From: mtoups@andrew.cmu.edu
Date: Tue Nov 06 2001 - 11:32:29 EST
Hello,
Those of you who were at last week's meeting heard about
the Lecture in CFA on thursday (I've attached the info
below). We've been invited to table at the event --
it is designed to get students involved in causes like
ours. Since we normally meet on thursdays anyway,
we'll just meet in CFA ahead of time to set up the table
and discuss the usual topics.
So, thursday, 11/8, 6pm, outside the Kresge in CFA, that's
the first floor right by the entrance. The lecture is at
7pm.
We already have some things prepared for the table,
but I'm sure there will be things to work on at the time.
Brad and I will have a petition for people to pressure the
administration about the CMU antisweatshop code, Jamie
and Alisha will have information they've researched about
responsible shopping, and we have the usual PWR USAS
flyers and some other stuff that Ken Miller gave us.
More importantly, we should be willing to talk to people
about what we're about, exciting projects (honduras,
pushing for a living wage on campus, saving the world, etc).
Also, the lecture itself should be cool so that's a reason
in itself to come by.
In other news:
* Kim and I have an appointment with Dean Murphy on thursday
to discuss funding for the Honduras trip. If you are interested
in working on this with us, email myself or kim (kns@andrew).
Also contact Prof. John Soluri (jsoluri@andrew) for more info
if you still want to join in on that project. We should have
another meeting on that topic in the near future to continue
fundraising and planning.
* Anthony and I have been discussing getting a more substantive
living wage movement on campus going. As we've mentioned many
times before, it is up to us as students to fight for fair
working conditions on our campus for our sake and that of
the workers. For info on a national campaign, see
http://www.campuslivingwage.org , and also I recommend
perusing the Pitt Students in Solidarity's Living Wage
campaign (http://www.pitt.edu/~leftists).
* the National USAS office is really underresourced and
overworked. Brad has suggested that we assist in a
way that we're good at: namely, managing the national
website (http://www.usasnet.org). If you're interested
in this, or our group's website
(http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/org/usas), contact myself
or Paul (phanna@andrew.cmu.edu), our local website maintainer.
* Victor (vchoen@andrew) and I are working on bringing
speakers to campus and finding funding for that.
Talk to us if you want to help or have cool ideas for
speakers.
* for those who wish to continue receiving zfilms announcements,
please send an email to majordomo@lists.andrew.cmu.edu with
the line "subscribe zfilms-thebuzz" in the body of the message.
alternatively, you can subscribe on the website http://www.cmu.edu/lists/
Whew, ok, sorry for the length, see you thursday.
Bring your friends to the lecture, pass the word.
--> THURSDAY, 7pm, Kresge Theater, 1st floor CFA <--
peace,
matt
-- Billy Upski Lecture info:The lecture speaks to "Creative Philanthropy".
Here are the Details: All events are free and open to the public
"Why CMU Geeks are America's Best Hope to Save our Asses in the 21st Century: The Cool Rich Kids Movement" - A talk by William Upski Wimsatt Carnegie Mellon Campus Kresge Theater (College of Fine Arts 1rst Floor) November 8th, 2001 7pm
Strategy Sessions with William Upski Wimsatt on his particular style of Community Organizing November 9th, 2001 10am Location: TBA
Concert: J-Live, Cannibal Ox, El Da Sensei, Virtuoso November 9th, 2001 8:30pm Location: Drill Deck Carnegie Mellon University
For More Information: www.andrew.cmu.edu/~ndh/upski Email: ndh@andrew.cmu.edu Phone: (412) 681-9841
both events are brought to you by: University Lecture series, AB Political Speakers, AB concerts, School of Art, Graduate Student Assembly.... and oh.. your Undergraduate Student fee
------------------------------------------------------------------------ William Upski Wimsatt
A 27-year-old native of Chicago, William Upski Wimsatt ("Billy") is an artist, journalist, author, entrepreneur, multi-issue organizer, philanthropist, organization-builder and lecturer.
A lover of cities and civic life, Wimsatt became one of Chicago's most infamous graffiti writers as a young teenager. After deciding that writing his name on things wasn't the best way to honor his community, he began publishing a broad sheet newspaper which was posted on Chicago's bus and train lines. At age 16, he became a columnist for the Source magazine. A reporter and essayist, he has written for dozens of publications including: The Chicago Tribune, Chicago Reader, Vibe, XXL, and Utne Reader. He was named a Younger Scholar by the National Endowment for the Humanities, and received an Individual Artist Award from the Illinois Arts Council.
Wimsatt's first book, Bomb the Suburbs: Graffiti, Freight-hopping, Race, and the Search for Hip-hop's Moral Center (1994) has sold more than 25,000 copies, mostly through the Chicago-based Subway and Elevated Press, a company he founded and then sold to his current publisher, Soft Skull Press, based in New York City.
Alarmed by the socially and financially catastrophic expansion of the prison industry, he decided to entitle his latest book No More Prisons, even though most of the book isn't directly about prisons. Instead, No More Prisons focuses on solutions roughly described by the book's subtitle: Urban Life, Homeschooling, Hip-hop Leadership, The Cool Rich Kids Movement, a Hitch-hiker's Guide to Community Organizing, and Why Philanthropy is the Greatest Art form of the 21st Century (Soft Skull Press, 1999). It is accompanied by a hip-hop compilation CD also entitled No More Prisons (Raptivism Records) featuring: The Last Poets, Dead Prez, Hurricane G, Edo G, The Coup, Apani B Fly MC, and dozens more.
A proud college drop-out, Wimsatt believes young people have to take charge of their own education, whether in or out of school. He has spoken at dozens of colleges and universities including Harvard, Yale, Swarthmore, Oberlin, and the University of Chicago as well as numerous conferences, bookstores, schools, and subway stops. In 1996, he was the youngest person to be named a "Visionary" by Utne Reader.
Wimsatt is a founding board member of The Active Element Foundation in New York City and The Self Education Foundation in Philadelphia. A former consultant to Rock the Vote on youth activism, he remains the National Talent Scout for LISTEN Inc. (The Local Initiative Support, Training and Education Network) in Washington DC, and serves on the board of More Than Money. In 1999, he donated a third of his income to these four organizations and others. He believes using resources strategically is an art form and encourages people of all income levels to creatively use all of our gifts.
Wimsatt is Co-Director with Easter Maynard of Reciprocity, a new national organization based in Raleigh, NC, devoted to engaging people in building partnerships across cultures and disciplines for personal and social benefit. Throughout the year 2000, Wimsatt and Maynard are touring North America in collaboration with Raptivism Records, the Prison Moratorium Project, and other organizations and artists. Speaking at colleges and hosting gatherings, they bring people together to talk about creative ways to keep the world intact for future generations.
Wimsatt enjoys learning, meeting people and having fun when he isn't taking himself WAY too seriously.
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