Events for June 2008

Saturday Jun 7, 6PM @ 2640 : Hard Hittin' Songs for Hard-Hit People

On June 7th, the fourth annual Hard Hittin' Songs for Hard Hit People benefit concert will bring the music of Lafayette Gilchrist, Caleb Stine and The Brakemen, Walker and Jay, The 5th L, and Ben Hartlage to Heart's Place Homeless Shelter in a celebration of the shelters' work and an effort to raise money for its future. For over twenty years Heart's Place has operated in the basement of St. John's Church in Charles Village, offering food and shelter for some of Baltimore's thousands of homeless residents. Guests refer to Heart's Place as the 'Hilton' of the homeless shelters because of the respectful, supportive staff and comfort they offer.

Hard Hittin' Songs is a grass-roots benefit that has raised close to six thousand dollars for the shelter and showcased the sweat-and-blood music of the areas finest musicians. As anyone who's attend this event in the past will tell you, it's a win-win scenario, where the community has an outlet to support one of our great shelters and listen to some of Baltimore's best music.

Wednesday Jun 11, 7PM @ Red Emma's : On the Lower Frequencies: A Secret History of the City..Cindy Crabb and Erick lyle

On the Lower Frequencies: A Secret History of the City.

The Secret History of Cities is both a manual, a memoir and a history of creative resistance and fun in a world run rotten with poverty and war. Whether handing out fake starbucks coupons for free coffee, dropping flyers on mall-goer's heads that say "aren't you glad this isn't a bomb?" or having punk shows in laundromats, Iggy has shown the world over the years that you can resist consumerism and have fun and have a sense of humor at the same time.

Saturday Jun 14, 11AM @ 2640 : The Second Annual Zine & DIY Fest

Tired of reaching into your wallet to learn useful skills?  Wondering why self-sufficiency always seems to cost so much?  Then head on out to 2640 on June 14 for the annual Zine & DIY Fest, co-spnsored by Red Emma's and Barclay House and learn a whole new set of do-it-yourself skills!  With workshops on topics ranging from feeding the masses to computer maintenance to pet healthcare and guitar repair, and featuring some of our favorite local artists and craftspeople (and Red Emma's, of course!), the annual DIY Fest is a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon.  Plus: It's FREE!  Check out www.diyfest.org for more info!  (Tables are still available!  Email us for more info ...)

Sunday Jun 15, 5PM @ 2640 : One Big Concert: the Jazz Messengers Reunion!

Jazz Artists Management and the IWW bring another all-star jazz concert to 2640!  This long-awaited concert will reunite members of the legendary Art Blakey Jazz Messengers, featuring Bobby Watson (alto sax), David Schnitter (tenor sax), Valery Ponomarev (trumpet), Orrin Evans (piano), Curtis Lundy (bass), and Winard Harper (drums).  This very special event will raise funds for the renovation of St. John's Church and for the Baltimore chapter of the Industrial Workers of the World (http://www.iww.org/), the venerated labor union whose slogan "One Big Union!" expresses the organization's commitment to uniting all members of the working class in the struggle for social, political and economic justice.  Advance tickets are $25, $30 at the door, or $20 for students (show ID at door).  Soul food will be available for purchase, or bring your own picnic basket!

Sunday, June 15th, 5 p.m. - 9 p.m.  Advance tickets are now available at Red Emma's (800 St. Paul St., 410-230-0450), Liam's Pint-Size Pub  (911 North Charles St., 443-956-2805), and A Quiet Place (4736 Liberty Heights, 410-466-1717).

Thursday Jun 19, 7PM @ Red Emma's : Crispin Sartwell presents Against the State

Join us on June 19 for a book talk and a discussion with Crispin Sartwell, anarchist author and professor of philosophy at Dickinson College, whose new book, Against the State: An Introduction to Anarchist Political Theory was recently published by SUNY Press. Come on out to Red Emma's for a conversation about the immorality of government power and the vision of a freer future. Against the State examines all the famous arguments for the state in the Western tradition, including those of Plato, Hobbes, Locke, Hume, Hegel, Habermas, and Rawls, and concludes that they are not only unconvincingly but embarrassing: shockingly fallacious. At Red Emma's, Crispin will discuss these arguments, and then talk about a characteristically American anti-authoritarianism based on American abolitionism, feminism, and the works of Emerson and Thoreau.

Saturday Jun 21, 7:30PM @ Red Emma's : The Prefigurative Organization

The Prefigurative Organization

Kim Keyser is an activist from the nascent anarchist movement in
Norway - the so-called "social democratic paradise" in Northern
Europe. This summer he'll be touring the US with an illustrated
presentation called "The Prefigurative Organization". The presentation
will try to answer the question "How can we reflect the future we
want, in our present work?". It will touch upon subjects such as
direct democracy, direct action, workers councils, anarchist
organizing and involvement in social movements.

A complementing pamphlet called "The Prefigurative Organization" -
which has been made specifically for the speaking tour - will be
available.

After the presentation there will be a possibility to ask the speaker
specific questions, followed by plenty of time for discussions in
small groups.

The tour is being hosted by NEFAC 

Friday Jun 27, 6PM @ 2640 : Wanderlust Women's Health Collective Tour

This summer, fifteen women are traveling from New Orleans to New York City
with the Wanderlust story collective and bicycle caravan. In solidarity with
local activists and rooted in the belief that sharing stories is a powerful
way to elevate awareness and create social change, we'll be pedaling from
town to town to listen to your stories and document how you and others are
working to expand access to reproductive health care, defend reproductive
rights, and promote reproductive justice. The goals of the trip are to
document the inspirational, groundbreaking work happening across the
country, expand the conversation about reproductive justice, and build
horizontal networks to strengthen our collective movement for reproductive
health, rights, and justice.

Sunday Jun 29, 7PM @ 2640 : ANARCHIC CIRCUMSTANCES AND COOPERATIVE EXPRESSION

A two part concert/lecture presentation. First, SECOND NATURE, a one of a kind 20-person improvising orchestra directed by John Berndt performs, then a one-hour lecture after by John Berndt entitled "Thoughts about alternative social organization in light of improvised music."

SECOND NATURE is a large ensemble that confronts "the research frontier of improvised music" directly: the large group. The ensemble includes Chiara Giovando, Tom Boram, Kate Porter, Susan Alcorn, Melissa Moore, and many other well known figures of the Baltimore music scene, and uses highly specialized practice methodologies to open up new possibilities of large group improvisation, taking advantage of untapped possibilities for spontaneous 'composition,' for more varied forms of interaction than the 'blow outs' which often characterize large Jam sessions. The music is orchestral in power and range, but contains musical content that could be generated in no other way that is highly evocative.

In the lecture that follows, Berndt discusses some of his ideas about the relationship between the idealistic goals of democratic, communist, anarchist, and libertarian political philosophies, and the difficulty of achieving those goals (if they are indeed desirable) without new mental abilities and specialized cultures to enable them. Berndt is also a writer, a founder of several collectives (Normals Books, Red Room, High Zero, Experimental Food Collective), and also has had extensive personal involvement in the diverging worlds of politics, philosophy, and business.

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