This Friday, Sept. 25, 6:30-9 at Encuentro 5, 9B Hamilton Place. Come hear:

• Marjorie Kelly, author of Owning Our Future: The Emerging Ownership Revolution;
• Julie Matthaei, Co-coordinator, Boston Area Solidarity Network;
• Nancy Goldner, Co-Chair, Hub Public Banking.

Time for Discussion/Light Refreshments. Doors open at 6pm.

Sponsored by Hub Public Banking, Democratic Socialists of America, Boston Chapter, The Democracy Collaborative, The Alliance for Democracy, The Boston Area Solidarity Economy Network

October 9 through 11, 2015

A wide variety of events scheduled in Somerville, Cambridge, & Boston

ALL FREE AND OPEN TO ALL

Special attention must be paid to milestone birthdays. The HONK! Festival’s 10th year is one of those occasions. As of this writing, the roster of socio-political activist street bands totals 28! They are coming from as far away as Paris, Los Alamos, New Orleans, Montreal and Quebec City. But it wouldn’t be HONK! without some last minute surprises!

The roster also includes many Boston-area bands, including a new local School of HONK!, based in Somerville, who will be organizing “walk-in” opportunities for local musicians who are not affiliated with an existing HONK! band. The recommendation is to keep checking www.honkfest.org/2015-festival/bands-2015 early and often for updates on participating groups.

This year is quite a transformation from HONK!’s 2006 humble beginnings, when 12 HONK! bands joined forces on a mellow October Saturday afternoon in Davis Square, Somerville, immediately turning everything topsy turvy. Those initial bands gathered in response to a call sent out by the Somerville-based Second Line Social Aid and Pleasure Society Brass Band, who had a need to seek out kindred spirit music makers and invite them to gather and play their collective hearts out, while raising awareness for local and global just causes. The bands played in earnest, yet always in keeping with the bons temps rouler vibe, that became especially contagious after the Katrina disaster of 2005.

That New Orleanian spirit rising again, despite all odds, is clearly something that the initial HONK!ers wanted to emulate and perpetuate. In addition to celebrating the 10th HONK!, this year also marks the 10th anniversary of Katrina. HONK! is pleased that the New Creations Brass Band and the Original Big Seven Social Aid & Pleasure Club will again be able to join HONK!, coming up from New Orleans to help us mark their milestone of recovery efforts.

HONK! continues to thrive and spread, the phenomena rippling across the planet, with yearly HONK! festivals also being held in Providence, New York City, Seattle, Austin, and Detroit, as well as in Australia and Brazil. And every year, HONK! bands circle back to their HONK! birthplace in Somerville, to roost, squawk and strut their stuff. The shape of this year’s schedule will adhere to what has now become the HONK! tradition of holding primarily outdoor events, all free and open to the public, held rain or shine during Indigenous Peoples’ Day Weekend, this year running from Friday-Sunday, October 9 through 11.

The HONK! events will include what has become the annual favorites:

• HONK! Friday: Day of Action in Boston during the afternoon, early evening Lantern Parades throughout Somerville’s Davis Square neighborhood, and culminating in an evening band showcase at Johnny D’s;
• HONK! Saturday: main event held throughout the nooks and crannies of Davis Square, with continuous band performances taking place from noon-9pm, rain or shine;
• HONK! Sunday: the gigantic noon Parade heading from Davis Square to Cambridge’s Harvard Square, where HONK! bands will then participate in Oktoberfest, performing throughout the Square in the afternoon, and ending with a steady stream of HONK! bands showcased up on the Main Stage.

Extra HONK! curricular activities are in the planning stages, including the “Visaural: Sight, Sound and Action” art exhibit, with a “HONK! Around The World” component, hosted by the Nave Gallery Annex (www.navegallery.org) in Davis Square. An opening reception is scheduled for HONK! Friday. And the word is out that a pre-HONK! gathering will take place in Union Square Somerville on the evening of Thursday, Oct. 8th.

Keep tuning into www.honkfest.org for updates. A background video for this year’s HONK! can found at www.honkfest.org/kickstarter. The Kickstarter fundraiser runs through Wednesday, September 23rd.

HONK! ON!

Think you have a right to know what you’re eating? This is your chance to demand transparency in GMO food labeling.

The Massachusetts GMO labeling bill has the support of over 75 percent of the state legislature, but unless we make it a priority this session, it might not even get voted on! We know that the biotech and processed food industries are spending millions to keep us in the dark about what we’re eating. As I write this they are hard at work lobbying to pass the federal DARK (Deny Americans the Right to Know) Act, a bill that would prevent passage of any state or federal mandatory GMO labeling law.

This is the ONLY public hearing in 2015 or 2016, so it’s important to turn out in large numbers to demonstrate support. Please join with hundreds of other foodies, farmers and families on Sept. 22 in support of transparency in food labeling.

What: Public hearing on GMO Labeling Bill H.3242

When: September 22, 2015 at 1 pm until it ends (Meetup at 11:30 am with Press Event AND ICE CREAM at Noon)

Where: Massachusetts State House, Boston (Meeting outside Park St. T Station on the Boston Common at 11:30am with a Press Event at the nearby Brewer Fountain at Noon)

GMO-Free ice cream provided by Ben & Jerry’s! But only till 12:20 pm on the Common!

Can’t make it? You can still submit written testimony in support of GMO labeling. Even a few brief words will add up! You can submit your testimony to the committee on our website: http://marighttoknow.org/testimony

You can find all the details and RSVP at: marighttoknow.org/publichearing

Please consider joining us at the State House in Boston, and please spread the word to anyone who you think might be interested. Thank you for speaking up for commonsense food labeling.

On Monday, September 14th, Boston NAACP, in collaboration with The Berkman Center For Internet & Society at Harvard University and UMass Boston Professor Michael Johnson, will host its second conversation on planning and development processes and issues – and the need for community-led processes – highlighted by Boston’s attempt to bid to host the 2024 Olympics.

The following is a link to the FB invite: https://www.facebook.com/events/1493365124322250. We’d appreciate your help in spreading the word about this conversation.

Boston’s unsuccessful attempt to become the U.S. candidate for the 2024 Summer Olympic Games started a variety of powerful and important discussions about the future of Boston generally, many of which deserve to be continued. If we properly build on the momentum of these conversations, the legacy of Boston’s 2024 Olympic bid could be much more than regret and political division. It could instead usher in a new era of community engagement and involvement on major urban issues.

An opportunity has arisen to model a more democratic community planning process. I would therefore like to invite you to join me, Professor Johnson, the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University, and other distinguished guests for dinner and discussion on September 14, 2015, from 6-9pm, so that together we can explore the possibilities offered by hosting the MINEPS VI conference, an international conference on youth and sport. More broadly, we will also be exploring new ways and tools with which Boston’s communities and citizens can more effectively discuss issues of significance, and make their voices heard in any related decision-making process.

The dinner will take place at Freedom House, 5 Crawford St., Dorchester, on September 14, 2015 from 6-9pm. If you are interested in attending, please RSVP to Annie Pruitt (apruitt(AT)cyber.law.harvard.edu) and Nia K. Evans (economicdev(AT)bostonnaacp.org) as soon as possible.

I very much hope that you can join us as we continue this important conversation.

September 27th – Rally at 2pm near proposed pipeline, 3 pm march through W. Roxbury. More details TBD.

Event info will be updated here: https://www.facebook.com/events/429857630547805