COMMUNITY CONVERSATION SERIES . . . Tuesday, October 6, 2009, “Black-White Dialogues” will continue a series of Conversations meant to increase mutual understanding and respect between Black and White members of the OMAHA community. The Dialogues are from 7:00 to 9:00pm, at First Central Congregational Church, 421 South 36th Street. This week’s speakers will be Ed Leahy and City Councilman Franklin Thompson, discussing “Cultural Norms and Stereotypes.” For more information, click here.

ENCOUNTERING CHINA . . . Tuesday, October 6, 2009. 7:00pm, Kaiser Kuo will present the EN Thompson Forum on World Issues at Lied Center for Performing Arts, 301 North 12 Street, Lincoln. The Lewis E. Harris Lecture on Public Policy is titled “Shouting Across the Chasm: Chinese and American Netizens Clash in Cyberspace.”

LINCOLN PEACE VIGILS . . . Lincoln peace vigils continue at the Federal Building, 15th and O streets, every Wednesday from 5:00 to 6:00pm. Contact Mark at 402-499-6672 or e-mail mark [at] weddleton [dot] com for more information.

HUMAN RIGHTS IN PALESTINE . . . Wednesday, October 7, 2009, Jonathan Kuttab will appear at the UN-L City campus Union, 1400 R Street, Lincoln, at 5:00pm. Room will be posted. Kuttab is a Palestinian human rights lawyer and activist. He studied in the US, is a member of the United States Bar Association, and returned to Israel/Palestine to join the Israeli Bar Association as well as the Palestinian Bar Association. He was a negotiator at the Cairo Peace Talks. He will be speaking on human rights and his life as an activist.

OMAHA PEACE VIGILS . . . Omaha peacemakers vigil every Wednesday, 4:30-5:30pm, at StratCom/UN-O, 6801 Pine Street, east of the Scott Technology Center on the Un-O campus. Free parking is available at the NE Corner of 67th Street and Pine in a student lot. For more information, phone Jerry Ebner, 402.502.5887. Every Saturday, 1:00-2:00pm, there is an Anti-War and Peace Vigil at 72nd and Dodge Streets. Contact Steve Horn at 402.426.9068.

OMAHA PEOPLE’S FILM FESTIVAL . . . There is a People’s Film Festival every Wednesday evening, 7:00pm, at McFoster’s Natural Kind Cafe, 38th and Harney in Omaha. The event is always free and open to the public. This week’s film is IOUSA.  Food and drink is available. A lively discussion follows each showing. For more information, click here.  The People’s Film Festival – Expanding Political Consciousness Since 2004.

HUNGRY CLUB NEWS . . . Wednesday, October 7, 2009, The Hungry Club of Omaha will meet at Big Mama’s Kitchen, 45th & Bedford, at noon. The speaker will be Tor Mach Kuet, Director of the Southern Sudan Community Association. From south Sudan, Mr. Kuet has lived in Omaha since 1996. He will discuss the immigrant situation locally and nationally, with emphasis on the plight of Sudanese genocide.  For more information, contact Preston Love Jr. at 402.812.3324.

STRAW-BALE TOUR IN WEST CENTRAL NEBRASKA . . . Pre-registration and payment is required no later than Thursday, October 8, for a tour of two straw-bale buildings on Saturday, October 10, 2009. The tour will leave Lincoln at 8:00am, returning between 6:30 and 7:00pm. Those who wish to drive their own cars may join the tour at the Cozad site where an open house is scheduled from 9:00am to 4:00pm. For more information, and to register for the tour by van or drive along, call Joyce at 402.483.5135 and leave a message, or e-mail jc10508 [at] windstream [dot] net. All fees will be donated to The Green Prairie Foundation for Sustainability in support of The Last Straw, an international journal of straw-bale and natural building.

ANTELOPE VALLEY: AN UPDATE . . . Glenn Johnson, General Manager of the Lower Platte South Natural Resources District, will be the guest speaker at this month’s Wachiska Audubon general meeting, Thursday, October 8, 2009, 7:00pm at Union College Dick Administration Building, 3800 South 48th Street, Room 03, lower level, Lincoln. Learn about the three components of Antelope Valley development: flood control, transporation enhancement, and community revitalization, at the free presentation, open to the public.

JAMES LOEWEN AT UN-O . . . Thursday, October 8, 2009, 6:00 to 8:00pm, best-selling author of Lies My Teacher Told Me, James Loewen, will speak at the UN-O Thompson Alumni Center, 6001 Dodge Street, OMAHA. The event is free and open to the public. For more information contact the UN-O Department of Black Studies, 554.2412.

JAMES LOEWEN AT UN-L . . . Author, sociologist and historian James Loewen will speak at UN-L on Friday, October 9, 2009, 7:00 to 9:00pm, in the City Campus Union Auditorium, 1400 R Street, Lincoln. Loewen will speak on topics covered in his best selling book, “Lies My Teacher Told Me,” answer questions, and sign books following the lecture. The event is free and open to the public.

FALL CLEAN-UP . . . The Lincoln City Parks Department has endorsed a Free Drop Off of limbs, brush and logs on Saturday, October 10, 2009, 8:00am to noon, at 2200 South Folsom Court. The site is located west of Highway 77 off of West South Street. Phone David Ensign at the Urban Development Department, 402.441.7864, with any questions.

ORGANIZING FOR BETTER TOMORROWS . . . Saturday, October 10, 2009, 8:00am to 6:30pm, the second annual Nebraska Student Organizing Conference, “Organizing for Better Tomorrows,” will take place at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln City Campus Union, 1400 R Street. Breakfast, lunch, and a light snack will be provided. The Conference is open to all. To pre-register online, click here.

CONFLICT TRANSFORMATION SEMINARS . . . Must conflicts between people and nations inevitably lead to broken relationships, strife, and violence?  Daniel Buttry, Global Consultant for Peace and Justice with the American Baptist Churches, will talk about conflict transformation and its biblical roots in two free seminars at First Mennonite Church, 7300 Holdrege Street, Lincoln on Sunday, October 11, 2009, 7:00pm – The Bible and Conflict Transforming Initiatives; and Wednesday, October 14, 7:00pm – Mainstreams and Margins, Two Roles in Conflict. For more information, including a schedule of additional Sunday morning presentations, click here.

WHEN MARSHES MEET PRAIRIES . . . Tallgrass prairies reach the height of their beauty this time of year. Sunday, October 11, 2009, John Carlini will lead a Field Trip exploring meadow prairies bordering wetlands in the area of The Nature Conservancy’s Little Salt Fork Marsh Preserve.  Meet at 8:00am in the parking area. The Preserve is located east of Raymond on the north side of Raymond Road, several blocks west of First Street. Phone 475.7275 with any questions.

BUY FRESH. BUY LOCAL . . . . Join the local food revolution by shopping farmer’s markets and eating fresh foods grown in or very near your own community. Eating locally grows family farming, grows the local economy, and is thousands of miles fresher. Click here for Nebraska Buy Fresh. Buy Local. information. Lincoln’s current Markets are as follows:

Old Cheney Farmers Market, 55th Street and Old Cheney Road, 10:00am to 2:00pm, Sundays through November 1.
Havelock Farmers Market, north parking lot behind businesses between 62nd and 63rd streets and Havelock Avenue, 3:00 to 6:30pm, Wednesdays through October 28.
Piedmont Farmers Market, 1265 South Cotner Blvd., parking lot of Piedmont Shopping Center, 8:00am to noon, Saturdays through September/October.
Click here for a map of local Community CROPS gardens.

We are no longer the alternative; we are the imperative. –Rosa Clemente