Upcoming Events in Chicago

I've been getting a lot of hits from my first post on upcoming events, so I'll continue to post events to the blog. I'm still trying to figure out the best way to integrate a calendar to the sidebar. Any suggestions are welcome!

1] Church-State Separation Event

WHAT: “Everything You Always Wanted to Know about the Separation of Church and State … but Were Afraid to Ask!,” historic, 25 city, nationwide movie theater simulcast event featuring celebrities and community leaders to focus need for Church-State separation in 2008 elections.

WHEN: Wednesday evening, March 26, 2008 5:00 PM Central Time

In movie theatres in 25 cities across the nation (Woodridge, Illinois is one!), interested citizens will gather to learn about the threats to church-state separation and to demand that candidates for elected office answer questions about key issues dealing with individual freedom. Ten questions to ask candidates that have a direct impact on Americans’ lives will be featured.

Entitled “Everything You Always Wanted to Know about the Separation of Church and State … but Were Afraid to Ask!,” the high-definition program is being hosted by First Freedom First, a joint project of Americans United for Separation of Church and State and The Interfaith Alliance Foundation.

Peter Coyote, celebrated Hollywood actor and filmmaker, will emcee the program, which will include such special guests as The Bacon Brothers (featuring actor Kevin Bacon and his brother Michael), actors Michael J. Fox; Jack Klugman James Whitmore; Wendie Malick; Dan Lauria; and Catherine Dent; comedian and Air America host Marc Maron; singer/songwriter Catie Curtis and satirist Roy Zimmerman.

Americans who have fought for individual freedom will tell their stories during the 90 minute simulcast event. Bryan and Christy Rehm (who fought creationism in Dover, Pa. science classes), Matthew LaClair (a New Jersey high schooler who exposed religious indoctrination at his school), Roberta Stewart (an Afghanistan War widow who fought for equal rights for Wiccan veterans), Dr. Susan Wicklund (who wears a bullet-proof vest to provide reproductive services in underserved areas), the Rev. Madison Shockley (pastor and reproductive rights advocate), David and Ryan Altoon (who oppose fundamentalist proselytism at U.S. military academies), Melinda “Lindy” Maddox (who successfully sued Alabama “Commandments” Judge Roy Moore), and Susan Jacoby (author of The Age of American Unreason).

The March 26 simulcast is being produced by Progressive Media Agency, a Portland, OR, based firm led by Adam Klugman and Enrique Arias.

2] Fundraiser: Top Girls at Live Bait Theatre

The Chicago Books to Women in Prison Project is having a fundraiser at Live Bait Theatre. They have about 20 tickets left for each night on Sat, March 15 (8p) and Sun, March 16 (7p). Tickets are sliding scale: $15-$25. Bring a date!

To buy a ticket (or two) please email them at chicagobwp@hotmail.com with your name, night preference, and donation level. You can pay via personal check or paypal, and your tickets will be waiting for you at the theatre.

Who We Are
Chicago Books to Women in Prison is a volunteer collective working to distribute books free of charge to women in prison nationwide. We are dedicated to offering women behind bars the opportunity for self-empowerment, education, and entertainment that reading provides.

What We Do
Incarcerated women send us their requests for books directly. We attempt to furnish the requested materials from our stock of donated books. We send three books in each package. We also furnish books directly to prison libraries.

I love this organization and have donated a few books to them (hey, I horde books) and donated...especially when they hold a book sale! I tell ya, it's a disease. Want to know more about them? Check out their website!

3] Historical and Social Perspectives: Childbirth in the U.S.
Presentation, Discussion and Book-Signing

In honor of:
Our Bodies, Ourselves: Pregnancy and Birth

Monday, April 7, 2008
4:30-6:30 pm >>NOTE TIME CHANGE

Jane Addams Hull-House Museum
University of Illinois at Chicago
800 S. Halsted Street, Chicago, IL

Keynote Speakers:
Judy Norsigian, Co-author and Executive Director of Our Bodies Ourselves
&
Carrie Klima, CNM, PhD, Clinical Assistant Professor, UIC College of Nursing

Please join us in welcoming the newest book from the creators of Our Bodies, Ourselves, as we explore the history of health care for pregnant women in the United States, beginning with midwives and dramatic change that happened with physicians taking over pregnancy and childbirth, and the movement over the last 30 years to take back some of the control for women over their birthing experience.

I guarantee that I'll be at this event. Please do come and say hi! It should be wonderful. One, I always love hearing Judy speak and two, any event at Hull House is awesome. I love, love, love knowing that I'm sitting where Jane Addams and others sat.

4] LIBRARY THING LOCAL

Ok, so this isn't an event itself, but a fabUlous addition to one of my favorite book sites, LibraryThing.com. You can now put in a city name or zip code and you get all the bookstore events that others have submitted. You can even note your favorite bookstores (I think only if you have a LibraryThing account). Even better? There's a RSS feed for events. I think this is what heaven looks like.

Technorati tags: events, chicago, Our Bodies Ourselves, Chicago Books to Women in Prison, First Freedom First