1959 Highlander Way · New Market, TN 37820 · phone: (865) 933-3443 · fax: (865) 933-3424
e-mail: hrec@highlandercenter.org

75th Anniversary Celebration
Program; Saturday, 9/1/07

12:00 - 1:30 PM - Lunch
Lunchtime Reunions:
SNCC / SSOC - Green Tent
SALT - Orange Tent
Young and the Restless / Seeds of Fire - White Tent
North/South Smoky Mountain Work Camp - White Tent
INDELI - Workshop Center, Downstairs

12:30 - 1:30 PM - Social Justice Theater Brown Bag - Pavilion
Grab your lunch and come talk with award-winning playwrights and directors who use theatre to illuminate injustices and lift up the resistance of everyday people.
With Steven Kent, LaVerne University, Los Angeles, CA; John O'Neal, Junebug Productions, New Orleans, LA; Linda Paris-Bailey, Carpetbag Theater, Knoxville, TN; Naomi Wallace, Skipton, UK

12:30 - 6:00 PM - Social Justice Film Festival - Workshop Center, Upstairs
Films and conversations with film makers. Films include: Courting Equality, An Intolerable Burden, Morristown in the Air and Sun, Public Outcry, The Telling Takes Me Home, Up the Ridge, and You Got to Move.
Click here for more information about these films

WORKSHOPS 1:30 - 3:30 PM
In the Highlander way of people learning from each other, all workshops are participatory and interactive with ample time for discussion and dialogue.

Workers' Rights in Today's South - White Tent
Representatives from organized labor, farm workers, community and worker organizations share efforts to expand and protect workers' right in an ever changing economy continually impacted by globalization.
Moderator: Attica Scott, Coordinator, Kentucky Jobs with Justice, Louisville, KY; with Leticia Zavala, International Vice-President, FLOC, Dudley, NC; Yvonne Gladney, Worker-Leader, UNITE HERE, Biloxi, MS; Fran Ansley, UT Law School (Emeritus) and JWJ of East TN; Michelle Miller, senior producer for community strength, SEIU, Washington, DC; Treston Faulkner, Southern Region Organizer, Jobs with Justice, Atlanta, GA

Racial Justice & The Gulf Region - Green Tent
This workshop takes a critical look at the natural/unnatural disaster known as Katrina. Participants will engage in a series of exercises and discussions designed to generate some new thoughts and actions regarding our work for justice and equity.
Facilitator: Joe Seyoum Lewis, The People's Institute for Survival and Beyond, New Orleans, LA / Atlanta, GA

Bringing Our Full Selves to the Work: Stories of LGBTQ Organizers - Orange Tent
Lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgendered/queer organizers share stories of challenges and successes in building an inclusive, broad, social justice movement, gaining full equality while moving the LGBTQ movement beyond single-issue identity organizing.
Story Circle led by Steve Kent, University of LaVerne, Los Angeles, CA; with Mandy Carter, long time activist, Durham, NC; Paulina Hernandez and Caitlin Breedlove, SONG, Durham, NC; Darnell Johnson, Fairness Campaign, Louisville, KY; and Pat Gozemba and Karen Kahn, Courting Equality, Boston, MA

The Secret (in the U.S.) Rebellion in Latin America - Workshop Center, Downstairs
Just when U.S. political and business leaders declared the triumph of their agenda for the Americas, a series of rebellions from the Zapatistas in Mexico to social movements in Venezuela, Argentina and other countries created unprecedented changes in the hemisphere. This forum provides insight into these changes and stimulates dialogue exploring possible alliances among social movements for a future defined by and for all Americans.
With Roraima Albornoz, Press Attaché of the Embassy of the Republic of Venezuela, Washington, DC; David Brooks, U.S. Bureau Chief, La Jornada; Maria Ana Gonzalez, Professor, University of Buenos Aires, Argentina

CULTURAL EXPERIENCES

1:30 - 2:30 PM - Pavilion
Performance by Labor Heritage/Rockin' Solidarity Chorus and The Vukani Mawethu Chorus
The Labor Heritage/Rockin' Solidarity Chorus, based in the San Francisco Bay Area, is made up of workers from many unions, as well as students and independent folks who love to sing. The Chorus is dedicated to building democracy and representation within unions and came together to celebrate their love of music and worker culture.
The Vukani Mawethu Chorus was formed in 1986 by the late great African National Congress union and cultural organizer James Madhlope Phillips. The members are united by their strong opposition to racism and apartheid and their love of rhythms and melodies which have grown out of century-long struggles for freedom. Performance includes labor songs and songs that chronicle the history of Highlander.

2:30 - 3:30 PM - Workshop Center, Upstairs

Public Outcry
Kentucky based writers, songwriters and musicians Silas House, Jason Howard, Jessie Lynne Keltner, Kate Larken, George Ella Lyon and Anne Shelby come together as Public Outcry to educate about the devastation of a vast and violent practice known as mountaintop removal mining. Their presentation seamlessly blends song, images and spoken word.

WORKSHOPS - 4:00 - 6:00 PM

Hanging in There: Intergenerational Partnerships in Organizations - White Tent
Dialogue about creating successful intergenerational partnerships in organizations and how to successfully navigate tensions throughout our work.
Moderator: Elandria Williams, Highlander Center; Panelists: Anderson Williams, Oasis Center, Nashville, TN; Natasha Watts, AMI/Appalshop, Letcher County, KY; Dianna Freelon-Foster and Ausheyia Cunningham, Activists with a Purpose/Southern Echo, Grenada, MS

Immigration - Green Tent
Immigrant and refugee communities are facing unprecedented challenges and attacks. In the midst of deliberate policies designed to further squeeze immigrants and refugees and deny their dignity and human rights, how are our communities organizing and resisting? How do we re-shape our strategies and re-envision our work?
Facilitators: Tómas Aguilar, Collectivo Flatlander, Austin, TX; Diana Pei Wu, NNIRR, Oakland, CA; Mónica Hernandez, Highlander Center

Environmental Justice Today: From Mountain Top Removal to Toxins to Gentrification - Orange Tent
Three Highlander board members lead a discussion of environmental justice work.
With Erika Gonzalez, Co-Director, People Organized in Defense of Earth and Her Resources, Austin, TX; Millie Buchanan, Program Office for Toxins and Environmental Justice with the Noyes Foundation, Asheville, NC; and Hubert Dixon, long time organizer, Washington DC.

Faith Based Organizing - Workshop Center, Downstairs
People of faith have always played a major role in social justice. This discussion explores the roles that people of faith have played and the new challenges for people of faith in the context of the Christian Right.
Facilitators: Claudia Horwitz, Executive Director, Stone Circles, Durham, NC; Rev. Kelvin Sauls, Director of Congregational Development - United Methodist Church, Nashville, TN; Rev. Osagyefo Uhuru Sekou, Sr. Community Minister, Judson Memorial Church, NYC; Rev. Maxine Allen, Little Rock, AR

Cultural Workshop
Highlander Heritage & Labor Theater - Pavilion
An interactive theater workshop offers participants an active glimpse into the labor movement of the 1930s and 40s. This workshop uses 5 short plays developed at a 1939 Highlander labor workshop led by Zilphia Horton to explore workers issues then and now.
With Elise Bryant, National Labor College, Silver Spring, MD

Evening Activities -

7:00 PM - Highlander: Fire and Song Circle led by the Labor Heritage/Rockin' Solidarity Chorus and the Vukani Mawethu Chorus

8:00 PM - Bijou Theatre, Knoxville: Benefit Concert with Ani DeFranco, Bernice Johnson Reagon and Toshi Reagon, Baldemar Velasquez and the Aguila Negra Band, and SNCC Freedom Singers

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