Resistance for Coexistance

Voices for Palestine, a student organization at the University of Kansas, will be cosponsoring a two day conference with the Hip Hop Indigenous People Project on the 25th and 26th of March at both Haskell Indian Nation University and the University of Kansas.

It will be a multi-faceted event, involving workshops by activists and artists from the Indigenous Youth Delegation to Palestine Team, and culminating in a special screening of the documentary "Slingshot Hip Hop," a film that "braids together the stories of young Palestinians living in the West Bank, Gaza and inside Israel as they discover Hip Hop and employ it as a tool to surmount divisions imposed by occupation and poverty. From internal checkpoints and Separation Walls to gender norms and generational differences, this is the story of young people crossing the borders that separate them."

On Wednesday, March 25th, there will be two workshops on the campus of the University of Kansas, on the sixth floor of the Union, in the Kansas room, from noon to 2:00 p.m. and again from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. These will be interactive, multimedia workshops hip hop videos and lyrics, theater exercises, discussion, digital stories, and documentary footage to raise awareness about the struggle of the indigenous people of Palestine while empowering indigenous students in the U.S. to articulate and address their own connections to the issues of colonialism, racism, occupation, and resistance. More on the workshops can be found at www.thinkpalestineact.org.

The team is a veritable all-star roster of activists, and includes Jennifer Mogannam, from the Middle East Children's Alliance; Ross Cunningham, from SNAG Magazine; Aurora Castellanos, from Huaxtec Youth Organization; and Ora Wise, from the Palestine Education Project, who is also a co-producer of the film.

On the Evening of Thursday, March 26th, at the auditorium on Haskell Indian Nations University campus, there will be a screening of Slingshot Hip Hop, followed by Q&A with Ora Wise, co-producer. The doors will open at 6:30, there will be a DJ, concessions and tables with literature and information - the movie will start @ 7:30.

This is not an event to miss! So mark your calendars now, spread the word and plan on attending!!! Copy and paste this everywhere you think eyes will see it!

In peace & with justice,
Joshua