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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20090314T190000
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SUMMARY:"Little Caughnawaga: To Brooklyn and Back" with Filmmaker Reaghan Tarbell
DESCRIPTION:The Kahnawake Mohawk ironworkers who helped to build the famed bridges and skyscrapers of New York City lived with their families in 10 square blocks in Brooklyn – a neighborhood known as Little Caughnawaga. In Little Caughnawaga: To Brooklyn and Back (2008) Reaghan Tarbell traces her family roots to create a portrait of this vibrant community and the women who sustained it.  \n\n\n\nThis event is made possible by the Experimental Television Center’s Presentation Funds. The Experimental Television Center’s Presentation Funds program is supported by the New York State Council on the Arts. \n\n\n\nPress Release\n\n\n\nThe Kahnawake Mohawk ironworkers who helped to build the famed bridges and skyscrapers of New York City lived with their families in 10 square blocks in Brooklyn—a neighborhood known as Little Caughnawaga. Reaghan Tarbell traces her family roots to create a portrait of this vibrant community and the women who sustained it. \n\n\n\nSome notice has been given to the men of Little Caughnawaga: Mohawk steel workers\, whose work was exceptionally dangerous\, helped to build the city’s most famous bridges and skyscrapers.  But Tarbell\, who is from Kanhawake and whose grandmother migrated to Little Caughnawaga\, wanted to switch the focus and to tell the stories of the women. They held the little Brooklyn community together by taking in boarders\, running households during the Great Depression and caring for each other when one of their men fell to his death—which happened all too often. \n\n\n\nThe film touches on the tragic Quebec Bridge collapse in 1907. During this time\, the structure of the bridge fell into the St. Lawrence River. The tragedy killed 75 people\, those of which included 33 men from the Kahnawake community. A memorial was organized and served to remember and honor those who had perished on that day. \n\n\n\nIn making this interesting and beautifully-constructed documentary\, Tarbell discovered a lot about her own family’s history. She also provided a rare gift to her community\, which\, she recalls\, mobbed her with thanks after she premiered her film on the reservation. “But the greatest praise\,” Tarbell says\, “because it’s a very personal story\, was when I showed an early cut to my mother and she called me\, crying\, and thanked me for giving her mother a voice.” \n\n\n\n“Part of our desire to show this work was to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson’s ‘discovery’ of the Hudson River\,” says Penny Lane\, one of the programmers at the Sanctuary.  “We wanted to be sure that the statewide celebrations of this quadricentennial event include stories of the cultural and economic exchange between the white settlers and the Native people who met them here\, and how those interactions over the past 400 years affect us today.” \n\n\n\n“First and foremost\, I made this documentary for my community and for my family\,” Reaghan Tarbell.  “I never saw myself as a filmmaker\, still don’t… but regardless of how you see yourself… I think if you’re destined to tell a story it will find you somehow. Telling the story about my family and my community was at the same time the most challenging and most rewarding time of my life.” \n\n\n\nTarbell is a staff Program Assistant in the National Museum of the American Indian’s Film and Video Center and lives in Brooklyn\, not far from the neighborhood of Little Caughnawaga. \n\n\n\nThe Sanctuary for Independent Media is a telecommunications production facility dedicated to community media arts\, located in an historic former church at 3361 6th Avenue in north Troy\, NY.  The Sanctuary hosts screening\, production and performance facilities\, training in media production and a meeting space for artists\, activists and independent media makers of all kinds.
URL:https://archive.mediasanctuary.org/event/little-caughnawaga-to-brooklyn-and-back-with-filmmaker-reaghan-tarbell/
LOCATION:The Sanctuary\, 3361 6th Ave\, Troy\, 12180\, United States
CATEGORIES:Screening,Speaker
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20090228T080000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20090228T080000
DTSTAMP:20230310T165632Z
CREATED:20090228T204600Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230310T165632Z
UID:10001032-1235808000-1235808000@archive.mediasanctuary.org
SUMMARY:Free Jazz at the Sanctuary Presents The Splatto Festival Chorus
DESCRIPTION:The Splatto Festival Chorus is a rare assembly that brings together Todd Reynolds (Bang on a Can\, Yo Yo Ma\, and Meredith Mond) on violins/laptop; Ed Mann (Zappa) on percussion/electronics; David Barrett (Banda Elastica\, Splatter Trio) on saxophones; Michael Bisio on bass.  \n\n\n\n \n\n\n\nOne of the 13-part “Free Jazz from the Sanctuary” series recorded live at The Sanctuary for Independent Media – a unique celebration of freedom through creative expression. Co-produced by NY Media Alliance\, the Arts Department at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute\, with support from the New York State Council on the Arts and the New York State Music Fund\, established by the New York State Attorney General at Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors..
URL:https://archive.mediasanctuary.org/event/the-splatto-festival-chorus/
LOCATION:The Sanctuary\, 3361 6th Ave\, Troy\, 12180\, United States
CATEGORIES:Jazz Music,Performance
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20090221T200000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20090221T220000
DTSTAMP:20230310T165831Z
CREATED:20090221T214800Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230310T165831Z
UID:10001031-1235246400-1235253600@archive.mediasanctuary.org
SUMMARY:Free Jazz from the Sanctuary Presents "Somebody Blew Up America" with Amiri Baraka & Rob Brown
DESCRIPTION:The poet icon and political activist Amiri Baraka (1934-2014) will perform with Rob Brown\, one of the New York City downtown music scene’s most in-demand saxophonists\, in a reading of his new book Somebody Blew Up America and Other Poems.  \n\n\n\nOne of the 13-part “Free Jazz from the Sanctuary” series recorded live at The Sanctuary for Independent Media – a unique celebration of freedom through creative expression. Co-produced by NY Media Alliance and the Arts Department at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute with support from the New York State Council on the Arts and the New York State Music Fund\, established by the New York State Attorney General at Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAMIRI BARAKA\, born in 1934 in Newark\, New Jersey\, is the author of more than 40 books of essays\, poems\, drama\, and music history and criticism\, a poet icon and revolutionary political activist who has recited poetry and lectured on cultural and political issues extensively in the USA\, the Caribbean\, Africa\, and Europe. With influences on his work ranging from musical Orishas such as Ornette Coleman\, John Coltrane\, Thelonious Monk\, and Sun Ra to the Cuban Revolution\, Malcolm X and world revolutionary movements\, Baraka is renowned as the founder of the Black Arts Movement in Harlem in the 1960s that became\, though short-lived\, the virtual blueprint for a new American theater aesthetics. The movement and his published and performance work\, such as the signature study on African-American music\, Blues People (1963) and the play Dutchman (1963) practically seeded “the cultural corollary to black nationalism” of that revolutionary American milieu. Other titles range from Selected Poetry of Amiri Baraka/LeRoi Jones (1979)\, to The Music (1987)\, a fascinating collection of poems and monographs on Jazz and Blues authored by Baraka and his wife and poet Amina\, and his boldly sortied essays\, The Essence of Reparations (2003). \n\n\n\nThe Essence of Reparations is Baraka’s first published collection of essays in book form which radically explores what is sure to become a twenty-first century watershed movement of Black peoples to the interrelated issues of racism\, national oppression\, colonialism\, neo-colonialism\, self-determination and national and human liberation\, which he has long been addressing creatively and critically. It has been said that Amiri Baraka is committed to social justice like no other American writer. \n\n\n\nSomebody Blew Up America & Other Poems is Baraka’s first collection of poems published in the Caribbean and includes the title poem that has headlined him in the media in ways rare to poets and authors. The recital of the poem that mattered engaged the poet warrior in a battle royal with the very governor of New Jersey and with a legion of detractors demanding his resignation as the state’s Poet Laureate because of Somebody Blew Up America’s provocatively poetic inquiry (in a few lines of the poem) about who knew beforehand about the New York City World Trade Center bombings in 2001. The poem’s own detonation caused the author’s photo and words to be splashed across the pages of New York’s Amsterdam News and The New York Times and to be featured on CNN–to name a few US city\, state and national and international media. \n\n\n\nBaraka lives in Newark with his wife and author Amina Baraka; they have five children and head up the word-music ensemble\, Blue Ark: The Word Ship and have co-directed Kimako’s Blues People\, the “artspace\,” housed in their theater basement for some fifteen years. He has taught at Yale\, Columbia\, and the State University of New York at Stony Brook. His awards and honors include an Obie\, the American Academy of Arts & Letters award\, the James Weldon Johnson Medal for contributions to the arts\, Rockefeller Foundation and National Endowment for the Arts grants\, Professor Emeritus at the State university of New York at Stony Brook\, and the Poet Laureate of New Jersey. \n\n\n\nROB BROWN was born in Hampton\, VA in 1962. He has been playing the saxophone since the age of 11. He moved to New York City in 1984\, and since then has been actively leading groups or working as a sideman with Matthew Shipp\, William Parker\, Joe Morris\, Whit Dickey. Others that Rob has performed and/or recorded with are Cecil Taylor\, Anthony Braxton\, Denis Charles\, Bill Dixon\, Butch Morris\, Reggie Workman\, Henry Grimes\, Roy Campbell Jr.\, Hamid Drake and Fred Hopkins\, as well as various dance groups\, poets\, and performance artists. He has toured Europe extensively. He is a 2001 CalArts/Alpert/Ucross Residency Prize winner and has received many Meet The Composer Fund grants. In 2006 Rob was awarded a Chamber Music America New Works grant. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nThe Sanctuary for Independent Media is a telecommunications production facility dedicated to community media arts\, located in an historic former church at 3361 6th Avenue in North Troy\, NY. The Sanctuary hosts screening\, production and performance facilities\, training in media production and a meeting space for artists\, activists and independent media makers of all kinds.
URL:https://archive.mediasanctuary.org/event/somebody-blew-up-america-with-amiri-baraka-rob-brown/
LOCATION:The Sanctuary\, 3361 6th Ave\, Troy\, 12180\, United States
CATEGORIES:Jazz Music,Performance,Speaker
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20090214T200000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20090214T220000
DTSTAMP:20230705T165748Z
CREATED:20090214T222500Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230705T165748Z
UID:10001030-1234641600-1234648800@archive.mediasanctuary.org
SUMMARY:Free Jazz at the Sanctuary presents Percussionist William Hooker with Oscar Micheaux's "The Symbol of the Unconquered"
DESCRIPTION:Percussionist William Hooker\, the genre-bending Free Jazz legend\, will improvise a sound track to pioneering African-American filmmaker Oscar Micheaux’s 1920 silent film classic\, The Symbol of the Unconquered\, originally advertised as a chance to come see “the annihilation of the Ku Klux Klan.”  \n\n\n\nCo-sponsored by the Department of the Arts at RPI and the Albany Sonic Arts Collective\, with support from the Presenting program of the New York State Council on the Arts and the New York State Music Fund\, established by the New York State Attorney General at Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAbout William Hooker:\n\n\n\nWilliam Hooker is an artistic whole\, a vast circle of vision and execution.  A body of uninterrupted work beginning in the mid-seventies defines him as one of the most important composers and players in jazz.  As bandleader\, Hooker has fielded ensembles in an incredibly diverse array of configurations.  Each collaboration has brought a serious investigation of his compositional agenda and the science of the modern drum kit.  As a player\, Hooker has long been known for the persuasive power of his relationship with his instrument.  His work is frequently grounded in a narrative context.  Whether set against a silent film or anchored by a poetic theme\, Hooker brings dramatic tension and human warmth to avant-garde jazz.  His ability to find fertile ground for moving music in a variety of settings that obliterate genre distinctions offers a much-needed statement of social optimism in the arts.  A disciplined\, adaptive\, and energetic approach to his medium insures that the oeuvre of William Hooker will continue to grow thicker and richer.  William Hooker has released more than 40 critically acclaimed CDs.  As a composer\, he has received commissions from Meet the Composer\, the NY State Council on the Arts\, Real Art Ways\, Walker Arts Center and others. \n\n\n\nDrummer William Hooker\, who moved to New York in 1974\, remained fundamentally faithful to the aesthetic of free-jazz (despite a passion for exoteric/spiritual themes)\, starting with the double-LP Is Eternal Life (May 1975)\, a set of collaborations with other improvisers (including tenor saxophonists David Murray and David Ware.  Rediscovered by Sonic Youth’s guitarist Thurston Moore for the rock audience\, Hooker returned to a more abstract and free-form kind of creative improvisation in the main works of his prolific middle age: Darkness (November 1992) and The Spirits Return (April 1994) on the live Radiation\, by Hooker’s band featuring Donald Miller (Borbetomagus)\, electronic musician Brian Doherty\, Compo\, Kono; a duet with Moore (Sirius) and an electro acoustic duet with guitarist Elliot Sharp (The Hat) on Shamballa (1993)\, and recordings with Zeena Parkins\, Billy Bang\, and Lee Renaldo (Sonic Youth)\, DJ Olive\, and Christian Marclay.  \n\n\n\nThe albums with Ranaldo were heavily influenced by his screeching sounds\, just like his turbulent wall of noise heavily influenced the albums with Donald Miller.  Armageddon (February 1995) marked a change in direction\, both because the improvisations turned towards a more sophisticated kind of sound painting and because the stylistic palette expanded dramatically\, ranging from a Dadaistic duet with turntabilist Gregor “DJ Olive” Asch to the 16-minute free jam State Secrets for drums and two guitars.  \n\n\n\nAbout the film:\n\n\n\nOscar Micheaux was an independent filmmaker and entrepreneur\, whose earliest and most significant films were responses to D.W. Griffith’s “Birth of a Nation\,” portraying the African-American struggle against white racism and the KKK. These films were “Within Our Gates” (1919) and “Symbol of the Unconquered” (1920)\, both lost for decades and restored in the 1990s.  In “Symbol of the Unconquered\,” the black hero holds his ground and chivalrously protects a lovely light-skinned mulatto neighbor (who is passing as white) as a local gang of thieves and hooded\, torch-carrying Klansmen plots to frighten him\, steal his land and finally\, to kill him.  Though how they do it remains unknown due to a key missing reel\, the amorous “black” couple emerges from the ordeal unscathed and thrilled to discover their shared racial identity.  Laced within these (and many other) Micheaux melodramas are themes of inter- and intra-racial tensions and hatred.  \n\n\n\nOur press release:\n\n\n\nPercussionist William Hooker—a genre-bending free jazz legend whose collaborations range from the Isley Brothers to Sonic Youth—will improvise a live soundtrack to this recently-rediscovered 1920 silent film by pioneering African-American filmmaker Oscar Micheaux\, originally advertised as a chance to come see “the annihilation of the Ku Klux Klan.”  \n\n\n\nWilliam Hooker biography: (by Nathan Bush\, from www.AllMusic.com) Working on the periphery of the jazz world since he moved to New York in 1974\, William Hooker’s kinetically charged\, free-time drumming style and spoken word poetry have been matched with some of the finest improvising talent across generations and stylistic boundaries. From solo explorations to collaborations with Billy Bang\, Lee Ranaldo\, and DJ Olive\, Hooker’s music has surfaced on a smattering of independently minded record labels aiming to document some of the most distinctive musicians working this indefinable terrain. Born in New Britain\, CT\, on June 18\, 1946\, William Hooker initially approached the drum kit with reluctance. Hesitancy was soon replaced by commitment\, however\, and at age 12\, he was getting his first taste of performing\, supporting the Isley Brothers\, Dionne Warwick\, and Gary “U.S.” Bonds as a member of the Flames.  \n\n\n\nIn college\, he enrolled in a course on 20th Century Composers\, writing a paper on the atonal music of Alban Berg. Combined with an independent study of the jazz albums on Blue Note Records\, the drummer was ensured a unique music education. Local musicians like the tenor saxophonist Al Pitts and bassist Bob Snell provided more practical tutelage.  \n\n\n\nHooker eventually made a trek out to the West Coast with his good friend Tyrone Lampkin (future drummer for Parliament/Funkadelic)\, an eye-opening experience for the young musician. While he was disappointed by the lack of ability on the jazz scene as a whole\, the radical consciousness of the period led to his initial attempts at “free” playing. Hooker moved back to Hartford\, CT\, where he lived briefly before heading to New York in 1974.  \n\n\n\nIn his new home\, the drummer quickly established himself amongst the city’s jazz\, loft scene. The new jazz of Delmark and Actuel BYG began replacing the Blue Note Records in his collection. Unable to find a label for himself\, Hooker established the non-profit Reality Unit Concepts to fund his debut\, 1978’s Is Eternal Life\, a collection of solo\, duo\, and trio performances with prominent tenor saxophonists David Murray and David S. Ware and altoist Jemeel Moondoc. Hooker spent much of the 1980s hard at work\, performing with a number of his own ensembles. Rather than establishing a regular unit\, the drummer drew from a community of musicians that included trumpeter Lewis Barnes\, saxophonists Blaise Siwula and Charles Compo\, pianist Mark Hennen\, and guitarist Jesse Henry. Sadly\, little of the music he made during the decade found its way onto records.  \n\n\n\nIt wasn’t until the early ’90s that more outlets became available. Hooker’s work emerged on independent labels like Knitting Factory\, Silkheart\, and Homestead. The drummer began receiving increasing attention from the underground rock sector. Fans and artists of post-punk and indie rock were turning their ear toward experimental and improvised music\, including the sort of free jazz Hooker performed. Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore\, a longtime admirer of the genre\, released the drummer’s Subconscious album (1994) on his Ecstatic Peace label.  \n\n\n\nHooker soon began performing with younger musicians beyond the immediate scope of jazz (oftentimes at Knitting Factory jams). Shamballa (1993) pits Hooker’s fiery drumming against the unkempt feedback bursts of Moore and the calculated guitar electronics of Elliot Sharp. Envisioning (1994) captures an improv date with Sonic Youth’s Lee Ranaldo that includes spoken word segments. The duo was joined by the ecstatic electric harp work of Zeena Parkins for the date that produced 1995’s the Gift of Tongues. Hooker also brought electronics into his music\, collaborating with Brian Doherty\, Doug Walker\, and Gert-Jan Prins\, and turntablists DJ Olive (on 1995’s Armageddon and 1997’s Mindfulness) and Christian Marclay (2000’s Bouquet).  \n\n\n\nOscar Micheaux biography: (by Joseph Worrell\, from www.SilentEra.com) Writer\, producer and director\, Oscar Micheaux is the father of Afro-American cinema. The most prolific Afro-American filmmaker of the silent era\, Micheaux produced more than 40 films between 1919 and 1940\, and was active as a novelist until his death. Quaintly referred to as the “Cecil B. De Mille of Race Movies\,” Micheaux was a controversial figure during his lifetime. Like today’s premier Afro-American director Spike Lee\, Micheaux and his films were publicly misunderstood.  \n\n\n\nThe grandson of a slave\, and the fifth of 11 children\, Micheaux was born in Metropolis\, Illinois on January 2\, 1884. He worked at various jobs\, a coal miner\, a stockyards worker and a Pullman porter\, before becoming a homesteader and novelist in Gregory\, South Dakota\, in the 1910s. Failing to get his novel\, The Homesteader\, made into a film through the Lincoln Motion Picture Company\, Micheaux established his own motion picture and book publishing company while studying the techniques of film production. The Micheaux Film and Book Publishing Corporation\, founded 1918 in Chicago\, would soon be the most prolific of all black-owned independent film companies.  \n\n\n\nThe Homesteader (1919) with Charles D. Lucas\, Evelyn Preer and Iris Hall was his first entry in the race-film industry. A fledging industry known as “race movies\,” existed in the United States from 1910 to the end of World War II. Made predominantly by Blacks (especially in the 1920s) for black audiences\, these independent films emerged from a direct response to Jim Crow theaters and an exclusionary Hollywood system. They were a part of the Afro-American community’s attempts in countering and providing alternative images to the stereotypes so prevalent in mainstream culture. The William D. Foster Film Company\, actor and cofounder Nobel Johnson’s Lincoln Motion Picture\, The Richard F. Norman Company of Florida (The Flying Ace\, 1926)\, and the Philadelphia-based Colored Players Film Corp. (The Scar of Shame\, 1929) were other important race-film producers.  \n\n\n\nProduced outside the Hollywood system\, Micheaux’s race cinema cannot be viewed as commercial entertainment. An appreciation of them must take Afro-American history and the prevailing ideology into context. Micheaux and other black filmmakers experienced manifold financial\, technical and systemic obstacles in producing and distributing their films. He produced his films on low ‘shoestring’ budgets and marketed them himself peddling and reediting a single print from city to city for exhibitors\, regional censorship boards and theatre owners. Always in search for new markets\, Micheaux traveled to Europe and South America. An enterprising showman\, Micheaux used this forte in persuading hesitant Southern theater owners to screen his films in segregated cinemas or at blacks-only “midnight ramble” showings. While on promotional tours\, he would procure financial backers for upcoming projects\, encourage black businessmen to invest in black theaters and scout for fresh screen talent. Micheaux Productions went bankrupt in 1928\, reincorporated in 1930\, going into final receivership in 1940.  \n\n\n\nLike D.W. Griffith\, Cecil B. DeMille and John Ford\, Micheaux also created his own star system/stock company of featured players. Evelyn Preer\, a talented dramatic actress with the Lafayette Theatre Players Company\, was his first leading lady. She starred in nine Micheaux features and was\, in addition\, a popular musical comedy and race recording artist. Lawrence Chenault\, Lorenzo Tucker (dubbed the “black Rudolph Valentino”)\, Clarence Brooks\, Ethel Moses\, Andrew Bishop (a regular villain)\, Shingzie Howard\, Alec Lovejoy\, Katherine Noisette\, Laura Bowman and his statuesque wife\, Alice B. Russell\, were other Micheaux regulars. Attractive and assertive personalities\, they were detached from the Afro-American menial stereotypes found in Hollywood films. Biographical details about Micheaux players remain obscure.  \n\n\n\nMicheaux\, a maverick and a social activist\, did not hesitate in confronting issues that agitated both black and white audiences. His films interrogated the value systems of both communities in a variety of controversial subjects\, causing problems with the press and state censors in the process. In essence\, Micheaux’s films represented the emergence of a radical black voice in the mass media. Tales of mixed-race relationships or miscegenation was his favorite theme in critiques of ‘passing\,’ assimilation and racial betrayal. His second feature\, Within Our Gates (1920)\, was a rebuttal to D.W. Griffith’s Ku Klux Klan propaganda of The Birth of a Nation (1915). Micheaux’s multiple subplots revolve around the travails of heroine Sylvia Landry (Evelyn Preer) and her attempt to raise money from a wealthy Boston patroness to save a Southern black school.  \n\n\n\nWithin Our Gates remains a poignant indictment of a Southern lynching and the attempted rape of the mixed race heroine by a white molester who turns out to be her father. Here\, Micheaux counters and exposes the trajectory contradictions of Klan vigilantism and White America’s fears of miscegenation. His films reflected his racial ‘uplift’ didacticism and were part of his attempts to raise social consciousness while probing the black community’s values in a realistic\, if not always ‘positive’ light.  \n\n\n\nBody and Soul (1925) featured Paul Robeson in his screen debut. Robeson plays a dual role of a ‘good’ twin brother and a bogus ‘preacher’ who preys on a small community’s religious fervor and then attempts to rape the heroine Julia Theresa Russell (Micheaux’s future sister-in-law). The Afro-American press\, sometimes misguided\, criticized him for representing corruption in the black clergy (a sensitive area) and ‘exploiting’ black urban life\, crime and sexuality in his films. The film ran into trouble with New York censors. The censored and truncated print of Body and Soul\, unfortunately\, is all that survives of Micheaux’s original intentions.  \n\n\n\nForgotten for many years\, most of Micheaux’s films were mislaid or destroyed. The Homesteader (1919)\, The Brute (1920)\, The Gunsaulus Mystery (1921)\, Birthright (1924)\, The House Behind the Cedars (1925)\, The Conjure Woman (1926)\, The Spider’s Web (1927)\, The Millionaire (1927)\, The Wages of Sin (1928) are among his presumed lost silent films. A Daughter of the Congo (1930)\, a part-talkie\, and Easy Street (1930) are also presumed lost. The Library of Congress holds a 16mm reduction print of The Exile (1931)\, his first full-length sound feature. Considered lost for decades\, Within Our Gates (La Negra) was discovered in Madrid’s Filmoteca Espanol in 1990.  \n\n\n\nThe Library of Congress later restored and retranslated its subtitles. Within Our Gates\, The Symbol of the Unconquered (1920) discovered in a Belgian archive\, and Body and Soul (restored by George Eastman House) are Micheaux’s earliest surviving features. Only Within Our Gates (1920) and Body and Soul (1925) are available on VHS and DVD home video. His equally rare sound films\, Veiled Aristocrats (1932)\, The Girl from Chicago (1932)\, Murder in Harlem (1935)\, God’s Stepchildren (1937)\, Swing! (1938) and Lying Lips (1939) are currently available.  \n\n\n\nDifficult to situate in history\, it was convenient to ignore race filmmaking as an aesthetic or political practice. Today\, Micheaux and his contemporaries (The R.F. Norman Company and The Colored Players Corporation) are experiencing a renaissance of critical study and appreciation. The recent efforts of archivists Pearl Bowser\, Jane Gaines and J. Ronald Green have ensured that their legacy is finally being recognized as a worthy contribution to American cinema. Micheaux died on March 25\, 1951 in Charlotte\, North Carolina\, of heart disease. In 1987\, he was honored with a star on Hollywood Boulevard. He remains a major film stylist and politico.  \n\n\n\nPlot summary for The Symbol of the Unconquered: (by Hans J. Wollstein\, from www.allmovie.com) This early-black cinema silent was produced and directed by the era’s most prolific African-American filmmaker Oscar Micheaux. Iris Hall played Evon Mason\, “a beautiful Negress” travelling West to inspect her inheritance\, a gold mine. She is thrown out of the area’s only hotel but is cared for by a black prospector (Lawrence Chenault)\, whose life she later saves. Racism rarely reared its ugly head in Micheaux’s films\, at least not directly. It is therefore noteworthy that Symbol of the Unconquered contains a scene wherein the protagonist is barred from an all-white hotel\, a situation all too familiar to the film’s African-American target audience. Symbol of the Unconquered also featured Walker Thompson\, E.G. Tatum\, Jim Burris\, Mattie Wilkes\, and Leigh Whipper. The latter\, the first black member of Actors Equity and the founder of the Negro Actors Guild\, was a highly regarded Broadway actor whose best remembered screen role was that of Crooks in Lewis Milestone’s film “Of Mice and Men.”
URL:https://archive.mediasanctuary.org/event/oscar-micheauxs-the-symbol-of-the-unconquered-with-percussionist-william-hooker/
LOCATION:The Sanctuary\, 3361 6th Ave\, Troy\, 12180\, United States
CATEGORIES:Jazz Music,Performance,Screening
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20081219T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20081219T200000
DTSTAMP:20230705T163619Z
CREATED:20081219T164500Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230705T163619Z
UID:10000869-1229709600-1229716800@archive.mediasanctuary.org
SUMMARY:"Crime Against Humanity" with Poet and Activist Michael Anthony Reyes Benavides
DESCRIPTION:A play by poet and activist Michael Anthony Reyes Benavides and former Puerto Rican Political Prisoner Luis Rosa\, directed by Michael Anthony Reyes Benavides. Imagine 27 years of your life living in a space 6 feet by 9 feet. Imagine being confined in isolation with no human contact. Imagine the shakedowns\, the strip searches\, and the complete disregard for your humanity. Crime Against Humanity is a play based on the real-life experiences of fourteen Puerto Rican political prisoners who spent more than two decades in prisons for seditious conspiracy—two of whom are still incarcerated. Crime Against Humanity brings us into the U.S. prison system in a way no other play has\, focusing on the politically motivated use of isolation\, selective punishment\, sensory deprivation\, and disproportionate sentences. Crime Against Humanity is produced by the National Boricua Human Rights Network and Batey Urbano. These two organizations hope to use this performance piece to raise consciousness and gain support for the campaign to free the remaining Puerto Rican political prisoners. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nImagine 27 years of your life living in a space 6 feet by 9 feet. Imagine being confined in isolation with no human contact. Imagine the shakedowns\, the strip searches and the complete disregard for your humanity. Crime Against Humanity is a play based on the real life experiences of fourteen Puerto Rican political prisoners who spent more than two decades in prisons for seditious conspiracy—two of whom are still incarcerated. Crime Against Humanity brings us into the U.S. prison system in a way no other play has\, focusing on the politically motivated use of isolation\, selective punishment\, sensory deprivation and disproportionate sentences. \n\n\n\nWritten by poet and activist Michael Anthony Reyes Benavides and former Puerto Rican political prisoner Luis Rosa\, the play confronts the physical and mental torture these prisoners endured for more than 27 years. We gaze into their cell and experience the loss of parents\, the transition of children into adulthood and feel the physical brutality and torture of a government out to make an example of them. We see them as they refuse to be victimized and objectified\, confronting their hardships and adversities while maintaining their dignity\, and upholding their humanity. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nReyes Benavides spent hours interviewing the former Puerto Rican political prisoners\, and through extensive written correspondence\, the two remaining political prisoners Oscar López Rivera and Carlos Alberto Torres. Through the play\, we hear from their own mouths\, their own words\, exactly what it means to be a political prisoner in the United States. \n\n\n\nCrime Against Humanity is produced by the National Boricua Human Rights Network and Batey Urbano. These two organizations hope to use this performance piece to raise consciousness and gain support for the campaign to free the remaining Puerto Rican political prisoners. \n\n\n\n“By using theater as a tool of resistance\, we hope to reach out to those sectors that are often ignored by traditional activist outreach. We want our families\, our brothers and sisters and our community to come out and see what these prisoners endured\, many of them for almost 20 years\, two of them for more than 27″ (author and director Reyes Benavides). \n\n\n\nCrime Against Humanity will make stops in numerous other U.S. cities\, including New York\, Philadelphia\, Cleveland\, Hartford\, Washington D.C.\, Boston\, San Francisco\, and Los Angeles. The production has plans to tour throughout Puerto Rico in the future as well.
URL:https://archive.mediasanctuary.org/event/crime-against-humanity-with-poet-and-activist-michael-anthony-reyes-benavides/
LOCATION:The Sanctuary\, 3361 6th Ave\, Troy\, 12180\, United States
CATEGORIES:Performance
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20081214T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20081214T160000
DTSTAMP:20230705T162736Z
CREATED:20081214T164000Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230705T162736Z
UID:10000866-1229256000-1229270400@archive.mediasanctuary.org
SUMMARY:Be The Media! Workshop: Holiday Animation
DESCRIPTION:The Sanctuary Youth Media Team hosts yet another animation whirlwind! Geared specifically for youth (18 & under)\, this workshop teaches the skills and techniques behind stop motion animation while encouraging spontaneous creativity and fun. Participants will work in groups to brainstorm and create short animated pieces that will be uploaded to the web for the world to see. Led by the Sanctuary Youth Media Team.
URL:https://archive.mediasanctuary.org/event/be-the-media-workshop-holiday-animation/
LOCATION:The Sanctuary\, 3361 6th Ave\, Troy\, 12180\, United States
CATEGORIES:Workshop
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20081213T200000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20081213T220000
DTSTAMP:20230705T161952Z
CREATED:20081213T163600Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230705T161952Z
UID:10000865-1229198400-1229205600@archive.mediasanctuary.org
SUMMARY:Ted Daniel’s International Brass & Membrane Corps
DESCRIPTION:The International Brass & Membrane Corps features Newman Taylor-Baker on drums\, Charles Burham on violin\, Joe Daly on tuba\, and Ted Daniel on assorted brass. Ted began his professional career playing local gigs with his childhood friend\, the legendary guitarist Sonny Sharrock. Since then he has played and recorded with Archie Shepp\, Dewey Redman\, Andrew Cyrille\, Sam Rivers\, Billy Bang\, Henry Threadgill\, and many other jazz greats.  His latest recording\, “Golden Atoms\,” has just been released on Soul Note.
URL:https://archive.mediasanctuary.org/event/ted-daniels-international-brass-membrane-corps/
LOCATION:The Sanctuary\, 3361 6th Ave\, Troy\, 12180\, United States
CATEGORIES:Jazz Music,Performance
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20081207T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20081207T160000
DTSTAMP:20230705T161552Z
CREATED:20081207T163100Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230705T161552Z
UID:10000862-1228651200-1228665600@archive.mediasanctuary.org
SUMMARY:Be The Media! Workshop with Andrew Lynn and Special Guests: Digital Media Labs
DESCRIPTION:Digital Media Labs (DML) are all ages (14+) monthly workshops introduced by popular demand. Whether you are working on a documentary\, making a music video\, or learning to blog and post videos on the Internet\, these sessions will benefit you. Bring your own digital media projects and ideas\, or just commune and share skills with other makers. DML will focus on media production\, web publishing (HTML & blogging)\, digital imaging\, and video editing. Each session will highlight certain skills\, but will not be limited by any specific assignments or software applications. Participants will have access to Sanctuary computers and camcorders during lab hours.
URL:https://archive.mediasanctuary.org/event/be-the-media-workshop-with-andrew-lynn-and-special-guests-digital-media-labs-3/
LOCATION:The Sanctuary\, 3361 6th Ave\, Troy\, 12180\, United States
CATEGORIES:Workshop
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20081206T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20081206T200000
DTSTAMP:20230705T161324Z
CREATED:20081206T162800Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230705T161324Z
UID:10000861-1228586400-1228593600@archive.mediasanctuary.org
SUMMARY:"I Need That Record" with Filmmaker Brendan Toller
DESCRIPTION:I Need that Record (2008)  is a documentary feature examining why more than 3\,000 independent record stores have closed across the U.S. in the past decade. Greedy record labels\, media consolidation\, homogenized radio\, big box stores\, e-commerce\, shoddy “stars” pushed by big money\, and the digital revolution all pose threats to the very well-being of our favorite record stores. Will these stores die? Will they survive? The filmmaker will lead a discussion following the screening. \n\n\n\nToller\, who researched the film for two years and traveled all over the U.S. talking to record store owners\, musicians and music lovers\, comments that “[r]ecord stores serve as important community spaces providing foundations for new musical and artistic scenes and movements\,” noting also the role of record stores as seedbeds for independent thought and meeting places for people of all kinds. I Need That Record! is a compelling tribute to this endangered phenomenon. \n\n\n\nI Need That Record! features interviews with Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth)\, Ian Mackaye (Dischord Records Fugazi/Minor Threat). activist/author Noam Chomsky\, Mike Watt (The Minutemen)\, Lenny Kaye (the Patti Smith Group)\, Chris Frantz (Talking Heads/Tom Tom Club)\, guitar composer Glenn Branca\, Patterson Hood (Drive-By Truckers)\, Pat Carney (Black Keys)\, punk author Legs McNeil\, rock photographer Bob Gruen\, BP Helium (Of Montreal)\, and the owners and employees of record stores in NYC\, Boston\, DC\, Cleveland\, Detroit\, Ann Arbor\, Chicago\, Minneapolis\, Memphis\, Nashville\, and Los Angeles. \n\n\n\nGreedy record labels\, media consolidation\, homogenized radio\, big box stores\, e-commerce\, shoddy “stars” pushed by big money\, and the digital revolution are all real challenges to independent record stores. I Need That Record! asks: Will these stores die? Will they survive? \n\n\n\nThe film has attracted buzz on Pitchfork\, The Onion A/V Club\, PunkNews\, Wiretap Magazine\, Brooklyn Vegan\, The Stranger and more.
URL:https://archive.mediasanctuary.org/event/i-need-that-record-with-filmmaker-brendan-toller/
LOCATION:The Sanctuary\, 3361 6th Ave\, Troy\, 12180\, United States
CATEGORIES:Panel Discussion,Screening
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20081203T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20081203T200000
DTSTAMP:20230705T161046Z
CREATED:20081203T162300Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230705T161046Z
UID:10000859-1228327200-1228334400@archive.mediasanctuary.org
SUMMARY:Frank Lopez Presents Submedia and Lost Film Festival: Guerilla Media Screening with "Ground Noise and Static"
DESCRIPTION:Video and web artist and all-around culture jammer Frank Lopez of subMedia.TV visits us from Vancouver\, BC!  His work includes the post- Katrina music video George Bush Don’t Like Black People (downloaded over one million times and counting) and the vlog It’s the End of the World as We Know It and I Feel Fine (which highlighted the Wafaa Bilal incident last spring).  He’ll be presenting Ground Noise & Static\, a powerful documentary filmed in the midst of the protests at last summer’s 2008 political conventions.  \n\n\n\nGround Noise & Static is a joint effort of Franklin López of subMedia.TV andPepperSpray Productions. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAbout Ground Noise & Static \n\n\n\nIn November\, one or the other of the corporate candidates willwin\, and then\, as always\, it will be what the people do\, not thepoliticians\, that counts. \n\n\n\nGround Noise & Static is a video report on the protests that occurred in connection with the Democrat and Republican National Conventions\, Ground Noise & Static is a manifesto. We went to Denver and St. Paul to take the pulse of the movement. Corporate media would cover the platitudes and posturing of the politicians\, we were interested in something else\, a story hidden in plain sight\, captured in the now-classic street chant\, “This is what democracy looks like.”
URL:https://archive.mediasanctuary.org/event/frank-lopez-presents-submedia-and-lost-film-festival-guerilla-media-screening-with-ground-noise-and-static/
LOCATION:The Sanctuary\, 3361 6th Ave\, Troy\, 12180\, United States
CATEGORIES:Panel Discussion,Workshop
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20081130T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20081130T160000
DTSTAMP:20230705T160418Z
CREATED:20081130T155100Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230705T160418Z
UID:10000858-1228046400-1228060800@archive.mediasanctuary.org
SUMMARY:Be The Media! Workshop with Jim de Seve: Digital Media Labs- Beyond the Talking Head
DESCRIPTION:Digital Media Labs (DML) are all ages (14+) monthly workshops introduced by popular demand. Whether you are working on a documentary\, making a music video\, or learning to blog and post video to the Internet\, these sessions will benefit you. Bring your own digital media projects and ideas\, or just commune and share skills with other makers. DML will focus on media production\, web publishing (html & blogging)\, digital imaging\, and video editing. Each session will highlight certain skills\, but will not be limited by any specific assignments or software applications. Participants will have access to Sanctuary computers and camcorders during lab hours.
URL:https://archive.mediasanctuary.org/event/be-the-media-workshop-with-jim-de-seve-digital-media-labs-beyond-the-talking-head/
LOCATION:The Sanctuary\, 3361 6th Ave\, Troy\, 12180\, United States
CATEGORIES:Workshop
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20081123T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20081123T160000
DTSTAMP:20230705T160241Z
CREATED:20081123T154900Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230705T160241Z
UID:10000857-1227441600-1227456000@archive.mediasanctuary.org
SUMMARY:Be The Media! Workshop: Beyond the Talking Head
DESCRIPTION:For this workshop\, the Sanctuary teams up with SACC TV Channel 16 – Schenectady’s public access television stations. Learn the skills and tricks of creating dynamic video pieces for television that go beyond “talking head” interviews. Learn about collecting b-roll\, covering edits\, and adding meaning and illustration to your interviews and documentary works. Get in touch with your creative side\, as the instructor helps you explore other genres and techniques to drive your message home. \n\n\n\nInstructor: Jim De SeveJim De Seve is a local documentary maker and media producer. In addition to his own acclaimed documentary work\, he has shot and produced videos for Nickelodeon\, MTV\, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden and the American Museum of Natural History. Jim currently teaches documentary production at Union College.
URL:https://archive.mediasanctuary.org/event/be-the-media-workshop-beyond-the-talking-head/
LOCATION:The Sanctuary\, 3361 6th Ave\, Troy\, 12180\, United States
CATEGORIES:Workshop
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20081122T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20081122T210000
DTSTAMP:20230705T160010Z
CREATED:20081122T154400Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230705T160010Z
UID:10001028-1227380400-1227387600@archive.mediasanctuary.org
SUMMARY:Free Jazz from the Sanctuary presents   The Ras Ensemble
DESCRIPTION:Ras Moshe has been playing in various groups throughout New York City for almost 20 years\, with William Hooker\, Sabir Mateen\, Steve Swell\, Marc Edwards and others. His style has been compared to post-1965 John Coltrane and Frank Wright\, among others. Born and raised in New York\, and with a family history rich in the jazz tradition\, Ras has uniquely positioned himself to bring the lineage of free jazz into the present day.  \n\n\n\nLocal presentation of Ras Moshe is co-sponsored by the Arts Department at RPI and supported by the New York State Council on the Arts and the New York State Music Fund. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPress Release\n\n\n\nSaxophonist Ras Moshe is on the forefront of musicians keeping avant garde jazz urgent and vital. Moshe comes blessed with a jazz pedigree: his grandfather played with Lucky Millinder\, Earl Bostic\, Ella Fitzgerald\, and many others\, and his father worked with Carlos Garnett\, Stanley Cowell\, and other musicians in the new music scene in Brooklyn. As a result Moshe is well versed in jazz’s past\, but he uses his knowledge to envision the future. And he’s bringing as many musicians with him as he can: Moshe is founder of Music Now!\, a roving festival that regularly produces some of New York City’s most exciting concerts. \n\n\n\nRas Moshe has been playing in various groups throughout New York City for almost twenty years. He is a veteran of the groups of such leaders as William Hooker\, Sabir Mateen\, Steve Swell and Marc Edwards. His style has been compared to post-1965 John Coltrane and Frank Wright\, among others. Born and raised in New York\, and with a family history rich in the jazz tradition\, Moshe has uniquely positioned himself to bring the lineage of free jazz into the present day. \n\n\n\nRas has been writing and reciting poetry since childhood. He believes in the positive effect the new music will have on social and personal change. His new release is “Transcendence” on KMB Jazz.
URL:https://archive.mediasanctuary.org/event/ras-moshe/
LOCATION:The Sanctuary\, 3361 6th Ave\, Troy\, 12180\, United States
CATEGORIES:Jazz Music,Performance
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20081116T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20081116T210000
DTSTAMP:20230705T155128Z
CREATED:20221011T195316Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230705T155128Z
UID:10001635-1226858400-1226869200@archive.mediasanctuary.org
SUMMARY:Eliza Gilkyson and Robert Jensen
DESCRIPTION:Eliza Gilkyson has built a reputation as one of the most original and influential folk artists of our time over the course of 13 albums (most recently\, Beautiful World on Red House Records). Robert Jensen\, whose book All My Bones Shake: Radical Politics in the Prophetic Voice is forthcoming on Soft Skull Press\, is a professor of journalism at the University of Texas at Austin who has written extensively about foreign policy and U.S. power\, as well as race and gender. After a successful series of community events in Austin to raise these crucial issues\, the two are performing and speaking in a few cities this year.  \n\n\n\nCo-sponsored by Women Against War and supported by the New York State Council on the Arts. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPress Release\n\n\n\nEliza Gilkyson is a third-generation musician whose sociopolitical album “Land of Milk and Honey” was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2004. Daughter of successful songwriter Terry Gilkyson\, Eliza recently appeared on National Public Radio\, Austin City Limits\, and Air America Radio\, and has recorded with folk greats such as Patty Griffin\, Mary Chapin Carpenter\, and Iris DeMent. Eliza was inducted into the Austin Music Hall of Fame\, placing her next to Willie Nelson\, Townes Van Zandt\, Nanci Griffith\, and many others. Recently\, she was awarded three Austin Music Awards and four Folk Alliance Music Awards. \n\n\n\nGilkyson’s new CD “Beautiful World” has received rave reviews (“lush and passionate…edgy lyrics with piercing imagery\,” according to the NY Times). The first studio album since her award-winning 2005 release “Paradise Hotel\,” it is a radio-friendly collection of songs\, celebrating the beauty that shines amidst these dark days of war and corruption. \n\n\n\nOver the course of 13 albums\, Eliza Gilkyson has built a reputation as one of the most original and influential folk artists of our time. Robert Jensen is an activist and professor of journalism at the University of Texas at Austin who has written extensively about foreign policy and U.S. power\, as well as race and gender. In their most recent work\, both are confronting difficult questions about justice and sustainability. After a successful series of community events in Austin to raise these crucial issues\, the two are performing and speaking in a few cities this year–including Troy\, NY! \n\n\n\nThe seeds for “Beautiful World” sprang from a monthly gathering that Eliza and Robert hosted in 2007 with Presbyterian minister Jim Rigby called “Last Sunday.” Held at various venues around Austin\, these community forums covered a broad range of topics\, including politics\, art\, spirituality and the environment. \n\n\n\n“We wanted to provide a place to discuss\, grieve and mull over our future without having a need for an immediate solution other than the comfort of each other’s presence\,” Eliza says. “The first song I wrote for it was ‘Great Correction\,’ which I wrote as a way to console myself as I grieve the devastation of the human and natural world.” \n\n\n\nThis anthemic song spurred a whole cycle of tunes about perseverance and hope for a more beautiful world. \n\n\n\nRobert Jensen’s forthcoming book is “All My Bones Shake: Radical Politics in the Prophetic Voice.” He is an associate professor in the School of Journalism and director of the Senior Fellows Honors Program of the College of Communication at the University of Texas at Austin. Jensen joined the UT faculty in 1992 after completing his Ph.D. in media ethics and law in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Minnesota. Prior to his academic career\, he worked as a professional journalist for a decade. \n\n\n\nAt UT\, Jensen teaches courses in media law\, ethics\, and politics. In his research\, Jensen draws on a variety of critical approaches to media and power. Much of his work has focused on pornography and the radical feminist critique of sexuality and men’s violence\, and he also has addressed questions of race through a critique of white privilege and institutionalized racism. In addition to teaching and research\, Jensen writes for popular media\, both alternative and mainstream. His opinion and analytic pieces on such subjects as foreign policy\, politics\, and race have appeared in papers around the country. \n\n\n\nJensen’s latest book\, “All My Bones Shake: Radical Politics in the Prophetic Voice\,” will be published in 2009 by Soft Skull Press. \n\n\n\nHe also is the author of “Getting Off: Pornography and the End of Masculinity” (South End Press\, 2007); “The Heart of Whiteness: Confronting Race\, Racism and White Privilege” (City Lights\, 2005); “Citizens of the Empire: The Struggle to Claim Our Humanity” (City Lights\, 2004); and “Writing Dissent: Taking Radical Ideas from the Margins to the Mainstream” (Peter Lang\, 2001); co-author with Gail Dines and Ann Russo of “Pornography: The Production and Consumption of Inequality” (Routledge\, 1998); and co-editor with David S. Allen of “Freeing the First Amendment: Critical Perspectives on Freedom of Expression” (New York University Press\, 1995).
URL:https://archive.mediasanctuary.org/event/eliza-gilkyson-and-robert-jensen/
LOCATION:The Sanctuary\, 3361 6th Ave\, Troy\, 12180\, United States
CATEGORIES:Folk Music,Performance
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20081115T170000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20081115T210000
DTSTAMP:20220415T184804Z
CREATED:20081114T150700Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20220415T184804Z
UID:10001025-1226768400-1226782800@archive.mediasanctuary.org
SUMMARY:2nd Annual Buy Local Bash!
DESCRIPTION:Buy Local Movement Important to Turning Economy Positive: Noted Entrepreneur and Author Laury Hammel Headlines and Talented Local Musicians Ben Karis-Nix and Ashley Pond to Perform at 2nd Annual Buy Local Bash! Shop ‘til you drop at your local\, independently owned businesses\, then join Capital District Local First to celebrate being local from 6-9pm. Local musicians\, local food and local independent businesses come together to show off all the fabulous things the Capital District has to offer. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAbout the Event:\n\n\n\nThe public is invited to sample local foods\, enjoy local music and shop for the holidays at the Buy Local Bash from 5 to 9 PM on Saturday\, November 15th. The event will take place at the Sanctuary for Independent Media\, 3361 6th Avenue\, Troy. Special guest speaker will be Laury Hammel\, noted entrepreneur and author\, who will discuss the linkage between building a strong local economy and the area’s ability to do business in a down economy. Hammel’s talk will take place at 6 PM. \n\n\n\nParticipating local\, independent businesses include the Honest Weight Food Co-op\, Brown’s Brewing Company\, The Bookhouse of Stuyvesant Plaza\, Roots and Wisdom\, Defazio’s Imports\, Le Marche Vert\, Tosca\, The Spinning Seed\, The Flower Girl\, Alabu Soaps\, The Placid Baker\, Java Jazz Cafe\, and more than a dozen other businesses from around the Capital District. In addition to samples of local products\, attendees are eligible to win gift certificates\, gift baskets\, movie tickets\, locally brewed beer\, and other door prizes. \n\n\n\nAccording to Karisa Centanni\, Honest Weight’s Education Coordinator\, “Laury Hammel’s talk will focus on the many advantages that accrue to communities when business is conducted between neighbors. When money stays in a local economy\, it is a strong bulwark against the ravages of a global economy gone badly. Given the current recession\, Hammel’s talk will provide important insights about how each of us by our personal buying decisions can help assure that our little corner of the world stays as healthy as possible.” \n\n\n\nAbout Laury Hammel\n\n\n\nThe evening’s highlight will be a talk by Laury Hammel\, author of “Growing Local Value – How to Build Business Partnerships that Strengthen Your Community.” Hammel founded and grew The Longfellow Clubs\, currently the 54th largest health club business in the US\, with $16 million in revenues. He is a recognized industry leader in innovative business practices\, social responsibility and community service. Among his other accomplishments\, Hammel is a founder of New England Businesses for Social Responsibility (NEBSR); Business for Social Responsibility (BSR)\, a national organization; the Sustainable Business Network of Greater Boston (SBN); and the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE). Hammel has also been very active in the areas of energy conservation and environmentalism\, with a particular interest in the sustainability of businesses. \n\n\n\nParticipating Local Musicians\n\n\n\nLocal musicians at the Buy Local Bash will include Ashley Pond\, Ben Karis-Nix and Amanda Rogers. Pond\, who released her debut album\, Dala\, in 2007\, is a gifted singer/songwriter/guitarist who has taken the capital region of New York by storm. Metroland Magazine named Ashley Pond “Best New Solo Artist” in their Best of 2007 issue and followed up with a cover story. In addition\, The Times Union\, interviewed Pond and gave her a spot in their top 10 local records of 2007. Ben Karis-Nix recently released his new solo EP\, We Are Giants Now. Ben’s recordings\, performances\, and songwriting have earned him features on the CW show “One Tree Hill\,” MTV’s “Road Rules” and “Real World\, “NPR’s “Weekend Edition\,” and MySpace Compilation Vol. 1. Similarly talented\, Amanda Rogers has opened for some of the most acclaimed rock\, emo\, and jam bands in the industry. She recently released an EP containing new songs and covers of songs by Radiohead and At The Drive-In\, played numerous shows in the States and two more tours in Europe. In 2008\, she headlined another European tour with friends “The Sketchy Indians” backing her up in support of her highly anticipated album Heartwood. \n\n\n\nAbout Capital District Local First:\n\n\n\nCapital District Local First is a nonprofit organization located in New York State’s Capital District. We work to promote the locally owned\, independent business community of the area. We believe that the locally owned\, independent business community plays a vital role in enhancing the diversity\, social fairness\, community spirit\, financial vitality\, and environmental health of the region.
URL:https://archive.mediasanctuary.org/event/2nd-annual-buy-local-bash/
LOCATION:The Sanctuary\, 3361 6th Ave\, Troy\, 12180\, United States
CATEGORIES:Community Event,Performance,Speaker
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20081114T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20081114T200000
DTSTAMP:20230705T154534Z
CREATED:20081114T161600Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230705T154534Z
UID:10000856-1226685600-1226692800@archive.mediasanctuary.org
SUMMARY:"Phantom of the Opera" with Alloy Orchestra
DESCRIPTION:An unusual combination of found percussion and state-of-the-art electronics gives the Alloy Orchestra the ability to create any sound imaginable as they perform live accompaniment to classic silent films. Working with an outrageous assemblage of peculiar objects\, they thrash and grind soulful music from unlikely sources. They’ll be performing the soundtrack to Rupert Jillian’s 1925 classic Phantom of the Opera\, one of the scariest and most influential horror films of all time- featuring Lon Chaney as the mysterious Phantom.  \n\n\n\nLocal presentation of the Alloy Orchestra and “Phantom of the Opera” is made possible by the support from New York State Council on the Arts and the Central New York Programmers Group. \n\n\n\nPress Release\n\n\n\nThe Alloy Orchestra is a three-man musical ensemble\, writing and performing live accompaniment to classic silent films. Working with an outrageous assemblage of peculiar objects\, they thrash and grind soulful music from unlikely sources. The members are TERRY DONAHUE (junk\, accordion\, musical saw\, vocals)\, KEN WINOKUR (director\, junk percussion and clarinet) and ROGER MILLER (keyboards). \n\n\n\nAccording to Chicago Sun-Times film critic Roger Ebert\, Alloy Orchestra is “the best in the world at accompanying silent films.” \n\n\n\n“Phantom of the Opera” is a 1925 silent film directed by Rupert Julian adaptation of the Gaston Leroux novel of the same title. The film featured Lon Chaney in the title role as the masked and facially deformed Phantom who haunts the Paris Opera House\, causing murder and mayhem in an attempt to force the management to make the woman he loves a star. It is most famous for Lon Chaney’s intentionally horrific\, self-applied make-up\, which was kept a studio secret until the film’s premiere. \n\n\n\nThe film also features Mary Philbin\, Norman Kerry\, Arthur Edmund Carewe\, Gibson Gowland\, John St. Polis and Snitz Edwards. \n\n\n\nNow in its 18th year\, the Alloy Orchestra began its aural onslaught with an original score for “Metropolis” in 1991. In the intervening years\, the group has written scores for 28 feature length film presentations\, typically premiering their new scores at the Telluride Film Festival in Colorado. \n\n\n\nPerforming at prestigious film festivals and cultural centers in the U.S. and abroad The Louvre\, Lincoln Center\, The Academy of Motion Pictures\, the National Gallery of Art and others)\, Alloy has helped revive some of the great masterpieces of the silent era. \n\n\n\nAn unusual combination of found percussion and state-of-the-art electronics gives the Orchestra the ability to create any sound imaginable. Utilizing their famous “rack of junk” and electronic synthesizers\, the group generates beautiful music in a spectacular variety of styles. They can conjure up a French symphony or a simple German bar band of the 20’s. The group can make the audience think it is being attacked by tigers\, contacted by radio signals from Mars or swept up in the Russian Revolution. \n\n\n\nAlloy collaborates with some of the world’s best archives and collectors (such as the George Eastman House\, the British Film Institute\, Paramount pictures\, Film Preservation Associates and the Douris Corporation) to present audiences with the very best available prints of some of history’s greatest film. \n\n\n\nThe gorgeous new print of “Phantom of the Opera\,” recently restored by Alloy’s sister company\, Box 5\, reproduces the extremely intricate color scheme of the original release with elaborate tinting\, the experimental 2 strip Technicolor sequence at the masked ball\, and luscious hand tinting. Combined with Alloy’s new score\, this astounding film is as creepy today as it was 75 years ago.
URL:https://archive.mediasanctuary.org/event/phantom-of-the-opera-with-alloy-orchestra/
LOCATION:The Sanctuary\, 3361 6th Ave\, Troy\, 12180\, United States
CATEGORIES:Performance,Screening
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20081113T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20081113T210000
DTSTAMP:20230705T153953Z
CREATED:20081113T160900Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230705T153953Z
UID:10000855-1226599200-1226610000@archive.mediasanctuary.org
SUMMARY:Abel Raises Cain with Media Prankster Alan Abel
DESCRIPTION:A roller coaster ride through the myriad of elaborate hoaxes and schemes pulled off over the years by the infamous underground media prankster\, provocateur and trickster par excellence Alan Abel\, offering and unprecedented glimpse into a life and bizarre career designed to provoke and amuse – while at the same time making people question everything that they see\, hear and read. Alan will be on hand to discuss the film.  \n\n\n\nThis event is made possible by the Experimental Television Center’s Presentation Funds. The Experimental Television Center’s Presentation Funds program is supported by the New York State Council on the Arts. \n\n\n\nAbel Raises Cain (trailer) is an unprecedented glimpse into the bizarre career of Alan Abel\, the infamous media hoaxer. Like a reverse Jon Stewart\, Abel has been producing fake news for the masses for over 50 years. He has made a name for himself several times over with stunts that are just ridiculous enough to be believed\, especially to a media that feeds on salacious\, lurid and wacky stories. \n\n\n\nAbel’s hoaxing career began in the late 1950s with S.I.N.A.\, the Society for Indecency to Naked Animals. This tongue-in-cheek moral crusade\, whose purpose was to clothe all animals for modesty’s sake\, was actually a commentary on censorship. After launching the campaign\, however\, Alan soon found himself in the midst of a national craze. Newspaper\, radio and television reporters couldn’t seem to get the story fast enough. Abel realized that\, with very little funds and very few props\, with a straight face\, he could convince America\, and the media\, that an absurd idea like S.I.N.A. truly existed. \n\n\n\nOver the years\, Alan continued masterminding scores of other allegorical satires and outlandish stunts\, all with the purpose to amuse and provoke. Ultimately\, with his hoaxes\, Alan’s goal has always been to give people\, what he calls “a kick in the intellect.” Abel continues to taunt the media and the masses with his nutty ideas\, imaginary organizations and seemingly nonsensical campaigns. In 2000\, Life Magazine recognized Alan as a cultural icon during the 20th century in their volume edition\, Century of Change. \n\n\n\nIn this loving documentary portrait of an eccentric father\, Alan’s daughter\, Jenny\, tells her firsthand account of what it was like growing up with a prankster dad. Abel Raises Cain takes the audience on a roller coaster ride through the myriad of elaborate hoaxes and schemes that Abel pulled off over the years\, all of which were designed to provoke and amuse… while at the same time\, make people question everything that they see\, hear and read. \n\n\n\nThe UTNE Reader praised the film for showing us that “long before the Yes Men satirized Exxon and Halliburton\, and before Ashton Kutcher was born\, Alan Abel was the undisputed king of media hoaxers.” Reviewers at slate.com called Abel Raises Cain “an invigorating and often hysterical look at a gifted comic and the nation of dupes he continues to use as his medium.” Abel Raises Cain has won numerous awards\, including Best Documentary (Slamdance\, Newport)\, Top Ten Audience Favorites (Hot Docs)\, and Best Feature (Brooklyn Underground).
URL:https://archive.mediasanctuary.org/event/abel-raises-cain-with-media-prankster-alan-abel/
LOCATION:The Sanctuary\, 3361 6th Ave\, Troy\, 12180\, United States
CATEGORIES:Panel Discussion,Screening
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20081108T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20081108T203000
DTSTAMP:20230705T153508Z
CREATED:20081108T160400Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230705T153508Z
UID:10000854-1226167200-1226176200@archive.mediasanctuary.org
SUMMARY:A Night Out with "The Narcotic Farm"
DESCRIPTION:The U.S. Narcotic Farm just outside Lexington\, KY\, was a legendary meeting place for America’s drug addicts. This performance interweaves verbal\, visual\, and musical memories of a place that was a crossroads for drug addicts from 1935-1975. Authors Nancy Campbell and JP Olsen will read and screen portions of their works on this historic place\, mixed with jazz from musicians incarcerated at Narcotic Farm. \n\n\n\nThe list of Lexington Narcotic Farm musician alums reads like a who’s who of jazz: Chet Baker\, Tadd Dameron\, Joe Guy (Billie Holliday’s husband—she wasn’t at the farm but rather at Alderson\, the women’s prison in WV)\, Elvin Jones\, Stan Levey\, Jackie McLean\, Red Rodney (Charlie Parker’s sideman)\, Sonny Stitt\, Sonny Rollins. And there’s an interesting connection to MC5 (Wayne Kramer is the narrator of the film and part of the seminal pre-punk band\,); he spent time at Lexington in the 1970s). \n\n\n\nYou might find this month’s Jazz Times interesting; it has a photo feature on The Narcotic Farm. They also excerpted the chapter\, “The Greatest Band You Never Heard.” \n\n\n\nThere was a story about the project on NPR called “Americas First Drug-Treatment Prison Revisited” this weekend. \n\n\n\nPress Release\n\n\n\nThe author and the filmmaker of a new book and a video documentary airing on PBS called “The Narcotic Farm: The Rise and Fall of America’s First Prison for Drug Addicts” are presenting a multi-media performance/premiere with live jazz music at The Sanctuary for Independent Media on Saturday\, November 8\, 2008 at 7 PM. Admission is by donation ($10 suggested\, $5 student/low income). The Sanctuary for Independent Media is located at 3361 6th Avenue in north Troy (at 101st Street). Call (518) 272-2390\, email info@MediaSanctuary.org\, or visit www.MediaSanctuary.org for directions and more information. \n\n\n\nThe U.S. Narcotic Farm just outside Lexington\, KY\, was a legendary meeting place for America’s drug addicts. This performance interweaves verbal\, visual\, and musical memories of a place that was a crossroads for drug addicts from 1935-1975. Author Nancy Campbell and filmmaker JP Olsen will read and screen portions of their works on this historic place\, mixed with jazz from musicians incarcerated at Narcotic Farm–performed by a live band! \n\n\n\nA federal prison in Kentucky was a temporary home for thousands\, including Sonny Rollins\, Peter Lorre and William S. Burroughs as well as a lab for addiction treatments such as LSD. \n\n\n\nFrom 1935 to 1975\, just about everyone busted for drugs in the U.S. was sent to the United States Narcotic Farm outside Lexington\, Ky. Equal parts federal prison\, treatment center\, research laboratory and farm\, this controversial institution was designed not only to rehabilitate addicts\, but to discover a cure for drug addiction. \n\n\n\nNow a new documentary\, “The Narcotic Farm\,” reveals the lost world of this institution\, based on rare film footage\, numerous documents\, dozens of interviews of former staff\, inmates and volunteer patients\, and more than 2\,000 photographs unearthed from archives across the country. The film will appear on public television stations across the country throughout November. A book accompanying the documentary includes rare and previously unpublished pictures of “Narco\,” as the institution was called locally. \n\n\n\nAccording to the book\, the institution became a premier center for research into drug addiction and treatment\, advancing everything from the use of methadone to treat heroin withdrawal to drugs that blocked the action of opiates. Along the way\, Narco was frequented by legendary jazz musicians such as Chet Baker and Sonny Rollins\, as well as actor Peter Lorre and beat generation writer William S. Burroughs\, who recounted his experience in his first novel\, “Junkie.” \n\n\n\nThe documentary also chronicles how the Farm was shut down when Congress discovered that researchers there were using patients as human guinea pigs in CIA-funded experiments into LSD. Drug research on federal prisoners is now illegal. \n\n\n\nStill\, the filmmakers note accomplishments at the institution remain milestones in addiction science and treatment. Its most important contribution might be how it transformed the way society views addicts—”as people suffering from a chronic\, relapsing disorder that affects public health\,” says book co-author Nancy Campbell. \n\n\n\nNancy D. Campbell is an associate professor in the Department of Science and technology Studies at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute who studies the history of drug addiction research. She lives in Troy NY. \n\n\n\nJP Olsen is a filmmaker whose work has appeared on The Discovery Channel and many other stations. He lives in New York City. \n\n\n\nThe Sanctuary for Independent Media is a community media arts and production center located in an historic former church in Troy\, NY. The venue is an intimate and acoustically excellent space which seats about 150. The Sanctuary hosts screening\, production and performance facilities\, training in media production and a meeting space for artists\, activists and independent media makers of all kinds.
URL:https://archive.mediasanctuary.org/event/a-night-out-with-the-narcotic-farm/
LOCATION:The Sanctuary\, 3361 6th Ave\, Troy\, 12180\, United States
CATEGORIES:Jazz Music,Panel Discussion,Performance,Screening
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20081105T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20081105T200000
DTSTAMP:20230705T153158Z
CREATED:20081105T155700Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230705T153158Z
UID:10000853-1225908000-1225915200@archive.mediasanctuary.org
SUMMARY:Filmmaker Matt McCormick
DESCRIPTION:A renowned artist and filmmaker whose success spans both the art and independent film worlds\, Matt is touring New York State with classic works like The Problem with Machines that Communicate and Light Tiger Eye as well as brand-spanking-new music videos\, absurdist narratives\, and random miscellaneous tidbits and surprises. Matt is also the founder of Peripheral Produce\, an internationally recognized video distribution label specializing in short experimental work\, and the director of the Portland Documentary and eXperimental Film Festival\, Portland’s premiere event for experimental\, documentary\, and otherwise obscure contemporary cinema. \n\n\n\nThis event is made possible by the Experimental Television Center’s Presentation Funds. The Experimental Television Center’s Presentation Funds program is supported by the New York State Council on the Arts. \n\n\n\nMore About Matt\n\n\n\nMatt McCormick is an artist\, filmmaker\, photographer\, and musician who has produced several well-received projects in recent years. His films defy genre distinctions and fashion witty\, abstract observations of contemporary culture and the urban landscape. His project Future So Bright maps and catalogs the abandoned spaces in the American West\, while American Nutria examines the plight of an imported species while chastising capitalism’s tendency to create its own disasters. The Subconscious Art of Graffiti Removal makes the observation that the process of destroying one art form unwittingly creates another\, while his installation piece Ride a Wave To Tomorrow’s Sunset reflects on society’s need for ‘synthetic meditation’. \n\n\n\nMatt’s work has been exhibited in film festivals\, art museums\, and microcinemas around the globe\, appeared on MTV and the Sundance Channel\, and received positive reviews from Art Forum\, The New York Times\, and Film Comment magazine. Matt has worked and collaborated with many artists and musicians\, including The Shins\, Miranda July\, Sleater-Kinney\, The Postal Service\, YACHT\, Patton Oswalt\, and Calvin Johnson. Matt has had three films screen at the Sundance Film Festival\, and been included in the traveling group exhibitions “Uncertain States of America” and “Baja to Vancouver.” He has received awards including Best Short Film from the San Francisco International Film Fest\, Best Experimental from the New York Underground Film Fest\, and Best Short from the Ann Arbor Film Fest\, and his film The Subconscious Art of Graffiti Removal was named in ‘Top 10 / Best of 2002’ lists in both The Village Voice and Art Forum magazine. Matt also won a 2007 Rosey Award for a series of global warming public service announcements he directed for MTV.
URL:https://archive.mediasanctuary.org/event/filmmaker-matt-mccormick/
LOCATION:The Sanctuary\, 3361 6th Ave\, Troy\, 12180\, United States
CATEGORIES:Panel Discussion,Screening
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20081028T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20081028T220000
DTSTAMP:20230705T152738Z
CREATED:20081028T145200Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230705T152738Z
UID:10000852-1225220400-1225231200@archive.mediasanctuary.org
SUMMARY:Camilo Mejia: The Private Rebellion of a Staff Sergeant
DESCRIPTION:After serving in the Army for nearly nine years\, Camilo Mejia was the first known Iraq veteran to refuse to fight when he applied for discharge from the army as a conscientious objector\, citing moral concerns about the war and occupation. The principled stand described in his memoir\, Road From ar Ramadi: The Private Rebellion of Staff Sergeant Camilo Mejia (just published by Haymarket Books)\, helped rally the growing opposition and embolden other soldiers. He was eventually convicted of desertion by a military court and sentenced to a year in prison\, prompting Amnesty International to declare him a prisoner of conscience. Camilo will speak about his experiences.  \n\n\n\nCo-sponsored by Women Against War and Bethlehem Neighbors for Peace. \n\n\n\nRegaining My Humanity \n\n\n\nBy Camilo MejiaCodePink.org \n\n\n\nThursday 17 February 2005 \n\n\n\nI was deployed to Iraq in April 2003 and returned home for a two-week leave in October. Going home gave me the opportunity to put my thoughts in order and to listen to what my conscience had to say. People would ask me about my war experiences and answering them took me back to all the horrors-the firefights\, the ambushes\, the time I saw a young Iraqi dragged by his shoulders through a pool of his own blood or an innocent man was decapitated by our machine gun fire. The time I saw a soldier broken down inside because he killed a child\, or an old man on his knees\, crying with his arms raised to the sky\, perhaps asking God why we had taken the lifeless body of his son. \n\n\n\nI thought of the suffering of a people whose country was in ruins and who were further humiliated by the raids\, patrols and curfews of an occupying army. \n\n\n\nAnd I realized that none of the reasons we were told about why we were in Iraq turned out to be true. There were no weapons of mass destruction. There was no link between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda. We weren’t helping the Iraqi people and the Iraqi people didn’t want us there. We weren’t preventing terrorism or making Americans safer. I couldn’t find a single good reason for having been there\, for having shot at people and been shot at. \n\n\n\nComing home gave me the clarity to see the line between military duty and moral obligation. I realized that I was part of a war that I believed was immoral and criminal\, a war of aggression\, a war of imperial domination. I realized that acting upon my principles became incompatible with my role in the military\, and I decided that I could not return to Iraq. \n\n\n\nBy putting my weapon down\, I chose to reassert myself as a human being. I have not deserted the military or been disloyal to the men and women of the military. I have not been disloyal to a country. I have only been loyal to my principles. \n\n\n\nWhen I turned myself in\, with all my fears and doubts\, it did it not only for myself. I did it for the people of Iraq\, even for those who fired upon me-they were just on the other side of a battleground where war itself was the only enemy. I did it for the Iraqi children\, who are victims of mines and depleted uranium. I did it for the thousands of unknown civilians killed in war. My time in prison is a small price compared to the price Iraqis and Americans have paid with their lives. Mine is a small price compared to the price Humanity has paid for war. \n\n\n\nMany have called me a coward\, others have called me a hero. I believe I can be found somewhere in the middle. To those who have called me a hero\, I say that I don’t believe in heroes\, but I believe that ordinary people can do extraordinary things. \n\n\n\nTo those who have called me a coward I say that they are wrong\, and that without knowing it\, they are also right. They are wrong when they think that I left the war for fear of being killed. I admit that fear was there\, but there was also the fear of killing innocent people\, the fear of putting myself in a position where to survive means to kill\, there was the fear of losing my soul in the process of saving my body\, the fear of losing myself to my daughter\, to the people who love me\, to the man I used to be\, the man I wanted to be. I was afraid of waking up one morning to realize my humanity had abandoned me. \n\n\n\nI say without any pride that I did my job as a soldier. I commanded an infantry squad in combat and we never failed to accomplish our mission. But those who called me a coward\, without knowing it\, are also right. I was a coward not for leaving the war\, but for having been a part of it in the first place. Refusing and resisting this war was my moral duty\, a moral duty that called me to take a principled action. I failed to fulfill my moral duty as a human being and instead I chose to fulfill my duty as a soldier. All because I was afraid. I was terrified\, I did not want to stand up to the government and the army\, I was afraid of punishment and humiliation. I went to war because at the moment I was a coward\, and for that I apologize to my soldiers for not being the type of leader I should have been. \n\n\n\nI also apologize to the Iraqi people. To them I say I am sorry for the curfews\, for the raids\, for the killings. May they find it in their hearts to forgive me. \n\n\n\nOne of the reasons I did not refuse the war from the beginning was that I was afraid of losing my freedom. Today\, as I sit behind bars I realize that there are many types of freedom\, and that in spite of my confinement I remain free in many important ways. What good is freedom if we are afraid to follow our conscience? What good is freedom if we are not able to live with our own actions? I am confined to a prison but I feel\, today more than ever\, connected to all humanity. Behind these bars I sit a free man because I listened to a higher power\, the voice of my conscience. \n\n\n\nWhile I was confined in total segregation\, I came across a poem written by a man who refused and resisted the government of Nazi Germany. For doing so he was executed. His name is Albrecht Hanshofer\, and he wrote this poem as he awaited execution. \n\n\n\nGuilt \n\n\n\nThe burden of my guilt before the lawweighs light upon my shoulders; to plotand to conspire was my duty to the people;I would have been a criminal had I not. \n\n\n\nI am guilty\, though not the way you think\,I should have done my duty sooner\, I was wrong\,I should have called evil more clearly by its nameI hesitated to condemn it for far too long. \n\n\n\nI now accuse myself within my heart:I have betrayed my conscience far too longI have deceived myself and fellow man. \n\n\n\nI knew the course of evil from the startMy warning was not loud nor clear enough!Today I know what I was guilty of… \n\n\n\nTo those who are still quiet\, to those who continue to betray their conscience\, to those who are not calling evil more clearly by its name\, to those of us who are still not doing enough to refuse and resist\, I say “come forward.” I say “free your minds.” Let us\, collectively\, free our minds\, soften our hearts\, comfort the wounded\, put down our weapons\, and reassert ourselves as human beings by putting an end to war. \n\n\n\n–Camilo Mejia \n\n\n\nPress Release\n\n\n\nAuthor\, anti-war activist\, prisoner of conscience and chairman of the board of Iraq Veterans Against the War\, Camilo Mejia will speak about his experiences and his book “Road from Ar Ramadi: The Private Rebellion of Staff Sergeant Mejía” at The Sanctuary for Independent Media on Tuesday\, October 28\, 2008 at 7 PM. Admission is by donation ($10 suggested\, $5 student/low income). The Sanctuary for Independent Media is located at 3361 6th Avenue in north Troy (at 101st Street). Call (518) 272-2390\, email info@MediaSanctuary.org\, or visit www.MediaSanctuary.org for directions and more information. \n\n\n\nCamilo Mejia joined the military at the age of nineteen\, serving as an infantryman in the active-duty army for three years before transferring to the Florida National Guard. After fighting in Iraq\, Mejia became the first known Iraq veteran to refuse to fight the war in Iraq\, citing moral concerns about the war and occupation. He was eventually convicted of desertion by a military court and sentenced to a year in prison\, prompting Amnesty International to declare him a prisoner of conscience. \n\n\n\nMejía is a former student of the University of Miami in Coral Gables\, Florida\, where he intended to major in psychology and Spanish on a military-funded scholarship. Mejía spent six months in Iraq (his first combat tour after enlisting)\, then returned for a 2-week furlough to the US after which he did not return for duty. He was charged with desertion and sentenced to one year in prison for refusing to return to fight in Iraq. In March 2004 he turned himself in to the US military and filed an application for conscientious objector status. \n\n\n\nMejía was court-martialed\, and claimed that he left his post in order to avoid duties that could be considered war crimes: more specifically\, the abuse and torture of prisoners. One of his attorneys\, former United States Attorney General Ramsey Clark\, claimed that he was thus protected from desertion charges by international law. \n\n\n\nOn May 21\, 2004 Mejía was convicted of desertion by a military jury and sentenced to a year in jail and a bad conduct discharge. Under Article 85 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice\, conviction on the charge of desertion during time of war can result in a sentence of death. \n\n\n\nMejía served his time at the Fort Sill military prison in Lawton\, Oklahoma. During his time in custody he was recognized by Amnesty International as a prisoner of conscience and was awarded by Refuse and Resist with its Courageous Resister Award. \n\n\n\nCamilo was also recognized by the Detroit City Council with a commendation for his stand. Detroit was the first city where Mejía spoke at an anti-war rally. While confined\, local and national activists organized a series of vigils outside the gates of Ft. Sill\, including one attended by Kathy Kelly and other members of Voices in the Wilderness. \n\n\n\nCamilo Mejía was released from prison on February 15\, 2005. Since his release\, he has spoken at many peace protests and to the press about his experiences and his opposition to the war in Iraq. \n\n\n\nMejía has recently written a book entitled “Road from Ar Ramadi: The Private Rebellion of Staff Sergeant Mejía” (Haymarket Books\, 2008) which recounts his journey of conscience in Iraq: \n\n\n\n“I say without any pride that I did my job as a soldier. I commanded an infantry squad in combat and we never failed to accomplish our mission. But those who called me a coward\, without knowing it\, are also right. I was a coward not for leaving the war\, but for having been a part of it in the first place. Refusing and resisting this war was my moral duty\, a moral duty that called me to take a principled action. I failed to fulfill my moral duty as a human being and instead I chose to fulfill my duty as a soldier. All because I was afraid. I was terrified\, I did not want to stand up to the government and the army\, I was afraid of punishment and humiliation. I went to war because at the moment I was a coward\, and for that I apologize to my soldiers for not being the type of leader I should have been.” \n\n\n\nIn August 2007 Mejía was named the chair of the board of directors of Iraq Veterans Against the War.
URL:https://archive.mediasanctuary.org/event/camilo-mejia-the-private-rebellion-of-a-staff-sergeant/
LOCATION:The Sanctuary\, 3361 6th Ave\, Troy\, 12180\, United States
CATEGORIES:Panel Discussion,Speaker
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR