Defenders for Freedom, Justice & Equality

Christmas Day Dinner 25 December 2011 | @ The Conrad Center 1400 Oliver Hill Way Richmond, VA. Supervalu provides this holiday meal along with the support of Food Lion, Martins, Pepsi and Mimi's Whole Wheat (a Byrd House Market vendor). The meal will be served to the homeless and working poor from 9 am to 2 p.m that day wih buses picking up guests throughout the city starting at 8:30 a.m. Volunteers will help serve the dinner as well as help out in the gift room. Groups, churches, companies, individuals and others will provide gift bags filled with age and gender appropriate items for each guest that attends, and other new needed items such as coats, toys, shoes, tee shirts, thermal underwear, coats, and blankets. Bicycles and skateboards are raffled off to the children every half hour. Please contact Christy Ellis at 233-4064 ext. 209 if you are interested in participating in this experience. We need volunteers willing to donate gift bags and other needed new items and willing to ...

The trial of the trespassing cases of 5 Occupy Richmond participants is tomorrow, Tuesday, Nov. 29 at 2pm at the Manchester General District Courthouse, 920 Hull St. on Richmond's south side, 23224. Please attend to show your support and to bear public witness.

Nov 28 on DefendersLIVE: Richmond Free Press Editor Ray Boone Talks about his Special Guests - Occupy Richmond. Mondays on WRIR.org and 97.3 FM at Noon (and Tuesdays at noon online only)

When we experience drought conditions in Virginia we remember the way that land and water work together. In a day to day way that relationship is experienced by the food we eat, the grass we play on, the green of the trees that shade us, relief from summer's heat, the vibrant colors of autumn and blossoms of spring, the flow of the James River and its tributaries. We know that waterside land is sought after and therefore has a higher market value. We know that wars both small and large have been fought over land and water rights - recall any of the endless cowboy movies about cattle ranchers versus farmers? Well, now the geopolitical land grab is being driven in part by the very basic need for water for food production and the place, as usual, that is rich in land and water is Africa. The buying programs of the UK and Saudi Arabia are the focus of the article linked below. But China, Russia, the US and most of the former colonizing nations of Europe are involved in one way or anoth...

CSPAN3 airs ASALH Annual Convention's Saturday Luncheon-African American Burial Grounds: Sacred Space Reclaimed, Panel Session (featuring Michael Blakey, Shawn Utsey, Edna Medford, Ana Edwards) over the Thanksgiving holiday Nov 24 at 3pm & 11pm Nov 25 at 7am Nov 27 at 1am & 2pm FILM: "Until the Well Runs Dry" 2nd screening at the Main Branch Richmond Public Library, 101 E. Franklin St., Friday Dec. 2nd at 6:30 pm.

Today on DefendersLIVE: Interview with Ed Ayres, UR president, Future of RIchmond's Past chair, 19th Century Guy on public radio's Back Story - discussing the Sesquecentennial and other things. Live on WRIR.org and 97.3 FM at Noon

Wednesday, November 9th at 7 p.m. for the premiere of "All Night, All Day", a short documentary about the period of time between OccupyRichmond's march to Kanawha Plaza and the raid on their camp at 1 a.m. on Halloween morning. Created by Kontra. Gallery 5 is located at 200 W. Marshall Street, Richmond VA, 23220. Afterwards the group plans to re-occupy Richmond by occupying Monroe Park.

ALWAYS FREE - the African American Studies Community Course, Wednesdays at Richmond Public Library, 6:30-8:30 pm. Tonight: Franz Fanon and Amos Wilson’s Blueprint for Decolonizing the African Mind: Practical Approaches to Solving Problems of Psychological Oppression featuring Mark Bolden, Ph.D. Psychologist, Denver Public Schools and Private Consultant, Loyola Marymount University