[act-ma] Chris Hedges to Keynote March 29 CT Civil Liberties Conference

Sat Feb 15 09:19:06 PST 2014

Boston sponsors include United for Justice with Peace (UJP) and United National Antiwar Committee (UNAC).

For car pooling, contact Marilyn at marilynl at alumni.neu.edu or call 781-316-2018.

Update on Program for March 29 Conference

Journalist Chris Hedges to Keynote
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 and 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.

Join us at
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.

Join us on March 29, 2014 at Central Connecticut State University for the second annual state civil liberties conference initiated by the CT Coalition to Stop Indefinite Detention, the CT American Civil Liberties Union, the CT Council on American Islamic Relations, and United Action of CT.  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.  Sponsors include the Tree of Life Foundation and the United National Antiwar Coalition.  Endorsers include the National Lawyers Guild of CT, Know Drones, Middle East Crisis Committee, Promoting Enduring Peace, the Norwich and New London chapters of the NAACP, and the Norwich Area Greeen Party.

Additional 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.

Salvadore Sarmiento, 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.
What You Can Do Right Now to Help!
√ Get your organization to be listed as a gold sponsor & give $500.
√ 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:  <http://ctstopindefinitedetention.us3.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=df61cb90b62ca326e0929b0ea&id=0f8aeb393e&e=8831e1c21e> https://www.facebook.com/events/746161628745630/?ref=2&ref_dashboard_filter=calendar
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 via credit card 
For more information, contact Isa Mujahid at  <mailto:imujahid at acluct.org> imujahid at acluct.org 860-471-8473, Daniel Adam at 860-985-4576, or Mo
This is a Text Block. Use this to provide text... 

Update on Program for March 29 Conference

Chris Hedges to Keynote

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 and 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.

Join us at 

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