BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//The Sanctuary For Independent Media - ECPv6.17.1//NONSGML v1.0//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN METHOD:PUBLISH X-ORIGINAL-URL:https://www.mediasanctuary.org X-WR-CALDESC:Events for The Sanctuary For Independent Media REFRESH-INTERVAL;VALUE=DURATION:PT1H X-Robots-Tag:noindex X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT1H BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/New_York BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20200308T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20201101T060000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20210314T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20211107T060000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20220313T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20221106T060000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20230312T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20231105T060000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20240310T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20241103T060000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20250309T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20251102T060000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20260308T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20261101T060000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20270314T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20271107T060000 END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20210430T080000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20210430T170000 DTSTAMP:20210712T170242Z CREATED:20210430T220436Z LAST-MODIFIED:20210712T170242Z UID:10001218-1619769600-1619802000@www.mediasanctuary.org SUMMARY:Community Forum to Address Capital Region Health System Merger DESCRIPTION:This event is over but\, thanks to the magic of Sanctuary TV\, you can watch the video here.  \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nThe Zoom chat window is here. \n\n\n\nIn October 2020\, the Albany Times Union reported a planned merger between Ellis Medicine in Schenectady and St. Peter’s Health Partners. Mergers between Catholic Health Systems and secular hospitals have raised concern in communities across the country and they have for many years as evidenced by this 1995 article in the New York Times about Leonard and St. Mary’s Hospitals in Troy. \n\n\n\nAccording to the national group MergerWatch\, Catholic hospitals follow a set of ethical guidelines that prohibit the provision of certain kinds of patient care\, most often\, reproductive\, LGBTQ+-inclusive\, and end-of-life care. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nConcerns about the financial stability of Ellis Medicine and its importance to the community reportedly drive the need for a partnership between two of the largest health systems in the region\, a solution that is the result of years of planning. \n\n\n\nBut religious restrictions and forces of healthcare economics threaten to have a disparate impact on residents who already face barriers in our healthcare system. A knowledgeable panel will discuss\, answer questions\, and hear comments from the community about: \n\n\n\n• How religious restrictions will affect (and how religious biases may affect) equitable access to healthcare services• Possible solutions to eliminating gaps in services through other local healthcare providers• Potential community benefits resulting from the partnership.• History of SPHS’s aggressive medical bill collection• Process required for partnership approval by the NYS Department of Health• The importance of memorializing the community’s priorities in the application for certificate of need\, including an effective enforcement mechanism• Opportunities for advocacy and continuing dialogue \n\n\n\nSpeakers:\n\n\n\nMichelle Ostrelich is a Schenectady County Legislator and Chair of the Legislature’s Health & Human Services Committee. \n\n\n\nLois Uttley\, MPP\, is Women’s Health Program Director for Community Catalyst\, a national consumer health advocacy organization. She has worked for more than 20 years to protect access \n\n\n\nto comprehensive reproductive health services\, LGBTQ-inclusive care and end-of-life options when community hospitals propose to merge with nearby Catholic hospitals.  She has published research about the growth of large Catholic health systems and\, as Founder/Director of the MergerWatch Project\, advised community coalitions in 38 states\, including several in NYS. Now based in Manhattan\, Lois serves on the steering committee of the statewide Health Care for All New York coalition and coordinators the work of Community Voices for Health System Accountability. Formerly a Capital District resident\, she served as Vice President of Family Planning Advocates of NYS\, Director of Public Affairs for the NYS Department of Health and an award-winning reporter and editor covering New York State government for the Albany Times Union. \n\n\n\nArthur Butler is the executive director of the Schenectady County Human Rights Commission. Butler helped found the Capital District African American Coalition on AIDS\, serving as their executive director for 17 years. He also worked for Hunger Solutions New York and as the national project coordinator of the Framework for Dialogue – USA. \n\n\n\nNikita Hardy\, MPA\, is the Affirmative Action Manager for Schenectady County She is a well-respected\, highly recommended political strategist and community engager with over 14 years of progressive experience\, including having held dynamic roles within legislative\, state and local government. She recently has taken on several endeavors to further causes impacting marginalized communities.  Most notably her passion for birth justice and breastfeeding advocacy led her to organize the Capital Region Black Breastfeeding Empowerment Network\, as well as her committed research on Maternal Mortality of Black Women in America. She is an advocate\, an educator\, a public speaker\, full-spectrum Doula and policy enthusiast. \n\n\n\nDr. Debbie Stulberg is a long-time colleague in the work trying to protect reproductive health care from Catholic health restrictions. She was a family medicine resident at West Suburban Hospital in Illinois when it was taken over by the Catholic Resurrection Health System. Since then\, she has become one of the nation’s leading researchers on the impact of religious restrictions on patients and doctors. \n\n\n\nGlenn Northern leads and implements Catholics for Choice US activities\, including advocacy\, outreach\, policymaker education\, legislative analysis and collegial relationships. He directs CFC’s Catholics in Public Life project\, a nonpartisan public education initiative that helps Catholic policy makers in the US clearly articulate prochoice positions grounded in progressive Catholicism and sound public policy. He oversees CFC’s strategic relationships with pro-choice Catholics\, policymakers\, reproductive health providers\, religious and secular activists and collegial organizations to inform and influence debates on sexual and reproductive health and rights\, social justice and religious liberty. Before joining CFC\, Mr. Northern led constituency building and advocacy efforts at Planned Parenthood Federation of America and the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice. He holds a degree in political science and women’s studies from Williams College in Williamstown\, Massachusetts. \n\n\n\nThis People’s Health Sanctuary event is sponsored by The Schenectady Coalition for Healthcare Access. The Schenectady Coalition for Healthcare Access was formed to educate the administrations and the public about the risks of losses to our community from Ellis’ partnership with SPHP. In addition to education\, members of the Coalition seek to advocate equitable access to evidence-based\, inclusive\, and comprehensive patient-centered care\, including comprehensive reproductive care\, infertility care\, LGBTQ+-inclusive care\, gender affirming care and end-of-life care within our local community. www.schdy.org \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCommunity partners include:Local Care Midwifery\, PLLCNew York Civil Liberties UnionRosemarie Pérez Jaquith\, Niskayuna Town Board MemberProClergy.comProgressive Schenectady URL:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/event/community-forum-to-address-capital-region-health-system-merger/ LOCATION:The Sanctuary\, 3361 6th Ave\, Troy\, 12180\, United States CATEGORIES:Community Event,Panel Discussion ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/merger_monitor-Internal-640x303-1.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20210502T190000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20210502T203000 DTSTAMP:20230213T195207Z CREATED:20210428T221835Z LAST-MODIFIED:20230213T195207Z UID:10001213-1619982000-1619987400@www.mediasanctuary.org SUMMARY:Community Investment\, Not Community Police DESCRIPTION:This event is past – but you can watch the town hall on YouTube or below! \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nDid you know the City of Troy is voting next Thursday to expand the police force by six additional officers?\n\n\n\nJoin a coalition of groups from Troy in a Town Hall on Sunday\, May 2\, 2021 as we discuss recent actions by the City of Troy around policing. This gathering is being convened at the last minute as the City Council Finance Committee pushes forward to hire an additional SIX police officers to the Troy Police Department. The proposal passed in this Committee with a 5-2 vote and the full City Council vote will take place on Thursday\, May 6\, 2021. \n\n\n\nCo-sponsored by Troy Coalition of Black Leaders\, NAACP Troy Branch\, YWCA of the Greater Capital Region\, The Justice Center of Rensselaer County\, Equality for Troy\, and the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists. \n\n\n\n\nRegister\n\n\n\n\nSpeakers\n\n\n\n\nJerry Ford (Troy Coalition of Black Leaders)\n\n\n\nRenee Powell (NAACP Troy Branch)\n\n\n\nWillie Terry  (Coalition of Black Trade Unionists)\n\n\n\nDiamond Owens (Community Youth)\n\n\n\nStarletta Smith (Police Reform & Reinvention Collaborative)\n\n\n\nTasheca Medina (Equality for Troy)\n\n\n\nJessica Ashley (The Justice Center for Rensselaer County)\n\n\n\nDeanna Ultimo Swenson (North Central resident)\n\n\n\n\nBackground\n\n\n\nRecently\, the City of Troy\, like most municipalities across the State of New York\, held a series of discussions on the topic of policing. Governor Cuomo’s Executive Order 203\, issued in June of 2020\, required municipalities with police forces to examine the policies and procedures of their police department and make recommendations for future changes to address police violence\, biased policing\, and systemic racism. The measure stated its intention was to provide transparency and build trust\, urging localities to hold listening sessions and meetings with community members. \n\n\n\nMayor Madden did not announce the creation or intentions of the Police Reform & Reinvention Collaborative until the end of January 2021. There were nine highly controlled meetings held in February with very little open community participation—the city made little effort to inform residents about the meeting or how to get involved. \n\n\n\nOnce the report was drafted\, in early March\, Black leaders throughout the city expressed their dismay and loss of trust in the city about this process. This included all four Black PRRC committee members (Starletta Smith\, Executive Director\, YWCA of the Greater Capital Region\, Inc. and Renée Powell\, President of the NAACP\, Troy\, NY Branch\, Pastor Justin Relf of Rhema Revealed Ministries\, and Stacey Howard of Troy’s Police Objective Review Board). They released a statement decrying the report and saying that they felt “tokenized throughout this process.” \n\n\n\nSo why this\, why now? \n\n\n\nAs critiques of policing grow across the country and calls for reallocating funds to expand or create new entities to respond to mental health calls\, domestic disputes\, traffic stops\, and more\, Troy is swiftly pushing forward to increase the police budget and add more police to the force. Again\, with very little time for dialogue and discussion with community members and community leaders. \n\n\n\nWhile the City of Troy\, Mayor Madden\, and the Troy City Council avoid input from community members\, we are making space for dialogue and discussion. We know that with more investment in social services and community support\, communities can better look out for each other and construct the means through which to survive and thrive.In what ways can we call for structural investment to address the history of deliberate marginalization and segregation? How can we invest in our under-funded\, under-served\, structurally marginalized Black and brown communities? \n\n\n\nWhile Mayor Patrick Madden told the Times Union\, “People want police officers out in the neighborhood. They want police officers to know them. They want to know their police officers.” Given the lack of space for open dialogue and discussion\, we don’t know who the Mayor is referring to. \n\n\n\nWe are convening to address the lack of dialogue\, alternatives to policing\, alternatives to more police and a bigger police budget as an answer\, and calls to invest in our neighborhoods and communities! \n\n\n\nJoin us. Listen. Share your thoughts. \n\n\n\n\nWhat should Troy be investing in?\n\n\n\nWhy increase an already large police budget?\n\n\n\nThe problems of policing in Troy.\n\n\n\nWhat are alternatives to hiring “community” police officers?\n\n\n\nLocal leaders will discuss their opinions and visions for Troy\n\n\n\nWhat are strategies for moving forward?\n\n\n\n\n \n\n\n\nYou can listen to Renée Powell and Starletta Smith share more about their experience on the City of Troy’s Police Reform & Reinvention Collaborative committee with Hudson Mohawk Magazine producer\, Elizabeth Press: URL:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/event/community-investment-not-community-police/ CATEGORIES:Community Event,Panel Discussion ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/TroyPoliceDepartment-CopBlock.jpg LOCATION:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/event/community-investment-not-community-police/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20211112T190000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20211112T220000 DTSTAMP:20230213T191325Z CREATED:20211110T214649Z LAST-MODIFIED:20230213T191325Z UID:10001222-1636743600-1636754400@www.mediasanctuary.org SUMMARY:"Not Going Quietly" w/ filmmaker Nicholas Bruckman and panel discussion DESCRIPTION:Join us for a virtual film screening of “Not Going Quietly” with filmmaker Nicholas Bruckman\, followed by a panel discussion. \n\n\n\nThe event begins with a quick introduction by filmmaker Nicholas Bruckman\, then we will screen Not Going Quietly. Following the film\, a personal message by Ady Barkan and brief Q&A with Nicholas will lead into a discussion led by People’s Health Sanctuary moderators Aileen Javier and Corinne Carey with panelists: Tracey Corder\, ACRE (Action Center on Race and the Economy); Ursula Rozum\, Campaign for NY Health; Julia Solow\, Hand in Hand (The Network of Domestic Employers); Scott Desnoyers\, health care activist. \n\n\n\n\nCLICK HERE FOR VIDEO DOCUMENTATION\n\n\n\n\n\nOn December 18\, 2017\, approximately 70 protesters against the GOP Tax Bill were arrested while staging a ‘die-in’ in the rotunda of the Rayburn House office building. One of the arrestees was health care activist Ady Barkan\, who is living with ALS. Barkan said the GOP tax bill’s cuts to Medicaid will put his and 13 million other American’s life at risk. (Photo by Michael Nigro)\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nA rising star in progressive politics and a new father\, 32-year-old Ady Barkan’s life is upended when he is diagnosed with ALS. But after a confrontation with powerful Senator Jeff Flake on an airplane goes viral\, catapulting him to national fame\, Ady and a motley crew of activists ignite a once-in-a-generation political movement called “Be a Hero.” Together\, they barnstorm across the country and empower people to confront their elected officials with emotional\, personal stories to demand healthcare justice\, and Ady holds groundbreaking interviews with Joe Biden\, Kamala Harris\, Bernie Sanders\, and Elizabeth Warren.  Through his journey\, Ady discovers that collective action and speaking truth to power offers hope for his family and millions of others. \n\n\n\nView Democracy Now! clip of “Not Going Quietly”: Paralyzed with ALS\, Ady Barkan Continues Fighting for Medicare for All \n\n\n\nThis event is a collaboration between the iEAR Presents series with support from RPI’s ARTS department and School of Humanities\, Arts and Social Science\, and from the New York State Council for the Arts/ NYSCA\, with The Sanctuary for Independent Media and People’s Health Sanctuary. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nhttps://www.notgoingquietlyfilm.com \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nNicholas Bruckman produced the feature film VALLEY OF SAINTS\, which won the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for an Independent Spirit award. The film was released on Netflix and was a New York Times Critics Pick. \n\n\n\nHe previously directed the feature documentary LA AMERICANA\, which won the best documentary prize at the NY and LA Latino Film Festivals. The film broadcast worldwide on networks including PBS\, National Geographic\, and Al Jazeera. \n\n\n\nNicholas Bruckman is the director of NOT GOING QUIETLY\, his latest film about 32-year-old Ady Barkan’s life. \n\n\n\nNicholas’ work has received support from foundations including the Fledgling Fund\, Cinereach\, NYSCA\, NYFA\, and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. He is the founder and CEO of People’s Television\, a New York and D.C.-based branded & original content company. \n\n\n\n\n\nPANEL \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTracey Corder\, Campaign Director – Policing and Incarceration\, ACRE (Action Center on Race and the Economy) \n\n\n\nTracey is a Deputy Campaign Director for ACRE ‘s Policing work. She comes to this work after serving as a social worker\, electoral campaign organizer and political strategist. \n\n\n\nHer most recent position as Director of Federal Action and Racial Justice at Center for Popular Democracy worked to advance direct action as a tactic to advocate for progressive legislation on housing\, immigration\, voting rights\, climate and policing. \n\n\n\nTracey serves on the Advisory Board of Be A Hero\, the Steering Committee of Black Womxn For and is a trainer for the Birddog Nation. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nUrsula Rozum\, Co-Director\, Campaign for NY Health \n\n\n\nUrsula Rozum\, a Syracuse native\, is an organizer building people power to win healthcare for all with Campaign for New York Health. In 2012\, she was the Green party candidate for Congress. She likes bicycles and growing vegetables.Busy-bee organizer in Syracuse\, NY. \n\n\n\nThe pandemic is exposing the weaknesses of the current healthcare system and why we must create a system that guarantees care for everybody. The New York Health Act (A5248a/S3577a) will provide comprehensive\, universal health coverage — including long-term care — for every resident of New York.  \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nScott Desnoyer\, healthcare activist \n\n\n\nScott Desnoyers says his son died because of $20 and Amy Sterling Casil was charged $50\,000 after her baby died – they are among many Americans sharing their stories about the health system. \n\n\n\nDaniel was 29 when he died. He killed himself after failing to get his medication refilled because he missed a $20 premium he was not aware of. \n\n\n\n“I promised his siblings and him at the funeral in front of everyone that I was going to make our lawmakers look me in the eye and see the consequences of their decisions\,” shares his father\, Scott Desnoyers. a loving father who lost his son and became a Medicare-for-All activist. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nJulia Solow\, Lead NY Caring Majority Organizer at Hand-in-Hand: The Network of Domestic Employers \n\n\n\nJulia’s passion for organizing comes from a long legacy of organizing in her family\, personal experiences of struggle and amazing mentors along her journey. She first got involved in movement work when social work professors in college introduced her to immigrant rights leaders fighting for the DREAM Act in 2010. Since then\, Julia has been organizing in solidarity with working class people of color-led movements and power organizations on efforts to address gentrification\, living wages for farm workers and drivers licenses for undocumented immigrants in New York State\, among others. Prior to her work at Hand-In-Hand\, she has had the privilege of working at AFL-CIO National Headquarters in DC\, Community Voices Heard in New York and as an Americorps VISTA in Cleveland\, Ohio. Julia has a Masters in Social Work from CUNY Hunter College. She is bilingual in English and Spanish \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAileen Javier\, co-moderator \n\n\n\nAileen Javier is a Community Health Worker/ Outreach Educator/Family Advocate. She is passionate about fomenting community health by supporting and empowering people to successfully navigate the local social and health care system. She worked as a Community Outreach / Family Advocate in Massachusetts. At the Sanctuary Aileen collaborates in the NATURE Lab’s newest initiative: Health Autonomy Clinic and she is working on radio production for WOOC 105.3 FM publishing pieces on local health resources. Aside from the radio production\, she helps plan and organize events and distribute flyers\, she is ready to help in any way that she can. In the near future she will do community outreach for the HAC. \n\n\n\nShe enjoys dancing\, buying from local businesses and farms\, meditation\, yoga\, hiking and living a healthy lifestyle. She loves talking and meeting new people. She is part of the People Power at the Sanctuary because she believes in the Sanctuary’s Mission “We use art and participatory action to promote social and environmental justice and freedom of creative expression.” \n\n\n\n – From Aileen: The Sanctuary For Independent Media is My Tribe and my Second Family. I am honored to be part of such a Great  Organization! I Love You Guys! See what Aileen has done with the Sanctuary \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCorinne Carey\, co-moderator \n\n\n\nCorinne Carey is a political & public affairs strategist taking on bold public health initiatives backed by sound evidence & human rights. Carey is the campaign director of Compassion & Choices New York. Compassion & Choices improves care\, expands options and empowers everyone to chart their end-of-life journey. \n\n\n\nCompassion & Choices’ award-winning video features the groundbreaking filmmaker Hammer urging New York lawmakers to pass the Medical Aid in Dying Act. “My cancer is incurable … I will reach a very debilitated state\,” she says in the video\, in which she notes that she suffered through more than 100 chemo treatments for ovarian cancer over 12 years before entering hospice in late 2018. “I would so much like to be able to manage my own death by choosing the time and the person I’d like to have with me so that I can die in comfort and with compassion and not in pain and morphine-drugged.” Hammer died on March 16\, 2019\, at age 79 in her Manhattan home without access to this gently dying option. In February\, Oscars in Memoriam honored her for her legacy as an experimental filmmaker. Watch the entire award-winning video of Barbara Hammer urging New York lawmakers to pass the Medical Aid in Dying Act. \n\n\n\nCorinne Carey is a radio producer with Hudson Mohawk Magazine on WOOC 105.3 FM.  \n\n\n\n\n\n \n\n\n\nCO-SPONSORS \n\n\n\nBe A Hero Fund \n\n\n\nBe A Hero takes on the impossible fights. Big money. Special interests. Powerful politicians. We’ve taken them all on– and won. \n\n\n\nThe Be A Hero team is led by Ady and co-Executive Director Jamila Headley. Together with a group of committed organizers\, Ady and Jamila are fighting for a more just health care system in the United States. \n\n\n\nFour months after the birth of his son Carl\, Ady Barkan was diagnosed with ALS. Confronting his own mortality\, Ady decided to spend his remaining time fighting to transform America’s health care system so that it guarantees all of us the care and dignity we deserve and lifting up stories of incredible heroism in the face of injustice. \n\n\n\nJamila is an impact-focused leader and an accomplished advocate for healthcare\, racial\, and disability justice. She thrives at the intersections of strategy and implementation\, building organizations and movements at the global and local levels\, and caring for the individuals in them. \n\n\n\nThe COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare the brokenness of our healthcare system\, and the time is ripe for transformational change. But in order to win\, we must build a powerful movement and we can’t do it without you. Join our fight today! \n\n\n\nNY Health: Healthcare for Every New Yorker \n\n\n\nThe New York Health Act [A.6058/S.5474] will provide comprehensive health care for every New Yorker. You and your healthcare provider of choice will work to keep you healthy—New York Health pays the bill. You will never have to fear going without coverage again—especially in the middle of a deadly pandemic.  \n\n\n\nOver the last year\, tens of thousands of New Yorkers died\, lost income\, fell behind on rent\, and struggled to pay medical bills. Meanwhile\, private health insurance corporations made record profits. The COVID-19 pandemic puts everyone at risk\, but Black\, brown\, and low-income New Yorkers carry the greatest burden of exposure\, with disproportionately more serving as essential workers and disproportionately fewer having access to healthcare. \n\n\n\nWe need a legislative agenda of compassionate care to heal from this pandemic. That’s why we partnered with allies in the housing justice and decarceration movements to release the Compassionate New York Agenda. This is a road map to saving lives and billions of dollars by providing guaranteed healthcare\, stopping unjust evictions\, and reducing the number of people behind bars and harmed by the criminal and immigration systems. We reject the austerity agenda\, and call for a movement based on compassion and care to drive the legislative agenda in New York. \n\n\n\nJoin us in building the movement to win universal\, guaranteed healthcare — and more. Check out ways to get involved in passing the New York Health Act! URL:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/event/not-going-quietly/ LOCATION:The Sanctuary\, 3361 6th Ave\, Troy\, 12180\, United States CATEGORIES:Community Event,Panel Discussion,Screening,Speaker ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/NotGoingQuietly.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20220310T190000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20220310T203000 DTSTAMP:20230213T185426Z CREATED:20220216T210412Z LAST-MODIFIED:20230213T185426Z UID:10001529-1646938800-1646944200@www.mediasanctuary.org SUMMARY:Direct Air Capture: False Climate Solution? DESCRIPTION:Join us for a virtual town hall and learn about Direct Air Capture. \n\n\n\n\nREGISTER\n\n\n\n\nThis virtual event will begin with an overview of the Carbon Dioxide Removal Leadership Act (A8597/S8171)\, now pending in the NYS Assembly and Senate. Presentations by our speakers\, June Sekera (policy scholar)\, Visiting Scholar at the New School University\, New York\, and a Senior Research Fellow at Boston University’s Global Development Policy Center; and  Jim Walsh Policy Director for Food & Water Watch and Food & Water Action\, will be followed by a Q&A. We’ll then end with a Call to Action! \n\n\n\nActivists charge that the Carbon Dioxide Removal Leadership Act (A8597/S8171)\, now pending in the NYS Assembly and Senate\, would generously subsidize the Direct Air Capture technology that they characterize as a false “greenwashing” solution. Comments from environmental experts opposing this bill: \n\n\n\n\n“Let’s be clear that any government support for carbon capture or direct air capture is a FOSSIL FUEL SUBSIDY.“ \n-Stanford University professor Mark Jacobson\, PhD\n\n\n\nCarbon Engineering pilot plant in Squamish\, B.C. featuring Direct Air Capture technology that captures carbon dioxide (CO2) directly from the atmosphere. \nCC image by Stephen Hui\, Pembina Institute\n\n\n\nDIRECT AIR CAPTURE (DAC) is a costly mechanical-chemical method of carbon capture and storage that critics charge is unproven\, dangerous and energy-intensive. They say DAC would likely require a massive build-out of pipelines to transport CO2 and that it is an unwise public investment that diverts resources and attention from real solutions. \n\n\n\nSpeakers\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nJune Sekera is a Visiting Scholar at the New School University\, New York\, and a Senior Research Fellow at Boston University’s Global Development Policy Center. Her review article\, “Assessing Carbon Capture: Public Policy\, Science and Societal Need” was published in Biophysical Economics and Sustainability (October 2020).   \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nFood and Water Watch Policy Director\, Jim Walsh oversees campaigns to ban fracking\, end water privatization\, and push back on fossil fuel industry-backed false solutions to the climate crisis. Jim works with Food & Water Watch’s policy experts and national allies to develop and implement campaigns to mobilize the public and educate decision makers on strategies that support the development of a better food system\, a safe and livable climate and support safe and clean public water for all. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nThe moderator for the event is Barbara Heinzen\, PhD\, Clean Air Coalition of Greater Ravena Coeymans \n\n\n\n\n\nCo-Sponsors\n\n\n\nThank you to our co-sponsors: Clean Air Coalition of Greater Ravena Coeymans\, Clean Air Action Network of Glens Falls\, Beyond Plastics\, People of Albany United for Safe Energy\, Food & Water Watch\, Green Education and Legal Fund\, and NATURE Lab and People’s Health Sanctuary with The Sanctuary for Independent Media. URL:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/event/direct-air-capture/ LOCATION:The Sanctuary\, 3361 6th Ave\, Troy\, 12180\, United States CATEGORIES:Community Event,Panel Discussion ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/StephenHui_PembinaInstitute.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20220419T190000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20220419T210000 DTSTAMP:20230213T183044Z CREATED:20220109T041958Z LAST-MODIFIED:20230213T183044Z UID:10001062-1650394800-1650402000@www.mediasanctuary.org SUMMARY:Ending the Prohibition of the Mind: A Mushroom Symposium DESCRIPTION:Join us as we explore the movement to decriminalize psilocybin\, the challenges faced\, and the way forward. This virtual event aims to connect local proponents to a larger movement\, and give participants information\, advocacy tools\, and connections to pursue advocacy in this area. Co-sponsored by Collar City Mushrooms and the Peoples Health Sanctuary. Watch the recording below; see the Zoom chat here! \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPsilocybin\, the naturally occurring compound found in “magic mushrooms\,” was banned by the federal 1970 Controlled Substances Act. It was classified as a Schedule I controlled substance that has “no accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.”  \n\n\n\nWithin the past ten years however\, research from institutions like NYU\, Johns Hopkins\, Imperial College and others have consistently demonstrated psilocybin’s ability to help treat conditions like depression\, anxiety\, OCD\, substance dependency\, and many others. \n\n\n\nThis research has propelled a grassroots movement to decriminalize psilocybin starting in the late 2010s\, with Denver\, Colorado becoming the first city to do so in May 2019. Other cities have followed suit\, such as Oakland and Santa Cruz\, CA\, Washington\, D.C.\, and Somerville and Cambridge\, MA. There are now more than 100 cities and close to a dozen states\, including New York\, considering either decriminalization or legalization of psilocybin. \n\n\n\nLike any movement to change laws\, there are several factions with often complementary but sometimes competing strategies and arguments. This panel will seek to discuss some of these issues\, such as: \n\n\n\n\nShould psilocybin use be limited to strictly medical use\, especially considering how expensive and ineffective our current healthcare system is?\n\n\n\nWhat are the differences between medical use\, therapeutic use\, and adult use?\n\n\n\nWho will have access to psilocybin? Who will be allowed to start psilocybin-related businesses?\n\n\n\nShould the movement to decriminalize psilocybin be a part of the broader movement to decriminalize all drugs?\n\n\n\nHow can we honor the cultural value of psilocybin to indigenous peoples who have been using psilocybin for centuries\, and preserve peoples’ ability to use the substance in its purest form found in nature; while others claim concern over quality control and dosage and pursue efforts to extract psilocybin and turn the substance into a commercially-produced “medicine”? \n\n\n\n\n….and many more. \n\n\n\n \n\n\n\nGuest Speakers include:\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nDee Dee Goldpaugh\, LCSW\, psychotherapist\, educator\, activist \n\n\n\nDee Dee Goldpaugh\, is a psychotherapist\, educator\, and activist in Woodstock\, NY. Dee Dee specializes in Psychedelic Integration Therapy with a focus on LGBTQIA+ people as well as survivors of sexual trauma. They are a member of the Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy team at the Woodstock Therapy Center and they are the Community Integration and Support Director of the Hudson Valley Psychedelic Society. Dee Dee has taught and published widely on psychedelics and mental health\, sexuality\, and trauma. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nHadas Alterman\, attorney\, Plant Medicine Law Group \n\n\n\nHadas is an Israeli-American attorney\, born in Jerusalem and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. Hadas advises companies on matters of regulatory compliance\, corporate transactions\, policy advocacy\, strategic planning\, governance\, and dispute resolution. She was the Policy Director of NYMHA\, an organization that she co-founded that successfully lobbied for the introduction of a New York bill to decriminalize psilocybin. She is a Board Member of the American Psychedelic Practitioner’s Association and a Founding Board Member of the Psychedelic Bar Association. Hadas serves on the Equity Subcommittee of the Oregon Psilocybin Advisory Board. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nNoah Potter\, consultant\, Legal Market Strategies \n\n\n\nBrooklyn-based Noah Potter is a psychedelic policy consultant who joined the psychedelic legalization movement in 1993. He writes the blog Psychedelic Law. He has worked to call attention to the racial disparities of drug law enforcement\, and in 2020 co-founded an advocacy group dedicated to psychedelic law reform in New York. He has advised the Decriminalize Denver campaign\, and advocates immediate\, safe\, and equitable (affordable\, culturally-relevant\, and non-exploitative) access to a psychedelic experience for anyone anywhere who could benefit from it. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nDmitri Mugianis\, activist\, musician\, poet\, writer\, and psychedelic practitioner \n\n\n\nDimitri Mugianis is an activist\, musician\, poet\, harm reductionist and writer with over two decades of experience as a frontline harm reduction worker and psychedelic practitioner. He is a co-founder of Cardea. Dimitri’s story and work have been featured in numerous media outlets including The New York Times\, Village Voice\, Rolling Stone\, NPR’s This American Life\, VICE HBO\, The Daily Beast\, and Crimetown podcast. He was the subject of the 2009 documentary “Dangerous with Love” by Michael Negroponte. He has written for Chacruna\, Salon\, The Guardian\, and Jacobin. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPamela Jackson\, Founder and Director\, Psychedelic Sisterhood \n\n\n\nPammy Jackson is the founder and executive director of the womxn-led\, not-for-profit organization\, The Psychedelic Sisterhood. Pammy started The Psychedelic Sisterhood to provide womxn with a safe space to discuss\, learn\, and share experiences about the healing power of psychedelics and reclaim the association of medicinal plants as their original indigenous source; offering an inclusive environment to thrive and grow.The Psychedelic Sisterhood also collaborates with like-minded organizations for psychedelic advocacy and to support drug policy reform. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nLinda Rosenthal\, NYS Assemblymember\, sponsor of A6065 \n\n\n\nAssemblymember Linda B. Rosenthal represents the 67th Assembly District\, which includes the Upper West Side and parts of Hell’s Kitchen. Since taking office in 2006\, Assemblymember Rosenthal has passed more than 140 laws that have helped to improve the lives of all New York State residents. In 2021\, Assemblymember Rosenthal passed legislation into law establishing a medication assisted treatment program for people battling a substance use disorder in state and local correctional facilities. She also is the sponsor of legislation to authorize safer consumption sites throughout New York State\, a cause she has championed since 2016. Assemblymember Rosenthal sponsors two bills related to psilocybin: A6065\, which would decriminalize psilocybin by removing it from the list of scheduled substances; and A7928\, which would establish the psychedelic research institute and the psychedelic substances therapeutic research program charged with studying and providing recommendations regarding the use of psychedelic substances in the treatment of addictive disorders\, depression\, post-traumatic stress disorder\, end-of-life anxiety and other pertinent outcomes. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPat Burke\, NYS Assemblymember\, sponsor of A8569 \n\n\n\nPat Burke hails from Buffalo and was first elected to represent the 142nd Assembly District in 2019. Assemblymember Burke’s notable legislative accomplishments include a ban on microbead plastics\, a repeal of Sunday Blue Laws\, a million-dollar emergency fund created to combat the opioid crisis and the formation of the Erie County Broadband Committee. He also introduced legislation that would make the pharmaceutical industry pay its fair share to keep our local drinking water free of medical waste\, and not pass the burden onto taxpayers. Assemblymember Burke sponsors A8569\, a bill that would amend the public health law to allow for the medical use of psilocybin in a tightly controlled set of circumstances. \n\n\n\n\n\nModerators:\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCorinne Carey\, co-moderator \n\n\n\nCorinne Carey is a lawyer and a political and public affairs strategist who takes on bold public health initiatives backed by sound evidence and human rights principles. Her policy work is grounded in her long history in the harm reduction movement. She founded and directed the Harm Reduction Law Project\, and has also worked for Human Rights Watch and the New York Civil Liberties Union. She serves as the state director for Compassion & Choices in New York\, and also works as a political & public affairs correspondent for the Hudson Mohawk Magazine. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAileen Javier\, co-moderator \n\n\n\nAileen Javier is a Community Health Worker\, an Outreach Educator\, and a family advocate. She is passionate about fomenting community health by supporting and empowering people to successfully navigate the local social and health care system. Aileen collaborates with the Sanctuary for Independent Media’s NATURE Lab on its newest initiative: the People’s Health Sanctuary\, and she is also a radio producer for the Hudson Mohawk Magazine\, producing news segments on housing and local health resources. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n Listen to Interviews:\n \n \n \n \n Read More\n \n Intro to Ending the Prohibition of the Mind: a Mushroom Symposium\n \n \n \n \n \n Read More\n \n Noah Potter on Psilocybin Legalization\n \n \n \n \n \n Read More\n \n Psilocybin to Increase Wellbeing and Reduce Suffering\n \n \n \n \n \n Read More\n \n Veterans Group Advocates for Access to Psychedelic Therapy\n \n \n \n \n \n Read More\n \n Expanding Access to Psychedelics\n \n \n \n \n \n Read More\n \n Why Harm Reduction is Important When Legalizing Drugs\n \n \n \n \n \n Read More\n \n Psychedelic Sisterhood ED Pammy Jackson Speaks About Psilocybin Mushrooms\n \n \n \n \n \n Read More\n \n New York Bill Would Decriminalize Psilocybin\n \n \n \n \n \n Read More\n \n The Theraputic Value of Psilocybin and Society’s Understanding of “Drugs”\n \n \n \n \n\n \n\n\n\nSponsored by\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCapital Region Harm Reduction Roundtable\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSuggested Background Reading: \n\n\n\nThree Bills Seek to Shift Psychedelics Policy in New York State by Noah Daly in Lucid News (March 23\, 2022) \n\n\n\nCould Magic Mushrooms Become the Next Marijuana? by Tyler Wetherall in the Albany Times Union (December 15\, 2021)  \n\n\n\nNoah Potter’s blog\, PsychedelicLaw.com\, particularly this article: Psychedelic legalization now \n\n\n\nPsychedelic Markets of the Future\, by Noah Potter  \n\n\n\nWhat About “Those” Mushrooms? by Avery Stemple\, Collar City Mushrooms \n\n\n\nThe “Equity Elephant”: Why Psychedelic Mutualism and Cooperatives are Crucial for an Accessible Future by Colin Pugh in Psychedelics Today (April 19\, 2021) \n\n\n\nGlobal Coalition Launches Push To Reschedule Psilocybin Under International Rules\, by Kyle Jaeger (January 11\, 2022)  \n\n\n\nCosmic Queries – The Fungus Among Us with Merlin Sheldrake\, podcast with Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson (July 21\, 2021) \n\n\n\nA Conversation with Robin Divine\, founder of Black People Trip on the Psychedelics Today podcast (August 10\, 2021) Psychedelic Exceptionalism and Reframing Drug Narratives: An Interview with Dr. Carl Hart\, by Sean Lawlor in Psychedelics Today (February 18\, 2020) \n\n\n\nThis Bicycle Day\, Celebrate Albert Hofmann’s Psychedelic Discovery. by Mary Jane Gibson in Rolling Stone (April 19\, 2020) URL:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/event/mushroom/ CATEGORIES:Panel Discussion ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/magic-mushrooms-1024x576-1.jpg LOCATION:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/event/mushroom/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20230401T190000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20230401T220000 DTSTAMP:20230429T190601Z CREATED:20230223T043255Z LAST-MODIFIED:20230429T190601Z UID:10001649-1680375600-1680386400@www.mediasanctuary.org SUMMARY:"A Woman on the Outside" Film Screening DESCRIPTION:Join Directors Zara Katz and Lisa Riordan Seville and protagonist Kristal Bush for the screening of the documentary film A Woman on the Outside\, about the struggle to keep families connected despite incarceration. Before the film screening\, all three women will give a Be The Media! workshop and give a brief opening reception to the Women on the Outside exhibition. After the film there will be a panel discussion with local prison justice activists. \n\n\n\n5pm: Be The Media! Workshop: Participatory Design in Journalistic Process with directors Zara Katz and Lisa Riordan Seville with documentary participant Kristal Bush.6:30pm: opening reception for the Women on the Outside exhibition in the Sanctuary cafe.7:00pm: screening of A Women on the Outside followed by a panel discussion and networking. \n\n\n\nCurator: Branda Miller.  \n\n\n\nSponsored by: iEAR Presents! and the School of Humanities\, Arts and Social Sciences at Rensselaer\, made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of The Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature; Co-sponsored by: The Chris Wilson Foundation\, The Release Aging People in Prison/RAPP Campaign\, Prisoners’ Legal Services of New York\, The Center for Law and Justice\, and Capital Area Against Mass Incarceration. \n\n\n\nMasks are encouraged and will be available at this event. If you are feeling unwell or have any symptoms of illness please stay home and rest. \n\n\n\n\n\n“A Woman on the Outside” Q&A\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAbout the Film\n\n\n\nGrowing up\, Kristal watched nearly every man in her life disappear to prison. She channeled that struggle into keeping families connected\, both as a social worker and with her van service that drives families to visit loved ones in far-off prisons. But when Kristal’s dad and brother return to Philly\, her happiness meets the realization that release doesn’t always mean freedom. Passionate\, funny and resilient\, Kristal remains determined to carve out a different future — for herself and for her young nephew\, Nyvae. Part observational documentary\, part family album\, A Woman on the Outside is a tender portrait of one family striving to love in the face of a system built to break them. website \n\n\n\n\n\n \n\n\n\n\nhttps://vimeo.com/725900136?embedded=true&source=vimeo_logo&owner=9616283\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nBy the end of the trip\, Lois and Rachel\, who are newer riders\, laugh and talk with the other women. Kristal’s regular riders say they look forward not just to the visit\, but to catching up with friends they have made on the van. \n\n“It’s something to look forward to\,” Tanesha says of visiting day. “We talk about this stuff all week long\, all of us. Sometimes we all get together and cook food and sit down and talk. Because that’s what we be needing. From one sister to another. From one wife to another.” \n\nPhotos and Videos by Zara Katz and Lisa Riordan Seville\n\n\n\nFilmmaker Bios\n\n\n\n\n\nZara Katz (Director/Producer) is a filmmaker and photo producer for editorial\, documentary and branded content\, specializing in crafting character-driven visual stories. Katz is currently Photography Director at NBC News.com\, and has worked with outlets including The New York Times Lens blog\, Time magazine\, Medium\, The Guardian U.S.\, Pop-Up Magazine and Lifetime/A+E Networks. She was the Senior Photography Producer on a Getty Images/Dove campaign photographed by more than 100 women and non-binary photographers\, which won the Silver Glass Lion at Cannes in 2019.  \n\n\n\n\n\nLisa Riordan Seville (Director/Producer) is an award-winning reporter and independent filmmaker whose stories explore how money\, power and policy shapes the lives of everyday people. Her investigative and enterprise work has appeared across NBC News platforms\, on BuzzFeed News\, The Guardian U.S.\, Lifetime/A+E Networks and WNYC Radio. It has been recognized with a Peabody\, a Hillman Award and a Sigma Delta Chi from the Society of Professional Journalists\, among others. Her most recent piece was a cover story for New York Magazine about the deaths of 15 men in New York City’s notorious Rikers Island jail complex.  \n\n\n\n\n\nPanelist Bios\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nKristal Bush is the protagonist of the documentary film A Woman on the Outside. \n\n\n\n \n\n\n\n \n\n\n\n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nJose Di Lenola\, Clemency Campaign Director of RAPP \n\n\n\nAt the age of 16\, Jose was sentenced to 26 1/3 years to life for second-degree murder and served eighteen of those years in Attica prison and various correctional facilities. While incarcerated he worked as a rehabilitation peer educator in relapse prevention\, anger management\, and mental health; and mentored at-risk youth diversionary programs. Jose co-founded and served as President of the Attica Lifer’s Organization and consulted several organizations. Jose was released in December 2021\, has his own consultation business\, Carceral Consultation\, and is the Clemency Campaign Director for the Release Aging People in Prison (RAPP). \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTeAna Taylor\, Co-Director of Policy & Communications and Capital Region Organizer at RAPP \n\n\n\nTeAna advocates for children of incarcerated parents\, informed by their father’s nearly two decades of incarceration and working with We Got Us Now and the HALT Solitary Campaign. They have been engaging their community in restorative justice work for the past five years. They created and maintained a peer mediation program at a local middle school\, leading mediations between youth\, parents\, and teachers; facilitating circles that ranged from community building within classrooms to repairing harm between community members; providing conflict coaching sessions for students; and training students in peer mediation and conflict resolution. TeAna has also facilitated circles to address issues faced by students and faculty of color at their alma mater\, SUNY Schenectady\, that led to policy change for a more inclusive and diverse campus.  \n\n\n\n\n\nCo-sponsors\n\n\n\n\n\nThe mission of the Chris Wilson Foundation is to transform the incarceration system by providing better and more sustainable programming for incarcerated individuals that centers personal relationships\, resilience\, development and agency. Our Master Plan Program focuses on trauma and resilience\, systemic oppression and mass incarceration and goal-setting and reentry. The program is being implemented in three states\, and is currently running at the Capital District Youth Detention Center in Albany.  \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nThe Release Aging People in Prison/RAPP Campaign is a grassroots advocacy organization created and led by formerly incarcerated people and family members of people in prison. We work to end mass incarceration and promote racial justice through the release of aging people in prison and those serving long sentences. We work to dismantle the racist policies of mass incarceration by expanding the use of parole\, compassionate release\, clemency\, and other forms of release in New York State. We work with other organizations across the country to end life imprisonment in the United States. By organizing community power to free incarcerated elders\, we work to uproot a system of endless punishment that fuels mass incarceration and damages Black and other communities of color. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nThe mission of Prisoners’ Legal Services of New York is to provide high quality\, effective legal representation and assistance to indigent prisoners\, help them to secure their civil and human rights and advocate for more humane prisons and for a more humane criminal justice system. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nThe Center for Law and Justice recognizes that the criminal justice system in the United States has a history of racism and classism\, stemming from both laws and practices\, that continues to this day. It is the center’s mission to reform the criminal justice system and dismantle its oppressive elements.  \n\n\n\nThe Center for Law and Justice aims to eliminate the gap between law and justice by creating an equitable criminal justice system which values all human life and acknowledges community members as partners in public safety. The center seeks to achieve this goal through amplifying the voices of marginalized people and communities\, while educating and empowering those same communities to demand an end to mass criminalization\, mass incarceration\, and systemic oppression. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCapital Area Against Mass Incarceration (CAAMI) seeks to challenge and dismantle mass incarceration and the systems of oppression that sustain it. We do this through coordinated actions and by opening the dialogue about mass incarceration and the criminal injustice system in a way that is empowering to all individuals and communities affected by them. CAAMI defines “mass incarceration” as both the excessive quantity of people caught in the criminal justice system\, and the racially discriminatory and cruel quality of the current punitive model of social control. Police brutality\, racially disparate sentencing\, and post-prison discrimination function as a self-reinforcing system that damages communities. URL:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/event/a-woman-on-the-outside/ LOCATION:The Sanctuary\, 3361 6th Ave\, Troy\, 12180\, United States CATEGORIES:Panel Discussion,Screening ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/©AWomanOnTheOutside_Still04.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20231014T190000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20231014T210000 DTSTAMP:20231227T170343Z CREATED:20230807T030910Z LAST-MODIFIED:20231227T170343Z UID:10001786-1697310000-1697317200@www.mediasanctuary.org SUMMARY:"Black Matrilineage\, Photography\, and Representation" Book Talk & Discussion DESCRIPTION:Join us for a conversation around the book Black Matrilineage\, Photography\, and Representation\, edited by Lesly Deschler Canossi and Zoraida Lopez-Diago\, the duo that makes up Women Picturing Revolution. They will present their book before a discussion with local photographer and doula Jayana LaFountaine and ending with a Q&A with the audience. \n\n\n\n5:00pm-6:00pm: Join Jayana LaFountaine for a photography-based workshop around our identities and lineage in Who’s On Your Face? \n\n\n\n6:00pm-7:00pm: Community Meal \n\n\n\n7:00pm-9:00pm: A discussion around Black motherhood and representations of it in photography\, centered around the book Black Matrilineage\, Photography\, and Representation \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAbout the book:\n\n\n\nBlack Matrilineage\, Photography\, and Representation questions how the Black female body\, specifically the Black maternal body\, navigates interlocking structures that place a false narrative on her body and that of her maternal ancestors. Drawing on a wide range of scholarly inquiry and contemporary art\, this book addresses these misconceptions and fills in the gaps that exist in the photographic representation of Black motherhood\, mothering\, and mutual care within Black communities. \n\n\n\nThe essays and interviews\, paired with a curated selection of images\, address the complicated relationship between Blackness and photography and in particular its gendered dimension\, its relationship to health\, sexuality\, and digital culture – primarily in the context of racialized heteronormativity. This collection\, then\, challenges racist images and discourses\, both historically and in its persistence in contemporary society\, while reclaiming the innate brilliance of Black women through personal stories\, history\, political acts\, connections to place\, moments of pleasure\, and communal celebration. \n\n\n\nThis visual exploration of Black motherhood through pictures made by Black woman–identifying photographers thus serves as a reflection of the past and a portal to the future and contributes to recent scholarship on the complexity of Black life and Black joy. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPhotography\, revolution\, representation. Through leading seminars\, curating panels\, and consulting services\, Women Picturing Revolution (WPR) co-creators Lesly Deschler Canossi and Zoraida Lopez-Diago are reclaiming and retelling history in a manner that is both radical and necessary. By highlighting the work of woman photographers who have documented conflicts\, crises\, and revolutions in private realms and public spaces\, WPR sheds light on personal and political experiences that are often overlooked or underrepresented. From images made as a response to forced silence\, oppression\, and the inability to act\, to well-known visual journalists documenting upheaval\, Lesly and Zoraida\, along with WPR participants\, examine not only the photographs but also the conditions under which women make images. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nJayana LaFountaine is an Afro-Latina portrait photographer and birth Doula based in Troy\, New York. Her work focuses on vulnerability and the preservation of legacy through photo documentation and birth work. As a former foster youth with an adverse childhood she understands the importance of creating strong familial connections through this work. She does this work with Black and Brown folks at the forefront. Photography is a means for her to heal while creating a better reality outside of abuse and trauma. Birth work is her birth right as she is a 4th generation birthworker.  \n\n\n\n\n\nEVENT PHOTOS: URL:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/event/black-matrilineage/ LOCATION:The Sanctuary\, 3361 6th Ave\, Troy\, 12180\, United States CATEGORIES:Panel Discussion,Speaker ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Untitled-design21.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250607T140000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250607T170000 DTSTAMP:20250728T004021Z CREATED:20250224T232956Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250728T004021Z UID:10002181-1749304800-1749315600@www.mediasanctuary.org SUMMARY:Be The Dance Party! DESCRIPTION:Spaces for joy are an important part of resistance movements when built around creating community\, encouraging creative expression\, and inviting inclusive participation. Be The Dance Party! is part panel discussion\, part dance party. We will hear from folks on the panel on how they have each used joy\, music\, and creative expression to build movements in our community. The audience will then transition into party-prep to decorate\, dress\, and hydrate before the daylight dance party begins! This is a family-friendly event. \n\n\n\nPanel discussion\, 2-3pmDance party\, 3-5pm \n\n\n\nPanelists: \n\n\n\nModerated by Angela Beallor\, a co-creator of The Flagsss Day Collective and Documentarian in Community Co-Creation of MDOCS at Skidmore College \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nHana van der Kolk is a queer dancer\, artist\, and embodied learning\, ritual\, and celebration facilitator. She spends time looking for and co-creating bridges through pedagogy\, performance\, language\, healing\, celebration\, transformation\, and the dismantling of empire inside and out. Hana was part of starting and maintaining Polly\, Troy’s underground queer dance party and community fundraiser from 2014 to 2019 and is part of the FlagsSs Day Collective with Angela Beallor and Elizabeth (EP) Press. https://www.hanavanderkolk.com/ \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nDJ Nate Da Great is an Albany based DJ that has lit up dance floors across the Capital District and beyond. He’s best known for his mixing skills\, creative music selection and ability to play for diverse audiences. Nate believes that creating community\, inclusive vibes and moments of joy on the dance floor are all just a basic part of a DJs job. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPatrick Harris Jr. is a multidisciplinary founder who turns big ideas into systems that work. As CEO of Collectiveffort\, he’s led brand\, media\, and infrastructure projects ranging from global companies to grassroots orgs and public institutions. \n\n\n\n\n\nDance Party DJed by Intell Hayesfield\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nThis event includes music\, panelists\, and DJ from The No More Genre Show\n\n\n\nListen Friday and Saturday nights to Sanctuary Radio\, from 10pm-1am\, to hear The No More Genre Show. Tune into 105.3fm Troy or steam online at MediaSanctuary.org URL:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/event/be-the-dance-party/ LOCATION:The Sanctuary\, 3361 6th Ave\, Troy\, 12180\, United States CATEGORIES:Panel Discussion ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Be-The-Dance-Party.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20261114T190000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20261114T210000 DTSTAMP:20260814T143252Z CREATED:20260813T174115Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260814T143252Z UID:10002410-1794682800-1794690000@www.mediasanctuary.org SUMMARY:Water Justice and Media Lab End of Season Celebration DESCRIPTION:Celebration featuring youth-produced short film and presentations about the 2026 Water Justice and Media Lab Season. …more info coming soon URL:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/event/wjl-ml-finale-2026/ LOCATION:The Sanctuary\, 3361 6th Ave\, Troy\, 12180\, United States CATEGORIES:Panel Discussion,Screening ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/water-justice-lab.jpg END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR