"Truth Has Fallen" - help make this documentary happen.

  "Truth Has Fallen" trailer: Innocence Does Not Guarantee Freedom from Sheila Sofian on Vimeo.

Sometimes people write to us and ask us to promote their site or issue on our blog.  Many of these requests are so far from our work, it's easy to to say no.  But we have to say YES to this request.  People who think that innocent people don't go to jail are kidding themselves-- and innocent people are still being murdered by the state.  Watch the trailer and check out the film's website: Truth Has Fallen.

From IndieWire: TRUTH HAS FALLEN is a live action/animated documentary about three innocent people who were wrongfully convicted for murders they did not commit. The film examines their cases and sheds light on weaknesses in our justice system. Employing a combination of abstract, surreal animation and live action images, TRUTH HAS FALLEN asks how innocent people could be convicted of murder- what could be done to prevent such injustices in the future- and what happens to these innocent people when they are released from prison after years of incarceration?

Director/Animator/Producer Sheila Soflan and  Executive Producer David Fain still have funds to raise for a soundtrack and post-production costs.  You can find out more about their fundraising drive here.

Songs of Peace, Protest, and Struggle

Songs of Peace, Protest, and Struggle

from the People’s Movements

Friday April 20  6:00-10:30pm

WWII Club, 50 Conz Street, Northampton

Evelyn Harris, Jay Mankita, Lara Shepard-Blue & Joe Oliverio,

Los Hijos Unicos, Tom Neilson, the UAW All Stars, and more.

Suggested donation (to Western Mass. Jobs with Justice) $10.

Info: Ron Patenaude, (413) 534-7600 (UAW Local 2322), ronpatenaude@hotmail.com

Union Labor Donated

I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free - Nina Simone

Billy Taylor, you will be missed forever.  (Put up with the ad until you can skip it because this is a great recording.)

Street Art That Makes You Look Twice

It’s all too easy to get stuck in a routine, walking through the city on autopilot without even noticing what’s around you. Urban guerrilla street artists seek to shake things up, force you to take a second look, change your preconceptions about your everyday surroundings.

Street art is any art that is created in public spaces, or, “in the streets!” It is unsanctioned art - art that is not sponsored by the government.

On Thursday, August 4th the QuEST Project of Out Now set out to the streets of Springfield to do some urban guerilla street art. We decided to take to the streets and fill in some of those pesky potholes that have taken over our some of our city streets. And, we chose to fill the potholes with flowers. Flowers would change the landscape; make people look twice, maybe three times; and, would get people wondering what we were up to.

As we went to into the neighborhoods, some people asked us what we were doing. Others asked if we were filling all the potholes in the city with flowers! Some young boys just stared at us with smiles. One couple, watching us from their front yard, gave a heartfelt, “Thank you.” At the end of our adventure, one woman approached us and said with negativity and skepticism, “What are you trying to prove…did you steal those from someone’s flower garden?”

Whatever the range of responses, we sure had some fun together and made people on our streets look twice!

Earth Day!

 Earth Day ‘11:  Facing Our Present and Future through Eco-Poetry, Prose, and Song

   Friday, April 22, 6:30-9:30pm, Northampton, Unitarian Universalist Society, 220 Main St.

Monday, May 2^nd, 6:30-9pm, Greenfield , Second Congregational Church, Courthouse Square, (Near intersection of Main and Federal Streets)

 Valley poets, writers,  and musicians will offer their work focused on the ecological crisis facing—and caused by-- humanity.

 The poetry will include not only expression of the grief, fear, outrage, and despair felt by many, but also the vision and hope for healing the planet, and living in sustainable harmony with the earth and each other.  This is the first such gathering, which will continue once every three months with different artists presenting their work.

 Poet John Berkowitz of Shelburne will host, and offer his recent poems such as: Vapor Trails, Apples from China,  A Tsunami of Plastic,  Tech-knowledg-y or Ignorance,  and Honeybees: This Century’s Canary in the Coal Mine?  He and others will also read environmental poems by Mary Oliver, Billy Collins, Ellen Bass, Wendell Berry,  Marge Piercy, David Whyte, Galway Kinnell, and others.  Poetry in songs recorded by Bruce Cockburn,  Joni Mitchell,  Bruce Springsteen, Magpie, and others of national and local renown will also be played, listened to, and discussed.  People attending are also welcome to bring and read their own work, or favorites by others.  After each reading, the audience will be invited to share their response to the poem or song and what it expressed.  This will be limited to 5 minutes; and each responder will have not more than 1 minute, allowing others to have a turn. For those who wish to read along as well as listen, and take home the poems afterward, copies of each poem or song lyrics will be provided by those poets/writers who wish to do so.

 Participating poets/writers/musicians for Friday, April 22 *  Lori Desrosiers, Westfield poet, editor of Poetry News online calendar of  events, *  Jim Culleny, Shelburne poet/writer, op-ed column writer in Shelburne         Independent and Greenfield Recorder, *  Stan Pollock, Florence poet, *  Annie Hassett, Greenfield, musician/songwriter, *  Paul Richmond, Wendell poet/writer, host of Spoken Word events, *  Erica Wheeler, Colrain musician/songwriter

 Participating poets/writers/musicians for Monday, May 2 *     Susan Middleton, Ashfield poet, * Jay Mankita, Northampton musician/songwriter,  

 More info:  John Berkowitz, 413-625-6374  johnpberk@gmail.com

 Organization Co-Sponsors (not yet confirmed): Greening Greenfield, Traprock Peace Center, MoveOn, CAN, Safe and Green, Transition Towns: Greenfield, Shelburne, 350 Pioneer Valley   Alan Eccleton, National Priorities Project , Alliance for Peace and Justice, Arise for Social Justice, Stop toxic Incineration in Springfield, Connecticut River Watershed Alliance, Clean Water Action, American Friends Service Committee, Jobs With Justice, Coop Power, Center for Ecological Technology, Northampton Grow Food, Hungry Ghost Bread, Bread Euphoria, New England Organic Farmers Association, New England Solar Energy Association, Concerned Citizens of Franklin County plus Spfld/Russell group, PV Local First, Amherst Sustainability Fair, Seeds of Solidarity (Orange), North Star Self-Directed Learning for Teens, Boys To Men Teen Mentoring Program, Charlemont Academy

Performance Project!

Questies are in this performance...