December 17, 2009

Dear friends and neighbors,

In case you have not heard of the Southwest Artists’ Network of Detroit (SWAN) we would like to make you aware of our presence in the community and inform you of what we are doing and how you can be involved.

SWAN is a network of artists from the Detroit area who are committed to promoting art and culture in our community.  We provide opportunities for working artists and free workshops for youth.  It is especially important now that gang graffiti and violence is on the rise that the youth of our community have options to express themselves in positive, creative ways. 

Our network was formed in the spring of this year and since then SWAN has held several events at the Lady Bug Gallery, located at Porter and Hubbard, and youth art programs at Clark Park.  Enclosed is more information about the programs and events sponsored by SWAN.  Please keep in mind that these activities have been done voluntarily, without any outside financial support.

WHAT’S NEXT FOR 2010?  
We are committed to enhancing the neighborhood with community-based public art.  One of SWAN’s core members and community activist Vito Valdez has been awarded a grant from the Kresge Foundation and will be working with Southwest Detroit Business Association on a two-phase project.  Phase One will be the restoration of two murals located on Vernor near Central, flanking the parking lot next to Neighborhood City Hall.  This will be completed in the spring, as soon as weather permits.

Phase Two of the project is Adopt-A-Site which will beautify sites along Vernor with public art such as murals, mosaics, sculpture, and green spaces.  Community input will determine which sites will be chosen. 

HOW CAN YOU BE INVOLVED?
Whether you have a store front in need of fresh paint, or know of an empty lot or a dangerous or unsightly area, or if you’d like to see a particular site enhanced with art, get involved – we would love to have your ideas and input.  Meetings will be organized in the upcoming weeks to announce the project and solicit interest from community groups, businesses, schools, churches, and residents.

CONTACT US!
The initial meeting will be held in early January 2010.  Please notify us at the numbers listed below if you are interested in learning more about SWAN and the Adopt-A-Site project.  We look forward to meeting with you and to the ongoing beautification of our community!

 Best regards,

Mary Laredo Herbeck                                                  Vito Jesus Valdez
Member SWAN Steering Committee           Member SWAN Steering Committee
mlaredo@swandetroit.com                            vvaldez@swandetroit.com

The Detroit Coalition Against Police Brutality invites you to our

BAILOUT Holiday Gathering!! we ALL need a bailout…so it’s FREE

POTLUCK – PLEASE BRING A DISH SUNDAY, DECEMBER 27, 2009, 3:30 – 6:30 p.m.

St. Peter’s Episcopal Church

1950 Trumbull

Detroit, MI  48216

FREE OF CHARGE…DONATIONS WELCOME

 Area Reports from Families

Update on Accomplishments and Cases

Food, Entertainment, Music…CELEBRATION!!

SURPRISE GIFTS TO THE FIRST 25 ATTENDEES

Please RSVP at DetCoalition@aol.com or 313.963.8116

12-23-09

Press Contact:
Press@EMERGENCEmusic.net                                            

Online Premiere of Groundbreaking Women In Hip Hop Tour Documentary: The Revival

The Revival

(Europe, 2009, 17 min) Directed by Invincible, Produced by EMERGENCE Media and Iqaa the Olivetone
The Revival gives a candid glimpse into the first meeting of legendary Hip-Hop pioneer Roxanne Shante and veteran Philly emcee Bahamadia, as they trade stories of their struggles and triumphs in the industry over their long careers. It also shows the exchange of lessons between them and up and coming artists DJ Shortee, Eternia, Stacy Epps, and Invincible. This short documentary, a collage of performances and behind the scenes footage, was filmed and directed by Invincible while on the road in Europe as part of We-B Girlz all women in independent Hip-Hop tour. The largest all female Hip-Hop tour of its kind, it spanned over three weeks, six countries, and featured dozens of female artists who performed for tens of thousands of supporters.

Trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5pgTTYEa18

Full 16 minute film viewable at EMERGENCEmusic.net and
TheFembassy.com will also be featuring weekly interviews with the artists from The Revival.

EMERGENCE Media is a Detroit based Hip-Hop label and media production company rooted in fair trade and cooperative economics principles.

The Fembassy is a website solely dedicated to women in Hip Hop. It serves as a platform to give women in Hip Hop the proper recognition and promotion that they deserve.

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                                                            “You Want Good Music? You Gotta Support it.”

Thousand Kites is excited to offer you a grassroots-created national radio broadcast for prisoners: Calls from Home.  Watch our video.  Listen to the show.  Get involved and learn more about how to reach the 2.4 million people behind bars this holiday. 

Visit www.callsfromhome.org

 - Thousand Kites Team

 thousandkitesproject@gmail.com

www.thousandkites.org

Thousand Kites
91 Madison Ave
Whitesburg, KY 41858

Register now for the 2010 Labor Notes conference!

Join a thousand other activists from unions, worker centers, and workplace struggles for the 2010 Labor Notes conference, April 23-25 in Detroit, Michigan.

The three-day conference will host more than 100 workshops and meetings that will help working people and labor activists organize in their unions, at their work, in their industries, and on their campaigns. From nitty-gritty skills-building workshops to sessions tackling strategic debates for the labor movement, the Labor Notes conference is a shot in the arm for our movement’s grassroots activists. Rub shoulders and share strategies with others facing the same obstacles as you at work.

Register today at www.labornotes.org/conference.

WE?RE COMING TO LABOR NOTES CONFERENCE!?

Hollie Goldsmith, a 21-year old member of Teamsters Local 413 and a Teamsters for a Democratic Union activist, says she won’t miss the Labor Notes 2010 conference:

“Labor Notes helps me meet people I need to know from other unions, and get the resources I need to be effective on the job. There are lots of great skills-building workshops that I bring home with me and put to work at UPS.”

Ricky Maclin, vice president of UE Local 1110 in Chicago and veteran of the Republic Windows and Doors sit-in, is coming back for more:

We were at the Labor Notes conference just a few months before Republic Windows said they were shutting down our plant. It was good to be with all those other troublemakers, but we didn’t know we were going to be some of the most famous troublemakers of 2008, by sitting in and sticking it to Bank of America. We’ll be back.

Check out www.labornotes.org/conference for our growing list of participants!

THEMES INCLUDE:

Defend jobs, contracts, and unions during the economic crisis. The Republic Windows and Doors Chicago sit-in taught a lesson: we can win allies and win even in tough times. What are the strategies that work?

Hold the line on the shop floor. Technology and management schemes are changing the workplace dramatically. Are we keeping up?

Organize and build unions that work. We’ll discuss strategies for starting and strengthening unions with members at the helm, not just numbers on a spreadsheet.

Examine labor’s political agenda. Unions went all-out in the elections, but labor law and health care reform aren’t measuring up. What’s the best use of our political time and energy?

Bring up the next generation. We need more young workers than ever at this conference. We’re encouraging organizations to send workers under age 30, and building a special scholarship fund to get them there.

Protect the public sector. Don’t let layoffs and budget cuts threaten the future of public sector work and public services.

WORKSHOPS TO INCLUDE:
*Bargaining during tough times
*Understanding the economic crisis
*How to occupy a factory
*Troublemaking contract campaigns
*Fights in the public sector
*Examining labor?s political agenda
*Defending pensions
*Labor-community partnerships
*Pitfalls of top-down organizing deals
*Fresh strategies for single-payer health care
*Member-led organizing drives
*Running for local union office
*Assertive grievance handling
*Bargaining for health care
*Developing new leaders
*Creative organizing tactics
*Women in the trades
*Getting members involved
…and many more!

MORE INFORMATION
REGISTER
Register today at www.labornotes.org/conference. Register by February
19 to lock in our early registration rate of $85. Regular registration
is $115.

Location
Hyatt Regency Dearborn (union hotel)
600 Town Center Drive
Dearborn, Michigan, USA 48126-2793
Room rates: Single/double $115, triple $140, quad $165 per night.
Book your room after December 4 by going to
www.labornotes.org/conference/hotel or by calling the hotel at
313-593-1234 and mentioning that you’re with the Labor Notes
conference to get our room rate.

Childcare
Available for a donation for children over 1 year. Request by April 2.

CONTACT US
Website: www.labornotes.org/conference
Phone: 313-842-6262
Email: conference@labornotes.org
Eblast updates: Get on the list at www.labornotes.org/eblast.
Facebook: www.facebook.com/labornotes

Made in Michigan is an action-oriented, grass-roots movement that focuses on bridging the relationships between the Michigan consumer, producer, grower and retailer.

FACT: If every Michigan household spent $10 each week on Michigan made food products, then $37 million dollars would be put back into the local economy on a weekly basis! Source: michigan.gov

It’s not a fad. It’s common sense. It’s the way it should always be–in times of recession and boom. You’ve witnessed the frustration of American companies sending their operations to other states and overseas. Loyalties should be given to those who stand loyal to us. It’s purchasing dollars that will tell the story of your loyalty.

Buying local keeps our neighbors employed, creates stronger community bonds, promotes talent and skills, raises our standard of living and attracts investments that share our values of deep-rooted loyalty, hard work, and commitment to excellence. Speak up and be heard. Demand better for your money. Demand Michigan made.

LINK

Laborers International Union rally at Pulte Homes headquarters on Tuesday, December 15th 10 am.

Over the last 18 months many of you have helped support the Building Justice campaign,  an effort by workers who build homes for Pulte Homes in Arizona and Nevada to win better wages, benefits and treatment on the job. Building Justice is a cooperative effort of the Sheet Metal Workers  International Association (SMWIA) and the International Union of Painters (IUPAT) with the  help of the AFL-CIO.

The Laborers International Union (Liuna) also has a campaign aimed at Pulte Homes and they began a justice tour with workers and homeowners on December 1st in Los Angeles. Their tour will end with a rally at Pulte’s corporate headquarters in Bloomfield Hills, MI at 100 Bloomfield Hills PKway at 10 am on Tuesday, December 15th.

We encourage you to participate in this rally. Please share this email with our friends and allies.

Our collective has done a lot of amazing work this year (for example, our Disability History Month Initiative where we went into ten 8th grade classrooms to teach about eugenics, institutionalization, self-determination and youth power this past October) and we want to continue it. Please help us make this possible by visiting thedypcollective.org and hitting the paypal button on the left!

Continue reading

Please spread the word to anyone who would be interested!

Hello all,

I’m happy to announce that for all you die hard sunshoot fans out there or folks who want to continue supporting Detroit grown produce year round, you can still pick up a bag (or two or a flat) on a weekly basis at the Raw Detroit Market on Wednesday evenings.

Please call in advance to place an order and set a time to pick up, so your sunshoots will be ready and waiting for your arrival.  I’ve got a pretty flexible schedule right now so if Wednesdays don’t work…lets talk, I’m sure we can figure something out.

The market pick-up is at Farnsworth and call me at 269-370-1470 to place orders.  The bags are 4oz for $4 or flats uncut (1.5-2lbs) for $15…i’ll need a week’s notice for any orders of whole flats (if you’ve got a group together, order a flat and divide it up!)

For food and revolution,
Carolyn

Farmer
Raw Detroit Community Farms LLC
Detroit, MI 48211

Friday, Dec 18, 2009 at Alvins 5756 Cass Ave at 7:00 pm. The In The
Tradition jazz band is having a CD release party. Cover is $5.00.

Black-Smith Enterprises presents “A Murder Mystery at the Whitney” part 2! If you missed the first one, you won’t want to miss this one.

This interactive who-done-it game is all the rave at the glorious Whitney Mansion. Put your detective skills to the test and join us for a night of mystery and fun!

Tickets are $20 and that package includes the murder mystery and a strolling buffet.

So join us for some holiday fun!

To purchase tickets please visit www.black-smithenterprises.com.

*Tickets must be purchased in advance. There will be no tickets sold at the door.

Dear Seasonal, Part-time and/or Permanent Job Recruiters:  

LolaMax Management LLC is pleased to partner with Neighborhood Legal Services Michigan to announce our next Job Fair as the,“Ready For a New Year, A New You and a New Career?” Jobs, Education and Training Career Fair – to invite you- as an employer, college or university, human services provider, leader in business: industry, higher education or services – to meet job seekers, trainees, students, potential customers and those looking to discover the multitude of services, careers, training and business options the world has to offer.   

Our last job fair at Cobo Hall on Friday, November 13, 2009, drew more than 30 companies and 2000 job seekers.  As such, this event will be well advertized on local radio and TV stations and throughout the Detroit’s Workforce Development Department, MichiganWorks! Offices.  Flyers will also be generated to all local training centers, colleges, universities, corporate outlets and the new Rosa Parks Transit Centerin Detroit.  Also, a mass E-mail blast to contacts in the corporate, education, training and community sectors.  

Participating companies will be provided BOOTH SPACE for $100 for this event- which also covers continental breakfast, lunch and parking.     

Please complete and return the attached RSVP form via fax to (313) 633-9088 or (313) 963-2584 to reserve space today.   

Date & Time:      Friday, December 18, 2009 – 10:00am – 3:00pm  

Place:                  Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites- Downtown Detroit  

                            Detroit MI 48226  

Please join us and various other employer and community partners as we connect people to opportunity.   This event will be open and free to the public.    

Thank you.  

John W. Cromer   

(313) 878-1965cell                      Email: LolaMaxMgtLLC@live.com