Events

Globetrotting troublemaker John Ross will read from his two new cult classics: "Iraqigirl", the diary of a teenager coming of age under U.S. occupation in Mosul, Iraq that has been called "an Anne Frank for our time", and "El Monstruo - Dread & Redemption in Mexico City", the tangled tale of the most contaminated, corrupt, crime-ridden, and chaotic city in the Americas that has just been selected as "book of the year" by the San Antonio Express News.

Representatives of the Speaker's Bureau for Austin's important comprehensive plan will be speaking at Monkeywrench to get community members involved in the planning process.

The Speakers Bureau presentation is designed to introduce citizens to the Comprehensive Planning Process and what it means for the Austin community. Here is the website for IMAGINE Austin: http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/compplan/ The web site is loaded with information including the planning process, the project journal, how to sign up to the interest list and take the on-line survey.

Join our new group of radical female-identified people for a screening of "Teeth," a feminist horror movie. What does that mean? Well, come find out! In keeping with the theme, bring your favorite (vegan) movie snack.

SYNOPSIS: High school student Dawn works hard at suppressing her budding sexuality by being the local chastity group's most active participant. Her task is made even more difficult by her bad boy stepbrother Brad's increasingly provocative behavior at home. A stranger to her own body, innocent Dawn discovers she has a toothed vagina when she becomes the object of violence. As she struggles to comprehend her anatomical uniqueness, Dawn experiences both the pitfalls and the power of being a living example of the vagina dentata myth.

http://www.teethmovie.com/

*Event open to female-identified people only.*

Metahuman is a hip-hop lyricist, filmmaker, speaker and performance poet, a political dissident, radical transsexual activist, autobiographical confessionalist, outspoken social misfit, friend, lover, and teacher. Metahuman mixes politics with the visceral love of flow to create a unique sound that blends old-school rap metaphors with radical queer politics. Metahuman also writes and produces films, including the short comedy “Queerer Than Thou” which has screened at over 30 film festivals worldwide. He also runs the LA-based arts collective Trans/Giving.

In addition to the performance at Monkey Wrench, Metahuman will also present a workshop on transgender youth at the Abriendo Brecha VII conference at UT on Saturday, February 20th, 11:30-12:45, Asian Culture Room, Free and open to the public.

While the Honduran military coup of June 28th, 2009 is not without historical precedent, the massive and ongoing Honduran resistance to it is. No one expected Hondurans to rise up as they have—daily and in the hundreds of thousands—in protest against a de facto government that can most accurately be described as fascist. One of the most interesting elements of the Honduran resistance is its avidly non-hierarchical, anti-authoritarian character, despite a near-complete absence of self-consciously anarchist organizing within Honduras prior to the coup. In this talk Adrienne Pine will discuss what we can learn from the Honduran experience and how we can act in solidarity with Hondurans, whose situation has only worsened with the institutionalization of the coup government through a U.S.-led fraudulent election.

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“Caught in the Storm: Navigating Policy and Practice in the Welfare Reform Era,” a new book written by Dr. Miguel Ferguson, Heather Neuroth-Gatlin and Dr. Stacey Borasky, is a narrative about the staff and clients at Helping Hands, a small nonprofit social service agency set in the fictional community of River City. The issues about social welfare policy, program administration, and client practice that the authors choose to highlight emerge through action and dialogue among the book’s characters. The story’s protagonist, Martha, is the insightful and energetic executive director at Helping Hands. Martha and her staff reach out to other nonprofit and faith-based organizations to implement a welfare-to-work program that will make a difference in the lives of the low-income clients they serve.

Drawing on his own experience, Ashanti will speak about the relevance of black liberation, the Zapatistas, and anarchism to modern radical organizing in the US.

Ashanti Alston is a former member of the Black Panther Party and Black Liberation Army, and was a political prisoner for over 12 years. Residing in New York, he is presently the national co-chair of the Jericho Amnesty Movement, and an active member of Estacion Libre, the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, and Critical Resistance. Ashanti publishes the zine “Anarchist Panther” and has spent time in Chiapas, Mexico, studying the autonomous structure of Zapatista communities.

Join us for a screening of "The Corporation," a documentary that explores the rise of your favorite evil institution.

You have undoubtedly heard of them, Labor Ready, Volt, Labor Finders, Adecco are some of the names. You can check in the Yellow Pages under "employment, temporary" and find probably two dozen halls similar to those spoken about in this book. Seasoned journalist Dick Reavis reported to a labor hall each morning, hoping to "catch out," or get job assignments. To supplement his retirement savings, the sixty-two-year-old North Carolinian joined people dispatched by an agency to jobs for which they were paid at the end of each day. Written with the flair of a gifted portraitist and storyteller, Catching Out describes Reavis's jobs at a factory; as a construction and demolition worker, landscaper, road crew flagman, auto-auction driver and warehouseman; and several days spent sorting artifacts in a dead packrat's apartment.

The Texas Prison Caucus is dedicated to connecting students, prisoners and community members in research, education and action surrounding hyper-incarceration and the prison industrial complex. This semester, students at UT will be reaching out to formerly incarcerated students, hosting a second Prison Machine Teach-In and holding other prison-related film screenings, events and actions. All are welcome to join our efforts on and off campus. This open meeting will create a space for the free world community to learn more about the Caucus and provide a space to work in solidarity with currently and formerly incarcerated folks. For more information, contact txprisoncaucus@gmail.com.

Peter Gelderloos, author of How Nonviolence Protects the State, will give a presentation on his new book, Anarchy Works, which details over 90 histories and recent stories showing anarchy in practice.

According to Gelderloss, "Anarchism is the boldest of revolutionary social movements to emerge from the struggle against capitalism—it aims for a world free from all forms of domination and exploitation. But at its heart it contains a simple and convincing proposition: people know how to live their own lives and organize themselves better than any expert could. Others cynically claim that we need a government to protect us. They claim anarchy is impractical and utopian: it would never work. On the contrary, anarchist practice already has a long record, and has often worked quite well."

All those who identify as a woman are invited to join us for a meeting to discuss our upcoming events: a bellydancing workshop, a self-defense class, film screenings and events just waiting to be planned!

Unfortunately, this event has been canceled because Jeni and Billy's vehicle has broken down. We'll let you know when we're able to reschedule.

Sharing the duties of songwriting, arranging, and performing, Jeni & Billy bring to the work very distinct musical backgrounds that both draw from the deep well of Appalachian roots music.

Jeni & Billy met in the spring of 2005 when Jeni recorded at Billy’s Maryland studio. Within months they began writing and performing together. In 2006, they pressed a six-song EP, Sweet & Toxic, which was praised for its pure vocals, excellent instrumental work, and heartbreaking tales of tragic love.

Urban Geographer Eliot Tretter will give the third part of his series on Austin's history and geography, titled "The Privilege to Stay Dry: Racism, Flooding, and the Emergence of Austin's Lower Eastside Mexican Barrio, 1890-1940."

Join us for a screening of the CrimethInc. documentary "Pickaxe." The film follows an eclectic mix of activists who take a stand to protect an old growth forest from logging at Warner Creek in the Willamette National Forest of Oregon, blockading the logging road and repelling the State Police. Over months a community builds around the illegal blockade as it develops into the Cascadia Free State and similar actions spread across the region. Years after its release, Pickaxe has become a classic document of the potential for grassroots direct action to achieve victory against the forces of both government and big business. Lovingly crafted by the participants themselves, the film expertly presents every moment, from confrontation to celebration.

Join us for a screening of the documentary "Coal Country." Passions are running high in the mountains of Appalachia. Families and communities are deeply split over what is being done to their land. At issue is the latest form of strip mining called ‘mountaintop removal’, or MTR. Coal companies blast the tops off mountains, and run the debris into valleys and streams. Then they mine the exposed seams of coal and transport it to processing plants. Coal is mined more cheaply than ever, and America needs coal. But the air and water are filled with chemicals, and an ancient mountain range is disappearing forever.

Author/artist Casimiro De la Cruz, who lives in the central Sierra indigenous Huichol community in Mexico, will be showing his film, "Narry," and presenting his original Huichol art.

Casimiro is an artist, cultural promoter, illustrator, filmaker & musician, who recently joined the band, "El venado Azul".

For more information about Casimiro and his art, see the following link: http://www.cafepress.com/tekayuawy

Come out and see some amazing bands at MonkeyWrench! Here's the line-up:

Chicken Little (Nashville, TN) 12:00
Your 33 Black Angels (New York, NY) - 12:45
Gold Lake (Madrid, Spain via Brooklyn, NY) - 1:30
Peter and the Wolf (Austin, TX) - 2:15
The Eastern Sea (Austin, TX) 3:00

The shows are free, but we'll be selling books and taking donations, so come on out!

Bring your favorite vegan dish and graze, chat, and share with other female-identifiers. Yum!