Where:  St. Francis 311 SE 12th, Portland Oregon, 97214 (Dining Hall)

Want to know more about how to have more effective strategy and tactics in political organizing and direct actions? Then please come to this training workshop, which will provide an introductory overview of the nature of activism, political organizing and direct actions. Pulling from a diverse history within multiple disciplines and traditions we will integrate concepts of conflict resolution, radical strategies, black block tactics, nonviolent struggle and more! There is something for everyone, and the purpose of this workshop is to inform the community about the wide variety of tools available in the activism tool box, as well the insight to know when and how to use which tool in a given situation.

This will be a highly participatory workshop format and there will be food! Hope to see you all there.

For questions, or to register as a presenter at this workshop please email: occupyeverywherepdx@gmail.com

This workshop has been endorsed by Spokescouncil and OPDX General Assembly.

When:
Saturday, June 2
11:00 AM -4:00 PM

The Portland Animal Defense League and the Student Animal Liberation Coalition are co-hosting a mini-conference at Portland State University! This is a must for experienced and inexperienced activists.

THREE WORKSHOPS TO REFINE YOUR ACTIVISM!

11:00 AM-12:15 PM- Campaigning Research and Strategy
Activists understand the world to be in an utter state of disarray. What bonds us is the common urgency to change the circumstances from which suffering, oppression, and inequalities arise. But for many, the task
quickly becomes too complex or daunting. Where do we start? Where do we go from there? This workshop aims at answering these big questions about activism with fairly simple suggestions and skill-sets. Research, target selection, strategy, and tactics will be the topics of conversation.

12:30 PM-1:45 PM- The Politics of Resistance, Strategy, and Research
If history has provided us any knowledge, it is that complex systems are resistant to change. Our political engagement cannot be met with benevolence from corporate, economic, cultural, or government entities. In reality, political activism has been and continues to be consistently met with counterintelligence and repression. What is imperative is that all who are engaged in a conflict with the powers that be understand the history, function, and mechanisms of repression and the importance of building a culture of security and resistance. This workshop will explore the dialectic history of resistance and repression in the United States, from the original red scares, to the formation of the FBI, to the development of COINTELPRO, to the modern day “green scares” and will highlight the main themes and lessons learned that are necessary to building a culture of security.

2:00 P.M- 4:00 PM- Cryptography for Activists /Computer Security
How can technology function to serve political ends? How can modern technology act as both a tool for political or corporate repression and as an apparatus to achieve our goals? This workshop will explore how computers can be used to our advantage as activists, if operated with the proper knowledge and precautions. Three basic pillars of security will be discussed: secure communication, secure research and browsing, and secure data storage. An understanding of this subject matter can drastically increase the effectiveness of social, political, and ecological struggle.

This event is free and open to the public. Please share widely and
invite your friends!

For more info:
salcpsu@gmail.com
pdx_adl@riseup.net
****

April 6-8th 2012 Portland State University
Smith Memorial Student Union
Free, open to the public, disability affirmative & Safer Space

This year’s event featuring:
Chairman Fred Hamton Jr.- POCC/BPPC
Dylcia Pagan-Former Puerto Rican Political Prisoner
Captive Genders-Eric Stanely, Dean Spade, Ralowe Ampu, Vikki Law
Insurgent Theater- Interactive Prison Abolition Theater Collective
Paulette D’auteuil- The Jericho Movement
Lauren Regan- Civil Liberties Defense Center
Scott Crow- Common Ground Collective
Lauren Ornelas- Food Empowerment Project
Critical Resistance- Grassroots Prison Abolition Organization
PM Press
Civil Liberties Defense Center
Decolonize PDX
Rose City Copwatch
Bmedia Collective
Oregon Jericho
NW Jericho Coalition
Parasol Climate Collective
PDX Leonard Peltier Defense Offense Committee
Portland Rising Tide
Prison Activist Resource Center
Cascadia Earth First
Portland Animal Defense League
Portland Industrial Workers of the World
Rosehip Medic Collective
Student Animal Liberation Coalition
Institute for Anarchist Studies
Students for Unity
Students United for Palestinian Equal Rights
Portland Central America Solidarity Committee
Redbird Prison Abolition
Insurgent Theater
Portland Books to Prisoners
Committee to Connect the Dots

Program:
All Events at Portland State University in Smith Memorial Building
1825 Southwest Broadway, Portland, OR 97201
*Evening events for 7th & 8th are in Hoffman Hall

Friday April 6th 2012 5:30pm-9:30pm

5:30pm-7:30pm (Vanport Room 338)
Dylcia Pagan- Former Puerto Rican Political Prisoner

7:30pm-9:30pm (Vanport Room 338)
Gender and the Prison Industrial Complex: Towards a Queer, Trans and Feminist Abolition Politic
Eric Stanley, Dean Spade, Ralowe Ampu, Vikki Law

Saturday April 7th 2012 9:00am-8:30pm

9:00am-10:30am (Vanport Room 338)
Doors open, Coffee, tabling, baked goods!

10:30am-11:45am Panels 1,2 & 3 (327, 328 & 329)

Panel 1 (327)
Decolonization Means Prison Abolition
Decolonize PDX- Collective of radical people of color in Portland, Oregon
Summary
This panel will feature members of Decolonize PDX exploring the radical implications of prison revolt, prison abolition, anti-blackness, and colonization. We will engage in a dialogue with those present about the necessity of and opportunities for radical
movements supporting organizing behind the walls. The existence of the prison industrial complex is a continuation of the colonial project. Resistance behind prison walls coupled with outside support has radical liberatory implications for those of us
caught in the cage of a socially and ecologically collapsing world.

Panel 2 (328)
OWS, Repression and New Models for Society
Peter Bohmer- Activist scholar (The Evergreen State College)
Summary
What promises does the OWS movement bring? What is left to be desired? Peter Bohmer will review the political possibilities, limitations and opportunities resulting from OWS. These questions will be addressed within the historical context of earlier national, and transnational movements, given his experience as a community organizer, economic scholar, and anti-capitalist advocate for global communities. This discussion will reflect on what about the national and global state of affairs has sparked the community mobilization efforts. This discussion also hopes to find ways to show avenues for cross-movement solidarity.

Panel 3 (329)
Know Your Rights Training
Lauren Regan- Civil Liberties Defense Center
Summary
The Know Your Rights training will give you the confidence to make decisions about how to engage your actions. Where is the line drawn between legal and potentially illegal protesting? Armed with knowledge, activists can make informed choices regarding their interactions with government agents and can best protect their rights should they end up in handcuffs and in the legal system. The training will be facilitated by Lauren Regan, executive director from the Civil Liberties Defense Center that provides both legal observation at protests and gives people tools they need to invoke their rights.

12:00pm-1:15pm Panels 4,5, 6 & 7 (327, 328, 329 & 333)

Panel 4 (327)
Political Prisoners and Cultural Memory: Resisting Repression on the Inside and Out
Erika Gisela Abad- Doctoral Candidate in American Studies, Center for Social and Environmental Justice
Paulette D’Auteuil- Co-chair for the Jericho Amnesty Movement
Summary
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.

Panel 5 (328)
Abolishing the Police
Rose City Copwatch- Portland-based organization that seeks to disrupt police violence and abolish police institutions through education, action and movement building.
Summary
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.

Panel 6 (329)
Green is the New Red!: Updates on Earth and Animal Liberation Political Prisoners
Lauren Regan- Civil Liberties Defense Center
Summary
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.

Panel 7 (333)
Striking Based Self Defense
Anthony Patch- Local anarchist self defense instructor

1:15pm-2:00pm Lunch (Wherever you can get it!)

2:00pm-3:15pm Panels 8, 9, 10 & 11 (327,328, 329 & 333)

Panel 8 (327)
What, Me Worry? The Rise Of The Surveillance State & What We Can Do About It
scott crow- Anarchist community organizer, writer, speaker
Summary
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.

Panel 9 (328)
“Reach Out and Write!”
Oregon Jericho Movement – Local Chapter for the Jericho Amnesty Movement
Suna Nash- International Political Prisoner activist and volunteer with Portland Books to Prisoners
Summary
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.

Panel 10 (329)
The Forgotten Palestinian Political Prisoners
Wael Elasady- Students United for Palestinian Equal Rights
Summary
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.

Panel 11 (333)
Drop the Drug War Workshop
Portland Central America Solidarity Committee
Summary
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 “War on Drugs.” 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.

3:30pm-4:45pm Panels 12, 13, 14 & 15 (327,328, 329 & 333)

Panel 12 (327)
Beyond Veganism: Food Justice
Lauren Ornelas- Food Empowerment Project
Summary
Everyone should have the right to choose foods they want to eat, especially
foods that are healthier for them and that meet some of their ethical
beliefs. Communities of color and low-income communities often have
difficulty accessing healthier foods when compared to higher income areas.
This presentation will address how these communities are often unable to
purchase fresh fruits and vegetables, as well as other vegan foods that are
healthier for them and for the planet. Spotlighted will be Food Empowerment
Project’s work in Santa Clara County, CA to not only help assess the issue
of access in these communities, but to also find solutions to a problem that
can be seen in communities around the world. This talk will also explore the
lives of farm workers in the fields and slavery in the chocolate industry as
every food-related industry is laced with its own corporate greed. Ways in
which every individual can make a difference will be covered.

Panel 13 (328)
The Role of Writing and Research in Developing Revolutionary Movements
Hosted by the Institute for Anarchist Studies and co-sponsored by Team Colors
Summary
The Role of Writing and Research in Developing Revolutionary Movements will explore the importance of the written word and engaged research to movement building. When revolutionary movements incorporate research practices, knowledge development, and self-education they strengthen their participant members as well as intensify the effects their organizing and strategies can have. Topics such as the importance of theory, the role of study groups, co-research strategies, using the public library for research, investigating organized racists, and the importance of radical media will be discussed. Six ten-minute presentations will be followed by a two tier discussion period: the first will explore specific questions for current campaigns, to be followed by open discussion. Come prepared to participate with questions from your own organizing. Panel participants include representatives from the Institute of Anarchist Studies, Portland Occupier, Rose City Antifa, Team Colors Collective, Parasol Climate Collective, Perspectives on Anarchist Theory, and a local radical librarian.

Panel 14 (329)
30 years of Covert Disruption of the Movement
Keith McHenry- Artist and author
Summary
The history and methods used in covert disruption of the left in the U.S. since the end of COINTELPRO to today and ways we can make sure it does not harm our work. A review of the strategies used in coordination by local, state, federal and corporate efforts to stop nonviolent protest including dirty tricks which have been used against the presenter. From police doubles, stress position cages, wiretapped and other strategies that didn’t end with COINTELPRO or start after 9/11. Plus strategies on how to protect the movement from these programs. Materials and internal government memos provided.

Panel 15 (333)
Prison Divestment, Corporate Campaigning and Direct Action
Portland Central America Solidarity Committee
Summary
Members of the Portland Central America Solidarity Committee (PCASC) will speak about their campaign targeting Wells Fargo for their financial investments in the private, for-profit prison industry. Wells Fargo is a major shareholder in Geo Group, and is also invested in the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), the industry leaders in for-profit prisons and immigrant detention centers. PCASC is employing a campaign strategy that combines divestment, corporate campaigning, and strategic direct action to target the financiers of the private prison industry. Come to this panel to find out more about the campaign and how you can get involved!

4:45pm-6:00pm (Multicultural Center)
FREE DINNER: CATERED BY ENJONI CAFE!

5:30pm-6:30pm
Bo Brown- Former George Jackson Brigade Political Prisoners, Prison Activist Resource Center

7:00pm-8:30pm (Hoffman Hall) *This is in a separate building from Smith Memorial
Hip Hop as a Tool for Organizing
Chairman Fred Hampton Jr.- Prisoners Of Conscience Committee/Black Panther Party Cubs
Chairman Fred Hampton Jr. is an unleashed Political Prisoner who was incarcerated a little under nine years in various state prisons. In the eyes of the state, Chairman Fred Hampton Jr. is a three-strike offender: Strike One: For simply being African. Strike Two: For being the offspring of freedom fighters: assassinated Deputy Chairman of the Illinois Chapter Black Panther Party Fred Hampton, and his mother/comrade Akua Njeri. And…Strike Three: For continuing the fight for the liberation of African people. His powerful organizing throughout the Black community placed a target on him just as the one that took his father’s life. He was kidnapped from the streets by the infamous Chicago Police Department, as well as a myriad of other law enforcement agencies in May 1992. The state claimed Chairman Fred Hampton Jr. firebombed two Korean owned stores on the south side of Chicago, IL supposedly in response to the Simi Valley verdict rendered in the case of the LAPD beating of Rodney King. While imprisoned, the attacks continued: threats on his life, denying him visitation rights, sabotage of mail, destruction of personal property, and long stints in “segregation”…the prison within the prison. Chairman Fred Hampton Jr. continues to expose the brutal prison conditions and continues to fight for the release still held political prisoners, prisoners of war, and prisoners of conscience. Chairman Fred Jr. also continues to push for pardon based on his innocence in order to clear his name of the dubious charges. Under his leadership POCC/BPPC has authored and organized campaigns around the African Anti Terrorism Bill; Harriet Tubman Code; Code of Culture; and much more. A revolutionary, powerful speaker and spoken word artist, Chairman Fred’s poignant presentations have captivated audiences worldwide.

Sunday April 8th 2012 9:00am-8:30pm

9:00am-10:30am (Vanport Room 338)
Doors open, Coffee, tabling, baked goods!

10:30am-11:45am Panels 1,2,3 (327, 328, 329)

Panel 1 (327)
Dismantling Patriarchy, Dismantling Capitalism: Part I
Portland Industrial Workers of the World
Summary
“Dismantling Patriarchy, Dismantling Capitalism” is based on the experiences of female-identified fellow workers who have found commonality in their experience of gender oppression and have developed strategies for organizing in solidarity with people of all genders.

Panel 2 (328)
Women’s Prison Resistance: Part I
Victoria Law- Writer, photographer, zinester, mother and co-founder of Books Through Bars (NYC)
Summary
In this presentation, I will use the stories and observations in Resistance Behind Bars: The Struggles of Incarcerated Women to 1) examine the specific issues facing women behind bars discussing ways in which incarcerated women are resisting and organizing 2) examine the obstacles they face when trying to organize inside 3) challenge the audience to examine *why* these actions have not been (and are not being) recognized and talked about in discussions about the prison-industrial complex and prisoner activism and resistance 4) generate discussion of concrete ways (both big and small) that outside people, especially those dedicated to resisting and abolishing the prison-industrial complex, can provide support to women who are struggling inside.

Panel 3 (329)
The Dark Side of the Internet: A Bit About Darknets
Kyle Terry
Summary
Darknets are the hidden and obscure places of the internet. They are
used by organizations, law enforcement, activists, and people who
don’t want to conform to the (very) public nature of the high level
internet. What are they? This talk will touch on the history of
darknets, what types of darknets exist and how activists and
hacktivists use them.

12:00pm-1:15pm Panels 4,5, 6 & 7 (327, 328, 329 & 333)

Panel 4 (327)
Dismantling Patriarchy, Dismantling Capitalism: Part II
Portland Industrial Workers of the World
Summary
“Dismantling Patriarchy, Dismantling Capitalism” is based on the experiences of female-identified fellow workers who have found commonality in their experience of gender oppression and have developed strategies for organizing in solidarity with people of all genders.

This message brought to you by the Occupy Portland Web Team

WHEN? 

WHERE? St. Francis Church, 311 SE 12th, at Oak

WHAT?

–Bilingual relationship building and information exchange. Free event, snacks provided.–

We will learn a bit of history around Cesar Chavez  and the related history, before focusing on current topics related to farm worker rights, unions, immigration and food safety and security.

To reserve a time slot for presenting or ask questions contact Kelly at 503-849-9648 or akaangelkelly-at-yahoo-dot-com

En Espanol:

Cesar Chavez mesas de informacion bilingues

Sabado 31 de Marzo de las 4:00 PM a 7:00 PM

Iglesia San Francis 311 12th Ave. Portland, OR 97209

Venga y conozca la historia y la lucha de Cesar Chavez, tambien habaremos de la situacion de los trabajadores del campo y el trabjo de los sindicatos, habra informacion para inmigrantes y sobre comida saludable y soberania alimentaria.

Si gusta participar en este evento o si tiene alguna pregunta puede contactarnos:

Kelly at 503-849-9648 or akaangelkelly-at-yahoo-dot-com

Members of the Portland-based collective known as the Cascadia Center offers the Collectives, Teams and Affinity Groups workshop as way of conveying basic principles and practices for group work.  In a three hour workshop, we share ideas, resources, and group exercises that will help you:

• avoid burn-out
• engage interpersonal conflict with success
• decentralize leadership and empowerment
• be effective at getting things done
• feel supported as a human being in your group.

We will cover a range of topics related to setting up and maintaining healthy groups, such as:

• Types of groups and their functions
• Issues around membership
• Defining purpose, vision, and strategy
• Meeting design
• Relationship building
• Decision making
• Follow-through and accountability
• Communication
• Documentation
• Reflection and evaluation
• Collaboration with other groups

The Cascadia Center collective is a project of Tryon Life Community Farm, a sustainability education and demonstration center.