Reclaim the Commons Campaign, Training, Benefit

Please forward with wild abandon and joyous revelry!

****Reclaim the Commons Campaign, Training, Benefit****

Join us for the unfolding of a new campaign that must unify across
progressive movements. The campaign to Reclaim the Commons means a
reclaiming of all that is common, food, heath, human rights, housing,
democracy, security. All these controlled and exploited by vast powers of
corporate empire and government.

All us working on different issues, yet in major ways the same.

THIS WEEKEND, A CHANCE TO PLUG IN, AND LEARN SKILLS FOR ORGANIZING!

Reclaim the Commons Training Part 1 - Deconstructing Empire
SATURDAY APRIL 10
10 am - 5 pm
Health and Harmony offices
400 E Morris St. Sebastopol, CA

A training in Non-violent Direct Action, Media strategy,
Basics of Biotechnology, corporate globalization and Consensus
Facilitation.

RECLAIM THE LOUNGE
SATURDAY APRIL 10
6:30-10:00
Health and Harmony offices
400 E Morris St. Sebastopol, CA

- Spoken Word - Political Lounging - Phat Film
OPEN MIC, Feel free to bring instruments and express yourself!
Join with your local activist community in reclaiming your right to poetry,
food and other leisure activities.

- FOURTH WORLD WAR
VIDEO SHOWING 8 pm - 10 pm
A must see, documenting civil society struggles from around the world
resisting Corporate and Military Empire.

Proceeds benefit the Reclaim the Commons Mobilization
http://www.reclaimthecommons.net and Adopt-an-Activist http://www.adoptanactivist.org .
Suggested donation: $5 - $15. No one turned away for lack of funds.

For more info contact Erik Ohlsen - erikpea [at] hotmail.com

Reclaim the Commons Training Part 2- Building the Alternatives
SATURDAY APRIL 17
10 am - 5 pm
Sebastopol Community Garden Skatepark
(On Laguna Parkway down the street from the movie theater)

A training in the practices of Permaculture design, Urban sustainability,
and organizing community.

We will do a hands-on garden in front of the Sebastopol Police Station in
the afternoon where participants can implement the above strategies and
beautify our downtown.

Remember to bring sun hat, your own lunch, and plenty of water.

Donations appreciated

For more info contact Erik Ohlsen - erikpea [at] hotmail.com


*** Info on Reclaim the Commons Curriculum Below***

Reclaim the Commons
Training, Education, Inspiration and Agitation

The Reclaim the Commons mobilization will oppose Bio2004, the biggest
national gathering of corporate executives and lobbyists for the biotech
industry. But we want to do more: we want to teach and demonstrate the
alternatives: organic food, community gardens, urban transformation, a
gift economy. We hope to build on the great work already being done in
Mendocino County around Measure H, which would ban the growing of GMO
crops.

This is a gathering to inform, enrage, inspire, and spread the skills
and tools we need to make our visions real.

Globalization and Biotech basics:

Corporate globalization impoverishes our communities, steals our jobs and
resources, and erodes our quality of life. The biotech industry is a
blatant example of how corporate control is being extended to our food
supply, our medicines, and even our DNA. A window of opportunity is still
open to stop this threat to our health and environment. Learn the facts,
the strategies and the talking points.

Direct Democratic Organizing and Decision Making:

Our counter to a top-down system is direct democracy: organizing in small
groups to make decisions by consensus, planning our actions and projects
through spokescouncils, creating an atmosphere in which every person
gifts and perspectives are welcome. We can offer training in consensus basics,
meeting facilitation, and advanced facilitation techniques.

Permaculture and Ecological Design:

Small scale, sustainable systems in which people control their own
resources and communities meet their own basic needs are part of our vision.
Permaculture is a system of ecological design that can be applied to
gardens, buildings, and communities. Learn workshop that will teach the
basic principles and practices, and include a hands-on project. Share skills, prepare
for garden actions and plant giveaways, and leave a gift behind for the
community.

Direct Action Organizing and Training

Nonviolent direct action directly confronts oppressive power. Learn the
theory, strategy, and organizing tools of this potent form of political
action. Role plays and participatory learning help us prepare for street
actions: how to stay calm in tense situations, how to de-escalate
violence, how to choose and evaluate tactics. Mobile tactics, legal considerations,
basic health and safety, self-protection, affinity group formation,
support, jail solidarity, and aftercare.

Media

Learn how to work with and make use of the Corporate Media to tell
our story. How to write a press release, how to talk to the media,
and how NOT to talk to them will all be covered.

************************************************

The Reclaim the Commons mobilization will oppose Bio2004, the biggest
national gathering of corporate executives and lobbyists for the biotech
industry. But we want to do more: we want to teach and demonstrate the
alternatives: organic food, community gardens, urban transformation, a
gift economy. We hope to build on the great work already being done in
Mendocino County around Measure H, which would ban the growing of GMO
crops.

http://www.reclaimthecommons.net