Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Supporting Radical Sistaz.


Hey Food for Thought Community,

I wanted to share this link because it's a collection of radical sistaz that are working hard to support liberation and justice through their own truth-telling work:


http://truthandhealingproject.wordpress.com/solidarity-call-supporting-other-sistaz-in-telling-their-truths/

Also, this is a personal call to support The Expatriate Amplification Project―written and composed by Lenelle Moise―the cd will feature 12 tracks of powerful, narrative, lyrically engaging all-vocal music created with two big voices, two cool loop machines and a whole lot of heart. Lenelle sings! And so does Karla Mosley, a rising star of the stage and screen. One audience member described their sound as “post-civil rights chants/neo-Africanistic funk.” They are currently in the fundraising process to get this project off the ground. She has already raised 5,062.00 of her 5,500.00 goal. She has 12 hours left to raise the rest! So please help do your share to make this project happen and get really cool stuff while you’re at it:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/lenellemoise/the-expatriate-amplification-project


Thanks, in advance for checking it out!
paz y light.
-tk

Saturday, December 19, 2009

Valley Green Feast - A Workers' Collective

Please give a warm welcome and offer your support to a new workers' collective in the valley: Valley Green Feast!

Here's some info about who they are and what they do along with how they recently became a collective:
Valley Green Feast is a delivery service that brings fresh, local, organic food to your door each week beginning January 8th with two special December deliveries coming up.  Valley Green Feast fosters a more sustainable community and provides Pioneer Valley residents an affordable, convenient way to eat healthy and locally grown food.  By using this service you are supporting more than 15 local farms and businesses. We choose local, organic products, which are better for the land, and cut down drastically on emission and fuel consumption.

After two years of business Valley Green Feast founder Jessica Harwood was hired for a job she has wanted for years.  Jessica, along with Maggie Shar, Molly Merrett and Danya Teitelbaum have taken on the business and are now running Valley Green Feast as a worker owned collective.  See our website for our December delivery specials and also any help spreading the word is greatly appreciated.

Eat delicious, healthy food! Support our local economy! Support a new worker's collective in your community! And have it all come to your door!

Thanks for your support!
Maggie Shar, Jessica Harwood, Danya Teitelbaum,  and Molly Merrett

Friday, December 18, 2009

Help Save the Toronto Women's Bookstore

wow, it's just not a good year for bookstores, is it?

The Toronto Women's Bookstore is in crisis and we need your help!
Independent businesses and bookstores have been closing their doors this year, and after 36 years it is possible that we will have to do the same if we are not able to raise enough money to survive. TWB is one of the only remaining non-profit feminist bookstores in North America, but despite all of the events, courses, workshops, community resources and additional services we offer, the fact that we are a store means that we do not receive any outside funding and rely entirely on sales and the support of our customers to stay in business.... read more
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- Toronto Women's Bookstore on the Brink -Torontoist
- Women's bookstore seeks cash to stay afloat -Globe & Mail

Monday, December 7, 2009

Lambda Rising Bookstores to Close

From our friends at Shelf Awareness we note this story about the closing of Lambda Rising, founded in 1974 as one of the first LBGT bookstores in the country:

Sad news: Lambda Rising, the gay and lesbian bookstore with locations in Washington, D.C., and Rehoboth Beach, Del., will shut down in early January. The stores have started holiday sales and will hold liquidation sales after Christmas.

In a long statement, Deacon Maccubbin, who owns the store with his husband, Jim Bennett, put the closing in a positive light, saying that when he founded Lambda Rising in 1974, it was virtually impossible to find gay books in general bookstores or libraries. "We thought if we could show that there was a demand for our literature, that bookstores could be profitable selling it, we could encourage the writing and publishing of glbt books, and sooner or later other bookstores would put those books on their own shelves and there would be less need for a specifically gay and lesbian bookstore. Today 35 years later, nearly every general bookstore carries glbt books, often featuring them in special sections."

He added: "But the book market has been changing dramatically, the GLBT community has been making progress by leaps and bounds, and 35 years is enough time for any person to devote to any one thing. It's just time to move on."

The first Lambda Rising stocked 250 books in a 300-sq.-ft. room in a townhouse in Washington. In the beginning, the store was harassed and Maccubbin was unable to advertise in the Washington Post or the Yellow Pages, which would not run ads that used the words "gay" or "lesbian." Lambda Rising also hosted the first five Gay Pride Days in Washington before giving it to a nonprofit foundation. The event now draws more than 200,000 people a year. Besides the Rehoboth Beach store, Lambda also opened stores in Baltimore, Md., and Norfolk, Va.; purchased (and later sold) the Oscar Wilde Bookshop in New York City; began the Lambda Book Report; and founded the Lammy Awards, which are now run by the Lambda Literary Foundation.

Jim Bennett commented: "I spent 20 years working in Lambda Rising and it was a marvelous experience. The store has touched the lives of so many people--it was never just a bookstore, but always so much more. Every day I went to work there, I knew I was doing something that made a difference.
Farewell, Lambda Rising! You will be missed.

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Pioneer Valley Local First on Channel 40

Pioneer Valley Local First, of which our very own Mitch Gaslin is a part, has produced a guide of more than 220 locally-owned and independently-operated businesses, just in time for the holidays. They're free & are available here at Food For Thought Books, as well as many other local aea businesses.

It recently got a nice profile on WGGB Channel 40 recently. Check it out:




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