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LIFE AFTER BUSH:
Youth Activism & the Fight for Our Future

Feb. 20-22 (Fri. 7pm to Sun. 4pm)

CUNY Graduate Center, NYC
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Get involved in the dump Bush movement!

Free to students/low-income who register by Feb. 14th (Valentine's Day!)

*Update (as of Feb. 11): getting ready, plenary sessions, workshops, presentations, election preparation track and 'Bands Against Bush' concert details and flyers*


SPREADING THE WORD
Download updated flyers (see below) and pass them out to friends, classmates and post them up around your campus and community. We have flyers and quarter-cards ready to print out. You may wish to write your local contact info on flyers to help coordinate interest with others in your area. Email your activist friends and post the conference update below to your listservs.

Download flyers:
Conference Poster (PDF)
Conference Quarter-cards (PDF)


Plenary Sessions:

Beating the Bush Agenda
Opening plenary: 7-9pm Friday, Feb. 20th
-with-
Frances Fox Piven
Distinguished Professor of Political Science, the Graduate Center, CUNY; author of Poor People's Movements and many other works; Honorary Chair of Democratic Socialists of America;
Leslie Cagan
National Coordinator, United for Peace and Justice;
Joseph Schwartz
Chair, Dept. of Political Science, Temple University; Chair, Steering Committee of the Democratic Socialists of America

The Future of Radical Democracy
Saturday plenary: 3:30-5:30pm Saturday
-with-
Cornel West
Department of Religion, Princeton University; author of Race Matters and many other books; Honorary Chair of Democratic Socialists of America;
Steve Max
Director of Organizing and Training, Midwest Academy;
Bertha Lewis
Executive Director, New York ACORN; Co-chair, Working Families Party

(plenaries are $5 at the door for those not registered for entire conference)
Confirmed workshops and presentations:



Election 2004: What is to be Done?
Jessica Shearer, Field Director Arizona AFL-CIO; Co-Chair, Young Democratic Socialists & Adina Berrios, Development Director Working Families Party & Joseph Schwartz, Chair, Dept. of Political Science, Temple University; Chair, Steering Committee of the Democratic Socialists of America

Between Iraq and a Hard Place: Towards a Democratic US Foreign Policy
John Mason, Chair, Dept. of Political Science, William Paterson University; columnist, The Tribune (UK).

Building the Student Movement: The March 4th ‘Books Not Bombs’ Day of Action and Beyond
A panel discussion with representatives from National Youth & Student Peace Coalition member organizations & Christine Kelly, former national student activist; Assistant Professor of Political Science, William Paterson University; author of forthcoming book, Chimes of Freedom: Student Protest and the Changing American University

Looking at the Global Justice Movement
Doug Henwood, editor, Left Business Observer; contributor, The Nation

ABC's of Democratic Socialism
Stephen Eric Bronner, professor, Dept. of Political Science, Rutgers University; author of Imagining the Possible: Radical Politics for Conservative Times

The March for Women’s Lives: Organizing for the April 25th Pro-Choice Demonstration
Representatives from Feminist Majority & NARAL Pro-Choice America & Eliyanna Kaiser, former National Organizer, Young Democratic Socialists; staffer, New York State Assembly

Student-Labor Solidarity
Lenore Palladino, National Organizer, United Students Against Sweatshops & Dan Calamuci, US Campaigns Coordinator, National Labor Committee

LGBT Activism: Student Organizing, Civil Rights and the Culture Wars
Joseph Troung, Resource Coordinator, National Youth Advocacy Coalition

Making Media Work For Us: Breaking Down the Divide
Selina Musuta, DC based freelance journalist; member DC Radio Co-op

Understanding the Economy: Slideshow Presentation
Steve Max, Director of Organizing and Training, Midwest Academy

High School Organizing
Molly Jean, New York Youth Bloc & Mikki Halpan, author of You Can Change The World Even If You're Under 18

Creative Resistance: Art as Activism
Mike GW, Poets Against the War; Shadowbox Arts Collective

Looking Back, Looking Forward: A reflection on student anti-war organizing during the build up to the invasion of Iraq - and a look towards the future
Naomi Gordon-Loebl, NY-Youth Bloc; NYSPC & Max Uhlenbeck, United for Peace and Justice; NYU Peace Coalition & Francesca Fiorentini, NYU Peace Coalition; APOC

The Republicans are Coming! Organizing ‘New York City Summer’ and the RNC Protests
Yvonne Liu, Youth Organizer, New York City Summer (100 Days of Democracy in Action) & Lucas Shapiro, National Organizer, Young Democratic Socialists

Introduction to the Young Democratic Socialists: Politics, Activism and Chapter Building
Maria Svart, Feminist Issues Coordinator, Young Democratic Socialists; national recruiter for the Organizer-in-Training Program of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU)


Election Preparation Track:
While electoral activism may not be for everyone, for those of you committed to bringing change through the ballot box during this critical year, we have put together an excellent series of workshops led by some of the best grassroots organizers and election campaigners around including:

Jonathan Rosen, Founder New York Unemployment Project
Ed Ott, Poltical Director New York City Central Labor Council
Rachel Berkson, Organizing Director, Working Families Party
Ericka Bozzi-Gomez, Political and Organizing Lead SEIU 32BJ

Why Electoral Politics? Racial Justice as a Case for Electoral Activism
Issues Campaigns and Electoral Politics: Unemployment, Living Wages and Gay Rights
Elected Officials: What they do after winning an election?
Nuts and Bolts 1:The Campaign to Defeat Bush: The Players and the States
Nuts and Bolts 2: Students and the Campaign Against Bush: As Voters and as Volunteers
Nuts and Bolts 3: Running a Campaign
Nuts and Bolts 4: The Tools (Fundraising, Databases, and More)


After the conference on Saturday...
Bands Against Bush benefit show for the "Life After Bush" conference:

There will be four bands playing an all-ages venue in Brooklyn from 8pm to 1am. The space is huge, has a great sound system, a concession stand, a smoking room, vintage pinball, friendly staff and a large dance studio where we will be screening radical documentaries and experimental videos throughout the night. Proceeds from the $5 cover will help cover conference costs.
www.officeops.org/directions.html

Featuring:

Battlestar America (www.battlestaramerica.com)
"The Best Socialist Country Hip Hop Band Ever!"
"Hip Hop Country. Take a second to digest that. Believe it or not, they make a pretty interesting and complementary couple. With everything from Bluegrass to twangy, banjo and fiddle-driven country to R&B tinged tracks, the underground, alternative hip hop beats bring an urban, sassy, forthright feeling to these unusual explorations. Not wavering from the country vocals and country influence, Battlestar's danceable mating with hip hop make these Country-born tracks feel joyously jacked up on pop culture. "
-CDBaby.com

The Dead Betties (www.thedeadbetties.com)
Best (Yet) Undiscovered Act: "The Dead Betties. If you love punk, you gotta love this hard, fast, smart-as-hell combo of cute, young boys. Look for them. Lead singer Josh may be the gay Kurt Cobain (or is that redundant?)."
-Dean Johnson, Promoter (HX, 12-03)

The People’s History
Open door collective of singer-songwriters exploring the roots of American folk music. Named after and inspired by the acclaimed book by Howard Zinn, The People's History of the United States of America is Beau Johnson, Lenny Molotov, Danny Kelly, Langhorne Slim, Ossei Essed, Curtis Eller and Will Orzo.

The Swears (www.theswears.com)
"The Swears are a party band that plays music from the heart. It's been said they're reminiscent of an american Pogues or the Pixies with a lap steel or banjo thrown in--and that's all very flattering-- but really they sound like a house party where if the people weren't having such a damn good time, they'd probably be crying."


Organized by the Young Democratic Socialists and the Democratic Socialist Club at the Graduate Center, CUNY. Co-sponsored by the Continuing Education Program at the CUNY Graduate Center and the Democratic Socialists of America Fund.


Young Democratic Socialists
c/o DSA 180 Varick St. 12th Floor
New York, NY, 10014
office: (212) 727-8610 ext. 24
fax: (212) 727-8616
www.ydsusa.org
yds (at) dsausa.org