COMING REACH CENTER EVENTS:
2/9 (Sun) - 2-5pm - Raising Progressive Children Workshop - FREE
This is the first in an ongoing dialogue to discuss how as activists and supposed conscience parents, we should raise our children in this climate of increased repression, war, poverty, and oppression. Whether you are a parent with young children now, have grown children, or just want to think about having children in the future, you should come and join in the discussion. This is the most important conversation we can have. Discussions such as these determine our future.
2/14 (Fri) - 8:30 am - Mathew Lamont Court Date
Motions for dismissal of the case will be heard. Please come and show your support. If the judge grants the motions Mathew will finally be free! We need public pressure to get the judge to side our way. The location is 700 Civic Center Drive W. in Santa Ana. He is in Dept 41. Mathew is a political prisoner who has been in jail since April 20th. For more information on his case contact the REACH Center or go to www.raisethefist.com.
2/14 (Fri) - Possible Dance Party in the evening. Call or e-mail for more information.
2/19 (Wed) - 3-5pm - Beehive Collective Presentation on Plan Colombia and Free Trade Area of the Americas - FREE
The Beehive’s Plan Colombia poster and presentation is the product of many discussions around the issue of colonialism in the Andean Region of South America that took place between our collective and organizers over the spring of 2002 in Ecuador, Colombia and the U.S. These exchanges of information and inspiration were collaboratively sewn together into a quilt of images, and organized in a circuit of progressions and contrasts that inform and engage the viewer throughout their journey of this elaborate graphic. This circuit, with its pathways geared towards fostering a narrative discussion, aids in the functionality of the graphic to be used as a political organizing tool… a powerful tool in which to discuss an overwhelmingly complex situation in a format that breaks the information down into more digestible, and therefore memorable, chunks. This communication strategy allows for addressing specific elements of the issue, still in context of the larger forces at hand, while transcending the boundaries of language and learning.
2/21 (Fri) - 9 pm - Indy Film Night - FREE
Buffalo 66 will be shown at 10pm and Donnie Darco will be shown at 12:30am
2/22 (Sat) - 6pm-9pm - Poetry and Spoken Word Open Mic Night - FREE
Featuring spoken word artist Victorio Reyes, author of The Rebirth of Krazy Horse: Poems for the Struggle
Victorio Reyes is an activist and poet based in Albany, NY. Victorio works to blend poetry with activism. He is currently involved in the Ironweed Collective; a non-hierarchical community, commited to finding sustainable ways fo living by providing alternatives to the current system of exploitation. He is also the founder of the rebel army media company whose mission is to put out positive information by any means necessary.
Other spoken word artists to be named. Come and listen or share your poetry or spoken word project in a supportive environment.
2/27 (Thurs) - 6-8:30pm - Ongoing Vegan Cooking Class - FREE
6-7pm - How to be a healthy/nutritional vegan. 7-8:30pm - Learn how to make vegan Italian food.
3/15 (Sat) - Chris Elliott's art show, titled "Hard Feelings: A meditation on proletarian liberation" will continue until March 15th.
MEETINGS/REGULAR EVENTS:
Mondays - 7pm - DEBTORS ANONYMOUS- Compulsive Debting is a disease of capitalism. It is based on patterns of spending that do not satisfy real needs. This is a non-denominational, spiritual group that follows AA's 12 step program, but for debt not alcohol.
Wednesdays - 5:30-7pm - FREE ART CLASS FOR THE KIDDIES!!! Its not so much of a class as an opportunity for kids to get together with other kids and work on art projects with kids at heart who enjoy art play. All kids and kids at heart welcomed. If you have supplies bring them.
Wednesdays - 7pm - COPWATCH/RACUN COMMUNITY DEFENSE- You know that for every case of abuse that gets caught on videotape there's a dozen or a hundred that never see the light of day. The well-publicized atrocities are the tip of the iceberg of the daily and systematic militarization of police as an occupying army in communities of color and as an internal border guard in more privileged areas. This is only getting worse with Bush's "War on Terror." The problem is not just police misconduct - it's police conduct. It's time to take matters in our own hands. It's time for some direct action to stop police abuse and to develop community control of the police. What if we had a sea of people out on the streets with video cameras ready to document police activity? What if every time the cops made a stop, the community came out on the stoops and storefronts to bear witness? What if we began to patrol, defend, and reclaim our own neighborhoods, and our own futures?
Saturdays - 1pm - FOOD NOT BOMBS - We share free vegan and vegetarian food with the houseless and all others in need as a protest against the growing effects of capitalism and military spending such as poverty, homelessness, and environmental destruction. We cook at the shoppe and serve at 14th street park when done. Please come and spread the word!
TUTORING - FREE - Call or e-mail if you, someone you know, or your child needs tutoring in math (up to precalculus), language arts, middle school history, the GED, the SAT, or literacy (literacy tutoring is only available Wednesdays at 7pm for now). We will set up a regular weekly or biweekly (or however often is needed) time for you to meet with a tutor.
YOUTH ANTI-WAR COALITION - Call or e-mail for next meeting date and time.
GARDENS NOT LAWNS - If you have a lawn. We will put in a garden for free and teach you how to garden in exchange for you donating a small amount of your vegetables to Food Not Bombs and in exchange for you sharing your excess vegetables with your neighbors.
VEGAN COOKING WORKSHOPS - These workshops begin with a discussion on nutrition followed by a cooking class of a different genre each time. Contact us for the date of the next class.
FREE SCHOOL CLASSES/WORKSHOPS - Contact us to find out what events are this month or go to www.raisethefist.com.
SERVICES OFFERED BY THE INFOSHOPPE:
- Free DSL Internet access.
- Radical and Obscure Book Lending Library. There is an initial fee of $5 to open an account. After this you may check out books for 3 weeks. If you do not want to buy a library card, you can read the books at the shoppe during the hours of operation.
- Zine library. We have a huge assortment of zines and pamphlets for your reading pleasure while at the shoppe, including the subjects of: green anarchy/primitivism, green syndicalism, animal rights, gardening, natural remedies, collective organization, anarcho-syndicalism, communist/socialist, anti-globalization, anti-sexism, anti-militarism-war, religion, Spanish language zines, prisoner rights/political prisoner, anti-racism, black liberation, indigenous struggle, anarchist theory, historical anarchism, anarchist news, alternative press, housing alternatives, security culture/tactics, art, graffiti, poetry, music, comix, crimethinc., DIY, personal zines, book and music catalogs. Many of these can be purchased through a donation.
- Books, zines, shirts, patches, postcards, and more for donation. Come by and see what we have.
- Political Video library - Come by and watch videos. Some are available for donation and check-out through a library card.
- Meeting Space - Contact us if you would like to use this space for free to have your group meet in.
- Free School Workshops - Contact us or go to www.raisethefist.com to find this month's calendar of events.
- Free Clothes - All the clothes donated are given away for free. We also occasionally have blankets and other things for free.
- Free Canned/dry Foods - Food Not Bombs uses these and they are also available to anyone who needs free food.
- Coffee, Espresso, Teas, and occasional Vegan goodies for donation
- Art Space - In addition to having free art classes, we also showcase people's art work. Contact us if you would like to have an art show and/or art opening here.
- THIS IS YOUR SPACE SO USE IT!!! If you think other things should be happening here, talk to us and make it happen!
GET INVOLVED:
We are putting a call out to you to get involved in making our community a better place. There are many things you can do: Come by the shoppe and educate yourself on what is going on, get involved in the groups that meet, start your own group, put on a workshop or free school class at the shoppe, spread the word, donate food to food not bombs, donate radical or obscure books (new or used), donate political videos, donate zines, sell your music/shirts/artwork/zines/poetry/books on consignment at the shop, donate clothes and blankets, donate canned food, and more. Contact us if you have more ideas on how you can help move us toward community self-sufficiency!!! GET INVOLVED!!!
Our big focus now is on getting Free School classes started again. Everyone has a skill to share, so bring your skills to our community. All of us should share for free what knowledge we have learned to prevent important skills from being concentrated in the hands of a minority and shared through expense to what typically ends up being rich, white people. THIS MUST CHANGE and YOU are critical to this change. Free school classes/workshops we have either had in the past or would like to have include: cooking, gardening, composting, music lessons, language lessons, political ideology classes, mechanic work, plumbing, bike fixing, self-defense, yoga, veganism, raw foods diet, literacy, computer skills, screen printing, first aid, street medic, etc. There are sooooo many skills that should be shared that this list could go on forever. All of us have a skill to share, SO GET INVOLVED! If you are interested, e-mail, drop by, or call with what workshop you would like to do and the date and time you would like to do it. We will contact you with confirmation and together we can begin outreach for it. Days will be given on a first come, first serve basis, so provide your preferred and alternative days (if possible). Now is the time, do not hesitate... GET INVOLVED! Nothing in this society will change if we don't change it.
MISSION STATEMENT
We, as the REACH Center all volunteer collective of the Long Beach Infoshoppe, seek to liberate through unity, self-education, and community empowerment. We seek to work with people in the local area to build a real community, based on mutual aid and cooperation. A community where everyone has access to a healthy and non oppressive life. Education is critical to empowerment and liberation, as it enables people to understand the history of oppression and stand-up to exploitation. However, we reject institutional, top-down education, which seeks to enforce hierarchy and conformity. In opposition, the REACH Center space enables people to empower themselves, which results in people being actively engaged in empowering the greater Long Beach community.
Society's very survival currently depends on corporations and government entities that exist to oppress, and destroy the self determination of our communities. We wish to counter this destructive cycle. As a space promoting community empowerment, we seek to help actualize a self-sufficient community, in which people rely on each other, not government institutions. This form of mutual aid helps all people in the community, as opposed to government programs which often only help the privileged. We want to help this community regain power over its own existance. We seek to further this goal through such programs as Food Not Bombs [an anti-militarism group that distributes free food to protest poverty and war], Community Gardening, Copwatch [an anti-police brutality network], community self-defense programs, wildlands restoration, and Free School classes and workshops that promote mutual aid between community members.
This collective supports diversity and a respect for differences. This is promoted through mutual respect and support of differences. We do not label people for their beliefs and we support collective members' right to evolve and change their ideas. To ensure that all voices are heard, we work through consensus decision making which seeks to ensure that each member of the collective has an equal voice in the group, with no opinions being silenced. The way we organize ourselves mirrors how we would like society to be organized. As such, we support the development, creation, and advancement of all other info shops and community groups that promote positive social change. We seek a society and a collective that is anti-authoritarian, culturally diverse, accepting of racial diversity, feminist, gay positive, biocentric, and worker and union supportive.
The REACH Center/Infoshoppe is located at 684 Redondo Ave. in Long Beach. You can contact us by dropping by during our hours of operation from 12-7pm every day, e-mailing
lb_infoshoppe@yahoo.com or calling 562-434-6934.