Regional Left Convergence

We're very excited about the Regional Left Convergence this Saturday. Come check it out! We predict a good turn-out locally as well as visitors from Louisville and from West Virginia and Ohio. Here's the latest schedule of events:

10am--Coffee and refreshments, introductions, ice-breaker

11am--Social/Media Panel, chaired by Craig Crowder
*Michael Benton, a humanities and film studies professor at Bluegrass Community and Technical College and a regular contributor to North of Center
*Andrés Cruz, editor and publisher of La Voz de Kentucky
*Danny Mayer, publisher of North of Center and an instructor at BCTC.
*Teri McGrath, writer, teacher, and activist in Lawton, Oklahoma and regular contributor to the Okie Magazine.

1:00--Lunch (free cajun food, including vegan option)

2:00pm--Fifteen-minute film presentation and discussion on historic civil rights struggles, chaired by Janet Tucker

3:00pm--Panel and break-out sessions on the struggle for affordable tuition, chaired by Enku Ide

4:00pm--Occupy Panel, chaired by Joan Braune
*Brandon Absher
(Brandon Absher teaches Philosophy at Indiana University Southeast and received his Ph.D. from the University of Kentucky in 2010. Brandon is a member of the NO BORDERS Collective in Louisville, KY and was involved in the early days of Occupy Louisville.)
*April Browning
(April Browning is a political activist and a member of Kentuckians for the Commonwealth as well as several other community based organizations. She is an active member of Occupy Lexington since Sept 29th 2011.)
*Steven Burt
(Steven Burt is a political science student at bctc and founder of bctc ssu. He is an occupy activist since september 29th.)
*Ian Epperson
(Ian Epperson is author of Love Songs for the Apocalypse and founder of Lexington Sustainability Fund. Occupy activist since Oct. 6th)


Spread the word and come when you can--this will be a fantastic event! It's free and open to the public--you don't have to be a student or a socialist to attend.

Thanks to everyone who helped us put this together, and a special thanks to the Committees of Correspondence's Fund for Intergenerational Dialogues, whose generous grant to make this event possible.

Flier design: Clayton Brown

Latest organizing

The semester is off to a great start for the U.K. SSU. We've already had a couple of planning meetings, and planning is in full swing for the Saturday, February 25 Regional Left Convergence. We are looking forward to gathering together with activists from around the region to discuss a range of topics, from the Occupy movement to the Immokalee workers, from learning from the history of the civil rights movement to contributing to struggles for affordable tuition. We are especially looking forward to meeting some activists with whom we have not been in touch as much as we'd like and sharing our stories of what organizing projects have worked for us, and possibly finding ways to collaborate in the future. It will be a great time--stay tuned for updates. If you haven't joined the Facebook group yet, please check it out: http://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/10175332735/. You can also contact me at standinsolidarity@yahoo.com for more info. --Joan

SSU mtg and Lexington-area socialism study group

This Friday (12/14/11) at 7pm in the University of Kentucky Student Center, room 228:

The U.K. Socialist Student Union will be holding a quick, half-hour planning meeting to discuss the opportunity to get some grant money to organize a big convergence of socialist student organizers from around the region this spring. After the quick meeting, we're joining the Lexington-area Socialism Study Group (a collaborative effort of the U.K. SSU, CCDS and Friends, and others) to continue our study of Antonio Gramsci. Enku Ide will present on his research on Gramsci, followed by discussion, then food and festivities near campus for anyone who would like to stick around. As always, this is open to the public.

Please help spread the word!

Tabling for Farmworker Justice

Joan Braune and Clayton Brown tabling on Thursday last week behind the UK Student Center, for the U.K. SSU and gathering signatures on postcards asking Kroger to agree to the demands of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers. Six UK students were involved with tabling for the SSU over the course of the week, and we have a great response and some great discussions throughout the week.

Next UK SSU meeting: Thursday, Sept. 22

The next UK SSU meeting will be this Thursday, Sept. 22, at 8pm at the Commonwealth Building, at 226 E. Maxwell St. (If you are used to attending our meetings, please note that this is a change from our usual meeting location.) As always, all are welcome.

Agenda includes:
*Event planning in solidarity with the farmworkers of Immokalee, Florida
*Upcoming "Funk the War" concert
*Our new reading group
*A carpool to big national antiwar demonstration
*Planning a gathering of students and groups from around the region to discuss socialist/left organizing on campuses

We had some great tabling on campus over the course of the last week and had a presence at a UK Greenthumb gathering of local groups involved in environmental justice/sustainability issues. Thanks to everyone who helped make that possible, or stopped by our table to say hi!

I'm looking forward to meeting Thursday! Please spread the word to others who may be interested.

Protest, Concert, Teach-in, and More

Our second meeting of the semester was as productive as the first, with ten people in attendance yet again and lots of good planning. Some stuff upcoming:
*A carpool to the October 6 protest in Washington, DC.
*Anti-war "Funk the War" concert on October 14 at Al's Bar
*A teach-in on the Immokalee Workers campaign for early November
*A meeting of various organizations from around the region about socialist/left organizing on campuses, tentatively scheduled for the weekend of November 11
*A socialist reading group is being formed!
Please feel free to contact us (standinsolidarity@yahoo.com, or the Facebook group, "U.K. Socialist Student Union") for more information or to get involved!

U.K. Socialist Student Union mtg Thursday

The next meeting of the U.K. Socialist Student Union is this Thursday (Sept. 1) at 7pm at Common Grounds Coffee House (343 E. High Street, Lexington). All are welcome.

Items on the agenda include:

• Campaign for justice for Immokalee farmworkers (Kroger campaign)


• "Funk the War" concert


• Further action in solidarity with international struggles for affordable tuition?


• Carpools to the School of the Americas protest and/or other big national protest


• Recruitment and getting the word out about the SSU


• Connecting with the BCTC SSU and other campus socialist groups in the region

It should be a great meeting! Please spread the word and come if you can.