Saturday FitH with film!

We have a special treat this Saturday at 6:30. Carlos Magana is opening his beautiful Swift Street studio to host our Food in the Hood. AND he's employing his state-of-the-art four-projector system to show our film, The Real Dirt on Farmer John. This classic of the sustainability movement follows the free-spirited and passionate John Peterson from 1996 to 2004 as he works to bring organic farming to the heart of the Midwest. It's alternately heartbreaking and inspiring, but ends - spoiler alert! - on a successful note.

I developed my menu to show off fresh, local meats and vegetables, but like Farmer John, it developed an exotic flair of its own - sweet and spicy. To match it I looked for a cause around the region of Turkey and couldn't miss the plight of the Kurds.  This site has a 2012 Change.org petition to President Obama regarding a December 28th bombing by US-supplied planes in which 35 people, including 19 teenagers, were killed. Kani Xulam, an articulate defender of Kurdish rights, has written the petition.

In 2010 Democracy Now interviewed a US journalist who was deported for writing about Turkey's attacks on the Kurdish people. The focus of our charitable contribution, or should I say sovereignty solidarity, will be the Alliance for Kurdish Rights. Their short video gives the situation in a 56-second nutshell.

Let me be the FirtHt to wish you a happy FitH for 2012,

This week we'll be supporting the Friends of the Congo. This is from our friends at the Institute for Policy Studies:

Tuesday, January 17, 2012 is the 51st anniversary of the assassination of Patrice Lumumba by the United States and Belgium, in cahoots with select Congolese elites. Congolese people and friends of the Congo throughout the globe commemorate Lumumba's assassination each year to bring attention to the Congolese people's pursuit of freedom and liberation in the heart of Africa. Since the assassination of Lumumba, the foreign multi-national corporations of the 1% profit from the plundering of the Congo's abundant mineral resources and are complicit in the super-exploitation of Congolese labor. They are also the underlying engine of the violent conflict in the country. Congolese women have occupied the U.S. Embassy in Congo's capital, Kinshasa, demanding that the United States cease its support of strongmen in Congo and Africa. This year's commemoration is particularly special because the November 28th elections resulted in the stealing of the vote and the voices of the Congolese people. Congolese throughout the globe have risen up to reclaim the stolen will and voices of the Congolese people. Friends of the Congo, Institute for Policy Studies' Foreign Policy In Focus Project, Africa Faith and Justice Network, Congo Global Action, Washington Peace Center and others are rallying in solidarity with Congolese in their pursuit to reclaim the stolen voices and advance democracy and self-determination in the heart of Africa.

With our donation we'll be requesting a copy of the film "Crisis in the Congo: Uncovering the Truth" to show at our next Girl Up meeting. It can be downloaded for free here.