the 2014 national Spring Days of Action; Isa Mujahid, Field Organizer, ACLU of CT.
Individual Defense Cases—True Stories and Lessons: Lynne Jackson of Project SALAM and the Yasin Aref case; Robert King, one of the Angola Three; Jorge Limeres, Comite Pro Independencia de Puerto Rico en Connecticut and supporter of Oscar Lopez Ramirez
Report Back from Lobby Day; The Civil Liberties Legislative Agenda in CT and the Nation: ACLU of CT; Council on American Islamic Relations CT; CT Green Party.
Labor, War, and Free Speech—World War I: Lessons for Today: Steve Thornton, author of A Shoeleather History of the Wobblies: Stories of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) in Connecticut
The Democratic Right to Organize: Low Wage Workers: Saru Jayaraman, author, Behind the Kitchen Door with be joined by activists with the campaign for a domestic workers Bill of Rights, the Fight for Fifteen minimum wage campaign, and the new effort to recover wages from McDonalds.
Do Women Have the Right to Study Unmolested? Title 9 Case Plaintiffs from the Yale and University of Connecticut campuses.
Schedule
9:00 am Literature Tables Open and Onsite Registration Begins
10:00 am Welcome; Overview of Goal and the Flow of the Day
10:15 am Panel
Finding Strength by Defending Our Democratic Rights–Together: Voices from the Movements to Defend Muslim American, Low Wage Workers, Political Prisoners, Immigrants, and International Solidarity.
11:45 am: Lunch, Book signings
Keynote Address: 1:00 pm: Chris Hedges
2:15 pm Workshops
3:45 pm Panel
What Will Effective Solidarity Look Like Today? What Divides Us and What Can Bring Us Together to Achieve Democratic Rights for All?
Discussion: A plan for organization, education, & mobilization in 2014.
Initiated by the CT Coalition to Stop Indefinite Detention, the ACLU of CT, the Council on American Islamic Relations-CT, United Action-CT.
Sponsored (Gold) by the Tree of Life Foundation of CT and CCSU Center for Public Policy & Social Research, CCSU Student Affairs.
Sponsored by Boston United for Justice with Peace, Middle East Crisis Committee, Promoting Enduring Peace, Greater New Haven Peace Council, Rosenberg Fund for Children, Project SALAM, Socialist Action CT, United National Antiwar Coalition, Occupy Hartford Trust.
Endorsed by Greater Hartford Central Labor Council, National Lawyers Guild of CT, KnowDrones, Norwich NAACP, New London NAACP, ANSWER CT, Greater Hartford Coalition on Cuba, Boston Stop the War, CT United for Peace, Norwich Area Green Party, RI Coalition to Defend Human & Civil Rights, Activate CT. Hosted by CCSU Youth for Socialist Action.
New Gold Sponsors:
CCSU Center for Public Policy and Social Research
Tree of Life Foundation
New Sponsors:
Greater Hartford Central Labor Council
Greater New Haven Peace Council
New Endorser:
Greater Hartford Coalition on Cuba
Chris Hedges is a former New York Times reporter, Pulitizer-Prize wining journalist, columnist for Truthdig, author of 12 books, and was a plaintiff in the historic lawsuit “Hedges vs. Obama,” a court challenge to the indefinite detention provisions of the National Defense Authorization Act. Hedges left the Times shortly after they issued him a formal reprimand for publicly denouncing the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Hedges is the author of the best-sellers American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America, Death of the Liberal Class, and War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning. He co-authored with Laila Al-Arian, Collateral Damage: America’s War Against Iraqi Civilians. His most recent book is Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt, a collaboration with comics artist and journalist Joe Sacco, is a brutally honest account of their travels through America’s “sacrifice zones” — areas of the country that have suffered and decayed as a result of exploitation in the name of profit and corporate power. Hedges is currently a senior fellow at the Nation Institute, and has taught at Columbia University, New York University, and Princeton University. He received his B.A. in English Literature from Colgate University and a Master of Divinity degree from Harvard University.
Speakers List in Formation
Robert King, One of the Angola Three. Robert King is one of the most famous former political prisoners in the world. He served 29 years in solitary confinement before his conviction was overturned and was one of a group of three African-American activists victimized for their political activism as members of the Black Panther Party. King has spoken before the parliaments of the Netherlands, France, Portugal, and Indonesia and met with Desmond Tutu.
Hina Shamsi, Director of the American Civil Liberties National Security Project. The National Security Project is dedicated to ensuring that U.S. national security policies and practices are consistent with the Constitution, civil liberties, and human rights. Shamsi has litigated cases upholding the freedoms of speech and association, and challenging targeted killing, torture, unlawful detention, and post-9/11 discrimination against racial and religious minorities. She is also a lecturer-in-law at Columbia Law School, where she teaches a course in international human rights.
Saru Jayaraman, Author of Behind the Kitchen Door. Saru Jayaraman launched the national restaurant workers’ organization Restaurant Opportunities Centers United and documented the undemocratic labor practices of the food industry, the discrimination that plagues immigrant workers and people of color, and the relationship of food sovereignty to the full democracy that we have not yet achieved.
Dawud Walid, Executive Director of the Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MI). CAIR-MI is a chapter of America’s largest advocacy and civil liberties organization for Muslims based in the hotspot of Detroit, a city at the epicenter of the attacks on democratic rule. He has been prominent in the fight against Islamophobia, racial profiling, and border stops. Walid has appeared on Democracy Now and is a political blogger for the Detroit News.
Salvatore Sarmiento, Casa Maryland, National Day Laborer Organizing Network. NDLON has been central to the fight to stop the punitive deportation of over 350,000 persons last year. In a recent press release NDLON said, “The five years of criminalization the President has overseen blankets immigrant communities with suspicion and causes people to live in fear. Until the historic mistake of entwining local police with immigration enforcement is corrected, the country will face a crisis of safety in our communities, confidence in the President, and separation in our families.”
Professor Khalilah Brown-Dean, Author of Once Convicted, Forever Doomed: Race, Crime, and Civil Death (forthcoming, Yale University Press). Dean is an associate professor of political science at Quinnipiac University and a powerful critic of the system of mass incarceration. She was also awarded a 2005 Social Science Research Fund grant for the project: “Fighting From a Powerless Space: The Impact of Crime Control Policies on Women.”
Lynne Jackson, Project SALAM and the National Coalition to Protect Civil Freedoms. Project SALAM and the NCPF are in the national leadership in the fight against the Orwellian practice of preemptively prosecuting Muslim-Americans who have committed no crime and the frame-up of hundreds of law-abiding Muslim-Americans as part of the so-called War on Terror. Jackson recently led the Journey for Justice across New York state in defense of Yassin Aref, an Albany imam entrapped by the FBI whose case is described in Rounded Up: Artificial Terrorists and Muslim Entrapment After 9/11.
Watch for announcement of keynote speaker.
Full schedule and program under development.
Save the Date!
One Nation—Under Surveillance
A One-Day Conference about Building Networks of Solidarity
in Defiance of NSA Spying & the Erosion of Democratic Rights
Saturday, March 29, 2014 –10:00 a.m
Torp Theater, Davidson Hall, Central Connecticut State University
1615 Stanley Street, New Britain CT
Registration: Solidarity Price: $25; Non-CCSU Students & Underemployed: $10.
Scholarships will be available. CCSU Students Admitted for Free.
Recent dueling district court decisions on the legality of NSA cell phone spying guarantee that at least some of the Orwellian practices of the federal government will come before the Supreme Court relatively soon. This provides the perfect opportunity to build relationships of solidarity among all those victimized by NSA spying, drones, COINTELPRO-type dirty tricks against the movements for social change, and other forms of systematic suppression of privacy and democratic rights.
Join us on March 29, 2014 at Central Connecticut State University for the second annual state civil liberties conference sponsored by the CT Coalition to Stop Indefinite Detention, the CT American Civil Liberties Union, the CT Council on American Islamic Relations, and dozens of other activists groups. We will explore the links between NSA spying, domestic drones, and official Islamophobia, as well as the policies of mass incarceration and mass deportation that are currently in place.
Confirmed speakers, panelists, and workshop leaders include:
Robert King, One of the Angola Three. Robert King is one of the most famous former political prisoners in the world. He served 29 years in solitary confinement before his conviction was overturned and was one of a group of three African-American activists victimized for their political activism as members of the Black Panther Party. King has spoken before the parliaments of the Netherlands, France, Portugal, and Indonesia and met with Desmond Tutu.
Hina Shamsi, Director of the American Civil Liberties National Security Project. The National Security Project is dedicated to ensuring that U.S. national security policies and practices are consistent with the Constitution, civil liberties, and human rights. Shamsi has litigated cases upholding the freedoms of speech and association, and challenging targeted killing, torture, unlawful detention, and post-9/11 discrimination against racial and religious minorities. She is also a lecturer-in-law at Columbia Law School, where she teaches a course in international human rights.
Saru Jayaraman, Author of Behind the Kitchen Door. Saru Jayaraman launched the national restaurant workers’ organization Restaurant Opportunities Centers United and documented the undemocratic labor practices of the food industry, the discrimination that plagues immigrant workers and people of color, and the relationship of food sovereignty to the full democracy that we have not yet achieved.
Dawud Walid, Executive Director of the Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MI). CAIR-MI is a chapter of America’s largest advocacy and civil liberties organization for Muslims based in the hotspot of Detroit, a city at the epicenter of the attacks on democratic rule. He has been prominent in the fight against Islamophobia, racial profiling, and border stops. Walid has appeared on Democracy Now and is a political blogger for the Detroit News.
Salvatore Sarmiento, Casa Maryland, National Day Laborer Organizing Network. NDLON has been central to the fight to stop the punitive deportation of over 350,000 persons last year. In a recent press release NDLON said, “The five years of criminalization the President has overseen blankets immigrant communities with suspicion and causes people to live in fear. Until the historic mistake of entwining local police with immigration enforcement is corrected, the country will face a crisis of safety in our communities, confidence in the President, and separation in our families.”
Professor Khalilah Brown-Dean, Author of Once Convicted, Forever Doomed: Race, Crime, and Civil Death (forthcoming, Yale University Press). Dean is an associate professor of political science at Quinnipiac University and a powerful critic of the system of mass incarceration. She was also awarded a 2005 Social Science Research Fund grant for the project: “Fighting From a Powerless Space: The Impact of Crime Control Policies on Women.”
Lynne Jackson, Project SALAM and the National Coalition to Protect Civil Freedoms. Project SALAM and the NCPF are in the national leadership in the fight against the Orwellian practice of preemptively prosecuting Muslim-Americans who have committed no crime and the frame-up of hundreds of law-abiding Muslim-Americans as part of the so-called War on Terror. Jackson recently led the Journey for Justice across New York state in defense of Yassin Aref, an Albany imam entrapped by the FBI whose case is described in Rounded Up: Artificial Terrorists and Muslim Entrapment After 9/11.
Watch for announcement of keynote speaker.
Full schedule and program under development.
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What You Can Do to Make this Event a Success!
√ Get your organization to be listed as a sponsor & give $100 (table included).
√ Get your organization to be listed as an endorser & give $50(table included).
√ Be listed as an individual providing a scholarship for a student or underemployed attendee for $25.
√ Reserve a literature table for $25.
√ Forward publicity to your lists and friends. Friend this event on Facebook.
Send checks made out to the CT Coalition to Stop Indefinite Detention, c/o Nancy Bowden, at 7 Scotland Rd., Bloomfield CT 06002, 860-212-9596 or register/donate online at ctstopindefinitedetention.com.
For more information, contact Isa Mujahid at imujahid@acluct.org 860-471-8473, Daniel Adam at 860-985-4576, or Mongi Dahoudi at mdhaouadi@cair.com or 860-514-8038.
CT Coalition to Stop Indefinite Detention 