Cuba filmmaker here to screen & discuss Raza and No es el camino

Saturday, April 6

4pm

Two showings with film director Q & A:

Raza (Race)

No es el camino (This is not the way)

Cuba, 2008 and 2012, 36 min and 43 min, Dir. Eric Corvalán Pellé
Presented and co-sponsored by the Wisconsin Coalition to Normalize Relations with Cuba

Filmmaker Eric Corvalán joins UWM’s Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies to host a conversation after a screening of his two films, Raza and No es el camino. Corvalán’s work, Raza, takes up racism in Cuba and is at the forefront and debate in this documentary that continues to be compelling and pertinent for discussion. This bold documentary encourages the breaking of silence amongst many Cubans when it comes to race relations.

Bascom Hall Sit-In

Join hundreds of your fellow graduate workers taking action to win fair pay, full fee relief, and quality, consistent policies! Sit in at Bascom — sign the pledge now: https://bit.ly/pledgeTAA

We call on the administration to:
1) Pay graduate workers a living wage
2) Provide full relief from mandatory fees for graduate workers
3) End the discriminatory international student fee
4) Approve clear, consistent, and quality policies and procedures for graduate workers
5) Train administrators on the new policies and procedures for graduate workers
6) Create a standing committee with graduate workers to improve policies and procedures for graduate workers Bascom Hall Sit-In

We are sitting in at Bascom Hall on April 5th to demand the administration address these issues. Their perennial calls of “we’ll look into it” and “it’ll be done soon” are offensive to the thousands of workers in their employ: workers who have to choose between feeding their families and paying segregated fees, workers who have had no contract for a decade, workers laboring under inconsistent policies which offer thin protection against overwork or sexual misconduct.

We demand a change, now. If the administration does not respond to our demands on April 5th, we will escalate further. By standing together as one — all grad workers, all departments, all across campus and beyond — we will win. The university works because we do! Bascom Hall Sit-In

Milwaukee Teachers’ Education Association

https://www.facebook.com/freechrystul/

NEW EXHIBITION: “Ase: The Code and Countenance of the Orisha” group exhibition featuring lithographs and clay reliefs by Muneer Bahauddeen, floor-to-ceiling figurative paintings by Ammar Nsoroma (@nsoromaammar / @ammarnsoroma ) and mixed media compositions by Cuban artist, Leyssy O’Farrill Nicholas (@leyssy_ofarrill ) and their renditions of Yoruba-based spirits and deities. Opening: Friday, April 12, 2019. 6-9pm, Artist Talk: 7pm @5ptsartgallery #new #artexhibition #lithography #clay #painting #mixedmedia #art #milwaukee #havana #yoruba #orishas #ase — at 5 Points Art Gallery & Studios

Pack The Court For Chrystul! (Prelim Hearing)

#FreeChrystul

912 56th Street, #L, Kenosha, 9 A.M. – 12 NOON

This is the next preliminary hearing for Chrystul. The hearing starts at 9:30. We’ll get there by 9:00 to make sure we get good seats. Chrystul’s favorite color is red, and we’ll have red armbands and buttons like last time, but if you wear red it’ll increase the impact.

Last hearing the judge ruled in favor of Chrystul’s attorneys! He granted release of evidence regarding Volar’s child pornography activities. We also learned that the Kenosha police disclosed another pile of evidence from that investigation (which is unusual, especially with how emphatic DA Gravely has been about how he disclosed everything to the judge previously). The new documents include about 100 pages and 30 hours of video.

This hearing will be to discuss what portion of that evidence is “discoverable” that is, what should be made available to Chrystul’s attorneys.

Last time the hearing was also delayed 45 minutes while others’ cases were heard in the same room. This may have been because court was simply backlogged, or it may have been an intentional effort to deter us from coming back. So, plan for some unpredictability, but it is better to show up even if you have to leave before things start if there’s another delay in the future.

Chrystul will be there, riding a cold prison bus almost 2 hours there and back from Taycheedah, so it would likely boost her spirits to see some supporters in court.

A note on court etiquette: try to dress nice (doesn’t need to be formal, but presentable), take off hats when you enter the room, no using phones or talking while court is in session (when the judge is in the room). Some members of Volar’s family often show up, so we should try to sit together as a group. Be polite, but try to avoid interaction with them.

We want to show the judge and the DA that Chrystul is loved and missed, without making them feel disrespected or antagonistic.

Please continue to share and uplift Chrystul’s story as well as send her love and support via mail!

#FreeChrystul

Rally and Walk for the Free Lula Campaign

On April 7, at 2PM at Union Square, join us and millions of activists in Brazil and around the world to protest against the political imprisonment of Brazil’s Former President Lula da Silva and demand the review of his case and immediate release

In the 1st anniversary of his incarceration without evidence an international front of activists, groups, associations, and labor unions will demonstrate, to denounce this injustice

After the official launch of the “Free Lula Committee USA” on April 6 at The People’s Forum (https://peoplesforum.org/event/lula-teach-in/ ), and in an effort to join a growing number of Free Lula Committees in Brazil and around the world, this will be the first joint demonstration of the Committee to bring awareness of Lula’s political persecution, and continue to make the international campaign to free Lula more visible.

It is also part of a collective effort to strengthen the resistance and denounce connection of the dismantling of democratic institutions in Brazil and the injustice committed against Lula da Silva, the most important political figure of recent Brazilian and global political history.

Lula was in office for 8 years in Brazil, taking millions out of extreme poverty, through social and economic programs aiming to rescue the poorest, and most vulnerable citizens of the country. His presidency changed the configuration of the entire nation, making Brazilians proud and hopeful for the future. Lula’s also played a role as a global negotiator for peace, for the environment, and for sharing the power among the rich and poor countries in the world.

Lula’s persecution started 40 years ago as he was a union leader fighting for better wages in the automobile industry in the late ’70s. As President of Brazil, he earned recognition around the world but the persecution continued because he promoted social justice. Last year, the right-wing coalition along with parts of the judiciary, continued the defamation in the media and built a legal case based on completely inconsistent accusations. The process became a case of lawfare, or use of the law for persecution, which resulted in his imprisonment, and allowed the far-right candidate Bolsonaro to win the elections.

April 7th marks one year of Lula’s imprisonment in isolated confinement in a sentence for “undetermined charges”. No evidence has yet been found that justifies his conviction. He is not allowed to talk to the media or to the public, being treated worse than any violent criminal offender.

Lula is one of the Nobel Peace Prize nominees for 2019.
#LulaLivre #FreeLula

CLOSEmsdf Coalition Meeting

2821 N Vel R. Phillips Avenue, Suite 108, 6-7 P.M.

Join us on Tuesday, April 16th at 6 pm to get involved with the efforts to decarcerate Milwaukee, #CLOSEmsdf, and #buildCOMMUNITIES. The #CLOSEmsdf Campaign is now over 50 organizations strong. Visit https://closemsdf.org/ for information.

Sign the #CLOSEmsdf petition at https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/its-time-to-close-milwaukee-secure-detention-facility-msdf.

Like us on facebook at CLOSEmsdf. Follow us on twitter at https://twitter.com/CLOSEmsdf.

Demands from the #CLOSEmsdf Campaign Based on Newly Released Parole & Probation Report from Justice Lab at Columbia University:

The Wisconsin Community Corrections Story

On January 22, 2019, the Justice Lab at Columbia University released a scathing report commissioned by #CLOSEmsdf Campaign partner JustLeadershipUSA, entitled The Wisconsin Community Corrections Story. This vital report adds quantitative and qualitative analysis to support what directly impacted people and low income and people of color, especially Black and Native American, have known for decades: there is deep harm, and racial and economic injustice embedded in Wisconsin’s probation and parole policies which exemplify and fuel incarceration.

10 KEY FINDINGS FROM JUSTICE LAB AT COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY

In Wisconsin:

*1-in-8 Black men, and 1-in-11 Native American men, are under supervision.
*Black women are supervised at 3 times the rate of white women.
*Native American women are supervised at 6 times the rate of white women.
*MSDF imprisons white people 12 percentage points lower, and Black people 24 percentage points higher, than the Wisconsin average.
*Wisconsin incarcerates Black people at 11.5 times the rate of white people, ranking Wisconsin’s imprisonment racial disparities fifth in the nation.
*Wisconsin’s post-prison supervision rates, average lengths of stay on post-prison supervision, and rates of incarceration for technical violations are much higher than the national average and set Wisconsin as an outlier in the Great Lakes region.
*Across the country and particularly in Wisconsin, mass supervision fuels mass incarceration. As of 2017, people who had previously been under community supervision made up over half of the total adult incarcerated population in Wisconsin.
*Over one-fifth of all adults incarcerated in Wisconsin prisons were incarcerated without a new conviction.
*This massive expansion of Wisconsin’s criminal legal system resulted from truth in sentencing laws that cost Wisconsin taxpayers $1.8 billion.
*All of this harm is the product of deliberate policy choices over the past three decades.

Wisconsin Public Education Network‎

Janesville: JFC #WIBudget Hearing

Oak Creek: JFC #WIBudget Hearing

River Falls: JFC #WIBudget Hearing

Green Bay: JFC #WIBudget Hearing

ALSO:

5th Annual Wisconsin Public Education Network Summer Summit

EXPO Radio 100th Broadcast

EXPO Radio 100th Broadcast
April 3rd, 2019

Guests will include: Carl Fields, EXPO, David Liners, WISDOM, Mark Rice, JLUSA and Wendel Hruska, Project Return.

Join the 100th Broadcast Listening Party’
7 p.m. – 9 p.m.
Welford Sanford Enterprise Center
2821 N. Vel Phillips Ave. Rm. 108
* Come comgratulate Rob Schneider on his 100th show & learn more about how to support EXPO Radio for another 100 episodes.
*Refreshments *Drawings *Networking & more!
EXPO Radio 100th Broadcast
Wednesday, April 3rd, 2019
7 p.m. – 10 p.m.
Welford Sanders Enterprise Center
2821 N. Vel Phillips Ave, Room 108

EXPO RADIO
You have the RIGHT to NOT remain SILENT
Ex-Incarcerated People Organizing (EXPO)’s Radio Show airs every Wednesday night at 8:30 p.m. on River West Radio. EXPO Radio discusses issues based in Criminal Justice Reform, formerly incarcerated people making positive changes & both obstacles and successes for individuals confronting re-entry.

Join us on April 3rd for a Listening Party as we celebrate our 100th broadcast!
7 p.m. – 8 p.m. EXPO Radio Social
• Refreshments, Door Prizes & Networking
8 p.m. – 9 p.m. EXPO Radio 100th Broadcast Listening Party
• Special hour long radio show
• Four Special 100th Broadcast Guests:
• Carl Fields, EXPO/RIC,
• Wendel Hruska, Project Return,
• David Liners, WISDOM &
• Mark Rice, Just Leadership USA
9 p.m. – 10 p.m. Question & Answer Session with 100th Broadcast Special Guests
• With your help, we’ll continue the discussion from the radio show on the importance of working together to reform WI’s Criminal Justice System and ensure successful reentry for all our returning neighbors. Special report on WISDOM’s Madison Action Day.

For more information on EXPO Radio or our 100th Broadcast or the Listening Party please contact Rob Schreiber, 414-553-6906

EXPO – EX-incarcerated People Organizing‎

EXPO April Meeting

April 10, 2019: MKE Area Joint Finance Committee Hearing