Tractivists, do you like to watch?

For the next five weeks, we are the epicenter of U.S. politics! The whole world is watching. So it’s time for us to ACT, not to watch. Look for an email soon with ways to be active in this election cycle with Traction.

But on April 11th and 12th, it’s time to join your fellow Tractivists and WATCH…

ELECTILE DYSFUNCTION II
a theatrical sideshow to benefit Traction!

Some of the area’s best actors and directors* + live music + good people + good cause + democracy + food/drinks + you!

ELECTILE DYSFUNCTION II (Wrath of the SuperDelegates)
7pm on April 11th and 12th

at the Trotter Building
410 W. Geer St., across from Manbites Dog Theater
$10 suggested min. donation — tickets conveniently sold online

*featuring Tractivists from Z to A, like Zephyr Teachout, Nicole Quenelle, Jim Haverkamp, Jay O’Berski, Dana Marks and Adam Sampieri.It’s an amazing show and you know it’ll be a great party, so get your tix NOW!

More soon, fellow patriots, Lanya

P.S. To volunteer for this show (or anything else Traction), contact Cara by emailing use.me@getTraction.org.

Over 80 people came out to get an early start on Labor Day when Traction showed The Uprising of ‘34 at Culture Crawl in downtown Durham on 8/18/06.

Mary Coles, whose father was president of Durham’s textile union during this walk-out and mass movement, graced us with her presence and shared memories from the perspective of an 11-year old girl. We also heard from Durham historian Jim Wise and Tractivists working on modern-day labor issues — including the Justice as Smithfield campaign — through Student Action with Farmworkers, National FarmWorker Ministries, and IUE-CWA, a local union for the employees of non-profits.
Turns out Frank Stasio (host of The State of Things) was there in the audience, and their show today will be about this historical moment, plus the fight at Smithfield. So listen in! We’re thrilled that Traction had a role in inspiring the show and raising more awareness of labor issues, past and present.

Many thanks to Theo, JoAnne, Dave Z., Lori, Tony, Denise, Becky & Devin, Veronica, Kelly, Tom & Tema, and the Transom Gallery (and probably many others) for helping with this event! And to Wessel for taking pictures under tough conditions. We’ll see if we can resize this one and do it justice…

Labor Day is just around the corner and this year we’ll travel back in time to a largely forgotten piece of Labor Day history — right here in Durham.

Seventy two years ago this September, over 7,000 textile mill workers in Durham went on strike, joining hundreds of thousands of others around the country to demand better pay and better working conditions.

This Friday, Traction returns to Culture Crawl and we’re bringing our ReelPolitik film series with us. We’ll be showing an outdoor movie: The Uprising of ‘34, about the textile worker strike in the South that was the largest mass strike in U.S. history.This is what Labor Day is really about — celebrating and honoring the legacy of the millions of largely unknown folks who fought for things we take for granted today — like a 40-hour work week, a minimum wage and safer workplaces.

We’ll be joined by special guests Mary Cole, who lived through the strike as the 11 year old daughter of an Erwin Mill union organizer, and Jim Wise, a local historian and newspaper columnist who has written about the strike in Durham. Plus, we’ll benefit from cameo appearances by current labor organizers in North Carolina, who can update us on how to support the labor struggles of the 21st century.

The vitals:
“The Uprising of ‘34″
Fri, Aug 18th, 8pm
Outside Jo and Joe’s Pub
427 W. Main St. in downtown Durham
FREE
–> BuyYOB at everyone’s favorite local pub, Joe & Jo’s
–> BYOBlanket to sit in the grass

(more…)

As we mark our nation’s 230th birthday, Tractivists have been cooking up our own way to honor our nation’s history and great potential…

On July 8th, a massive horde of the Triangle’s finest actors (including some Tractivists) will present a staged reading of selections from VOICES OF A PEOPLE’S HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES, directed by the fabulous Jay O’Berski of Manbites Dog Theater.

Best of all, it’s a benefit for Traction! $15 Donation at the door. We’ll have some food and drinks there too, so you’ll have several ways to show some love.
The deets:

Saturday, July 8, 8:00 pm

Manbites Dog Theater, 703 Foster St., Durham

The show will be a Best Bet in next week’s INDEPENDENT and we expect to sell out. And there are no advance sales or reservations for the general public. BUT for Tractivists who make a reservation and sign a loyalty oath, we’ll hold a limited number of seats until 7:45pm. (Just kidding about the oath.) Send your reservation to peoples@getTraction.org

If you’ve never read Howard Zinn’s ground-breaking book, today’s your lucky day. If you HAVE read it, you know how powerful this event will be. These are the voices of struggle, of “unimportant” people mostly absent from our history books. These voices help us remember that, in Zinn’s words, “people who seem to have no power, whether working people, people of color, or women — once they organize and protest and create movements — have a voice no government can suppress.”

Send your reservation NOW. Aren’t you feeling more patriotic already?

Special thanks to Seven Stories Press, Anthony Arnove and Howard Zinn himself for giving us their blessing!

Tonight several of us went to hear Marge Piercy read. She’s a feminist, a progressive activist and a phenomenal poet.  We’re grateful to the mysterious Committee for Art and Justice, who brought her to the Triangle to commemorate and celebrate the life of Deborah Greenblatt.  What a gift.

Here’s a classic Piercy poem, about the power of solidarity:

The Low Road

What can they do to you? Whatever they want.
They can do anything you can’t stop them
from doing. How can you stop them? 

Alone, you can fight.
You can refuse. You can
take what revenge you can.
But they roll over you.

But two people fighting
back to back can cut through
a mob, a snake-dancing file
can break a cordon, an army
can meet an army.

Two people can keep each other
sane, can give support, conviction,
love, massage, hope, and sex.
Three people are a delegation,
a committee, a wedge.
With four, you play bridge and start an organization.
With six, you can rent a whole house,
eat pie for dinner with no seconds,
and hold a fund-raising party.

A dozen make a demonstration.
A hundred can fill a hall.
A thousand have solidarity
and your own newsletter;
ten thousand, power and your own paper;
a hundred thousand, your own media;
ten million, your own country.

It goes on one at a time.
It starts when you care
to act. It starts when you do
it again after they said “No.”
It starts when you say “We”
and know who you mean and
each day you mean one more.

From The Moon Is Always Female, by Marge Piercy
Copyright (c) 1980 by Marge Piercy

March 23, 2006

FREE STUFF! Lobby me NOW while you still can…

Filed under: Fair Elections, Economic Justice, Health Care, Arts, Events — Carole Bell @ 1:59 am

It’s Hard Out Here for a Lobbyist, what with all the ethics reform in the news these days.  They’re trying to take all the fun out of being a big Washington or Raleigh lobbyist, so I guess I’ll stick with my PhD program.

At least I have ONE chance to give away special favors:
Traction just got a box of slick stuff from THANK YOU FOR SMOKING, the great new black comedy about slick lobbyists (starring William H. Macy, Katie Holmes, Robert Duvall, Rob Lowe) and I get to give it away!

I’ve got about seven very slick black T-SHIRTS, twelve bizarre plastic babies who smoke (their brand: Li’l Smokes), and about 25 FREE PASSES for two to an advance screening on Monday night in Raleigh. (more…)

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March 1, 2006

Drop Beats, Yo!

Filed under: Peace, Arts, Events, Tractivists in Action, Walk the Talk — tamara @ 6:31 pm

For the last 3 years, groups and individuals working in NC to end the War on Iraq gather each year for a massive march and rally in Fayetteville, NC, on the anniversary of the U.S. invading Iraq, led by the NC Peace and Justice Coalition. Be there this year: Sat. Mar 18.

Traction has stepped up to help organize Drop Beats not Bombs this Thursday night (3/2) at Ringside in downtown Durham. This event has a multitude of purposes including raising cash and training volunteers for March 18th, building solidarity, and DANCING! See the schedule of events here.

So where do you come in? Come and help cover the door, sign up folks for the Traction and NCPJC lists, and get the party started. (My worm is absolutely fierce, how’s yours?) And of course we need you to volunteer on 3/18 so you should get smart about it on Thursday. Email and let us know you’re coming.

So put Fayetteville on your calendar for 3/18 and get on your dancing shoes, people.

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February 20, 2006

Occupation: Dreamland this Wednesday

Filed under: Peace, Arts, Events — Lanya @ 4:50 pm

R e e l P o l i t i k

film

+ drinks

+ action-focused talk

+ you

= change

In FEBRUARY…

Occupation: Dreamland is an unflinchingly candid portrait of a squad of American soldiers deployed in the doomed Iraq city of Falluja during the winter of 2004. Through the squad’s activities Occupation: Dreamland provides a vital glimpse into the last days of Falluja.

Come out Wednesday (2/22) at 7pm to Broad St. Café in Durham (1116 Broad St.) for this powerful film and conversation afterwards about how to get your anti-war on.* Suggested donation: $5.

*Sneak Peek:
March 2nd Drop Beats not Bombs dance party (Traction + NC Peace & Justice Coalition)
March 18th demonstration in Fayetteville on the 3rd anniversary of the invasion of Iraq

Yes, it’s another chance to support our local businesses! You can buy drinks and nosh at the Cafe. Also, Randy’s Pizza is a few doors down and it’s totally fine to bring food from there.

Traction sponsors ReelPolitik to advance progressive causes in the Triangle by entertaining, educating and engaging the community, *especially* folks under 40. See a good flick, meet people, talk policy and activate around issues. And eat. And drink.

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