The new documentary Beyond Elections: Redefining Democracy in the Americas proves that democracy can and should be more than casting a ballot every four years. This empowering film gives hopeful and concrete examples from around the Americas of people taking back the reigns of power and governing their own communities. Beyond Elections is a road map for social change, drawing from communal councils in Venezuela and social movements in Bolivia to participatory budgeting in Brazil and worker cooperatives in Argentina. The film gracefully succeeds in demonstrating that these grassroots examples of people’s power can be applied anywhere. Particularly as activists in the US face the challenges of an Obama administration and an economic crisis, this timely documentary shows that the revolution can start today right in your own living room or neighborhood.

Across the world, 120 countries now have at least the minimum trappings of democracy—the freedom to vote for all citizens. But for many, this is just the beginning not the end. Following decades of US-backed dictatorships, civil wars and devastating structural adjustment policies in the South, and corporate control, electoral corruption, and fraud in the North, representative politics in the Americas is in crisis. Citizens are now choosing to redefine democracy under their own terms: local, direct, and participatory.

In 1989, the Brazilian Worker’s Party altered the concept of local government when they installed participatory budgeting in Porto Alegre, allowing residents to participate directly in the allocation of city funds. Ten years later, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was swept into power with the promise of granting direct participation to the Venezuelan people; who have now formed tens of thousands of self-organized communal councils. In the Southern Cone, cooperative and recuperated factory numbers have grown, and across the Americas social movements and constitutional assemblies are taking authority away from the ruling elites and putting power into the hands of their members and citizens.

Featuring interviews with: Eduardo Galeano, Amy Goodman, Emir Sader, Martha Harnecker, Ward Churchill, and Leonardo Avritzer as well as cooperative and community members, elected representatives, academics, and activists from Brazil, Canada, Venezuela, Argentina, United States, Uruguay, Chile, Colombia, and more.

Free Screening. Refreshments and discussion to follow. This film is being shown as part of the Syracuse Peace Council’s monthly educational series. Any donations will benefit SPC.

For more info contact: Syracuse Peace Council, 2013 East Genesee Street, Syracuse, NY 13210  (315) 472-5478  www.peacecouncil.net

SPECIAL WEEK LONG EVENT:

WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY & FRIDAY, JUNE 3, 4, 5, EXHIBIT VIEWING - 2-7pm

SATURDAY, June 6 - SILENT AUCTION – 2- 4pm

The Beyond Boundaries Silent Art Auction

This is the 16th Annual Beyond Boundaries Silent Auction. It is held every year as both a fundraiser and as a presentation of a collection of work from a culturally diverse mix of CNY established and emerging artists. It serves to continue an education fund for 3 communities in Ghana (CENSUDI in Bolgatanga, the Liberian refugee camp in Buduburam and the community library in Wora Wora).

Additional information can be found at www.beyondboundariescny.org. Contact person: Mardea Warner, Co-coordinator Beyond Boundaries, 479-5757, mardeamardea@yahoo.com

“Those affected by schizophrenia or another mental disorder should be commended for their bravery, not judged. Let’s put normal on the shelf and give different a fighting chance.”

Join Amber at ArtRage when she screens her filmed documentary about mental illness, stigma and gaining insight into her own life and art. Amber is featured in the ArtRage exhibit NOTHING TO HIDE. In addition to her paintings, she has developed the following series of posters to challenge some of the myths about mental illness. She travels from Saratoga Springs to visit us for this very special evening. Free to the Public at ArtRage.

A workshop and concert by Pamela Goddard & Colleen Cleveland

3-5pm Workshop & 7pm Concert

Ticket information: $10 for the workshop, $5 for the concert.

A musical tour through the landscape of New York, touching song roots in England, Scotland, and Ireland. Colleen and Pamela will talk about what traditional songs and ballads are, compare and contrast actual songs, swapping versions of some of the most common and popular. During the workshop Colleen and Pamela will talk about family traditions and how they came to learn and promote these songs. There will also be opportunities for audience/workshop participation – singing on choruses and refrains, maybe learning a short ballad/song. The concert will present much of the same material, but with more singing of the songs and less chat. The concert is also a Syracuse release of Pamela’s second CD, “Quietness.”

Colleen Cleveland of Brant Lake is a descendant of Scottish and Irish settlers to northern New York and her family’s music and stories includes ancient ballads or story-songs, for which the Scots are known. Colleen’s grandmother, Sara Cleveland, was a nationally famous ballad singer of her generation. After Sara’s death in 1987, Colleen and her father, Jim, began singing the family’s songs in public. In addition to about 400 songs of the
British Isles, the family repertoire includes songs from a variety of other popular sources. Like her traditional counterparts in Scotland and Ireland, Colleen usually sings unaccompanied. Some of the family’s very old ballads are unique variants that have not been collected from any other North American source.

Pamela Goddard of Danby has been passionate about folk songs ever since she sang along with her father as a 6-year-old. For her, songs are historic documents that describe the peculiar quality of  the land and the life of the people who live there. “They water my roots,” she says, “and are dedicated to my grandparents from  coastal New England, from the coal fields of Pennsylvania, and from the hills of Tennessee.” Pamela performs ballads in traditional fashion, usually a cappella or accompanying herself on a lap dulcimer. She also calls dances regularly throughout the Finger Lakes region. Pamela has two CDs of her singing. The first of these, As Time Draws Near, was released in 2005. Her new CD, Quietness, will be released at the May 17 show at ArtRage.