Happenings
For more details on the following, and other events this week, see Community Listings.
Friday, Feb. 23
FIERY PROGRESSIVE SOAP BOX SPEECHES features dinner and speeches by Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Barbara Jordan, John F. Kennedy, and others. 7:30-9pm. First Unitarian Universalist Church, 4700 Grover, 452-6168. $20 www.freesoulsproject.org.SEN. BARACK OBAMA Sign up for a ticket at www.texansforobama.com. 2pm, Auditorium Shores on Town Lake, Free.
ST. ANDREW’S ACTIVISM & SPIRITUALITY CONFERENCE features Phyllis Bennis’ speech, The New Internationalism: Strengthening the United Nations & Ending U.S. Domination. 6pm. Wells Branch Community Center, 2106 Klattenhoff. $35. www.staopen.com/activism.php.
Saturday, Feb. 24
ECOLOGICAL LITERACY DAY begins with several hours of trail maintenance, habitat restoration, and work in the native plant nursery. 9am-1pm. Hornsby Bend Bird Observatory, 2210 FM 973 S., 972-1960. kevin.anderson@ci.austin.tx.us. www.hornsbybend.org.
ST. ANDREW’S ACTIVISM & SPIRITUALITY CONFERENCE features workshops taught by representatives from Texas Impact, Girls Empowerment, Sierra Club, GI Rights, and others. Noon-5:30pm. St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, 14311 Wells Port Dr. $10 donation requested. www.staopen.com/activism.php.
NEWS FROM OAXACA Filmmakers Jill Freidberg and Vladimir Flores screen footage of the ongoing popular uprising in Oaxaca, Mexico. 8pm. Rhizome Collective, 300 Allen, 385-3695. www.rhizomecollective.org.
Sunday, Feb. 25
ASIAN AMERICANS FOR OBAMA MEETING 5pm. Scholz Garten, 1607 San Jacinto, 577-5729. Free. www.asianamericansforobama.com.
REPORT FROM MEXICO John Ross reads from his most recent book, Zapatistas: Making Another World Possible. 8pm. MonkeyWrench Books, 110 E. North Loop, 407-6925. Free. www.monkeywrenchbooks.org.
Monday, Feb. 26
LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS DISCUSSION: ENERGY USE IN TRANSPORTATION Daryl Slusher reviews Austin’s new Climate Protection Plan. 6pm. La Madeleine, 3418 N. Lamar, 451-6710. www.lwvaustin.org.
Tuesday, Feb. 27
INDUSTRIAL WORKERS OF THE WORLD BENEFIT SHOW Show your support for the fired unionized workers in Brooklyn’s wholesale food-distribution industry. (See Club Listings, p.96.) 7pm. Carousel Lounge, 1110 E. 52nd, 452-6790. $5. www.carouselloungeaustin.com.
TEXAMERICANA SOCIAL HOUR gears up for the March 17 Million Musicians March for Peace (see Club Listings, p.96). 7pm. Threadgill’s World HQ, 301 W. Riverside, 472-9304. www.texamericana.org.
THE WATER’S EDGE: PROFITS AND POLICY BEHIND THE RISING CATASTROPHE OF FLOODS Award-winning filmmaker Marshall Frech delivers this year’s Lovell Lecture. (See “To the Lighthouse,” p.24, for Austin’s own water scandal.) 7pm. Texas State University, Flowers Lecture Hall, San Marcos. www.geo.txstate.edu/lovell/lecture.
Wednesday, Feb. 28
TEXAS TALES 2007: BUILDING STORIES A silent-auction fundraiser for the Austin Public Library, with performances by Patty Griffin, Alejandro Escovedo, and the Rude Mechs; a film screening from East Austin Stories; and a presentation from historian James Haley. 6pm. La Zona Rosa, 612 W. Fourth, 472-2293. $100. www.directevents.net.
WOMEN’S HEALTH LOBBY DAY Join Planned Parenthoood to get a crash course on the Texas Lege, lobbying lessons and drills, and food. 275-0171 x100. www.ppaustin.org.
Thursday, March 1
DEADLINE: COMMUNITY STEWARDSHIP AWARDS PROGRAM: Nominate people and projects that are helping to ensure a sustainable and livable future for Central Texas. 916-6037. www.envisioncentraltexas.org.
Ongoing
COMMUNICATION WEEK This annual Texas State event gathers an intriguing array of speakers (including Karl Rove) and topics, ranging from Understanding Bush’s Brain, to Exploring and Understanding Transgenderism. Monday-Friday, Feb. 26-March 2. Texas State University, San Marcos. Free. www.finearts.txstate.edu/commstudies.
WEEK OF ACTION TO DEFUND THE WAR CodePink, Instruments for Peace, and Texans for Peace want our legislators to know our stance on the $93 billion military-budget supplement they’ll be voting on in March. Welcome-home gathering for representatives: Tuesday, Feb. 27, 8am. Federal Plaza. Peace picnic, bring signs and banners: Wednesday, Feb. 28, noon. Federal Plaza. Townhall meeting and vigil: Thursday, March 1, 4:30pm.
This article appears in February 23 • 2007.