Events

John Gibler, a writer who has been covering politics and popular movements in Mexico for more than three years, will share stories of the underdogs and rebels who put their lives on the line to build justice from the ground up and the powers attempting to repress them.

In his recent book, Mexico Unconquered, Gibler probes the overwhelming divisions in contemporary Mexico, home to the world's richest man, Carlos Slim, and to destitute millions. He explores the concept of the Rule of Law in a land known for its implacable corruption and impunity; the political machinations behind Mexico's devastating economic disparities; the implications and consequences of the annual exodus of half a million Mexicans to the United States; the unprecedented civil disobedience uprising in Oaxaca state; and the continuing Indigenous Present that resists the government's attempts to confine Mexico's 10 million indigenous peoples to calm and controlled corners of the past.

The event will include a discussion about the Coalition of Immokalee Workers' recent victories, as well as the poor working conditions tomato pickers face in the fields of southwest Florida.

A blurb about the movie Fast Food Nation:

Building Community: As part of Alma’s Sustainable Communities Program, Ana-Maurine Lara brings her experience with strengthening community self-determination through urban gardening and information-sharing to Alma de Mujer’s Earth Box Project. Sites around Austin, including PODER, Resistencia, and now MonkeyWrench will be new sites of Alma Earth Boxes.

On Sunday, April 5, at 10am, community members, MonkeyWrench volunteers, and everyone who’s interested are invited to learn about each other and about urban gardening as we build an Earth Box with Ana-Maurine Lara.

Juliea Mickenberg will join us to read from her Tales for Little Rebels: A Collection of Radical Children's Literature. Story Hour is held every 1st Sunday of the month at at 1pm. Come by for stories, snacks, and activities.

Morristown: In the air and sun (2007). Filmed over an 8-year period in the mountains of east Tennessee, interior Mexico, and Ciudad Juarez, Morristown: in the air and sun is rooted in the authentic expression of workers who speak about their lives, work, disappointments, and hope. These conversations are combined with scenes in factories, fields, union halls, Mexican stores, city parks, and employment agencies. The documentary travels to the U.S.-Mexican border (El Paso - Juarez) to create deeper understanding of factory flight out of Morristown, and to interior Mexico to look at the forces that cause immigration. Filmmaker Anne Lewis will lead a discussion after the film.

Please join the Austin Immigrant Rights Coalition Wednesdays in April at MonkeyWrench Books (110 E. North Loop) for an Immigrant Rights film series. Donations collected at each film screening will support the work of the Austin Immigrant Rights Coalition.

Discussion on how free trade agreements -- partnerships between governments and corporations -- centralize food production and concentrate market power.

* Paul Martin, Siempre Sustainable Network
* Carmen Llanes, PODER & Texas Fair Trade Coalition
* Eva Hershaw, Photojournalist
* Moderator: Sthea Mason, American Friends Service Committee

Come join us to discuss our FIRST round of topics: Situationism and the revolution of everyday life! If that isn't exciting enough, selected books will be discounted 15% for members of the book group. This book group is young and vulnerable to new ideas so come and give it what you got.

Los Trabajadores/The Workers - Through the words of immigrant workers and the families they've left behind, Los Trabajadores /The Workers tells the stories of workers at an Austin, Texas day labor site. It places their struggles and contributions in the context of the City's economic development, and reveals the impact of globalization on their lives. Filmmaker Heather Courtney will be in attendance for a discussion.

Film screening ("Paying the Price") and discussion on migrant agricultural workers in the U.S. and Mexico.

* Melody Gonzalez, Chiapas Media Project
* Fair Food Austin
* Moderator: Cristina Tzintzún, Workers Defense Project

"His Girl Friday" is a 1940 screwball comedy, a remake of the 1931 film The Front Page, which is an adaptation by Charles Lederer, Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur of their play of the same name. The "twist" to His Girl Friday is that the one of the lead roles was converted from a man to a woman. The film stars Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell and features Ralph Bellamy. It was directed by Howard Hawks and is noted for the rapid-fire pace of its dialogue.

Mojados: Through the Night (2004) - Director Tommy Davis tags along with four migrants from a small village in Mexico as they leave their families and embark on a 120 mile trek across the deserts of Texas, attempting to evade the U.S. Border Patrol. They must overcome dehydration, hypothermia and come face to face with death. The film will be followed by a discussion of the border wall and its impact on migrants' safety.

Please join the Austin Immigrant Rights Coalition Wednesdays in April at MonkeyWrench Books (110 E. North Loop) for an Immigrant Rights film series. Donations collected at each film screening will support the work of the Austin Immigrant Rights Coalition.

Disaster and Resistance: Comics & Landscapes for the 21st Century by Seth Tobocman
Published by AK Press

Would you like to learn how to become Austin Energy's "Worst Nightmare?" How would you like to take a $12,000 whole-house rainwater catchment system design & ratchet it down to $500? Join do-it-yourself-er Doc Jody, Winner, Barton Springs/Edwards Aquifer Conservation District Groundwater "End-User" Stewardship Award-- discussing how she's been drinking rainwater employing a 6-step filtration/purification system she designed & self-installed. Doc Jody is the designated "Lowest End-User Water Consumer" in the City of Sunset Valley. In a 2,103 sq.ft. home with NO SOLAR, Doc Jody's Ariel PermaCulture House has been "racking down" $72 average TOTAL monthly utility bills (elec-water-gas-sewage-trash) 10+ years. Learn how these amazing feats are being accomplished with a little know-how, determination, "sacrifice" & a whole "lotta" integrity. Live sustainably, live peaceably. Keep Austin Green.

Collected immigration shorts featuring Hutto: America's Family Prison and other short films exploring migration and the struggle for immigrant rights. Hutto filmmaker Matt Gossage will be in attendance along with local activists to discuss upcoming actions.

Please join the Austin Immigrant Rights Coalition Wednesdays in April at MonkeyWrench Books (110 E. North Loop) for an Immigrant Rights film series. Donations collected at each film screening will support the work of the Austin Immigrant Rights Coalition.

Meet individuals and organizations in Austin that are contributing to food access, efficacy and awareness that helps make a local, sustainable food system possible.

* Andrew Smiley, Sustainable Food Center
* Youth participants, Urban Roots
* Erin Flynn and Skip Connett, Green Gate Farms
* Moderator: Marla Camp, Edible Austin