DC Metro Action is a listing of local actions, entertainment, volunteer opportunities and the occasional rant on a wide range of socially just issues.
contact me at dcmetroaction@comcast.net
Action of the Day Many of these action alerts are found on the listservs and websites of organizations listed in our "Act Locally" section (Left).
Friday, May 30, 2003
Festival Roundup
Even though the weather says different, it's spring here in Washington and three big festivals are blooming this weekend.
The 20th anniversary of UNIFEST, Washington, DC's premiere African-American cultural festival and parade, is on Saturday, May 31, and Sunday, June 1. The parade will kick off in Southeast on Saturday at noon (rain or shine) from 30th Street and Alabama Avenue and will proceed down Good Hope Road to the festival site at M.L. King Jr. Avenue and W Street. The festival runs until 8 p.m. on both days. Take Metro to the Anacostia station.
The 11th Annual Celebrate Mount Pleasant Festival is on Sunday, June 1, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Mount Pleasant Street, between Irving Street and Park Road NW. Take Metro to the Columbia Heights stop.
Capital Pride 2003, a weeklong festival, kicks off this Sunday, June 1, at the Hard Rock Cafe with "Summertime," a show to benefit YouthAIDS, Capital Pride and the Whitman-Walker Clinic. It's hosted by Ethan Zohn of TV's "Survivor" and features performances by singer/songwriter Cal Ellis, modern rock band Practically Einstein, R&B/jazz group The Crossover Band, and hot DC Latin group The JCJ Band, with special appearances by Kenny Taos and Sanford Reece. The Hard Rock Cafe is at 10th and E Streets NW, and the show begins at 9 p.m. There is a $10 donation at the door.
The Coaching for College Program (CCP) is a small, local non-profit organization that offers one-on-one tutoring and mentoring to students at Shaw Junior High School in Northwest DC. CCP currently works with about 20 students, but during the 2003-04 school year it hopes to serve at least 30 students, so more volunteers will be needed in September.
CCP pairs two adult tutor-mentors with each student, so volunteers have the flexibility of working with a partner. Tutoring sessions are held on Saturday mornings, making each tutor's commitment about two Saturdays per month.
Come to CCP's open house for prospective volunteers on Saturday, May 31, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Shaw Junior High School, 925 Rhode Island Ave. NW. Learn more about CCP, meet some of the students and tutor-mentors, and find out if this is a good opportunity for you. An RSVP for the open house is not required but would be appreciated. If you plan to attend or have any questions, please e-mail Julie Hughes.
United for Peace and Justice (UFPJ) invites you to a National Teach-in on Iraq, Preemptive War and Democracy. Come learn about and discuss issues in three major areas: the domestic consequences of war, a US occupation of Iraq and the US Empire.
Speakers include:
Author/activist Arundhati Roy (via satellite) Former US Rep. Cynthia McKinney of Georgia Columbia University professor Edward Said Gene Bruskin, US Labor Against the War Howard Zinn (via satellite) Hussein Ibish, Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee Kathy Kelly, Voices in the Wilderness (via satellite) Phyllis Bennis, Institute for Policy Studies Rania Masri, Southern Peace Research and Education Center Ralph Nader Damu Smith, Black Voices for Peace.
The teach-in, which is free and open to the public, takes place Saturday, May 31, from 1 to 5 p.m., at the National City Christian Church, 5 Thomas Circle (3 blocks north of the McPherson Square Metro).
For more information on organizational participation, local activities or organizational tabling opportunities, contact Henry Moses at the DC UFPJ office at 202/234-2000 or send an e-mail. To volunteer for the event in the areas of outreach and publicity, technology, media or day-of logistics, contact Kristen Arant at the Quixote Center, 301/699-3443, ext. 114, or at this e-mail. There will be a reception for speakers, organizers and volunteers following the event.
I love baseball, but I have mixed feelings about the proposal to spend $338 million of the public's money to bring the Montreal Expos to Washington. If the yahoos who run our city can float a bond to build a new baseball stadium, why can't they find the money to improve schools, offer prescription drug coverage to those who need it, fund child care, provide low-income housing, or even keep the friggin' Metro escalators working? Here's one baseball fan who would LOVE a team here in town, but I'm appalled by Mayor Williams' proposal to give away local assets and tax dollars to fatten the wallets of the wealthy Major League Baseball team owners, politicians, real estate insiders – and all of their friends.
Now is the time to speak out about the proposed baseball spending. On Thursday, June 12, the DC City Council's Committee on Finance and Revenue will hold a hearing on financing a Major League Baseball team at 10 a.m. at the Wilson Building. You can sign up to testify by calling Jack Evans, chairman of the committee, at 202/727-8058. Or make your voice heard outside the Wilson Building at a protest rally sponsored by Washington Innercity Self Help (WISH) – same day and time!
You can also help out on a project to educate the public about the real costs of baseball. WISH will be leafleting high-traffic areas as well as dropping literature door-to-door in some neighborhoods, including those around the proposed stadium site on New York Avenue. On Saturday, May 31 and June 7, at 12:30 p.m., meet at the WISH office, 1419 V St. NW, near the U Street Metro station. Please contact Parisa at WISH, 202/332-8800, or send an e-mail to let them know you will be helping..
This year, the annual policy symposium of the National Health Care for the Homeless Council (HCH) will address the politics of exclusion and challenging the ways people are denied rights and benefits due to their race, ethnicity, disease, disability, income or housing status – exclusions that underlie and define homelessness.
In conjunction with the symposium, HCH has assembled documents of exclusion – eviction notices, benefit denial letters, waiting list notices, etc. – into a dramatic display to anchor a public rally, "Opposing the Politics of Exclusion." The rally will call for justice in the form of comprehensive health care, adequate affordable housing and livable incomes for low-income people.
The rally will be held Wednesday, May 28, at 5 p.m. in the Upper Senate Park on Constitution Avenue, across from the Capitol (between Delaware and New Jersey Avenues). Call Megan Linz at 410/837-5533, ext. 395, or send an e-mail here for more information.
The DC Music Revival is putting on a benefit concert for the Books for Prisoners Project here in Washington. Go and enjoy some great music by Forensics (Ex Burning Airlines, Pg 99, Corn on Macabre), or just swing by to donate any of the following books to DC prison libraries: dictionaries, westerns, African-American history books, up-to-date law books and fiction books by African-American authors.
The show is Tuesday night, May 27, at the Black Cat, 1811 14th St. NW. Admission is $5. Call 202/667-7960 for more information.
Few DC guidebooks provide help to the visitor who wants to experience the city like a real Washingtonian. For example, the "2002 Let's Go DC" guide says:
"In 1942, DC doubled New York City's murder rate and, according to Newsweek, became the 'Murder Capital of the US.' Exactly 50 years later, the title was resurrected, thanks to widespread crack addiction and the increasing availability of assault weapons. The murder epidemic, while mostly an affair of drug dealers shooting one another, sometimes catches innocents in the crossfire. Most crime occurs in places that do not get many visitors, primarily the Northeast and Southeast neighborhoods, and east of 14th St. NW. Try to enter these regions only in a car, and always exercise extreme caution."
Does this sound like the city you know? I don't think so. After reading too many caricatures like this one, Kelly and Deborah decided to create a website that actually reflects the local culture of Washington, DC. Visit www.our-dc.com.
This month, many events in the DC metro area are celebrating Asian/Pacific Islander Heritage Month. A new local series focuses specifically on a growing activist population: lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Asian and Pacific Islander Americans.
Pride and Heritage: A Celebration of the A/PI LGBT Communities will "celebrate and empower the A/PI LGBT community in the metro DC area, which has one of the largest Asian/Pacific Islander populations in the country," says Ben de Guzman, an activist for AQUA (A/PI Queers United for Action). Events include a community-wide potluck on Sunday, May 25, and an event specifically for A/PI youths ages 25 and under at the end of the month. For more information on the events, or for sponsorship information, call 202/986-2393 or e-mail.
The Future of Music Coalition and Common Cause are teaming up to sponsor a concert Friday, May 23, at the 9:30 Club to draw attention to a key vote by a federal agency that will affect what every American watches on TV and hears on the radio.
The concert, titled “Who Controls What You Hear?” will call attention to a Federal Communications Commission vote scheduled for June 2 that would loosen restrictions on media ownership rules. Featured artists will include Washington Social Club, Etherpool and Gavin DeGraw.
Tickets cost $10 and are available at the 9:30 Club or through www.tickets.com. Money raised will benefit the Future of Music Coalition and Common Cause.
Rashida Bee is a gas affected survivor and one of the leaders of the Bhopal Gas Affected Women's Stationery Workers' Union. On Wednesday, May 21, she will be joined in Washington by Satinath Sarangi of the Bhopal Group for Information and Action at a teach-in and discussion sponsored by the Association for India's Development, Greenpeace and the DC Collective for South Asians.
Bee and Sarangi are touring the United States to apprise Americans of the continuing tragedy of the 1984 Union Carbide-Bhopal gas disaster, the world's worst industrial accident. They will visit communities that are also home to Dow Chemical, the new 100% owner of Union Carbide, and will engage in strategic discussion with support groups to strengthen their struggle for justice.
At the Dow shareholders' meeting on May 8, another survivor, Mrs. Champa Devi, said, "It's been two years since we first met with Dow officials in India, and in this time we've not received a single concrete proposal on how they'll address their responsibilities in Bhopal." According to Devi, more than 100,000 people still suffer from the disaster. Children continue to be born with birth defects, and tens of thousands of Indians can't earn a living due to their exposure to deadly chemicals.
The delegation expects to raise the issues of Dow's responsibility to face trial on criminal charges, long-term medical care of survivors and their children, economic and social rehabilitation, and contamination in and around the abandoned Union Carbide factory site. The survivors' tour coincides with the appeal of the Bhopal class action in New York and the Supreme Court of India's demand for an explanation from the government for the delay in distributing compensation money. The government is required to respond within a week.
This event will be in the new offices of the Washington Peace Center at the Arthur M. Fleming Center, 1426 Ninth St. NW, Suite 306, on Wednesday, May 21, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. For more information, call Jen Carr at the Washington Peace Center, 202/234-2000, or send an email here.
The public is invited to comment on the draft of the National Park Service's general management plan for Rock Creek Park. When it is finalized, the plan will affect the management of the park for the next 20 years. A draft of the plan can be found here. Written comments can be submitted here, and must be filed by July 15.
Boulder Bridge over Rock Creek (NPS photo)
Two public meetings are also being held, on Tuesday, May 20, and Thursday, May 22, at the University of the District of Columbia's auditorium in Building 46, 4200 Connecticut Ave. NW, from 5 to 9:30 p.m.
An exhibit of photographs and stories by workers opens this week at the U.S. Department of Labor. Homecare attendants, migrant workers, garment workers, nannies, steelworkers, janitors and many others were given cameras by SEIU 1199's Bread and Roses cultural program and asked to document their own lives. "Not only has it taught people how to be seen," Bread & Roses Executive Director Esther Cohen told the New York Times, "it created a desire by many of these workers to be depicted, to be present in a society where they did not feel present before. They learned how to depict themselves in their own terms." The Times called the images "staggering in their simplicity and power."
The exhibit runs through May 30 at the Department of Labor's Great Hall, 200 Constitution Ave. NW. On Tuesday, May 20, a reception will be held with remarks by Labor Secretary Elaine Chao and SEIU President Andy Stern at 5 p.m.
For the last two years, the Gales School has provided life-saving shelter during inclement weather to 150 homeless persons. Although a plan to close Gales on May 31 was cancelled this week, reports are that Gales will close later this fall -- just as the cold weather arrives and despite the growing need for more family shelters.
The District of Columbia is planning to spend $7 million to renovate Gales for use by a nonprofit as office space for a children's advocacy center. Although helping children is a worthy goal, the Coalition of Homeless & Housing Organizations (COHHO) does not think it must come at such a great cost to our city's homeless residents.
Gales's central location near downtown and the size of the building have been key in helping many who in the past would not have come inside during extreme weather. COHHO is recommending that the city:
1. Maintain the Gales School permanently as a year-round, low-barrier hypothermia/hyperthermia shelter for men and women.
2. Find a suitable, alternate site for the children's advocacy center.
3. Provide capital funds to improve the Gales School facility in a historically appropriate manner for use as a shelter.
Join COHHO at its rally to save the Gales School Shelter on Wednesday, May 21, 10:30 a.m., at Freedom Plaza, 13th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW. For more information, contact Mary Ann at 202/872-1494.
Cafe Mawonaj was created to be a central meeting place for students, activists, artists and community members – a place where all can come together to eat good food, discuss politics, watch films or just hang out.
The cafe is a democratically run workers' cooperative of people committed to progressive social change. "Mawonaj" is a Haitian word that denotes the process of removing oneself from the bonds of slavery. The cooperative plans to dedicate a significant portion of its profits to funding social and educational programs and will make the cafe available to various activist groups for use as a meeting and event space. Visit Cafe Mawonaj at 624 T St. NW, right next to the Howard Theater.
The third annual grand opening of the Columbia Heights Community Marketplace takes place Saturday, May 17. Located at the Columbia Heights Metro station on the Green Line, the market will be open every Saturday, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., rain or shine, until Oct. 25. The offerings of its five farm stands include locally grown strawberries, asparagus, greens & lettuce, baked goods and jams, eggs, starter plants and Amish cheese. Also on the scene will be information tables set up by local community organizations, including the Latin American Youth Center, CHANGE, Inc., and Care for Youth. For more information, click here, call 866/307-4534, or send an e-mail.
The DC Underground Film Festival brings to the city two days of movies you won't find at the local cinema multiplex. Filmmakers from all over the US, Europe, Asia, and Canada present works that challenge the "Hollywood mindset" and prove that creative minds working on shoestring budgets can totally rock your world.
The films were shot on everything from 8mm to mini digital video. Styles range from animation to documentary to experimental. Subjects include art-machine rebel painter Steve Keene (Over 36,000 Sold), exploding record players (Revolutions Per Minute), the Catonsville 9 activists (Investigation of a Flame), in-your-face political street theater with a fake priest and choir (Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping), postmodern consumer landscapes (Strip Mall Trilogy), a suburban war story (Cul de Sac) and an homage to 1950s B-horror movies (The Human Beeeing).
The festival takes place Saturday, May 17, from 2 to 11 p.m., and Sunday, May 18, from 1 to 10 p.m., at the Carnegie Institute, 1530 P St. NW. Tickets are $6.
The Tenleytown chapter of Amnesty International invites you to an evening of performances by area artists to benefit Amnesty International USA. Light refreshments and a cash bar will be available at Guapo’s Mexican Restaurant, 4515 Wisconsin Ave. NW, 2nd floor (Tenleytown/AU Metro) on Friday, May 16, at 6 p.m. Admission is $7, $5 for students. RSVP to Margaux at 202/413-2758 or Mike at 202/483-6189.
The DC City Council has granted full funding for the Housing Production Trust Fund, which means at least 2,000 more units of badly needed affordable housing for low-income and working people in the city. Join Washington Inner-City Help (WISH) for a much deserved victory celebration on Friday, May 16, from 7 to 9 p.m., in the basement conference room at 1419 V St. NW. For more information, call WISH at 202/332-8800.
Help Plan Rally for High Court Ruling on LGBT Rights
The Supreme Court will likely announce its decision on the Texas Sodomy Case in June. Texas currently outlaws consensual sex between gay adults. Many states, including Texas, use such laws as a platform for discrimination against LGBTs in employment, housing, credit and other areas. The Supreme Court will decide whether the law is constitutional.
Local LGBT-rights activists are planning a celebration or protest (depending upon the High Court's decision) for the day of the announcement. A planning meeting, sponsored by Queers for Racial and Economic Justice, will take place Thursday, May 15, at 7 p.m. at People for the American Way, 2000 M St. NW on the Fifth Floor. For more information, call 301/277-1854.
The U.S. has lost more than 2 million jobs over the past two years, nearly 500,000 in February and March alone. Extended unemployment benefits will end on June 1, while the economy continues to slump. States and cities across the country are facing massive deficits, which is causing large-scale cuts in jobs and vital programs. The Bush Administration's answer is massive tax cuts for the wealthy, little immediate stimulus for the economy and no aid to the unemployed or the states.
On Wednesday, May 14, rally to demand the extension of unemployment benefits, fiscal aid to the states and a real stimulus package for the economy. Demand help for the jobless and funding for states to prevent massive cuts in programs. Tell the administration to stop tax giveaways to the rich and offer a real stimulus to the economy.
The rally will take place on May 14 at noon at the U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Ave. NW. Its sponsors are the AFL-CIO, the Philadelphia Unemployment Project, the United Steelworkers of America, the New York Unemployment Project, the National Campaign for Jobs and Income Support, the National Employment Law Project, the American Friends Service Committee and Community Voices Heard. For more information, call 215/557-0822.
Two places are making strides toward democracy: Iraq and DC. A Democracy Race! Who will win this unusual contest between the residents of Iraq and the residents of DC? To the victors go democratic rights. The losers get to be ruled without an equal vote in their national government or full local self-government.
Tell DC First who you think will win this unique race.
Beats for Peace merges arts and activism in an attempt to rally youth, especially those who may not feel connected to the social justice movement. The group is sponsoring a concert on Sunday, May 11, at 7 p.m., hosted by Toni Blackman and Jahi and featuring Medusa, Pharoah Monch, Cee-lo and Maseo.
If you are: a visual or graffiti artist who would like to display your work at the event; an activist or organizer whose organization would like a table; or a local youth organization eligible for free or discounted show tickets, get in touch. The show will be held at Nation, 1015 Half Street SE. Tickets are $10 in advance or $15 at door. For more information, contact Nation at 202/554-3885 or Roxanne Lawson, AFSC-DC, at 202/299-9100 or by e-mail.
See the film that profiles the union organizing campaign at a San Francisco strip bar, Live Nude Girls Unite!. Filmmaker Julia Query works at the Lusty Lady as an exotic dancer. Julia’s Jewish mother is a feminist activist and doctor who has fought for years for the rights of prostitutes but does not know about her daughter’s work. The film culminates at a public health conference where both mother and daughter are featured speakers. The Jewish mother-daughter relationship makes for a unique backdrop to the film's examination of the challenges faced by organizers supporting the rights of women in the sex industry.
In cooperation with Jews United for Justice, the DC Labor Film Festival, and Reel Affirmations, DC’s International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, the DC Jewish Community Center will show the film on Monday, May 12, at 7 p.m. at its building on 16th and Q Streets NW. Tickets are $7.50 for sponsor organization members, non-members pay $9, and seniors and students pay $1. To order tickets in advance, call 800/494-8497 or log onto www.boxofficetickets.com. For more information, call 202/884-7635 or see www.jufj.org.
Do you know that Mother's Day once was a celebration for peace? Or that it became a national holiday through the grassroots campaign started in 1907 by a single woman whose mother organized women during the Civil War to work for better sanitary conditions for both sides? Learn more about the history of the holiday loved by moms and Ma Bell alike at this Women's History site.
Two places are making strides toward democracy: Iraq and DC. A Democracy Race! Who will win this unusual contest between the residents of Iraq and the residents of DC? To the victors go democratic rights. The losers get to be ruled without an equal vote in their national government or full local self-government.
Tell DC First who you think will win this unique race.
The World Federalist Association of the National Capital Area is sponsoring a town hall meeting on the subject "Democratic United Nations Governance – Or Pax Americana?" Speakers will include former U.S. presidential candidate John B. Anderson and former Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-Ga.). The event takes place Saturday, May 10, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Hilton Hotel, 1767 King St. (Rt. 7), Alexandria (King Street Metro). For more information, contact Cleo Michelsen at 703/578-7559 or Chuck Woolery at 301/738-7121.
The Public Welfare Foundation is working with the Manna Community Development Corporation to build 12 affordable homes in Shaw, a DC neighborhood that has seen marked increases in real estate prices in recent years. Yet despite unanimous community support from local ANCs and neighborhood associations, the Board of Zoning Adjustments (BZA) has refused to grant permission for the development to go forward.
The houses are located on the site of Temperance Row, once a thriving community for working people, behind the Metro at 13th and U Streets NW. The new Temperance Row homes will be owned by those who live in them, through a limited equity cooperative, and will be available to people who have been forced out of the Shaw neighborhood because of the rising real estate market. Ten permanently affordable housing units will be given to families earning between $25,000 and $45,000, in the heart of a neighborhood that is rapidly losing any semblance of affordability.
Although Manna addressed all of the formal concerns raised by the BZA (and has the support of the Fire Department, Office of Planning and Department of Transportation), the application for zoning variances was still rejected. If this decision is not overturned, the project will not be able to move forward. On Saturday, May 10, from 11 a.m. to noon, supporters of Shaw and affordable housing will rally to deliver a clear message to the BZA and those who feel that development should be only for those with incomes above $80,000. Meet at the southeast corner of 13th and U Streets NW.
Affordable housing is necessary and desired by our communities. You can help get the word out by printing and posting a flyer (PDF file) available here. If you have any questions, call Martha Davis or David Haiman at 202/232-2915.
"Thanks to your support, over 4,000 janitors who clean downtown office buildings in Washington, DC, can look forward to a better future for themselves and their families. This past Saturday, May 3, janitors overwhelmingly ratified a new contract negotiated with the Washington Service Contractors Association. The new contract achieved all of the janitors’ goals, including extending health insurance and increasing weekly earnings.
"Community support was crucial in helping the janitors win better lives for their families. Supporters sent over 1,000 faxes to the cleaning contractors to urge them to do right by the janitors. More than 70 religious leaders endorsed the stand janitors took for health insurance for the uninsured.
"Thanks again for your support. We’ve shown that with your help working families CAN win!"
Charter Theatre presents "Watching Left," a play by Keith Bridges that was inspired by true stories of torture survivors. After her life is shattered by the violence of torture, a young woman begins the long and difficult process of rebuilding. This intense psychological drama is about the fragility of trust in a world where fear and hope co-exist.
"Watching Left" will be presented Wednesdays through Sundays, May 7-25, at the National Conservatory of Dramatic Arts, 1556 Wisconsin Ave. NW (between P and Q Streets at Volta). The curtain rises at 8 p.m. each night, with a 3 p.m. matinee on Saturdays. All performances are "pay what you can" but seating is limited. To RSVP, call 202/333-7009.
The DC Department of Transportation is holding a series of workshops and bike rides in May and June as part of the updating of the DC Bicycle Master Plan.
During the rides and the subsequent workshops, participants will locate and map the best and worst routes and identify new bike lanes, paths and parking spots. "This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to make the District even more bicycle-friendly for all, with safer and more convenient routes and parking spots," said Dan Tangherlini, DC's director of transportation. Bicyclists make more than 25,000 trips every weekday in the District.
For ride and workshop dates, contact Jim Sebastian, DC bicycle program manager, at 202/671-2331, or click here.
Don't miss "Horns and Halos," which opens Friday, May 2, at Visions Cinema. The movie captures the unlikely connection of three men – a U.S. president, a discredited author and an underground publisher – whose paths to power and popularity become tangled in a book.
When St. Martin's Press recalled the book Fortunate Son: George W. Bush and the Making of an American President, it was number 8 on Amazon.com's best-seller list. The publisher cited distrust of the author, J. H. Hatfield, as the reason, but some attribute the recall to the book's widely publicized allegations that Bush had been arrested for cocaine possession in 1972. When Soft Skull Press, the self-styled "punk of publishing," tried to republish the book – and, against the author's wishes, revealed the sources for the book's cocaine allegations – electrifying consequences followed. Visions Cinema is at 1927 Florida Ave. NW.
Join author Diana Cohn at a reading of her bilingual children’s book "Si, Se Puede! Yes We Can!" This beautifully illustrated tells the story of the 8,000 Los Angeles janitors from SEIU Local 1877 who went on strike in April 2000 to demand better pay and working conditions, and won a contract that guaranteed them a living wage. Told through the eyes of Carlitos, whose mother cleans an office building downtown while he sleeps each night, the story helps young people understand labor unions, strikes, the history of unions in the US and the concept of solidarity.
Co-sponsored by DC Jobs with Justice and SEIU Local 82, the reading will be followed by music, food and conversation with DC Janitors.
It all takes place Sunday, May 4, at 3 p.m., at Sisterspace and Books, 1515 U St. NW (U Street/Cardozo Metro; 14th or 16th Street buses). For more information, call 202/884-7635.
Where do First Amendment and intellectual property laws collide? Find the answer at the exhibit "Illegal Art: Freedom of Expression in the Corporate Age," hosted by the Resource Center for Activism and Arts. The show explores art and ideas on the legal fringes of intellectual property. Many of the artists in the exhibit – which features paintings, mixed media, sculpture and video installations – have had to defend their works in court. The Resource Center is at 1611 Connecticut Ave. NW (Dupont Circle Metro, Q Street exit). On Friday, May 2, there will be a video screening at 5 p.m. and a reception from 6 to 8 p.m. Call 202/299-0460 for more information.
DC Metro Action is published by Michael Schlesinger, a 32-year veteran of electoral and issue organizing who is committed to social justice and to increasing participation in the political process.
All original content (C) 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 Michael Schlesinger
