rights.
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br /> 
<br />12:00pm-1:15pm 	Panels 4,5, 6 &amp; 7 (327, 328, 329 &amp; 333)
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br /> 
<br />Panel 4 (327)
<br /> 
<br />Political Prisoners and Cultural Memory: Resisting Repression on the Inside and Out
<br /> 
<br />Erika Gisela Abad- Doctoral Candidate in American Studies, Center for Social and Environmental Justice
<br /> 
<br />Paulette D'Auteuil-  Co-chair for the Jericho Amnesty Movement
<br /> 
<br />Summary
<br /> 
<br />Political Prisoners (PP's) have experienced repression inside and outside of prison. The struggle to maintain cultural memory and a sense of identity in empire is a great challenge.  This panel will discuss the history and significance of u.s.-held PP's, the movements that influenced OWS/Decolonize movement and how new forms of repression and state sanctioned terrorism propose new challenges for activists today.  Given the wide array of political protests and mobilizations that have taken place within the past few years, the lessons we can learn from current and former PP's are crucial. Aspects of those lessons are Puerto Rican PP's amnesty and democratic struggles in the context of Puerto Rico's colonial relationship with the United States. This presentation will touch upon PP's efforts to support their communities' disenfranchisement while speaking out against institutional abuses and the need for continued mobilization in colonized communities.  Within the frame of this panel's theme, we will also discuss U.S. North American indigenous prisoners spiritual and religious repression as such is connected to the greater question of their communities' continued colonial reality.  Indigenous PP's such as Leonard Peltier and Oso Blanco are examples of Native prisoners who struggle daily to practice their culture within the western confines of the U.S. empires prison industrial complex.  On the outside the government can now legally detain and disappear citizens and undocumented people further indicating a military state trampling constitutional, human, non-human and environmental rights.
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br /> 
<br />Panel 5 (328)
<br /> 
<br />Abolishing the Police
<br /> 
<br />Rose City Copwatch- Portland-based organization that seeks to disrupt police violence and abolish police institutions through education, action and movement building. 
<br />
<br />Summary
<br /> 
<br />Members of Rose City Copwatch will lead a discussion around the role of police institutions in society and the need to build a world without police. We will look at different alternative models of safety and accountability rooted in peoples movements and think about the lessons of these struggles and experiments in abolishing racist state violence and building and defending safe communities. 
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br /> 
<br />Panel 6 (329)
<br /> 
<br />Green is the New Red!: Updates on Earth and Animal Liberation Political Prisoners
<br /> 
<br />Lauren Regan- Civil Liberties Defense Center
<br /> 
<br />Summary
<br /> 
<br />Over time activists defending the environment and non-human species have been targeted and infiltrated by the government.  Learn about their cases and how you can help.  This presentation will focus on U.S.-held Political Prisoners from the earth and animal liberation movements.
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br /> 
<br />Panel 7 (333)
<br /> 
<br />Striking Based Self Defense
<br /> 
<br />Anthony Patch- Local anarchist self defense instructor
<br /> 
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />1:15pm-2:00pm      Lunch  (Wherever you can get it!)
<br /> 
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />2:00pm-3:15pm	 Panels 8, 9, 10 &amp; 11 (327,328, 329 &amp; 333)
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br /> 
<br />Panel 8 (327)
<br /> 
<br />What, Me Worry? The Rise Of The Surveillance State &amp; What We Can Do About It
<br /> 
<br />scott crow- Anarchist community organizer, writer, speaker
<br /> 
<br />Summary
<br /> 
<br />This presentation will examine the rise of the current surveillance industrial complex and its impact for radical social movements today. Crow will also place the current strategies and tactics of government and corporate surveillance in the historical context of political repression in the US; reflect on his personal experiences with surveillance, infiltration, being labeled a domestic terrorist and repression; and offer ideas for how activists can defend themselves and their communities to continue creating more just and sustainable worlds.
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br /> 
<br />Panel 9 (328)
<br /> 
<br />&quot;Reach Out and Write!&quot; 
<br /> 
<br />Oregon Jericho Movement - Local Chapter for the Jericho Amnesty Movement
<br /> Suna Nash- International Political Prisoner activist and volunteer with Portland Books to Prisoners
<br /> 
<br />Summary
<br /> 
<br />This panel will focus on the different areas of state repression and discrimination that go into making a Political Prisoner (PP,) and why communication with them is so important.  We will also cover some basic guidelines for writing and sending books in to prisoners. Writing to PP's helps people behind bars counter feelings of isolation.  It makes state institutions mindful of the fact that people on the outside are watching how they treat the prisoners in their care. Portland Books to Prisoners is an all-volunteer collective working to distribute books free of charge to prisoners.  We are dedicated to offering people behind bars the opportunities for self-empowerment, education and enjoyment that reading can provide. Oregon Jericho Movement is the Portland based chapter of the National Jericho Amnesty Movement.  Jericho's goal is to gain recognition of the fact that political prisoners exist inside of the United States and to win amnesty for them.  
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br /> 
<br />Panel 10 (329)
<br /> 
<br />The Forgotten Palestinian Political Prisoners
<br /> 
<br />Wael Elasady- Students United for Palestinian Equal Rights
<br /> 
<br />Summary
<br /> 
<br />The situation of Palestinian political prisoners held in Israeli jails gets very little coverage in the  mainstream media. For 64 years Palestinian political prisoners have endured deplorable torture, abuse, and persecution, yet remain steadfast in their commitment to the struggle for liberation and return. Palestinian prisoners represent a microcosm of Israel's brutal occupation, crippling siege, and systematic discrimination.
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br /> 
<br />Panel 11 (333) 
<br /> 
<br />Drop the Drug War Workshop
<br /> 
<br />Portland Central America Solidarity Committee
<br /> 
<br />Summary
<br /> 
<br />The Hands Off Latin America committee of the Portland Central America Solidarity Committee (PCASC) is offering a popular education workshop exploring the causes and impacts of the &quot;War on Drugs.&quot; Through participatory discussion and group exercises, we will ask who benefits from the Drug War and who pays the costs. We will also look at grassroots resistance to the War on Drugs. This workshop is facilitated by PCASC's Hands Off Latin America (HOLA) committee, a group that works to fight militarism and US intervention abroad, and to support movements for social justice in Latin America.
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br /> 
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />3:30pm-4:45pm	 Panels 12, 13, 14 &amp; 15 (327,328, 329 &amp; 333)
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br /> 
<br />Panel 12 (327) 
<br /> 
<br />Beyond Veganism: Food Justice
<br /> 
<br />Lauren Ornelas- Food Empowerment Project
<br /> 
<br />Summary
<br /> 
<br />Everyone should have the right to choose foods they want to eat, especially
<br /> 
<br />foods that are healthier for them and that meet some of their ethical
<br /> 
<br />beliefs. Communities of color and low-income communities often have
<br /> 
<br />difficulty accessing healthier foods when compared to higher income areas.
<br /> 
<br />This presentation will address how these communities are often unable to
<br /> 
<br />purchase fresh fruits and vegetables, as well as other vegan foods that are
<br /> 
<br />healthier for
</td></tr></table>














<p class="artcommlink"> <a href="http://publish.portland.indymedia.org/portland/servlet/OpenMir?do=opensession&sessiontype=comment&to_media=414837&language=en&d=0" title="reporting, organizing efforts, pictures, audio, video, resources, information" target="_blank">contribute to this article</a></p>


<p class="artcommlink"> <a href="http://publish.portland.indymedia.org/portland/servlet/OpenMir?do=opensession&sessiontype=comment&to_media=414837&language=en&d=1" title="opinions, speculation, rumors, abstract debate, theories, redirection" target="_blank">add comment to discussion</a></p>



</td></tr></table>

<!-- end CENTER COLUMN -->	

</td>


</tr></table>
</body></html>