SPRING 2012 SERIES ON CRITICAL CONVERSATIONS ON CIVIC ISSUES

UNIV 399P: PEOPLE POWER: ACTIVISM FOR SOCIAL CHANGE

Beyond the Classroom is offering a seminar and film series on “People Power: Activism for Social Change” that is open to all students (UNIV 399P, 1-credit) and the public. This series will explore the factors that lead to successful “people power” movements and citizen initiatives for social change. What is “people power” and how can citizen activism advance positive social change on key civic issues? On what issues historically has “people power” made a significant impact? What are the lessons for contemporary civic activism today? The series will draw directly on the perspectives of leading nonprofit and civil society activists through documentary films and formal presentations of successful “people power” initiatives for social change at the local, national, and global levels.

THEME I: THE PRINCIPLES AND HISTORY OF PEOPLE POWER

Monday, January 30, 2012, 7:00-9:00 pm, 1102 South Campus Commons, Building 1:

UDocumentary FilmU: A Force More Powerful

A Force More Powerful is a documentary on one of the 20th century’s most important and least-known stories – how nonviolent power overcame oppression and authoritarian rule. In South Africa in 1907, Mohandas Gandhi led Indian immigrants in a nonviolent fight for rights denied them by white rulers. The power that Gandhi pioneered has been used by underdogs on every continent and in every decade of the 20th century to fight for their rights and freedom. In the 1960s, Gandhi’s nonviolent weapons were taken up by Black college students in Nashville, Tennessee. Disciplined and strictly nonviolent, they successfully desegregated Nashville’s downtown lunch counters in five months, becoming a model for the entire Civil Rights Movement. In India in the 1930s, after Gandhi had returned from South Africa, he and his followers adopted a strategy of refusing to cooperate with British rule. Through civil disobedience and boycotts, they successfully loosened their oppressors’ grip on power and set India on the path to freedom. In 1985, a young South African named Mikhuseli Jack led a movement against the legalized discrimination known as Apartheid. Their campaign of nonviolent mass action, most notably a devastating consumer boycott in the Eastern Cape Province, awakened whites to black grievances and fatally weakened business support for Apartheid. Reviewing a century often called the most violent in history, this documentary tells the story of millions of people who chose to battle the forces of brutality with nonviolent weapons – and won.

THEME II: THE ARAB SPRING AND BEYOND: THE RISE OF PEOPLE POWER MOVEMENTS IN THE MIDDLE EAST

Monday, February 6, 2012, 7:00-9:00 pm, 1102 South Campus Commons, Building 1:

Documentary Film: Budrus

Budrus is an award-winning feature documentary film about a Palestinian community organizer, Ayed Morrar, who unites local Fatah and Hamas members along with Israeli supporters in an unarmed movement to save his village of Budrus from destruction by Israel’s Separation Barrier. Success eludes them until his 15-year-old daughter, Iltezam, launches a women’s contingent that quickly moves to the front lines. Struggling side by side, father and daughter unleash an inspiring, yet little-known, movement in the Occupied Palestinian Territories that is still gaining ground today. In an action-filled documentary chronicling this movement from its infancy, Budrus shines a light on people who choose nonviolence to confront a threat. The movie is directed by award-winning filmmaker Julia Bacha (co-writer and editor of Control Room and co-director Encounter Point), and produced by Bacha, Palestinian journalist Rula Salameh, and filmmaker and human rights advocate Ronit Avni (formerly of WITNESS, Director of Encounter Point).

While this film is about one Palestinian village, it tells a much bigger story about what is possible in the Middle East. Ayed succeeded in doing what many people believe to be impossible: he united feuding Palestinian political groups, including Fatah and Hamas; he brought women to the heart of the struggle by encouraging his daughter Iltezam's leadership; and welcoming hundreds of Israelis to cross into Palestinian territory for the first time and join this nonviolent effort. Many of the activists who joined the villagers of Budrus are now continuing to support nonviolence efforts in villages from Bil’in to Nabi Saleh to Sheikh Jarrah in East Jerusalem.

Budrus includes diverse voices-- from the Palestinian leaders of the movement and their Israeli allies to an Israeli military spokesman, Doron Spielman, and Yasmine Levy, the Israeli border police captain stationed in the village at that time. While many documentaries about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict either romanticize the notion of peace, or dwell entirely on the suffering of victims to the conflict, this film focuses on the success of a Palestinian-led nonviolent movement.

·  “A moving sliver of hope that nonviolent resistance may yet blossom out of violence” – New York Magazine.

·  “A poignant chronicle…This inspiring documentary stresses peaceful resistance as the best means of conflict resolution” – Variety.

·  “[Budrus] gives an enormous amount of hope… It’s a story which will have an impact and can help bring” [about] change” – Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan.

Monday, February 13, 2012, 7:00-9:00 pm, 1102 South Campus Commons, Building 1:

Documentary Film: Good Bye, Mubarak!

On January 25, 2011, the world was captivated as thousands of protesters flooded Tahrir Square in Cairo, demanding an end to the regime of President Hosni Mubarak. But the ground for the protests had been laid in the weeks and months preceding the mass outpouring of opposition. GOODBYE MUBARAK! takes us to Egypt during the fall of 2010, in the run-up to legislative elections. What we discover is a revolution-in-waiting already simmering under the surface of Egyptian society.

Over several weeks, the documentary crew travels the country—from Cairo, to Alexandria, to the industrial city of El-Mahalla El-Kubra—introducing us to activists, politicians, and ordinary Egyptians. Activist Mahitab el Gilani walks through a market at night, urging people to sign a petition calling for the end of Egypt's draconian Emergency Law and for free elections. “If this conversation is broadcast on TV, we'll all be arrested,” one woman tells her. Later, a man she approaches says he hopes she makes it out of the neighborhood alive.

We also meet opposition candidates in the midst of their campaigns—feminist Gameela Ismail, liberal politician Ayman Nour (who was sentenced to five years in prison after winning election in 2005) and Muslim Brotherhood members Saad El Husseini and Hamdi Hassan. They may not agree on much, but all see endemic corruption, the repressive Emergency Law and the lack of political freedom as the key elements that must change if the Arab world's largest and most influential country is to move forward.

And while young, web-savvy activists get much of the credit for the demonstrations, GOODBYE MUBARAK! shows just how deep opposition to the regime ran in the months leading up to the revolution. “We only have corrupt and old leaders with nothing to offer,” says one angry pensioner. Another adds: “The solution is in the hands of our 12 million jobless kids. They need to go out, demonstrate, and overthrow the regime.” Within weeks, Mubarak's opponents—led by many of those we meet in this film—would be doing just that. GOODBYE MUBARAK! is an invaluable portrait of a crucial moment in Egyptian society.

Monday, February 20, 2012, 7:00-9:00 pm, 1102 South Campus Commons, Building 1:

Documentary Film: Fragments of a Revolution

FRAGMENTS OF A REVOLUTION goes beyond the headlines and the tweets to tell the story of the protests that swept Iran in the aftermath of the disputed 2009 presidential election. Directed by an anonymous Iranian living in exile, the film brings together clandestinely sent e-mails, online videos and footage shot by protesters in the midst of demonstrations.

FRAGMENTS OF A REVOLUTION is, of necessity, a highly unconventional documentary—one in which the director relies on anonymous correspondents within Iran and on YouTube footage. The director feels as though he or she has been living in a "virtual Tehran" for eight months—watching distressing images from the homeland and trying to reconstruct the story of what happened.

This unusual process leads to a film with an astounding immediacy. We alternate between events in Tehran and the anonymous director's attempts to make sense of them—until the two storylines converge in early 2010.

As the protest movement grows, we are privy to the immediate experiences of those on the ground: women picking up rocks to hand to protesters; people secretly filming police as they beat people, smash cars and target those in windows who are looking on; marchers coming under fire from rooftop snipers.

Finally, the protests die down, and the forced confessions and show trials begin. "My hopes have become ashes," says the film's director. But under those ashes, embers continue to glow.

FRAGMENTS OF A REVOLUTION is not the definitive, objective record of the powerful opposition movement that swept the country. But it is a remarkable and impressionistic inside view of the movement, through the images and words of those it most closely affected.

THEME III: THE POWER OF THE ARTS IN PEOPLE POWER MOVEMENTS

Monday, February 27, 2012, 7:00-9:00 pm, 1102 South Campus Commons, Building 1:

Documentary Film: A Soundtrack for a Revolution

A fresh and exhilarating take on one of the most important social movements in American history! Soundtrack for a Revolution explores the Civil Rights struggle through the stirring songs that inspired a generation in this deeply moving documentary, legends of the fight for equal rights such as Congressman John Lewis, Julian Bond, Ambassador Andrew Young, and Martin Luther King Jr.’s widow, Coretta Scott King testify to the indispensable role that songs of rebellion and hope played in helping activists fight against the brutality and injustice in riveting studio performances, top contemporary artists including John Legend, Wyclef Jean, The Roots and Joss Stone reinvigorate and reinvent timeless songs like “We Shall Overcome” and “Wade in the Water.” Through a combination of historical footage, intimate interviews and heartfelt performances, Soundtrack for a Revolution makes an original, emotionally resonant contribution to the Civil Rights story. This stunning film is a testament to the vitality of music in the lives of those who strive for justice.

• “Illuminating and sometimes devastating…may very well be the finest, broad history on film of the Southern Freedom Movement.” – Seattle Times.

• “It’s the kind of film that will have audiences clapping and singing along.” – The New York Times.

Monday, March 5, 2012, 7:00-9:00 pm, 1102 South Campus Commons, Building 1:

Speaker: “An Evening with Nadine Bloch: The Arts of Public Protest”

Nadine Bloch is an innovative artist, nonviolent practitioner, political organizer, direct-action trainer, and puppetista who combines the principles and strategies of nonviolent civil disobedience with creative use of the arts in cultural resistance and public protest. She has trained activists in nonviolent direct action with the Ruckus Society in Oakland, California, participated in daring environmental protests with Greenpeace, led anti-globalization protests in Seattle in 1999, and engaged in “guerilla theater” at the IMF and World Bank protests in Washington, D.C. Come join us for a stimulating seminar where you will learn about the potential power of the arts in cultural resistance and public protest.

Monday, March 12, 2012, 7:00-9:00 pm, 1102 South Campus Commons, Building 1:

Documentary Film: ANPO: Art X War

ANPO: Art X War reveals the untold story of resistance to United States military bases in Japan through a collage of paintings, photographs and films by Japan’s most respected artists. These stories and their art depict the struggle against the U.S. military presence, which provoked a national uprising in the 1960 and still festers today. ANPO refers to the U.S.-Japan Mutual Security Treaty, which permits the continued presence of numerous U.S. military bases in Japan. In 1960, public resentment against the military presence erupted in massive popular demonstrations that were crushed by Japan’s C.I.A.-backed Prime Minister Kishi. A wide range of Japanese artists depicted this resistance with a rich archive of art and films, including many large-scale paintings long hidden from public view. Contemporary artists continue to draw on their predecessors’ legacy, depicting problems generated by the bases. Shot in high definition, the film reveals the extraordinary passion behind this buried treasure trove of paintings, photographs, anime, and documentary and narrative films.

• “ANPO: Art X War is an important film that opens windows to a Japan most people have never seen and to the complexity of U.S.-Japan relations.” Dr. John Dower, MIT.

• “ANPO: Art X War offers a stunning journey through postwar Japanese art and politics, an alternative history.” – Tokyo Artbeat.

Monday, March 26, 2012, 7:00-9:00 pm, 1102 South Campus Commons, Building 1:

Documentary Film: The Singing Revolution

Most people do not think about singing when they think of revolutions. But, in Estonia, song was the weapon of choice when Estonians sought to free themselves from five decades of rule by the Soviet Union. The Singing Revolution is the name given to the step-by-step process that led to the reestablishment of the Estonian independence in 1991. Hundreds of thousands of people faced down their oppressors armed only with hope, truth, and song, and altered the course of recent history. This was a non-violent revolution that overthrew a very violent occupation. The Singing Revolution is an uplifting story of the human spirit!

• “It’s a powerful story of a nation that, almost literally, sang its way to freedom” – Desson Thomson, Washington Post.

THEME IV: THE ROLE OF PEOPLE POWER INITIATIVES TO OVERCOME ENVIRONMENTAL CRISES: NATIONAL AND GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES

Monday, April 2, 2012, 7:00-9:00 pm, 1102 South Campus Commons, Building 1:

Documentary Film: The Last Mountain

Director Bill Haney sounds the alarm in this penetrating documentary about the impact of coal mining on the citizens of West Virginia’s Coal River Valley, who are trying to prevent the plundering of one of the last untouched mountains in Appalachia. Aided by environmentalist Bobby Kennedy Jr., the townspeople protest against an energy conglomerate that uses ruinous mountain top removal techniques, despite the dangers to health and the environment.