[Nettime-bold] "My Daily Constitution" in NYC - FEBRUARY 22 - 28 '03

["ricardo dominguez" <rdom@thing.net>]

* * * * * *  ========
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
* * * * * * =========
* * * * * * =========
* * * * * * =========
=====================
=====================
=====================

CONTACT:
Linda Pollack
Phone: 212-946-1849 or 310-699-8047
Email: mydailyconstitution@hotmail.com


"My Daily Constitution" in NYC
FEBRUARY 22 - 28 '03

Seven days
Seven locations around NYC
Seven discussions about the US Constitution

* free and open to the public *

Information Line:  212-946-1849

>From 22 - 28 February, Linda Pollack will hold "My Daily Constitution", a
series of discussions about the US Constitution led by lawyers, academics,
activists and others.  Discussions take place at various locations (a bar, a
lounge, a theatre, a museum, an art studio, a bookstore) around NYC.  Free
copies of the U.S. Constitution, printed by Pollack in an edition of 5,000,
will be available at discussion locations and at:

Printed Matter, Inc., 535 West 22nd Street, NYC, NY.  212-925-0325

"The project is an attempt to create a space for dialogue, inquiry and
reflection about this document in these times," says Pollack, an LA based
artist.  "It stems from my own realization that I had in fact never read the
Constitution, didn't know what it was, and wouldn't know what was at risk of
being lost.  I do know that democracy (and its close approximations) is a
fragile thing."

Pollack experienced just how fragile democracy could be while working for an
Amsterdam based cultural foundation during the war in the former Yugoslavia,
where she initiated programs that promoted reconciliation and dialogue,
including a benefit Balkan rock concert and a mobility scheme for East
European artists.

In her own art practice Pollack has documented the formal qualities of
plenary halls in a united Germany ("German Parliaments"), and she just
completed a collaborative public art commission (w/Claudia Reisenberger +
Christina Ulke)that turned the space of a seven story Pasadena parking
structure on its head ("Madison Mansion").

"My Daily Constitution" was first held in Hollywood at Les Deux Cafés as
part of the art show "Democracy When?" at Los Angeles Contemporary
Exhibitions in May of last year.


A detailed program listing follows.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

My Daily Constitution
February Schedule

22 Saturday
12 - 2 PM
"The Patriot Act and its Impact on the People of the United States"
Discussion led by Arshad Majid, Former New York Prosecutor; President of
Majid & Associates, New York.
at: OPEN BAR, 559 West 22nd St. (corner of 11th Ave.), NYC, NY.
212-243-1851
* * *Arshad Majid will discuss the impact the Patriot Act has had on certain
aspects of the US Constitution such as the 1st, 4th, 5th and 6th Amendments
as well as its impact on several long standing traditions in criminal law
and procedure.


23 Sunday
4 - 6 PM
"Imagination and My Daily Constitution"
Discussion led by Barbara Handman, Senior Vice President, People for the
American Way; Recipient, National Medal of the Arts awarded by President
Clinton, 1998.
at: LARK THEATRE, 939 8th Ave. (btw. 55th & 56th St.), NYC, NY.
212-246-2676
* * *For years PFAW has been engaged in initiatives that bring
constitutional issues to a broader audience outside of the legal sector,
often interfacing with the art world. Barbara (Bobbie) Handman will discuss
her free wheeling approach to activism, and the evening will focus on how
individuals can engage in civic dialogue today's political climate.


24 Monday
7 - 9 PM
"Silencing Political Dissent" (in conjunction with Nomads + Residents)
Discussion led by Nancy Chang, Senior Litigation Attorney, Center for
Constitutional Rights; Author of "Silencing Political Dissent: How
Post-September 11 Anti-Terrorism Measures Threaten Our Civil Liberties"
(Seven Stories Press, 2002).
at: 16 BEAVER GROUP, 16 Beaver St. fifth floor (btw. Broad St. & Whitehall),
NYC, NY.  212-480-2093
* * * "This analysis by Nancy Chang of the Center for Constitutional Rights
should be read by everyone concerned with a free society. It reports a
chilling set of rules, now the law, which directly affect millions of
Americans who are not citizens, but also the rest of the population, who
must live in an atmosphere of fear. Furthurmore, this draconian law, worthy
of a police state, is extremely unlikely to be overthrown by the courts,
given the historic subservience of the courts to executive authority in time
of war." - Howard Zinn, in his forward for "Silencing Politacal Dissent".


25 Tuesday
7 - 9 PM
"Privacy, Free Speech, and the Patriot Act"
Discussion led by Christopher M. Finan, President, American Booksellers
Foundation for Free Expression, and Jameel Jaffer, Staff Attorney, American
Civil Liberties Union.
at: HOUSING WORKS USED BOOK CAFE, 126 Crosby St.
(1/2 Block south of Houston), NYC, NY.  212-334-3324
* * *Chris Finan and Jameel Jaffer will talk about the
growing battle fought by booksellers and librarians to protect the privacy
of their records in order to guarantee customers complete freedom in their
choice of books, a freedom very much threatened by the USA Patriot Act.


26 Wednesday
7 - 9 PM
"Who are 'We the People' Anyway?; Personhood, Citizenship and The U.S.
Constitution"  Discussion led by Chaumtoli Huq, Staff Attorney, New York
Taxi Workers' Alliance.
at: REMOTE LOUNGE, 327 Bowery (btw. 2nd & 3rd St.) NYC, NY.
212-228-0228
* * *The US Constitution confers rights on persons. Slavery and racism was
justified by denying people of African ancestry personhood.  Xenophobic
lawsare passed that create two tiers of persons: citizens and non-citizens.
Chaumtoli Huq and colleagues will look at how the US Constitution was
interpreted to deny individuals rights based on race and immigration status.


27 Thursday
"The U.S. Constitution and Religious Pluralism"
Discussion led by Patrice Brodeur, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies;
Director of the Pluralism Project, Connecticut College.
6 - 7 PM - Tour the Museum (space limited to first 15 persons)
7 - 9 PM - Discussion  (space limited to first 30 person)
at: LOWER EAST SIDE TENEMENT MUSEUM, 90 Orchard St. (corner of Broome St.)
NYC, NY, 212-431-0233 ext. 232


28 Friday
6:30 - 8:30 PM
"Blocked: Self Censorship and the Limits of the First Amendment"
Discussion led by Svetlana Mintcheva, Arts Advocacy Project Coordinator,
National Coalition Against Censorship.
at: PETE'S CANDY STORE, 709 Lorimer St. (btw. Richardson & Frost St.),
Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY, 718-302-3770
* * *Svetlana Mintcheva will talk about how self-censorship - be it on the
part of an institution, which is afraid of alienating its funders,the media,
anxious that their access to information would be cut, or an individual
worried that if a work is too provocative it would never see the light of
day - is far more efficient and harder to oppose than direct governmental
action. In the words of Hans Magnus Enzensberger, "self-censorship outruns
in elegance and shrewdness everything the most vicious [censor] could
imagine. Its target (often met) is the prohibition to think. Whoever
believes they are immune, is the first victim."



For further information and directions, call the 'My Daily Constitution'
Information Line: 212-946-1849


_______________________________________________
Nettime-bold mailing list
Nettime-bold@nettime.org
http://amsterdam.nettime.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/nettime-bold