Jamaica Plain Forum

Presented by the Jamaica Plain Forum & Institute for Policy Studies Click here for location and directions! In its first 100 days in office, President Obama has begun to move the country forward. Bold plans for economic recovery, drawing down troops in Iraq, and reforming health care have been put on the table. But is this the makings of a new era for progressive politics or just a new face on politics as usual in Washington? Join the Jamaica Plain Forum and the Institute for Policy Studies for a discussion featuring prominent experts and scholars in the progressive community to assess the beginnings of the Obama administration and the chances for long term reform. The speakers will draw on essays from a new book, Mandate for Change: Policies and Leadership for 2009 and Beyond, edited by Chester Hartman, a collaboration of over 70 authors and activists that offers a set of specific policy proposals for the new national administration on every important domestic and international issue. The ideas, policies, and resources presented in this volume set forth a fundamental, badly needed "mandate for change" to reinvigorate government and rethink the role of markets and civil society. About Our Speakers: Chester Hartman, an Associate Fellow at IPS, is Director of Research for the Poverty & Race Research Action Council in Washington, DC and founder/former Chair of The Planners Network, a national organization of progressive urban and rural planners and community organizers. Chuck Collins is Senior Scholar at the Institute for Policy Studies, where he directs the Program on Inequality and the Common Good and the Working Group on Extreme Inequality. He is a contributor to Ten Excellent Reasons Not to Hate Taxes (New Press, 2008). Janet Redman is the Co-Director of the Sustainable Energy and Economy Network at the Institute for Policy Studies where she provides analysis of the international financial institutions’ energy investment and carbon finance activities. Her recent studies on the World Bank’s climate activities include World Bank: Climate Profiteer, and Dirty is the New Clean: A critique of the World Bank’s strategic framework for development and climate change. She has appeared on several radio programs and C-SPAN sharing positive visions for fair and equitable climate action in the United States and overseas. As a founding participant in the global Climate Justice Now! network, Janet is committed to bringing hard-hitting policy analysis into grassroots and grasstops organizing.

Barack Obama, a liberal-leaning centrist Democrat was elected with the energetic support of progressive activists. Post-election enthusiasm remains high amongst progressives who believe that President Obama may be in a position to redefine the political center in just the way that Franklin Roosevelt did. Mike Lux, author of the new book “The Progressive Revolution” offers a history and road map for progressives to support a new “Big Change Moment” in our nations’ history. Comparable “Big Change Moments” include the ending of slavery, giving women the right to vote, painstaking enactment of civil rights laws, the adoption of Social Security, and strengthening the middle class. Lux argues that we are on the cusp of a new Big Change Moment, and we need to know our history to fully embrace the upcoming change. Mike will share examples of American history that lend lessons to current progressive policies, and how they may be channeled to solve the critical problems facing America today. Mike Lux's new book, "The Progressive Revolution" will be available for purchase. About Mike Lux Michael Lux is the President and CEO of Progressive Strategies, a political consulting firm, focused on strategic political consulting for non-profits, labor unions, PACs and progressive donors. He has worked with groups such as Political Action at People For the American Way (PFAW), Americans United for Change, Center for Progressive Leadership, Grassroots Democrats, Progressive Majority, Ballot Initiative Strategy Center, and Women's Voices/Women Vote, Center for American Progress, and Air America. In November of 2008, Mike was named to the Obama-Biden Transition Team. In that role, he served as an advisor to the Office of Public Liaison on relationship with the progressive community and has helped shape the Office of Public Liaison based on his past experience working on the Clinton-Gore Transition, as well as in the White House. Many thanks to the cosponsors of this event The Progressive Project

As a longtime labor and community organizer, Kim Fellner has spent her life fighting corporate abuse. But when fellow demonstrators at the 1999 "Battle of Seattle" smashed in the window of a Starbucks store, she couldn't escape the feeling that something was wrong with the picture. How had a coffee company with a liberal reputation come to engender such hostility? Fellner decided to find out. She interviewed global justice and union activists, baristas, independent coffee shop owners, coffee farmers and a dozen Starbucks executives, including CEO Howard Schultz. Along the way, she encountered some unexpected insights, not just about the Green Mermaid, but about how we, on the left, choose our fights and frame our issues. Wrestling with Starbucks: Conscience, Capital, Cappuccino invites us to reflect on how we define and practice our values in the global economy from the vantage point of our morning brew-and presents a refreshingly different look at the company that changed the way the world drinks coffee. Check out Kim's latest article in Color Lines Many Thanks to the Cosponsors of this event

Why Millions of Working Americans Are Not Getting Paid-And What We Can Do About It Kim Bobo, the co-founder of Interfaith Worker Justice discusses her new book (“Wage Theft in America”) about how billions of dollars worth of wages are stolen from millions of workers. Each year, billions of dollars’ worth of wages are stolen from millions of workers, a grand theft that exceeds every other larceny category on record annually. In today’s dwindling economy this crime affects more Americans than ever before. In her new book, author and community organizer Kim Bobo offers an incisive information for activists, workers, and concerned citizens on how to prevent flagrant exploitation of America’s working people, including a sweeping analysis of the crisis, hard-hitting statistics, and heart-breaking first-person accounts. Kim Bobo is the Executive Director of Interfaith Worker Justice and co-author of Organizing for Social Change, the best-selling manual on progressive organizing. Kim Bobo has written an excellent and informative book on one of the most pressing issues facing millions of hardworking Americans. She offers bold, practical, and progressive solutions for how policymakers and advocates can end the growing crisis of wage theft in America. —Senator Edward M. Kennedy Also, Kim will be appearing on "RADIO with a VIEW" on Sunday, January 25th between 10:15 – 10:45am. Visit www.ibisradio.org for more. Many Thanks to the CoSponsors and Collaborators for this event: Books will be available for purchase at the event from

Amy Goodman, host of Democracy Now! visits the Jamaica Plain Forum on Friday, May 16th at 7:00pm This event is a Fundraiser for the Jamaica Plain Forum. Tickets are $5.00 Doors open at 6pm, event begins at 7pm. Seating is on a first-come, first-serve basis Tickets are on sale at Rhythm and Muse (470 Center St. in Jamaica Plain). Any unsold tickets will be available at the door.  Cash or Check please! Where are the millions marching in the streets to defend human rights, civil liberties, and racial justice? Where is the mass revulsion against the killing and torture being carried out in our name? Where are the environmentalists? Where is the peace movement? The answer: They are everywhere. The award-winning sister-brother team of Amy Goodman, host of Democracy Now!, and investigative journalist David Goodman traveled the country to detail the ways in which grassroots activists have taken politics out of the hands of politicians. Standing Up to the Madness tells the stories of everyday citizens who have challenged the government and prevailed. Standing Up to the Madness not only is a timely, inspiring, and even revolutionary look at who wields the greatest power in America--everyday people who take a chance and stand up for what they believe in--but also offers advice on what you can do to help. As the Bush administration has waged war abroad and at home, it has catalyzed a cast groundswell of political action. From African-American residents of deluged New Orleans who are fighting racism and City Hall to regain their homes; to four Connecticut librarians who refused to spy on their patrons, challenged the US PATRIOT Act, and won; to a group of high school students who were barred from performing a play they wrote in the Iraq War based on letters for soldiers; to the first U.S. Army officer to publicly refuse orders to deploy to Iraq, charging that his duty as an officer is to refuse to fight in an illegal and immoral war, Standing Up to the Madness profiles citizens rising to extraordinary challenges. And, in the process, they are changing the way that politics is done, both now and in the future. In communities around the United States, courageous individuals have taken leaps of faith to stop the madness. They could only hope that if they led, others would follow. This is how movements are born. What begins as one, eventually becomes many. In that tradition, the authors have included the ways in which any individual can take action and effect change.

Bill McKibben, author, educator, environmentalist Sunday, June 8th, 7:00pm Read Bill's most recent article on Alternet.org As a part of our continuing series on climate-change, join the Jamaica Plain Forum for a conversation with Step-It-Up! global warming activist, Bill McKibben after the Bikes Not Bombs Bike-A-Thon and 1st annual Green Roots Festival. Bill McKibben is an environmentalist and writer who frequently writes about global warming, alternative energy, and the risks associated with human genetic engineering. Well known for his lead role in the Step-It-Up campaign, Bill comes to the Jamaica Plain Forum to share his experiences organizing mass-climate action from the ground to Capitol Hill. Bill has written a dozen books, including The End of Nature and Deep Economy: the Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future. In March 2008 The Bill McKibben Reader, a collection of 44 essays on various topics, was published. He is a frequent contributor to various magazines including The New York Times, The Atlantic Monthly, Harper's, Orion Magazine, Mother Jones, The New York Review of Books, Granta, Rolling Stone, and Outside. He is also a board member and contributor to Grist Magazine. In late summer 2006, Bill helped lead a five-day walk across Vermont to demand action on global warming. Beginning in January 2007 he founded stepitup07.org to demand that Congress enact curbs on carbon emissions that would cut global warming pollution 80 percent by 2050. With six college students, he organized 1,400 global warming demonstrations across all 50 states. Step It Up 2007 has been described as the largest day of protest about climate change in the nation's history. A guide to help people initiate environmental activism in their community coming out of the Step It Up 2007 experience entitled Fight Global Warming Now was published in October 2007. Rhythm and Muse will have Bill's books available for purchase at the event. To purchase books beforehand, please visit Rhythm and Muse at 470 Center St. in Jamaica Plain. Many Thanks to the Co-Sponsors of this event! Boston Climate Action Network (BCAN)

“The global water crisis is one of the most serious issues of our time. Maude Barlow is an outstanding leader who has pioneered people's and nature's right to water for the last decade. Blue Covenant will inspire civil society movements around the world.” –Vandana Shiva, physicist, ecologist, activist, editor, and author of Biopiracy and Stolen Harvest The “water wars” are on the horizon. Just like oil today. We suffer a moral predicament as big corporations reap windfall profits from privatizing water while billions go thirsty. Bottled water today sells for many times more per gallon than gasoline as public water systems decay. Instead of our policy makers pressing for conservation, corporations are set to make billions on energy-intensive technologies to desalinate and clean sewage water and sell it back to consumers. But who owns our water in the first place? How can we protect this common resource for all, now and forever? There is no one better to address this issue than Canadian anti-corporate activist, and world renowned expert on water rights, Maude Barlow. She will discuss how protecting our water sources from corporate interests is as crucial as curbing greenhouse gas emissions. Furthermore, she will lay out the actions that we as global citizens must take to secure a water-just world — a “blue covenant” for all. Read Maude's latest article on Alternet.com About Our Speaker Maude Barlow is the national chairperson of The Council of Canadians, Canada's largest citizens' advocacy organization with over 100,000 members and 70 chapters across Canada. Maude Barlow is also the co-founder of the Blue Planet Project which works to stop commodification of the world's water. Maude Barlow began her career as a high-profile leader of Canada’s Women’s Movement, eventually becoming an advisor on women’s issue to Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. In 1985 she helped to found the Council of Canadians and continues to this day to act as its national chairperson. Most of Maude’s work focuses on the regional and global trade agenda, with water being an issue of equal special concern. Working with Tom Clarke, Maude has been influential in defeating the Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI), and campaigning against the World Trade Organization’s free-trade agenda, especially at Seattle (1999) and Cancun (2003). Maude serves on the boards of the International Forum on Globalization and Food and Water Watch and is a councilor with the Hamburg-based World Future Council. In addition to being nominated for the "1000 Women for the Nobel Peace Prize 2005" she is a recipient of the "2005/2006 Lannan Cultural Freedom Fellowship" and the "2005 Right Livelihood Award". She is the best selling author or co-author of 16 books, including Blue Gold: The Fight to Stop Corporate Theft of the World's Water (with Tony Clarke), now published in 47 countries. This event co-hosted by: Many thanks to the co-sponsors of this event: Boston Climate Action Network (BCAN) Massachusetts Global Action Clean Water Action - Massachusetts

Friday, July 27th, 7:00pm First Church of Jamaica Plain Unitarian Universalist, Parish Hall Presenting Sanho Tree, Fellow at Institute for Policy Studies and Director of the Drug Policy Project. Our jails are filled with nonviolent drug offenders and our militarized approach to combating drugs overseas is destroying indigenous economies and sewing seeds of antagonism toward the US. Our global export on the War on Drugs from Colombia to Afghanistan has resulted in militarized aid to repressive regimes, punished the poor, and provided unintended price supports to traffickers through the economics of prohibition – all in the name of fighting so-called “narco-terrorism”. It is no secret that current policy ignores the effects of racism and poverty that helps drive the illicit drug economy. In the US, these roots include decaying school systems, lack of inner city and rural jobs, shortage of affordable housing, lack of health care, and social alienation. International challenges include exportation of the “War on Drugs” to Colombia and Afghanistan, “counternarcotics” aid to repressive regimes, and environmental destruction caused by our eradication and fumigation policies. Why have these policies not succeeded despite hundreds of billions of dollars having been thrown at the problem? Are there alternatives to the current drug war quagmire? Sanho Tree, Director of the Drug Policy Project at the Institute for Policy Studies, will dissect the politics behind these failed policies and suggest avenues for fundamental reform. Mr. Tree advocates for systemic reform by reaching out to non-traditional allies and employing innovative tactics to promote a sustainable, constitutional, and humane drug control policy. He encourages replacing the punitive and coercive "social control" model of drug policy with a public health and economic development model. About our Speaker Sanho Tree is an international expert on drug policy matters. He is a Fellow and Director of the Drug Policy Project at the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington, DC. He has been featured in the ABC News/John Stossel documentary on the drug war which aired in July 2002 and has also appeared on Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher. Mr. Tree is a former military and diplomatic historian; he has collaborated in the past with Dr. Gar Alperovitz on The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb and the Architecture of an American Myth (Knopf, 1995). From 1996-97, he assisted entertainer Harry Belafonte and continues to work as an occasional consultant for him on international issues. He was also associate editor of CovertAction Quarterly, an award-winning magazine of investigative journalism. In the late 1980s he worked at the International Human Rights Law Group. Currently, he serves on the boards of Witness for Peace and the Andean Information Network.

First Church of Jamaica Plain Unitarian Universalist, Parish Hall. Presenting Stacy Mitchell of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, author of "Big Box Swindle: The True Cost of Mega-Retailers and the Fight for America’s Independent Businesses " We are blessed with specialty restaurants and independent food markets, gift shops, hardware stores, local relaters, medical professionals, clothing boutiques, sporting goods, local banks, bakeries, yoga studios, owner-run bookstores, bicycle shops, and so on. While we celebrate these local businesses for making Jamaica Plain so special, we may wonder why the main streets of other towns are suffering. How can we preserve what we have? A shopping trip down Center Street or Washington Street in Jamaica Plain is a unique experience thanks to the variety of independent businesses. Author Stacy Mitchell brings her insight and expertise to the Jamaica Plain Forum to discuss the disruption of the local business community by mega-box retailers, and what Americans can do it save it. Large retail chains have become the most powerful corporations in America and are rapidly transforming our economy, communities, and landscape. In her deft and revealing book “Big Box Swindle: The True Cost of Mega-Retailers and the Fight for America’s independent Businesses,” Stacy Mitchell illustrates how mega-retailers are fueling many of our most pressing problems, from the shrinking middle class to rising water pollution and diminished civic engagement. Mitchell's investigation takes us from the suburbs of Cleveland to a fruit farm in California, the stockroom of an Oregon Wal-Mart, and a Pennsylvania town's Main Street. She uncovers the shocking role government policy has played in the expansion of mega-retailers and builds a compelling case that communities composed of many small businesses are healthier and more prosperous than those dominated by large chains. More than a critique, Big-Box Swindle draws on real life to show how some communities are successfully countering the spread of mega-retailers and rebuilding their local economies. Mitchell describes innovative approaches—from cutting edge land-use policies to small-business initiatives—that together provide a detailed road map to a more prosperous and sustainable future. Our Speaker Stacy Mitchell is a senior researcher with the nonprofit Institute for Local Self-Reliance and has served as an advisor to communities across the country on strategies to strengthen locally owned businesses. Mitchell regularly contributes articles and commentaries to magazines and newspapers, and produces an acclaimed monthly email newsletter, The Hometown Advantage Bulletin. She chairs the American Independent Business Alliance and is a co-founder of Portland Buy Local. She lives in Portland, Maine. Related Links: Big-Box Swindle www.bigboxswindle.com Named one of the top ten books of 2006 by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer! Big Box Tool Kit www.bigboxtoolkit.com Hometown Advantage www.hometownadvantage.org

This podcast was recorded by David Goodman of Ibis Radio: www.ibisradio.org 7:00pm reading and discussion with Aviva Chomsky First Church in Jamaica Plain, Unitarian Universalist Parish Hall With walls being built on our borders and heated debate this summer around the Immigration Reform Bill, our nation acts as if immigrants destroy the social, economic and cultural fabric of the United States. People hold firm beliefs that immigrants take American jobs, drain the American economy, contribute to poverty and inequality, destroy the social fabric, challenge American identity, and contribute to a host of social ills are openly discussed and debated at all levels of U.S. society. However, according to Aviva Chomsky the current immigration debate is rife with myths, stereotypes and unquestioned assumptions about the history of immigration and how American society, economy and laws function. Chomsky argues that many opinions about immigration are based on a distorted and sanitized version of American history that is reinforced by textbooks, politicians and the media and rarely questioned. While most Americans believe the country was founded on the principles of equal rights and a generous immigration policy, Chomsky illustrates how a legacy of racial and ethnic discrimination has long-fueled social, economic and legal inequality in the United States. This legacy of discrimination and the role of the U.S. in a system of global inequality, she argues, are the true undercurrents of today's immigration debate. Chomsky argues that the historical structures that privileged white people in the U.S. continue to shape social realities and immigration policy today. In addition to race, Chomsky asserts that today, immigration is structured by a complex global web that depends upon an economic system privileging few at the expense of many. As long as resources as unequally distributed in the world, she notes, people will look to escape regions deliberately kept poor and violent and seek freedom where the world's wealth has been concentrated. Chomsky's new book, "They Take Our Jobs: And 20 Other Myths About Immigration" will be available for purchase. Our Speaker Aviva Chomsky is professor of history and coordinator of Latin American Studies at Salem State College. The daughter of noted activist and linguist Noam Chomsky, Aviva is the author of several books including Linked Labor Histories: New England and Columbia. She has been active in Latin American solidarity and immigrants’ rights issues from more than 25 years. Aviva Chomsky lives in Salem, MA.