March is Human Rights Month in Skagit County.

Events:

SVC Art Gallery – Lee Mann exhibition – March 2012

We honor Lee Mann for his art and for the commitment he demonstrated for human rights in his letters to the editor of the Skagit Valley Herald – both art and letters will be on display. The art opening will be Thursday March 1 at 5pm in the multi-purpose room on the Skagit Valley College campus. The exhibit will feature glimpses of Lee Mann’s personal life, his nature photography, and a book of his letters.

Lincoln Theatre Gallery – Human Rights Art Display – March 2012

During the month of March, the Lincoln Theatre art gallery will host a Human Rights Display by local Skagit Valley artists.

An opening for this event will take place on Friday, March 2nd from 5 -7 pm at the Lincoln Theatre in downtown Mount Vernon. The Human Rights Display will be up throughout the month of March in conjunction with the Skagit Human Rights Festival.

Local artists may submit their work for consideration to Pirjo Pasanen at the Lincoln Theatre. Contact her at pirjo@firemednet.org. Art must be related to the four topics for this event: corporations, civil liberties, water, and labor.

Thursday, March 8, 2012 – Phillip Tarro Theatre on SVC campus, 7 PM

Corporations and the Rise of Occupy

We’ll start the evening with a panel of people who have been involved with Occupy movements in Bellingham and Anacortes, and close with a film screening of the 2010 Academy  Award-winning documentary on the climate of financial corruption that contributed to the economic collapse of the housing market, Inside Job.

Thursday, March 15, 2012 – Phillip Tarro Theatre on SVC campus, 7 PM

Civil liberties – Why we ALL should fear E-verify

         When we hear “E-verify” we may think of immigrants, but Alaska’s super-lawyer since 2007, Lt. Col. Margaret Stock (ret.) will explain why we ALL should fear E-Verify.

Lt. Col. Margaret Stock. Margaret (ret.) has a law degree from Harvard, is a retired military officer, and taught from 2001 – 2010 at West Point. She is currently an adjunct instructor of Political Science at the University of Alaska Anchorage.  Margaret has written and testified before Congress on immigration and citizenship matters and spoken about national security. Margaret has won many awards – one being the 2008 American Immigration Lawyers Association Pro-Bono award and since 2007 has been Alaska’s Super Lawyer.

Links to articles about E-verify by others:

http://www.rutherford.org/articles_db/commentary.asp?record_id=731 (Rutherford Institute–conservative think tank)

http://dailycaller.com/2011/09/13/e-verify-threatens-americans-privacy-livelihoods/

Thursday, March 22, 2012 – Lincoln Theatre – 7 PM

Defending Water

Local activists to show the film  Tapped that relates to the proposed Anacortes bottling plant that will be entitled up to five million gallons per day of Skagit River water through 2050. Sandra Spargo, from Defending Water in Washington, which is part of the Alliance for Democracy, will introduce the documentary, share how it relates to Anacortes’ contract with Tethys and answer questions afterward.

http://www.skagitcounty.net/Common/asp/default.asp?d=EnvisionSkagit&c=General&P=reports.htm

Thursday, March 29, 2012 – Lincoln Theatre – 7 PM

Labor – Two short labor films will be shown – We are the ILWU and Eyes on the Fries. The first film recognizes that a decent job, free of discrimination, is a human right and that unity is the key to social and economic justice for all. The second film is about the service sector economy and the young people who work in it – the McJob economy.

The evening will also include Jeff Johnson, President of Washington State Labor Council, speaking about how unions continue to champion the rights of all workers, organized or not. Finally, there will be a panel of young activists including Anita Nath – Puget Sound Alliance for Retired Americans, Alex Stone – Economic Opportunity Institute and WA Yell (Washington Young Emerging Labor Leaders), and Kamaria Hightower—WSLC and WA YELL. The panel will talk about the importance of organizing and the need for involvement in the struggle for a fair and safe workplace as well as respect for workers and adequate compensation.

As labor is vilified in some political circles, join us for an evening to learn about the importance of unions. They brought us child labor laws and a 40 hour, 5 day work week. What is happening with them today?

8^th Annual – March 2011

Art* Film*Community

at Skagit Valley College and the Lincoln Theatre

Keep checking here for updates on this year’s Festival and related events. Please email us with questions at:

skagithrf(at) gmail(dot)com