Coming up this week (please distribute to interested lists and parties):
“Life In Marvelous Times”: Cultural Work in the Racial Present
Conference, University of Washington, Seattle
Thursday - Friday, May 14 - 15, 2010
http://www.raceknowledgeproject.org/
Situating these times within ongoing local and global histories of decolonial struggle, this conference explores how cultural work and cultural workers help to comprehend, re-think, and transform the racial present. Events include the following:
• Performances by Amber Flame, Ananya Dance Theatre (Minneapolis), Dean Spade (Seattle U.; Sylvia Rivera Law Project), Cristien Storm, and many more
• Presentations by the Prisoners Education Network, the Black Student Union, the Philippine United Students Organization (PUSO), and others
• Workshops and panels by cultural workers, scholars and activists from near and far
Special Events:
Thursday, May 13, 2010 - 6:00 PM Kane 210
Keynote address by Vijay Prashad (South Asian History & International Studies, Trinity College), "Ends Don't Meet Where the Arms Can't Reach: Looking to DuBois to Bring Imperialism Back to American Studies"
Friday, May 14, 2010 - 8:00 PM HUB Auditorium
A special screening Criminal Queers, followed by a conversation with the filmmakers
Criminal Queers visualizes a radical trans/queer struggle against the prison industrial complex and toward a world without walls. Remembering that prison breaks are both a theoretical and material practice of freedom, this film imagines what spaces might be opened up if crowbars, wigs, and metal files become tools for transformation. Follow Yoshi, Joy, Susan, and Lucy as they fiercely read everything from the Human Rights Campaign and hate crimes legislation to the non-profitization of social movements. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with directors Eric Stanley and Chris Vargas. Presented by The Race/Knowledge Project and the Queer+Public+Performance working group as part of the Life in Marvelous Times conference.
