A lot of Common Action news for you! We are happy to announce a speaking tour and to report back on our recent general assembly. And for those in Olympia, mark your calendars for an upcoming forum on free health care organized by Common Action in Olympia. 1) May 14-18: Andrej Grubacic speaking tour (Seattle, Tacoma, Olympia, Portland) 2) April General Assembly Report 3) Thursday, May 21: Community forum on Free Health Care: Toward a Free Health Clinic (Olympia) *1. May 14-18: Andrej Grubacic speaking tour (Seattle, Tacoma, Olympia, Portland)* Speaking Tour: Andrej Grubacic, "Anarchism for the 21st Century: Building Movements for Lasting Change" May 14-18, 2009 Andrej Grubacic is a radical historian -- or, more accurately, an anarchist historian -- from the Balkans. Formerly based in Belgrade, post-Yugoslavia, after many adventures and misadventures he found himself in Fernand Braudel Center at SUNY Binghamton. Andrej teaches at ZMedia Institute and most recently at the University of San Francisco. He has been part of many networks as an anarchist organizer (DSM!, Peoples Global Action, WSF, Freedom Fight, and many others). He is one of the founding members of the Global Balkans, a network of Balkan anti-capitalists in diaspora, and the ZBalkans, a Balkan edition of Z Magazine. Most recently he co-authored the book Wobblies and Zapatistas (PM Press, 2008) with Staughton Lynd. Tour Stops include: Seattle Thursday, May 14, 7pm 2100 Building (2100 24th Ave.) Olympia Friday, May 15, Noon Evergreen State College - (Seminar II, Bldg B, Rm 1105) Tacoma Saturday, May 16, 3pm Tacoma Public Library (1102 Tacoma Ave. S) Olympia Sunday, May 17, 7:30pm Traditions Cafe (300 5th Ave. SW) Portland Monday, May 18, 7pm Red and Black Cafe (400 SE 12th Ave.) *2. April General Assembly Report* From Saturday, April 25 to Sunday, April 26, members of the anarchist organization Common Action met in Seattle, WA for our fourth general assembly. Members from Seattle, Bremerton, Tacoma and Olympia were in attendance, as well as a guest from Portland. We came together to continue developing our politics together, start work on new Common Action projects – and sing lots of karaoke. If anything was clear at the general assembly, it is that Common Action has a lot of exciting work ahead of us this summer both locally and across the region. In May, we will sponsor a short speaking tour of the Northwest with anarchist historian Andrej Grubacic titled “Anarchism for the 21st Century: Building Movements for Lasting Change.” Our newsletter Intersections will continue to appear quarterly with the next issue slated for June. We also plan to be present at several upcoming anarchist bookfairs. Locally, Common Action branches are taking initiative as well. - In Olympia, members have put together a forum on free health care in order to build connections between people passionate on the issue, with the goal of one day establishing a free health clinic. They also plan to hold an open meeting in the new future to explain Common Action and our objectives. - Our newest branch in Kitsap County, based mostly in Bremerton, has begun seeking out like-minded organizations in what is an otherwise very conservative Navy town. - In Seattle, members continue participating in a range of struggles, including neighborhood groups, immigrant solidarity, workplace organizing and more. They will be sponsoring a number of events this summer, including an anarchist/anti-authoritarian social. As with every general assembly, we took the opportunity to educate ourselves in creative ways while clarifying our goals as a group. Several activities focused on transformative justice, consent, accountability and collective liberation. For instance, in a "museum walk" activity, materials dealing with sexual assault were displayed around a room, from essays and poems to pictures and advertisements. Everyone circulated around the room for a time and returned together to reflect on what we had seen and experienced. Throughout the weekend - even, in a way, during karaoke – we returned to many central questions. As anarchists, we are choosing to struggle against seemingly impossible odds. How do we explain to others (and to ourselves) the goals we have and why we are even involved in this work? With Common Action, we're building community, establishing trust and creating a structure that reflects our values – a strong foundation for common action. Contact us at [email protected] or visit http://www.nwcommonaction.org to learn more about us. Join the Common Action Announcements listserv at http://groups.google.com/group/nwcommon ... ouncements for the occasional e-mail about sponsored events, publications, reports, and other fun stuff. *3) Thursday, May 21: Community forum on Free Health Care: Toward a Free Health Clinic (Olympia)* Community Forum on Free Health Care: Toward A Free Health Clinic Thursday May 21 Refreshments at 6:30pm Forum from 7:00pm – 9:00pm The Olympia Center, Room 204 222 Columbia St NW Featured panelists: Dr. Muhammad Ayub MD and MPH at Madigan Army Medical Center. He worked as a peacekeeper for the UN in Iraq and has been a social justice activist since his youth. Peter Bohmer Longtime activist, organizer and resident of Olympia. He teaches political economy at The Evergreen State College. He recently returned from Venezuela and has much to share about the health care system. Aaron Dixon While he was the Captain of the Black Panther Party in Seattle he helped establish the first free clinics in Seattle that still exist today. In recent years he has been active in the Green Party and ran for Senate. Rob Richards Former staff at Bread and Roses, organizer for the Poor People’s Union and the poor people’s tent city Camp Quixote. Linda Sternhill Davis Legislative Committee Co-Chair and serves on the board of the Washington Health Security Coalition (WHSC) which advocates for universal, single-payer health care reform at the state and national levels. She also worked at the Los Angeles Free Clinic. Like all communities across the country and around the world, our community in Olympia has been affected by the recent economic crisis. This has presented many challenges to the majority of people, regular folks like you and me. One major challenge is access to affordable health care. We believe that everyone has the right to affordable, even free health care, and the knowledge it takes to prevent illness and disease. Because of this belief, Common Action has put together a forum on free health care. We hope that this will build connections between people who are passionate about this issue and that we can work together in creating a tangible solution to this problem: a free health clinic in Olympia. For more info contact: [email protected] 360 701-8810 Brought to you by the Olympia branch of Common Action.
