Police infilitration and surveillance of Baltimore Activists

Jul 19, 2008

Thanks to the Maryland ACLU, an extensive program of police surveillance and infilitration against Baltimore-area antiwar and anti-death penalty activists has been revealed.  There's 46 pages of newly released and utterly chilling documents available online.

For the Red Emma's collective, these documents were especially interesting - the picture attached to this article shows the portion of the released material in which we found out that, at a January 2006 public informational event about the Death Penalty in Maryland we hosted at our storefront, an undercover agent from the Maryland State Police's Homeland Security and Intelligence Division was in attendance. 

The police reports, which document surveillance of nonviolent protestors and organizers, show that the investigation was aimed at gathering intelligence regarding "anti-war terrorism" and "anti-government terrorism" (p. 36).  For anyone who knows the activists who were victims of this program of state surveillance and infilitration, this could not be a more ridiculous concern, and we are deeply disappointed (although not entirely surprised) that the apparatus of "Homeland Security" is being used against constitutionally protected dissent. 

 If you're concerned about this situation, and would like to learn more, there's going to be a speak-out with some of activists named at 2640 on Thursday the 24th - see the events listing in the right column for more information.

Audio and Video from Bill Fletcher Jr.'s talk on Solidarity Divided

Jul 11, 2008

VIDEO: Bill Fletcher Jr. speaks about his book

AUDIO: Bill Fletcher + Updates from UNITE-HERE and the United Workers

Who's got the power? We've got the power! (Very short video of the 7/10 UNITE-HERE picket at the City Center Sheraton)

Grassroots Journalism: Youth Media Summer Course @ 2640

Jun 21, 2008

Starting July 1st, 2640 will be hosting a Grassroots Journalism Course for Youth.  This 6-week course is a pilot for what we hope will be a more regular series - this first run will focus on print reporting, and will be taught by Ron Kipling Williams, Nick Petr, and Bobby Marvin (with special guest speakers bringing various social justice and media perspectives to the table).   After the intro on Tuesday July 1st, at 6PM,  the course will happen on Mondays from July 7th through August 11th, with extra sessions on Tuesday the 8th, Tuesday the 15th, August 5th and August 12th.  Each session costs just $5.  For more info, contact awareandoutraged@yahoo.com.  Spread the word! more >>

The Baltimore Zine & DIY Fest @ 2640: Now accepting tabling registrations!

May 27, 2008

Ready for another round of do-it-yourself workshops? The Second Annual DIY Fest is back in Baltimore! On Saturday, June 14th head on over to 2640 to learn a new skill or to check out some of the best DIY crafters & zinesters that our fair Charm City has to offer! Never been to a DIY Fest? The Baltimore Zine & DIY Fest (Do It Yourself Festival) is an annual one day event featuring workshops of self-sufficient, low-budget strategies for making stuff and doing things. Why should learning important skills always revolve around your wallet??? DIY Fest is a free event!

AND, join us as a tabler!  Tables are just $5 for the whole day.  Red Emma's will be on hand with delicious coffee drinks & vegan baked goods courtesy of the Baltimore Baking Brigade - don't miss it, it should be a blast!  If you want to table, send an email to diyfest (at) gmail.com with your name, the name of your project, what you plan to sell/give away at your table, and anything else we should know; and let us know SOON, space is filling up!

New Indyreader available!

May 16, 2008

Hot off the presses, and available now at Red Emma's and elsewhere around town, issue 8 of the excellent (and free) Indypendent Reader looks at the (sorry) state of transportation in Baltimore.  The exchange between a city official and a former Baltimore transit planner on the proposed Red Line is fantastic, and there's great stuff on the day-to-day experience of riding the MTA from teens involved with Kids on the Hill and the Algebra Project (who incidentally occupied City Hall's lawn for three days this week to demand more funding for peer to peer educational programs), a sweet article on biking in Baltimore by Thoughtworm's Sean Stewart, and lots more. The Indyreader also launched a new website with this issue at indyreader.org, with full back issues available, plus supplementary news reporting from Baltimore's grassroots. more >>

Two radical history tours of Baltimore in May

Apr 30, 2008

First up, check out the IWW's May Day Roll: The Baltimore Labor History Bike Tour. Starting May 1st at 9:30 AM (don't worry, you can hook up with the tour at Red Emma's at 10:30 if that sounds a little early). More info over at Baltimore Indymedia.

If that's too short notice, or you can't get off work, or don't bike, don't worry! On May 18th there'll be a Baltimore People's Bus Tour: Commemorating the Catonsville Nine Anniversary, which will be touring sites of struggle from the 60's in the area, with a focus on anti-war activism and the Black Panthers. $10 tickets are available at Red Emma's, click through for the full details. more >>

As Baltimore Heats up...

Apr 10, 2008

Fine folks of Baltimore things are heating up! The trees are blooming, short sleeves are appearing, and we here at Red Emma's have some blood warming news!

First things first, we are very happy to celebrate and dance away winter with the one year anniversary of the 2640 project ! For a year we have been witness to Jazz legends and contemporary greats, Radicals of many colors, The 2007 Mid Atlantic Radical bookfair, DIY-ZINE Fest, Iraq Veterans against the War, music of every persuasion, Poetry, meetings, Hula-Hooping, and the all embracing (unless you lose) musical chairs.

Also raising our blood temps are the amazing new titles that are on our shelves: "A People's History of American Empire" - Howard Zinn, Paul Buhle, and Mike Konopaki bring an old chapter of the immensely popular and important "People's History of the United States" to a new light with their comic book style of America's centuries-long involvement around the world, and "Nowtopia: How Pirate programmers, Outlaw Bicyclists and vacant-lot gardeners are inventing future today" - Chris Carlsson brings ordinary everyday revolution to our fingertips (by the way Carlsson will stop by the shop May 2nd 7pm ). We of course have many radical classics and obscurities as well.

Cool your hot blood by sipping some iced, fair trade and organic coffee or some cold fancy sodas and juice. Finally, to refresh yourself from this whole Emma's experience....Vegan delectables and sandwiches. Who says the Revolution can't taste good?! 

Video from Adam Smith in Beijing event at 2640.

Apr 1, 2008

If you missed it, here's the video from last months amazing discussion with Giovanni Arrighi, David Harvey, and Joel Andreas.

Volunteer at Ladyfest Baltimore!

Mar 24, 2008

This April 11-13, Baltimore hosts its first Ladyfest ! Red Emma's & 2640 are proud to support this amazing event, but Ladyfest needs YOUR help to make the weekend a success! Volunteers are needed in a variety of areas - see the call from the Festival organizers below, and get in contact if you can help out!:
April 11th -- 13th will be filled with fun, education, and amazement but not without some help from volunteers (2-hour shifts preferred).
SECURITY/SAFETY: We need women-identified people to volunteer as part of our safety/security team from 10am - 6pm on Saturday and Sunday as well as Sunday night from 7pm-10pm at 2640 St. Paul Street.
CHILDCARE: We need men (or women) to volunteer for childcare from 10am - 6pm on Saturday and Sunday at 2640. We would like to have mainly man-identified people help with childcare, recognizing that women have historically provided childcare when men participate in social/educational activities.
GENERAL: We need volunteers at the info table, to carry things from place to place, to help direct folks to workshops, to set up, to clean up, to be there for support, and to provide general assistance that cannot be foreseen at this point.
To sign-up, e-mail Harriet with the times you are available and the type of volunteering you are interested in: moonharriet@gmail.com.
We're working on obtaining & silkscreening LadyFest t-shirts for our volunteers to keep as a gift and to help identify all our fantastic volunteers during the festival! more >>

The 11th Annual National Conference on Organized Resistance (NCOR) will be held March 7-9, 2008 in Washington, DC!

Mar 4, 2008

The National Conference of Organized Resistance is an annual event that brings together people from all backgrounds for a weekend of learning and discussing local and international social justice issues through workshops, panel discussions, and skillshares. NCOR is held on the main campus of American University in northwest Washington, DC. more >>

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