Red and Black Communique
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
6/30/10
Well, it’s official. Your beloved Red and Black Cafe is now internationally famous. But it’s not because of our delicious food, our working class prices, our community events or our democratic structure. It’s because we 86’ed an armed, uniformed cop from the space.
The incident occurred on May 19th, but no one really seemed to care until weeks later when a blogger who happened to be in the cafe at the time of the incident (and who was the only person to take issue with the 86’ing) went to the media. Within 24 hours, we were one of the top sories on CNN. We’re not kidding. This media publicity brought out an incredible number of supporters as well as haters. Hundreds of fake reviews were posted on Yelp! by people who don’t even live in Oregon. Our Facebook friend count nearly doubled, our website received over 30,000 hits in one day, and our sales went through the roof.
Now, the dust has settled. But we realize that there are still some people who are confused about why we did what we did, and why we stand behind it. Included in the physical newsletter and on our website is our public statement, written in a question and answer format. We hope it clears things up once and for all.
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ART OPENING: ADAM BROCK CIRESI // 7.2 — 7PM
Adam Brock is an amazing artist who has hung work all over the city, including a previous time at the Red and Black. This opening will feature musical performances by Lee Corey Oswald, Full Moon Radio, and Adam Brock and the Business Day.
The artwork will be hung at the cafe for the entire month of July. See more info on Adam in the Artist of the Month section in the back of the printed newsletter, and on our Gallery page.
http://adambrockciresi.blogspot.com
PRESENTATION: THINK OUTSIDE THE BOMB // 7.3 — 7PM
Think Outside the Bomb (TOTB) is a national youth-led nuclear abolition network that has organized seven conferences in the past five years, educating and mobilizing hundreds of young people to actively resist the dangerous and destructive nuclear cycle.
This event will feature art, music, puppets, and education nuclear abolition. Come check it out!
http://thinkoutsidethebomb.org
PDX-ADL PRESENTATION // 7.4 — 8PM
The Portland Animal Defense League is an animal rights group based in Portland, Oregon. They are a grassroots organization that conducts hard-hitting campaigns designed to eliminate all forms of animal exploitation. They advocate veganism: an end to animals as food, entertainment and clothing, and ending animal testing in favor of modernized, ethical methods of research.
These are open meetings and are a great way to get plugged into campaigns. Come join the fight for animal liberation!
CUBA CARAVAN, HOSTED BY PCASC // 7.8 — 6:30PM
Portland Central America Solidarity Committee is hosting an event to welcome the caravanistas of Pastors for Peace’s Cuba Caravan.
The Cuba Caravan works as a humanitarian aid mission. Participants start boarding buses in Canada in early July. Their ultimate destination is Cuba. On their way, they pick up medical supplies and other caravanistas, and educate people about the human rights transgressions that have precipitated from the US economic blockade of Cuba. They cross the boarder into Mexico from Texas, then make their way to Cuba, without US permission, as a message of disobedience.
The event will also include speakers and entertainment.
http://www.ifconews.org/node/729
http://www.pcasc.net/2010/06/28/711/
MUSIC: THE MOHICAN SCOUTS, DATURA BLUES // 7.9 — 7PM
The Mohican Scouts are Parker Hobson and Rebecca Crenshaw and are probably not the sort of people you’d want to cheat at Jenga against. They’re also a band, currently a fingerstyle guitar and a voice (Hobson) and a violin and sometimes another voice (Crenshaw).
They’re an acoustic act that strives to not be bound by traditional conceptions of What That Usually Means. They draw a whole lot from the modern-day singer-songwriter tradition, but combine it with a degree of playfulness and experimentation, both sonic and compositional: songs that tell stories are sung with a throaty, spastic urgency; soaring violin hooks fade into swirls of feedback; a gangly dude with a beard jumps and spazzes around while a lady with a violin and a quiet elegance stoically saws a hell of a story stage right.
MUSIC: GEORGE MANN // 7.14 — 7PM
George Mann has been an activist since joining the fight against the Shoreham Nuclear Power Plant while growing up on Long Island in the 1970s. A Wobbly and union organizer who helped SUNY’s graduate employees unionize and then worked for five years with Musicians Local 802, George brings his songs and music from the past century of struggle to his work. He sang and recorded with Julius Margolin from 1998 until Julius died in 2009 at 93. They also created and produced the “Hail to the Thief!” CD compilation series, which showcased songs of opposition to the Bush regime and its wars by such folk legends as Utah Phillips, Tom Paxton, Kim & Reggie Harris, Anne Feeney, and Billy Bragg.
BENEFIT FOR THE ADL 5 // 7.15 — 7PM
On June 28, five activists involved with Portland Animal Defense League were arrested while protesting the Oregon National Primate Research Center in Hillsboro. The action was picked up by every major media outlet in town, and a lot of attention was brought to the ONPRC’s dirty secrets. But the activists need some support to help pay legal fees. This even will include music, speakers, and literature. Come out, have fun, and show some solidarity for the ADL 5!
MUSIC: SHELBY SIFERS, JORDAN MASON, MORE // 7.16 — 7PM
Toronto-dwellers Jordaan Mason (The Horse Museum) and Dee Addario (D.) will be playing acoustic folk music at the Red and Black! Jordaan’s music is full of haunting, moving narratives about sex, sickness, and the end of the world.
Jordaan has an amazing power- to take a tragic experience and create something beautiful from it. D. uses gospel and folk to weave tales of old men, the devil, and hometowns, revealing the greatness of the everyday.
Joining them are local folksters Purrbot and Shelby Sifers.
http://myspace.com/jordaanmason
http://myspace.com/andthegaloshes
http://myspace.com/purrbot
http://myspace.com/shelbysifers
PRESENTATION: SUPPORT MARIE MASON // 7.17 — 7PM
Marie Mason is serving almost 22 years for two acts of environmentally-motivated property destruction in which no one was hurt. This is the longest sentence of any of the current “Green Scare” prisoners.
This talk will explain the background of the federal government’s Green Scare – the labeling of eco-saboteurs and animal liberation activists as “terrorists”, and resulting legal implications – and what you can do to support Mason and the other prisoners.
CROSS TRADE SOLIDARITY MEETING // 7.18 — 10AM
A group of trade unionists meet at the Red and Black twice a month, in order to build solidarity across their trades, organize together, and beat the boss!
On the first Thursday of every month, they meet at 6pm for a smaller newsletter (Labor Notes) meeting, and on the third Sunday of every month they have a larger general meeting at 10am.
Interested in getting involved? Come to one of these meetings!
PRISONER LETTER WRITING NIGHT // 7.27 — 8PM
On the Last Tuesday of every month, the Red and Black hosts this letter writing night. Folks in jail really need to know they’ve not been forgotten. Materials will be provided, including a list of prisoners, AND, write a letter, get 10% off your purchase! How’s that for a bribe?
This night often focuses on animal liberation and environmental political prisoners, but all prisoners need letters.
PRESENTATION: HISTORY OF IWW WOMEN // 7.29 — 7PM
Everyone is pretty familiar with the men in the Industrial Workers of the World, but what about the women? Besides the ever notable Lucy Parsons, an anarchist who helped found the radical labor union, a simple Google search doesn’t give much information.
Come to this presentation by Heather Mayer and learn about the history of women in the IWW!
Heather Mayer is a PhD Candidate at Simon Fraser University, and a part-time instructor at Portland Community College. She is currently writing her dissertation: “Beyond the Rebel Girl: Women and the Industrial Workers of the World in Oregon and Washington, 1905-1924.”
PRESENTATION: SMARTMEME BOOK RELEASE // 7.30 — 7PM
Join Doyle Canning, co-author of RE:Imagining Change – How to Use Story-based Strategy to Win Campaigns, Build Movements, and Change the World (PM Press, 2010) for an evening of celebration, community building, and critical thinking about making social change.
This unique book provides resources, theory, hands-on tools and illuminating case studies for the next generation of innovative change makers, and is an inspirational inside look at the trailblazing methodology developed by smartMeme. It outlines how to apply narrative power analysis to effectively frame issues and offers plenty of juicy case studies and analysis, including a call for our movements to innovate our storytelling techniques in the face of the looming ecological crisis.
KNOW YOUR RIGHTS TRAINING // 7.31 — 7PM
These questions and more will be answered in this public forum, a training put together by the Civil Liberties Defense Center (CLDC). Don’t take your rights for granted. Learn what they are and how to assert them!
