From Bao Phi: First ever CD release: ¿Nation of Immigrants?

Hello Equilibrium Supporters,

thank you all for making EQ's Fall season so spectacular!

Please come and help us celebrate our first ever CD release, ¿Nation of Immigrants? - a compilation of spoken word and performance poetry by Minnesotan Indigenous, immigrant, adoptee, refugee, and people of color - that seeks to explore, challenge, and explode the blanket-term "nation of immigrants". We gave preference to Minnesota artists that do not have their own CD out yet. It is really a spectacular collection, educational, thought-provoking, and inspiring, and it's just in time for the gift-giving season!

And did we mention there will be free food? The CD will be on sale for $10 and there will be some short performances by some of the featured artists.

Help us celebrate Minnesota poets and political art! And spread the word...

¿Nation of Immigrants? Minnesota spoken word artists and poets question the world

A CD featuring spoken word artists and poets Robert Karimi, Marcie Rendon, Juliana Hu Pegues, Tatiana Ormaza, Ibe Kaba, Khalid Adam, Preeti Kaur, Bobby Wilson, Lorena Duarte, Ka Vang, Ed Bok Lee, Tish Jones, Diego Vazquez, Christy Namee Eriksen, and Charlotte Albrecht.

Produced by the Loft Literary Center

Curated by Bao Phi, Associate Program Director, Equilibrum: Spoken Word at the Loft

Recorded, Engineered, Mixed and Mastered by Antonio Del Rosario

Original CD Cover Art by Ricardo Levins Morales

Graphic Design by Douglas Kearney

CD Release Party

Saturday, November 22, 8 p.m.

Featuring short performances by featured artists

At the Loft, 1011 Washington Avenue South

Free.

Food and beverage provided at reception following performances

Thien-bao Thuc Phi

Associate Program Director

Spoken Word and Community Collaborations

The Loft

1011 Washington Avenue South

Minneapolis, MN 55415

612-215-2585

bphi@loft.org

www.loft.org

At the "U": *"Native American Oral Tradition: The Stories and Storytellers"*

*THE GRADUATE SCHOOL ANNUAL GUY STANTON FORD LECTURE*

Tuesday, October 21, 12:15 p.m.

Ted Mann Concert Hall, West Bank Campus

*"Native American Oral Tradition: The Stories and Storytellers"*

/to be presented by /

*DR. SCOTT MOMADAY*, Pulitzer Price winning author and artist


The attached flyer describes the lecture fully. Also, large
commemorative posters have been widely distributed across campus to mark
this lecture, which is free and open to the public.

Seating is available on a first-come first-served basis; the hall opens
at 11 a.m.

Additional information about the Graduate School's Guy Stanton Ford
Lectureship is available on the web at:

/http://www.grad.umn.edu/news/ford/index.html/

On Campus Event: TODAY!

Join the Lealtad-Suzuki Center for the first Tapas Discussion of the Year!

THE TAPAS SERIES: "Media Representations in the Presidential Election
(a joint collaboration with Xpressions)

Tuesday, September 30
4:30-6:00PM
Cultural House (37 Macalester Street)

Recent discussions about the current presidential election have raised
important questions of identity and authenticity. Tapas and Xpressions
invite you to join us to discuss the representation of presidential
candidates through the framework of political cartoons. We will explore
questions of audience, context and representation in the depiction of
presidential nominees John McCain and Barack Obama in our media, our
discourse and in our minds.

The Tapas Series is a monthly student-facilitated conversation highlighting
different issues around multiculturalism and diversity that are pertinent to
the Macalester community. Everyone is Welcome, and tapas will be provided.
We hope to see you there!
Keren Yohannes and Angela Gutierrez
Lealtad-Suzuki Student Assistants

PEACE IN COLOMBIA IS POSSIBLE

Come hear the stories of two individuals who have been personally impacted by political violence in Colombia, and who have dedicated their lives to achieving a peacefully negotiated “Humanitarian Accord” to end the decades of civil conflict in Colombia.

Consuelo González de Perdomo has devoted her entire life to political and social work in the department of Huila. Most recently she was elected to serve in the Colombian Congress. As a member of Congress she was kidnapped on September 10, 2001, by the FARC. For 6 years and 4 months she was part of a group of hostages who the guerrillas proposed to release in the “humanitarian accord.” On January 10, 2008, she was unilaterally released by the FARC, yet from that day on she has said that she will not be free until all those who continue to suffer the tragedy of kidnapping have returned to their homes.

Gustavo Moncayo, a high school teacher from the southern province of Nariño, led a walk of approximately 600 miles through Colombia to promote the “humanitarian accord” to secure the release of the many persons, including his son Pablo Emilio. Prof. Moncayo is widely known as "The Peace Walker" in Colombia for his efforts in raising awareness of the hostage situation in Colombia and promoting a politically negotiated solution to this country's protracted internal armed conflict. He is in the US to raise awareness of the plight of the hostages and to ask US policymakers and civil society to work with Colombians for an end to the conflict.

MON. SEPT. 29th, 10-11:30am
University of Minnesota
Wulling Hall—Room 250
86 Pleasant St. SE, Mpls.

Event hosted by: the College of Education and Human Development
Speaking tour sponsored by: United Steelworkers Associate Member Program, Lutheran World Relief and Witness for Peace-Upper Midwest.

FREE: "SEX ED FOR EVERYONE"

WSAC's event for Discover Exceptional Women Week, "Sex Ed for Everyone" will take place on Wednesday, Oct. 1 at 6pm in the Coffman Theater. Our exclusive, entertaining and educational sex ed videos will debut and a discussion of the importance of comprehensive sex education in schools will follow. Please join us next Wednesday in the theater for laughs,
refreshments, and lively discussion!

Sex Ed for Everyone! (Exceptional Women's Week)
Wednesday, Oct. 1
6 PM
CMU Theater
University of Minnesota
Info: wsac@umn.edu

GLBT POLITICS: EQUALITY OR DIVISION?

LECTURE BY SUZANNE PHARR
The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Ally Programs Office is sponsoring "GLBT Politics: equality or division?". This is a lecture by Suzanne Pharr, author of "Homophobia: a weapon of sexism".



GLBT Politics Lecture
Thursday, Oct. 2
7:30 PM
3M Auditorium in Carlson School of Management
University of Minnesota

KATE BORNSTEIN!

Kate Borstein is coming to campus! Kate is a transgender author, playwright, performance artist and gender theorist. There will be a variety of events during the course of Kate's visit to Minneapolis, including the Masquerade Dinner and open house, below.

Masquerade Dinner: Unmasking our Many Genders
Monday, Oct. 20
6:30 PM
Pi Bar & Restaurant (2532 25th Ave S, MPLS)
Suggested donation ($25-125)
Register at www.mntranshealth.org or call 612.823.1152


Open House and Performance with Kate Borstein
Tuesday, Oct. 21
4:30 PM open house - 7 PM performance
St. Paul Student Center - Northstar Ballroom
FREE!

FREE event at the U: Public Art and Democracy

"Public Art and Democracy"

Saturday, September 27, 2008
9:00 AM - 8:00 PM

Cost:

Free and open to the public! Lunch provided - register at ias@umn.edu or 612-626-5054

Room 275 Nicholson Hall Minneapolis Campus

Contact:

Institute for Advanced Study, 612-626-5054

ias

The conference is occasioned by the confluence of four important events affecting the Twin Cities: Speaking of Home, artist Nancy Ann Coyne's photographic public artwork exploring the meaning of home, acculturation, and alienation for new Americans in the Twin Cities; the 30th anniversary of Forecast Public Art, a Twin Cities-based non-profit organization; the need for conversations about public engagement with the political process arising in the wake of the Republican and Democratic National Conventions; and the Minnesota Sesquicentennial. Four panels throughout the day examine the topic of public space and artistic intervention into it, raising questions about the politics of access to space and issues of free speech. Political scientists, artists, architects, designers, activists, and arts administrators will discuss such questions as: What makes a public space public? How can public art instigate civic discourse? How can artists and designers working within constraints create more meaningful public spaces?

Saturday morning sessions:Public/Private Space
9:00 Privatizing Public Space: Skyways, Malls, and Plazas (Jennifer Yoos, Kristine Miller and Vincent James)

10:45 Social Space: Designing for Civic Dialogues (Margaret Kohn, Dara Strolovitch, Sonja Kuftinec)

12:15 Lunch and discussion on arts activities at the two political conventions, led by Marlina Gonzalez.

Saturday afternoon sessions: Artistic Interventions in Public Space
1:45 Public Art as Activism and the Limits of Free Expression (Suzanne Lacy, Jack Becker, Eiko Otake, Ananya Chatterjea)

3:30 Photography in Public (George Slade, Nancy Ann Coyne, Wing Young Huie)

5:15 Conference wrap up with Tom Fisher and Gail Dubrow.

Funding provided by McKnight Events and Initiatives.

Sponsored By:	Institute for Advanced Study
Additional Sponsors:	College of Design
	Department of Art

Events at Intermedia Arts, Minneapolis

@ Intermedia Arts, 2822 Lyndale Ave S, Minneapolis, 55408

GLBT Reading Series

Wednesday, September 24, 2008 7:00 PM at Intermedia Arts 2822 Lyndale Ave. S, Minneapolis MN 55408 Free and open to the public

Hosted by John Medeiros and Andrea Jenkins

Featuring:
REBECCA FROST. Can a bi-girl who is (happily) married to a het guy (for a really long time) still be a bi-girl? You betcha. Rebecca Frost is used to crossing supposed lines for good reasons, and continued to do so right up through her recent graduation with an MFA in Writing from Hamline University, as she kept her feet planted in several genres at once. Now, fully commenced, Rebecca remains committed to straddling lines, and standing up for our full, juicy, embodied, genius selves! Her thesis novel, Love, House, brings together eclectic characters who find home in an elegant, ramshackle queer household in Powderhorn neighborhood. Her poems have been published in Grounds for Peace, Close to the Ground, Currents, two mnartists What Light contests, and Writers Rising Up: an online journal, as well as a prizewinning broadside. A veteran performer, Rebecca teaches writers to overcome fears of reading (and doing anything else) in public. Contact her via her webiste: www.embodiedarts.com.

MELANIE HOFFERT grew up on a small grain farm near Wyndmere, North Dakota and currently lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She graduated in 2008 with her MFA in creative non-fiction from Hamline University in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Her essay, Going Home, won the 2006 Creative Non-Fiction award by the Baltimore Review where it was also published. Additionally, the chapter, The Allure of Grain Trucks was selected as a 2008 Finalist for the Writers at Work Fellowship Competition. She is currently finishing her first book entitled, The Silent Land: A Memoir about God, Gays, and Good North Dakotans, which recently received Hamline’s Outstanding Thesis Award. The Silent Land explores what it means to be part of the last generation to leave the land, the gravel roads, Lutheran churches, and open fields behind. Through an exploration of the metaphorical parallels between the people of the prairie and the rural landscape, the book is also a meditation on the deep beauty and pain of silence.

Funds for this activity are provided by the COMPAS Community Art Program through a grant from the McKnight Foundation. The Carol Connolly Reading Series is sponsored in part by The Banfill-Locke Center for the Arts, DreamHaven Books, Patrick's Cabaret, SF Minnesota, and the University Club of Saint Paul.

Young Writers!

Wednesday, October 1, 2008 6-8 PM at Intermedia Arts 2822 Lyndale Ave. S, Minneapolis MN 55408 $2 suggested donation for pizza

This monthly gathering is the spot for creative young voices! A place for young writers (ages 19 and under) to meet other youth writers, workshop their writing, work with local artists, participate in public literary readings and have fun! Grab your notebook and head over to Intermedia Arts to find out what Young Writers! is all about.

Beyond the Pure: Readings by Writers of Color

Thursday, October 9, 2008 7:00 PM at Intermedia Arts 2822 Lyndale Ave S, Minneapolis Free; wine & beer reception to follow

Curated by Julie Bates & Carolyn Holbrook; hosted by Carolyn Holbrook

IBé was born in Guinea, and grew up between Sierra Leone, Chicago, St. Cloud, and the Twin Cities. Quite naturally, he lives in the Middle of the Atlantic…with a mailing address in Minneapolis, MN. Among others, he writes about the African Experience, both in Africa and in America. Bridge Across Atlantic, his first collection of poems, is a small dose of these stories.

Bao Phi has been a performance poet since 1991. A two-time Minnesota Grand Slam champion and a National Poetry Slam finalist, Bao Phi has appeared on HBO Presents Russell Simmons Def Poetry, and a poem of his appeared in the 2006 Best American Poetry anthology. He has performed in venues and schools across the country, from the Nuyorican Poets Café to the University of California, Berkeley. Currently he continues to perform across the country, remains active as an Asian American community organizer, and works at the Loft, where he creates and operates programs for artists and audiences of color.

Sun Yung Shin is a 2007 Bush Artist Fellow for Literature and author of the collection of poems Skirt Full of Black (Coffee House Press 2007); co-editor of Outsiders Within: Writings on Transracial Adoption; (South End Press 2006) and author of Cooper’s Lesson (Children's Book Press 2004), a bilingual Korean/English illustrated book for children. She's currently working on her second book of poems with the working title The Invisible Choir and a memoir of her immigration and naturalization. Her website is www.sunyungshin.com.

Student Rush Tickets at the Ordway

Lots of great shows at the Ordway:



Student Tickets: INFO HERE

Suggested Activist Event: Ellison Talks Voter Rights

Congressman Keith Ellison will be having a forum on Voting Rights with a particular focus on Voter Re-Enfranchisement (ie ex felons). Keith will be speaking about legislation as well as to hear from people on the ground what their concerns are as far as voting. Also, there will be 4 or 5 people on the panel to tell their story or discuss research they've done or programs that they are working on that pertain to voting re enfranchisement. We really need help getting the word out so please forward this to anyone you may know, post on list serves and distribute widely. We really do need all the help that you can provide and appreciate the help in getting the word out. We hope to see you all there and greatly appreciate your efforts.

Congressman Keith Ellison Presents a Voting Rights Forum
Learn about current legislation that affects your right to vote and discuss how to take action. Joining Congressman Ellison will be a panel of dedicated individuals
that are working hard to make democracy more accessible.

Monday, October 6th
6:30 pm - 8:30 pm
Powderhorn Park
3400 15th Ave S
Minneapolis, MN 55407

Voting Rights Legislation Congressman Ellison has introduced:
- H.R. 2457: To amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to require states to permit individuals to register to vote in an election for Federal Office on the date
of the election.
- H.R. 4026 To prohibit election officials from requiring a photo ID as a condition for voting in a Federal election.

This is a great opportunity to share information and begin a dialogue about solutions to protect the voting rights of United States citizens as well as ways to expand democracy.

Suggested Event: "EXPLODE THE VOTE" Concert!

Explode The Vote is about getting the youth voice out to the polls in record numbers this November so we can make this year's victories ring loud and clear throughout the district: WE WANT CHANGE!

The show is featuring performances by:

Brother Ali
Big Quarters
Usual Suspects
Illuminous 3
Green Sketch Crew

Hosted by I Self Devine
DJ'd by Justnine

18+
$15 at the door OR
$12 in advance (purchase at www. keithellison.org)

Come out and show your support for Obama, Ellison, Franken, and the rest of the democratic ticket! THE MOVEMENT NEEDS YOU!

You can buy tickets at
http://www.KeithEllison.org

- for future updates, stay connected on www.myspace.com/studentsforkeith -

Suggested Event: Festival of Sisters

http://myspace.com/sherockfestival

September 17 Free Event

10/16 DRAGMANITY: "Divalicious"

10/16/2008 | 10:00:00 PM
Esmé Rodríguez presents: DRAGMANITY: Divalicious Night!

Dragmanity challenges the notion that today’s drag queens are merely men in dresses. It displays cohesive performances of those who, through their art, are in constant dialogue with themselves and others regarding gender identity, performative technique, and expressions of fashion and design. This show makes the claim that we are all human, talented, and brave artists who have and will advance aspects of the performing arts, equality, and fair political agendas.

In terms of construction, Dragmanity will be a combination of the antique and the innovative. While seemingly a traditional drag queen show in some senses, the audience will begin to notice a palette of certain non-traditional music selections and an overall fluidity and connectivity of the show as a whole. We will present “themed” nights when the audience is invited to dress the part, as to participate in the creation of the performance space (a la Rocky Horror Show style) in order to invent a constant discourse between those on stage and off.

Dragmanity graciously respects and applauds Dykes Do Drag, our sister show at Bryant Lake Bowl, as well as the spirit of Trannyshack (R.I.P.) and many other San Francisco shows and performers, all of which have been enlightening and inspirational in the formation of the ideas for Dragmanity. Diamonds can be gorgeous and smart. We are elegance and intellect.

For more info visit www.myspace.com/esmerodriguez.

Thursday October 16 at 10:00 pm (9:30 doors)
$10 / $8 with a student ID
buy tickets online

Tues Oct 7 Rinku Sen

Rinku Sen will discuss 'The Accidental American: Immigration in the Age of Globalization'.

Magers & Quinn Booksellers
3038 Hennepin Ave. S
Minneapolis, MN
612.822.4611
http://www.magersandquinn.com



Rinku Sen is the President and Executive Director of the Applied Research Center (ARC) and Publisher of ColorLines magazine. She started her organizing career as a student activist at Brown University, fighting race, gender and class discrimination on campuses. She received a B.A. in Women's Studies from Brown University in 1988 and an M.S. in Journalism at Columbia University (2005). She has written extensively about immigration, community organizing and women's lives for a wide variety of publications including Third Force, AlterNet, tompaine.com, Race, Poverty & the Environment, Amerasia Journal and ColorLines. Her book, Stir It Up: Lessons in Community Organizing (Jossey-Bass) was released in the fall of 2003. In 2004, Rinku was honored with the Asian American Journalists Association Dr. Suzanne J. Ahn Award for social justice coverage. Her latest book, The Accidental American: Immigration and Citizenship in the Age of Globalization (Berrett-Koehler) will be released September 2008.