Around the Nation: October 4, 2007

Dawn Lundy Martin, winner of the 2006 poetry prize awarded by the Cave Canem Foundation, North America's "home for black poetry," reads from her first book A Gathering of Matter/A Matter of Gathering (University of Georgia Press). She is joined by Carl Phillips, prize judge, and the two finalists Sean Hill and Nadia Nurhussein. Hemmerdinger Hall, New York University, 19 University Place. More info via e-mail. Free.

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...and the Subversion of American Democracy. Charlie Savage, Boston Globe reporter and winner of the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting, joins us tonight to address the Bush Administration’s expanding executive powers and what it means for the future of our country. Book signing will follow lecture and discussion. Old South Meeting House, 310 Washington St. Free.

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Hardball, by Suha Arraf (Palestine/Israel, 2006, 52 min.), is the story of a small Arab town inside Israel whose football team managed to win Israel’s national cup in 2004. Preceded by Open Heart by Claire Fowler (Palestine, 2006, 22 min), which follows a dramatic life-and-death crisis: a baby must travel from the West Bank to Jerusalem to for a surgery to repair his congenital heart defect. Remis Auditorium, 465 Huntington Ave. Part of the Boston Palestine Film Festival. MFA members, seniors, and students $8; general admission $9. (Boston Palestine Film Festival Pass, $120.)

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9 Star Hotel presents the daily routines of Palestinian construction workers who cross the border each morning in order to make a living. Preceded by by Exiles in Jerusalem, by Muayad Alayan, (Palestine, 2005, 20 min.), which tells the story of a village bisected by war, UN resolutions and now the Wall. Remis Auditorium, 465 Huntington Ave. Part of the Boston Palestine Film Festival. MFA members, seniors, and students $8; general admission $9. (Boston Palestine Film Festival Pass, $120.)

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"Myths, stereotypes and unquestioned assumptions” about the history of immigration and how American society, economy and laws function. Reading and discussion with Aviva Chomsky. A free and public event. First Church in Jamaica Plain, Unitarian Universalist, Parish Hall 6 Eliot St (across from the Monument), 617-524-1634. For the Jamaica Plain Forum, please contact Sarah, 617-541-0500 x302.

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Capitol Mall and 10th St. On September 11, the Legislature passed the California Dream Act. It would give students without papers access to state financial aid for college. Tens of thousands of poor Latina/o and immigrant students who have been accepted at UCLA, UC-Berkeley, and other colleges could finally fulfill their lifelong dream of a degree. Governor Schwarzenegger has until October 10 to sign or veto the bill. A year ago, Schwarzenegger vetoed it. This year, unlike a year ago, we must mobilize our communities. If we mobilize the tremendous power of our new civil rights/immigrant rights movement, we can win. More info online.

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Mobilize.org will be unveiling The Democracy 2.0 Declaration, a short statement describing a citizen-centered approach to democracy. In an electronic "town hall" meeting format, members of the press and elected officials will interact technologically with Democracy 2.0 Summit participants, posing their questions to these youth, who will convene and answer questions with the collective voice of the room. Room HC-6 of the Capitol. For more information on this "2.0" experience, contact Christina Gagnier at (510) 717-3022.

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The Beastly Bombing, or A Terrible Tale of Terrorists Tamed by the Tangles of True Love. Book and Lyrics by Julien Nitzberg, Music by Roger Neill. Nitzberg and Neill's Gilbert-and-Sullivan-style romantic operetta about white supremacists and Al Qaeda terrorists plotting to blow up the Brooklyn Bridge has already been dubbed "the first great work of comedy to emerge from the post-9/11 little planet of horrors." Winner, "Best Musical of the Year," LA Weekly Awards. Julia Miles Theater, 424 W. 55th Street (between Ninth and Tenth avenues). 212-352-3101. Six shows only.

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