Rio Texas Methodist Federation for Social Action

Play on Solitary Confinement

February 25 & 26, 2016

7:00 pm  to  9:00 pm

The Prison Justice League will host two performances of the play “Mariposa & the Saint: From Solitary Confinement, A Play through Letters.” In 2012, Sara (Mariposa) Fonseca was sentenced to 15 months in solitary confinement. Through letters with longtime friend and current collaborator, Julia Steele Allen, Mariposa brings her experience to the stage.

Locations:

Thursday, 7 pm, Parker Lane United Methodist Church, 2105 Parker Lane, Austin, 78741

Friday, 8 pm, Salvage Vanguard Theater, 2803 E Manor, Austin, 78722

Beyond Diversity: Racial Justice on Campuses and in Communities

Date: February 16, 2016

Time: 3:30 pm  to  5:00 pm

As the Supreme Court ponders the role of race and ethnicity in campus admissions, social movements on campuses and in communities across the country are raising foundational questions about racial justice.

A panel of UT educators will address these issues and open up a conversation with the audience.

The program is sponsored by the Senior Fellows Honors Program of the College of Communication.

Location: Belo Center for New Media, First Floor Auditorium, (BMC 1.202), 300 W. Dean Keeton, Austin

Robert Jensen Discussing Plain Radical

Date: February 14, 2016

Time: 12:15 pm  to  1:30 pm

University of Texas professor Robert Jensen will lead a discussion about the ideas in his new book, Plain Radical: Living, Loving, and Learning to Leave the Planet Gracefully.

Location: University United Methodist Church, 2409 Guadalupe St., Austin, 78705

Fracture: Essays, Poems, and Stories on Fracking in America

Date: February 11, 2016

Time: 7:00 pm  to  8:00 pm

Taylor Brorby will read from his book Fracture: Essays, Poems, and Stories on Fracking in America. Bearing witness to hydraulic fracturing in the United States, the book brings together the voices of more than 50 writers exploring the complexities of fracking through first-hand experience, investigative journalism, story-telling, and verse.

Location: BookPeople, 603 N. Lamar Blvd., Austin, 78703

Screening of “Plastic Paradise”

Date: February 10, 2016

Time: 6:30 pm  to  9:00 pm

“Green Is the New Black,” a student environmental justice group at Huston-Tillotson University, will screen the documentary film “Plastic Paradise,” followed by a discussion.

In the film, journalist/filmmaker Angela Sun explores plastic consumption and the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, where high concentrations of plastics, chemical sludge, and other debris have been trapped by the currents.

Location: Dickey-Lawless Auditorium, Huston-Tillotson University, 900 Chicon St., Austin, 78702

Palestine in Shadows: A Counter-History of American Racial Politics

Date: February 5, 2016

Time: 2:15 pm  to  4:00 pm

Keith Feldman, a professor in the department of Ethnic Studies at the University of California-Berkeley, will discuss the relationship of Israeli violence in the Palestinian territories to racial politics in the United States. Feldman, author of A Shadow over Palestine: The Imperial Life of Race in America, tracks how U.S. civil rights and antiwar struggles were forged together with Israeli occupation and Palestinian resistance.

The event is sponsored by the University of Texas Center for Middle Eastern Studies, African and African Diaspora Studies, and the Social Justice Institute. More information online.

Location: University of Texas, Gordon-White Building (GWB) Multi-purpose Room, Austin