Hi everyone, hope you had a relaxing weekend! This upcoming week features a lot of events that tie activism and the arts together, so it should be a particularly great time to get involved:
On Monday, July 21, at 5 PM, the Tivoli Theater will be showing the documentary “The Color of Justice” as part of the St. Louis Filmmaker Showcase. This movie discusses the highly controversial case of Reggie Clemons, an inmate currently on death row in Missouri. Local grassroots group The Organization for Black Struggle (OBS) has made “Justice for Reggie” one of their central campaigns, and this movie sounds like it is well worth watching for anyone concerned about the death penalty or the current criminal justice system.
On Tuesday, July 22, the literarily-inclined will have a chance to hone their craft as the St. Louis Chapter of Amnesty International holds their monthly get-together to write letters on behalf of political prisoners around the world. The meeting begins at 7 PM at the Hartford Coffee House, 3974 Hartford Street.
On Wednesday, July 23, the Interfaith Committee on Latin America will be holding a Nicaraguan Celebration at Fritangas Restaurant. The event will include a discussion of the current political situation in Nicaragua. It’s from 7 to 8:30 PM and the address is 2008 S. Jeffereson (just South of I-44).
Also Wednesday, the West County Democrats are showing a documentary “Being Caribou” that details the consequences of drilling for oil in pristine habitats. Details are here .
On Thursday, July 24, Meet with urban planning hobbyists (and professionals), renovationists, and other assorted hipsters at this months Drinks and Mortars. It’s at Hair of the Dog, 1212 Washington Avenue, Downtown at 7pm
Also Thursday, 7 PM at Left Bank Books, author Sahar Alam discusses his book “The Groom to Have Been” about a romance in a post 9/11 environment. Details here
On Friday the 25th, a couple of events are being put on with help from some familiar local activists. First, join Parys Flytrap at the Benchpress Burlesque’s performance at “Playground of the Ridiculous”. The whole show at the Contemporary Art Museum runs from 6 to 10 PM, and I believe the BPBs performance will be towards the beginning. You can join the facebook group here or find more information at this link. The program also features some excellent poetry and music.
Also Friday, Amanda Jokerst will be performing as a member of the band Harlot Bride. They’ll be playing from 8 to 11 at the Crave Coffee House at 3504 Caroline. Join the facebook event or check out the band’s music.
On Saturday night, what could possibly be better than a drive-in movie? Why, a bike-in movie of course! And what would be the perfect subject for a bike-in movie? Obviously, a documentary on the story of “World Naked Bike Day!” Here is the mission of WNBD according to their website: “We face automobile traffic with our naked bodies as the best way of defending our dignity and exposing the unique dangers faced by cyclists and pedestrians as well as the negative consequences we all face due to dependence on oil, and other forms of non-renewable energy.” This movie screening is helping to promote the St. Louis instantiation of WNBD on August 2nd. Details are here.
Finally, in the past couple of weeks I’ve mentioned some issues of local importance (the takeover of AB, and the proposed changes to the Arch Ground) in the updates. This week I wanted to point out something that’s not in St. Louis, but still fairly close by and an important story to be aware of. Tomas Young is a soldier who was paralyzed from the chest down in Iraq in 2004. He is the subject of a documentary “Body of War” that will be coming out soon on DVD. You can find out more about Tomas and the movie at www.bodyofwar.com and can join a supporters group for Tomas at this link.
Have a fun and meaningful week,
Adam