tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-319024092024-02-28T08:04:38.161-06:00Bughouse Square Debates: Saturday, July 25, 2009Take it to the park!Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger29125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31902409.post-46825543434793352762009-07-28T13:07:00.001-05:002009-07-28T13:07:22.023-05:00Memorial Tribute text from Saturday, July 25The four people we remember today, Studs Terkel, Leon Despres, Judith Krug, and Franklin Rosemont, shared a bold commitment to free speech. And all of them stood up for free speech in this park, Bughouse Square. <br /><br />Studs Terkel was a Pulitzer-Prize-winning author, radio broadcast personality, listener, and activist. But he was also a soapbox speaker. Studs Terkel was one of the lively, free-spirited people who energized Washington Square Park and made it Bughouse Square. He spoke on the soapboxes before many of us here today were born, and, in the 1980s, he helped revive Bughouse Square as an annual event with the Newberry Library.<br /><br />Leon Despres, Chicago Alderman and activist, and outspoken critic of Mayor Richard J. Daley, embodied free speech. While serving as Alderman for the 5th Ward from 1955 until 1975, Despres opposed Daley and often found himself the lone dissenting vote on the Chicago City Council. He fought against the Daley patronage machine, and for civil rights and open housing. And like other politically active and civic-minded Chicagoans, Despres was a soapboxer at Bughouse Square.<br /><br />Judith Krug, librarian and advocate for First Amendment rights, founded the American Library Association’s Banned Books Week and led the ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom for more than 40 years. She led legal challenges to laws that attempted to censor books and people’s access to books, many of which were argued all the way to the United States Supreme Court. In 2004 she held the ALA’s Banned Books Week kickoff event in Bughouse Square. <br /><br />Franklin Rosemont, surrealist poet and labor historian, contributed to Chicago’s long history of leftist activism. He sustained the radical Chicago publishing house Charles H. Kerr, helped revive Bughouse Square in the 1990s, and researched and wrote on the history of Chicago’s labor movement, including the history of Bughouse Square. His writing emphasized the countercultural and artistic influence of the labor movement.<br /><br />Today, we honor their memories with a moment of silence.<br /><br />And we keep their spirits alive by speaking out!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31902409.post-21631137444990173822009-07-28T13:04:00.003-05:002009-07-28T13:06:48.111-05:00Soapbox WinnerLina Thorne and Mars Caulton, “Abortion on Demand and Without Apology” were this year's Soapbox Debate winners. Chosen by the judges, Dave Anderson, McCormick Foundation, Madeline Nusser, TimeOut Chicago, and Suzanne Niemoth, Flavorpill Chicago, the winners received a $25 gift certificate to Manny's restaurant. <br />Jorge Mujica, “Enhance Immigrants’ Rights”, came in second.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31902409.post-54520533560393030302009-07-09T10:57:00.005-05:002009-07-22T16:54:54.549-05:00List of Soapbox DebatersThis year's soapbox debate topics include: <br /><br />Soapbox Speeches<br />Soapbox speeches run no longer than fifteen minutes; all three soapboxes run simultaneously.<br /><br />Soapbox 1<br />2:30 pm Jorge Mujica, “Enhance Immigrants’ Rights”<br /><br />2:45 pm Nora Rowley, "The Use of Religion as a Weapon in Burma/Myanmar" <br /><br />3:00 pm Haroon Rashid, “Jean Baptiste Pointe DuSable: Chicago’s Most Underappreciated Historic Figure”<br /><br />3:15 pm The Parking Ticket Geek, “Chicago’s Parking Debacle”<br /><br />Soapbox 2<br />2:30 pm Rob Sherman, “Stop Unconstitutional Donations of Your Tax Dollars to Houses of Worship”<br /><br />2:45 pm Erwin Lutzer, “The Resurrection of Jesus: Why All Historians Should Agree He Rose From the Dead”<br /><br />3:00 pm Tom Tresser, "Chicago 2016 Olympics - Biggest Disaster since to Hit Chicago Since the Great Fire!"<br /><br />3:15 pm Stephanie Velasco, “No One Should Be Caged: Amnesty International USA's Campaign for Immigrant Rights” <br /><br /><br />Soapbox 3<br />2:30 pm Herbert Caplan, “Artificial Turf is Poison: Chicago's Park District Is Responsible, The Victim Is You" <br /><br />2:45 pm Michael Mackaplow, “A Politically Incorrect Recipe for a Fair and Prosperous Society”<br /><br />3:00 pm Lina Thorne and Mars Caulton, “Abortion on Demand and Without Apology” <br /><br />3:15 pm Raven Tillman, “Speech is Change”Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31902409.post-33548593947104935152009-07-01T09:16:00.001-05:002009-07-01T09:18:08.058-05:00Schedule of Events for Saturday, July 25<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCAOV9bJvcQMYIpcJWiNTEBd-ZhgQJqLYAodiOhQqd_2WpQztXGUpKPf5SYqO8y0w3Oe5MgKa7IvKTU0fOurvpSVqzXszdi-v20uporlP_Oar9RSpjg7DwpHHflJEdYpQTTd5j/s1600-h/Bughouse+Square+2007+Soap+Box+%232+Edwin+Yohnka+with+protesters.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCAOV9bJvcQMYIpcJWiNTEBd-ZhgQJqLYAodiOhQqd_2WpQztXGUpKPf5SYqO8y0w3Oe5MgKa7IvKTU0fOurvpSVqzXszdi-v20uporlP_Oar9RSpjg7DwpHHflJEdYpQTTd5j/s320/Bughouse+Square+2007+Soap+Box+%232+Edwin+Yohnka+with+protesters.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353495831659839314" /></a><br /><br /><br />9 am – Complimentary yoga presented in Washington Square Park by lululemon athletica<br /><br />10 am – Book Fair opens<br /><br />10:30 am –Complimentary kids’ yoga presented in Washington Square Park by Get Healthy Chicago<br /><br />12 pm - Meet the Author: Alex Kotlowitz (book signing) <br /><br />12:50 pm – Live Music by Black Bear Combo<br /><br />1 pm – Rick Kogan Welcome <br /><br />1:15 pm – Presentation of the Altgeld award to Barb Thill<br /><br />1:35 pm – Main debate (Lincoln vs. Douglas) <br /><br />2:15 pm –Memorial tributes to Studs Terkel, Leon Despres, Franklin Rosemont and Judith Krug. <br /><br />2:30 pm – Soapbox Debates<br /><br />3:45 pm – Dil Pickle award presented<br /><br />6 pm – Book Fair closes for the dayUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31902409.post-56380494988314764012009-06-30T11:08:00.000-05:002009-06-30T11:10:03.451-05:00Bughouse 2009Exercise your First Amendment rights and relive the exciting public debates that immortalized Washington Square Park. Join the Freedom Museum, the Newberry Library, and the Poetry Foundation, for music and lively debates on current issues, and engage in some good-natured heckling with the crowd. This year, relive the Lincoln-Douglas debates in honor of the Lincoln Bicentennial, and get your photo taken with Lincoln and Douglas. Author Alex Kotlowitz will sign his books before the debates, from 12-1pm, and Rick Kogan will MC this exciting day of activities and speakers.<br /><br />Make a day of it for your family at the park! Before the debates, Get Healthy Chicago's Chris Nassivera will be teaching a complimentary Kid's Yoga class outside the Newberry Library from 10:30-11:30am on Saturday, July 25th. An adult yoga class will be held at 9 am.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31902409.post-64148403320559811662009-06-29T14:54:00.001-05:002009-06-29T14:56:24.591-05:00Rick Kogan MC<a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/columnists/chi-rickkogan,0,4123397.columnist">Rick Kogan</a>, author, Chicago Tribune columnist and radio personality, is this year's MC.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31902409.post-31468438248571066202009-04-23T14:31:00.001-05:002009-04-23T14:31:36.173-05:002009Planning for the 2009 Festival is underway. Stay tuned for more details.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31902409.post-37205942279424753822008-08-06T15:28:00.003-05:002008-08-06T15:34:49.744-05:00Bughouse Media CoverageRelive the day by listening to <em>Chicago Amplified's </em>recording of the Bughouse Square Debates. Go to <a href="http://www.chicagopublicradio.org/Content.aspx?audioID=27206">http://www.chicagopublicradio.org/Content.aspx?audioID=27206</a>.<br /><br />The <em>Wall Street Journal's </em>online story of the event is also available. Go to <a href="http://www.wsj.com">www.wsj.com</a>, scroll down and click on "see all video offerings" in the Video Center Section. Choose "Chicagoans Get on Their Soapbox".Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31902409.post-65710974207090511472008-07-22T11:32:00.000-05:002008-07-22T11:33:37.495-05:00Bughouse Schedule UpdatesScott Speegle, Operations Director of Illinois, Obama Campaign, will be speaking opposite Pat Brady or Julie Brady for the McCain Campaign at 1:00 pm on Saturday, July 26.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31902409.post-55052785440189490682008-07-21T21:43:00.002-05:002008-07-21T21:54:44.553-05:00The Dil Pickle Club<span style="font-size:100%;"><b>THE <span class="nfakPe">DIL</span> <span class="nfakPe">PICKLE</span> CLUB TO BE REVIVED AT THE ZEBRA LOUGE</b><br /><b><i><br />Radical "Chicago Renaissance" nightspot will be resurrected by editors of </i>Lumpen<i> and</i><i> </i>Stop Smiling<i>, following the Newberry Library's Bughouse Square Debates in Washington Square Park.</i></b><br /><br /><b>Chicago</b>—<b>The <span class="nfakPe">Dil</span> <span class="nfakPe">Pickle</span> Club</b> is scheduled to resume activities on Saturday, July 26, 2008, at the Zebra Lounge in the heart of Chicago's Gold Coast neighborhood. Editors from <i>Lumpen</i><i> and Stop Smiling</i> magazines have programmed a night in tribute to the historic </span> and <span class="nfakPe" style="font-size:100%;">Dil</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span><span class="nfakPe" style="font-size:100%;">Pickle</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> Club (</span><span class="nfakPe" style="font-size:100%;">Dil</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> with one L!) featuring "short speaking" about the history of "hobohemia" and topics of controversy, new writing, piano cabaret, and performance art.<br /><br /><b>What</b>:<br />The </span> <span class="nfakPe" style="font-size:100%;">Dil</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span><span class="nfakPe" style="font-size:100%;">Pickle</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> Club<br /><br /><b>Where</b>:<br />The Zebra Lounge<br />1220 N. State Pkwy<br />Chicago<br />[Clark/Division Redline or several CTA Bus Routes]<br /><br /><b>When</b>:<br />Saturday, July 26, 5 PM to 8 PM<br /><br /><b>Features</b>:<br />Free Admission, Live Music by Tom King Clear, Short Speaking by Gale Aherns, New Writing by Michael Marcinkowski, Picture Show by Robin Hustle, Performance Art by Matthew Nicholas and Eric Warner, and Surprises.<br /><br />Created by local artists, musicians, writers, and organizers, the </span> <span class="nfakPe" style="font-size:100%;">Dil</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span><span class="nfakPe" style="font-size:100%;">Pickle</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> Club invites interested parties to mingle and participate in a series of art parties without boundaries. The first happening will occur after the Newberry Library's Bughouse Square Debates in Washington Square Park, down the street at the legendary Zebra Lounge piano bar.<br /><br /><b>Admission is free. For more information e-mail <a href="mailto:dilpickleclub@gmail.com" target="_blank">dilpickleclub@gmail.com</a>.</b><br /><br />***<br /><br /><b>About the <span class="nfakPe">Dil</span> <span class="nfakPe">Pickle</span> Club</b><br />Founded in 1914 by former Wobbly Jack Jones, Jim Larkin, and the cadre of Industrial Workers of the World (I.W.W.) and the Charles H. Kerr Company—and made famous by "clap doctor" Ben Reitman—the </span> <span class="nfakPe" style="font-size:100%;">Dil</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span><span class="nfakPe" style="font-size:100%;">Pickle</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> Club became known as the controversial center of the "Chicago Renaissance." Writers Sherwood Anderson, Carl Sandburg, Djuna Barnes, William Carlos Williams, Vachel Lindsay, and Kenneth Rexroth, mingled with radicals, unemployed workers, prostitutes, gangsters, and slumming Gold Coast socialites at the famed "</span><span class="nfakPe" style="font-size:100%;">Pickle</span><span style="font-size:100%;">." The irreverent spirit of the </span><span class="nfakPe" style="font-size:100%;">Dil</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span><span class="nfakPe" style="font-size:100%;">Pickle</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> Club was illustrated by the motto emblazoned on the club's door: "Step High, Stoop Low, Leave Your Dignity Outside."<br /><br />Although its original location (reached by squeezing "Thru the Hole in the Wall Down Tooker Alley, to the Green Lite Over the Orange Door") is long gone, the new </span> <span class="nfakPe" style="font-size:100%;">Dil</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span><span class="nfakPe" style="font-size:100%;">Pickle</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> Club will meet three times yearly, in July, November, and March, featuring works by Chicago artists and their international cohorts.<br /><br /><b>About <i>Lumpen</i></b><br /><i>Lumpen</i> is a family arts, politics, and culture magazine based out of Chicago. Visit <a href="http://lumpen.com/" target="_blank">lumpen.com</a><br /><br /><b>About <i>Stop Smiling</i></b><br /><i>Stop Smiling</i> is the magazine for high-minded lowlifes, a bimonthly arts & culture publication based in Chicago and New York City. Visit <a href="http://stopsmilingonline.com/" target="_blank">stopsmilingonline.com</a><br /></span>Fred Sasakihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14911948831746997397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31902409.post-87816357651816541592008-07-21T15:51:00.001-05:002008-07-21T15:54:18.852-05:00Two New Soapbox DebatersWe just confirmed two new Soapbox speakers today: <br /><br /><strong>Enrique Perez</strong>, The Arrogance of Power: Why the Local Stuff is Also Important. Enrique Perez is an active member of his neighborhood, South Loop. In addition to publishing the weekly "Enrique's Community Updates," he is on the board of the Dearborn Park Advisory Council.<br /><br /><strong>Herb Caplan</strong>, Who Is Stealing Our Parks? Herb Caplan was a long-time trial attorney for the City of Chicago. He is volunteer counsel for <a href="http://www.protectourparks.org">Protect Our Parks</a> (www.protectourparks.org <http://www.protectourparks.org/>). He will be talking about Protect Our Parks' efforts to stop the Park District from turning public lands over to private interests. Specifically, he will describe their recent lawsuit against the Park District and the Latin School for building an artificial turf soccer field in Lincoln Park.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31902409.post-39418462562022351732008-06-23T10:30:00.009-05:002008-07-22T16:01:05.977-05:002008 Schedule of Events!<p class="ListParagraph" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Noon – Official welcome<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="ListParagraph" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:100%;">12:15 - Presentation of the Altgeld Award to Dawn Sherman, a student from Buffalo Grove High School who spoke out against a mandatory Moment of Silence</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="ListParagraph" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:100%;">12:35 - Main Debate with Representative John A. Fritchey vs. Joseph Morris</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="ListParagraph" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="ListParagraph" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:100%;">1:05 - Putting the main debate in context with speakers from the Obama and McCain campaigns!<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="ListParagraph" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:100%;">1:45 - Soapbox speakers take the stage! The following speakers have been confirmed:</span></p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:100%;" ></span><ul><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" > Keith Bolin, from the American Corn Growers</span></li><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" >Allison Carter, from the ACLU-Illinois; speaking on US Torture Policy</span></li><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" >Nick Kreitman, Elmhurst College Students for a Democratic Society</span></li><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" >Jing Luo, from the American Medical Students Association; speaking on Health Care Reform</span></li><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" >Erwin Lutzer, from the Moody Church; speaking on “Why God is Not More Tolerant Than He Used To Be”</span></li><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" >Michael Mackaplow; speaking on social fairness and political correctness<br /></span></li><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" >Joseph Paschen, writer and bartender; speaking against Chicago's anti-smoking ban</span></li><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" >Paige Philips, bi-sexual activist; reading from <span style="font-style: italic;">The Grapes of Wrath</span><br /></span></li><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" >Rob Sherman; </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman";">Why the Proposed Million Dollar State Grant to Pilgrim Baptist Church is Unconstitutional<span style=""><br /></span></span></li><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" >Don Transue, architect of gunmap.org; speaking on expanded gun rights</span></li><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" >Kelly Underman, from the University of Illinois in Chicago; speaking on “Your Life Doesn’t Wait: Why Abstinence Only is Failing This Generation"</span></li></ul><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"></span><o:p></o:p></span> <p class="ListParagraph" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:100%;">3:15 - Poetry reading sponsored by the Poetry Foundation: "Let America Be America" by Langston Hughes<br /></span></p><p class="ListParagraph" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:100%;">3:30 - Dill Pickle Award presented</span></p> <p class="ListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 1.25in; text-indent: -0.25in; line-height: normal; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:times new roman;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size:100%;"></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="ListParagraph" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:100%;">3:40 - Open Mic</span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31902409.post-21431203503364640582008-03-01T17:59:00.002-06:002008-03-05T16:43:11.307-06:00"America the Wright Way" AnnouncementThe broadcast of "America the Wright Way" (formerly "Wright Across America") which includes a feature at last year's Bughouse Square Debates will air on March 24, 2008 at 7pm on the Travel Channel.<br /><br />Tune in and relive the day!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31902409.post-52873219801834630702008-02-21T16:42:00.001-06:002008-02-21T16:47:57.982-06:002008 Bughouse Square Debates!Although not many other details have been finalized, we do know the date of the next Bughouse Square Debates: Saturday, July 26, 2008! As in the past, the Debates will have music and vendors along with the beloved soapboxers, and the event will be simultaneous with the Newberry Library Book Fair, so save the date and plan to spend the day in and around Washington Square Park!<br /><br />(Are you interested in participating as a soapboxer? Write an email to programs@newberry.org and tell us why!)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31902409.post-32838308479082175442007-07-25T13:41:00.000-05:002007-07-25T13:47:28.082-05:00“WRIGHT ACROSS AMERICA” With Ian Wright at Bughouse this year!<strong>Breaking News! </strong><br /><strong></strong><br /><a href="http://www.pilotguides.com/tv_shows/globe_trekker/travelers/ian_wright.php">Ian Wright</a>, a popular face of travel familiar to millions all over the world, will be a soapboxer at this year's Bughouse Square Debates! He is in Chicago this weekend filming a new series - “WRIGHT ACROSS AMERICA” - wherein our hero will take a unique look at the USA and its most popular tourist destinations. His current series, Discovery Network’s “Globe Trekker” regularly achieves 30 million viewers worldwide.<br /><br />From the Music City to the Big Easy and Vegas to L.A. Ian’s no-nonsense style will offer a refreshing look at America and its home-grown tourism industry. In each film Ian will try to get to the heart of each city. He will meet people who will help understand each city’s unique character. The series will be broadcast, across the world on the Discovery beginning in the fall of 2007. Discovery has commissioned a series of six one-hour shows to be filmed across the USA over the next 35 weeks.<br /><br />So, join us on Saturday at 1:30 pm to hear what Ian has to say and watch the cameras roll!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31902409.post-85221877746049058792007-07-23T13:11:00.000-05:002007-07-23T13:13:44.891-05:00Bughouse Schedule is up!TAKE IT TO THE PARK!<br />THE NEWBERRY LIBRARY<br />BUGHOUSE SQUARE DEBATES<br />IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE MCCORMICK TRIBUNE FREEDOM MUSEUM AND THE POETRY FOUNDATION<br /><br />SATURDAY<br />JULY 28, 2007, NOON TO 4:00 PM<br /><br /><br />Noon: Black Bear Combo Marching Band<br /><br />Walt Whitman “I Sing the Body Electric” performed by<br />three outstanding Chicago area participants in “Poetry Out Loud,”<br />The Poetry Foundation’s National Poetry Recitation Contest for High School Students.<br /><br />OPENING REMARKS<br />12:45 PM<br />Cindy Mitchell, Mayor of Bughouse Square<br /><br />JOHN PETER ALTGELD AWARD PRESENTATION<br />TO JORGE MÚJICA, IMMIGRANT RIGHTS ACTIVIST<br />1:00 pm<br /><br />SOAPBOX SESSIONS<br />1:30 PM<br />Each Soap box orator gets about fifteen minutes. All three soapboxes run simultaneously.<br /><br />Soap Box 1<br />Speaker 1 - Erwin Lutzer, Jesus in the Spin Zone: Why the Early Church Got It Right<br /><br />Speaker 2 - Gale Ahrens, In the Spirit of Surrealism, Overthrow Everything!<br /><br />Speaker 3 – Keith Bolin, How Far from Farm to Fork? Local Food Systems and Your Health<br /><br /><br />Soap Box 2<br /><br />Speaker 1 – Bob Matter, Car-sicko: A Prescription for Socialized Transportation<br /><br />Speaker 2 – KittenINFINITE, Don’t Legalize Prostitution. Decriminalize It.<br /><br />Speaker 3 – Edwin Yohnka, Why Defend the Offensive?: The Importance of Free Speech<br /><br /><br />Soap Box 3<br /><br />Speaker 1 – Michael Silverstein – Electoral Justice for The Supremes!<br /><br />Speaker 2 – Steve Dale, Do Dogs Belong in Café Society?<br /><br />Speaker 3 – Rebecca Steinmetz, Why Your Neighborhood Needs a Sex Shop<br /><br /><br />MAIN DEBATE: Voter Slam<br />3:00 pm<br /><br />Immigration Reform: Build a wall, offer amnesty or do nothing?<br />Staged by the Bread and Butter Forum and Second City<br />Co-hosted by BBF founder Marj Halperin and Second City regular Jordan Klepper.<br /><br />The Voter Slam format invites people to answer the question in 90 seconds. Speakers are invited to consider immigration reform in the context of economic security for working Americans.<br /><br />To participate in or attend future Voter Slams, e-mail <a href="mailto:voterslam@aol.com">voterslam@aol.com</a>. For more information on BBF, visit <a href="http://www.breadandbutterforum.org/">http://www.breadandbutterforum.org/</a>.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31902409.post-31829375926166280792007-07-18T09:46:00.000-05:002007-07-18T09:48:47.846-05:00Newberry Library Bughouse Square Debates Honors Activist Jorge MújicaThe Newberry Library’s Bughouse Square Committee is proud to present the 2007 Altgeld Freedom of Speech Award to Jorge Mújica in recognition of his role in the struggle for the human and civil rights of non-citizens and for fair and just immigration reform.<br /><br />Each year the award goes to a courageous defender of free speech and ideas. The Award is named for the former Illinois Governor (1892-96) who sacrificed his political career by pardoning Haymarket anarchists who had been condemned in 1887 for their words rather than their deeds. <br /><br />Read the entire <a href="http://www.newberry.org/media/AltgeldAward2007.html">press release</a> on the Newberry's Web site. Join us for the award ceremony on Saturday, July 28.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31902409.post-36407130250878693322007-07-14T19:19:00.000-05:002007-07-15T15:39:27.513-05:00<span style="font-family: times new roman;font-size:85%;" >The Bughouse Square Debates is <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_domain">public domain</a>. You can come and scream your head off if you want (see the following post for details). This year things will begin with three <a href="http://www.poetryoutloud.org/">Poetry Out Loud</a> National Recitation Finalists reciting from memory <a href="http://www.poetryfoundation.org/archive/poem.html?id=174740">“I Sing the Body Electric”</a> by Walt Whitman. The poem was part of his lifework </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: times new roman;font-size:85%;" >Leaves of Grass</span><span style="font-family: times new roman;font-size:85%;" >, once in Boston deemed obscene literature and pressured for censorship. But Whitman being Whitman refused to think of it under any circumstance. And the rest of course is <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_Whitman">history</a>. Now the poem is by law in the public domain and free at a click. How would Whitman have loved the Internet?<br /><br />What I can answer is that the poem is the first I loved, as a circulation assistant (page, as we were called and called pulling books from the closed, cold stacks) in the General Reading Room of the Newberry Library. We called ourselves <a href="http://www.vinland.org/scamp/monkey/pix/saminsuit.jpg">Space Monkeys</a>. This is where I had my best education, serving book after book alongside a team of the best finger-licking good friends I could hope for. While the genealogists dug in lineage, we tapped another in the mine of the <a href="http://www.newberry.org/collections/L3ccolldesc.html">library</a>. And in afternoons in <a href="http://www.chicagoparkdistrict.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/parks.detail/object_id/903ED439-8529-4E2B-951B-83E060D96BBF.cfm">Washington Square Park</a>. And hours after hours in the <a href="http://www.chicagobarproject.com/Reviews/Zebra/Zebra.htm">Zebra Lounge</a> down the street. And still sometimes as old friends.<br /><br />So this is my electric invitation to my old colleagues from the GRR. To my fellow Space Monkeys. I hope somehow they find themselves through this blog and join us for this year’s Bughouse Square Debates. This means you: Julie Lynch, Elizabeth Aubrey, Prentiss Kwabena Slaughter, Seth Ford, Lisa Adrienne Horrigan, Jenny Beinke, Heather Smedberg, Rosie Chase, Janice Dillard, Laura Carroll, Darran </span><span style="font-family: times new roman;font-size:85%;" >White, </span><span style="font-family: times new roman;font-size:85%;" >Lisa Baldassari, Cindy Romanowski, Maria Villanueva, Carly Corder, Sean Jones, Susan Kunkle, Amber Cooper, Sean Raleigh, Kate Henningsen, Jeff Guntzel, Josh Leopold, Adrian Lucia, Alicia Duell, Diana Sudyka, Lisa Schoblasky, Analia Rodriguez.<br /><br />Sometimes someone else said it best:<br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family: times new roman;"> </span></span><blockquote style="font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size:85%;"> I have perceiv’d that to be with those I like is enough,<br /> To stop in company with the rest at evening is enough,<br /> To be surrounded by beautiful, curious, breathing, laughing flesh is enough,<br /> To pass among them or touch any one, or rest my arm ever so lightly round his or her neck for a moment, what is this then?<br /> I do not ask any more delight, I swim in it as in a sea.<br /><br /> —From "I Sing the Body Electric," by Walt Whitman</span></blockquote>Fred Sasakihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14911948831746997397noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31902409.post-70776083137814996182007-07-02T13:46:00.000-05:002007-07-02T13:50:11.057-05:00Be a Soapboxer!Rachel <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Bohlmann</span>, director of public programs at the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Newberry</span>, <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">announced</span> on the John Williams' Show how you can get involved in this year's <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Bughouse</span> Square Debates.<br /><br />Interested <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">soapboxers</span> can call 312 255 3834 to leave a 30-second Soapbox Audition. Please remember to leave your name and phone number.<br /><br />Also, don't forget you can get involved with the Voter Slam's main debate on immigration. Details in the previous post.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31902409.post-26028721637774142712007-06-25T16:01:00.000-05:002007-06-25T16:07:31.261-05:00Voter Slam Set for July 28thFirst Outdoor Slam Tackles Immigration at the Bughouse Square Debates!<br /><br />The <a href="http://www.newberry.org/">Newberry Library </a>has invited the <a href="http://www.bb.memberlodge.org/">Bread and Butter </a>Forum to stage a voter slam during its annual Bughouse Square event at Washington Park (Clark and Walton) on Saturday, July 28. The voter slam starts at 3 p.m. and will run for approximately one hour. <br /><br />Our question is this:<br /><br /><strong>Immigration reform: build a wall, offer amnesty or do nothing? How can immigration reform promote economic security for working Americans?</strong> <br /><br />Surveys show that a majority of Americans favor a legal path to citizenship for American’s 12 million illegal immigrants. Most economists say that immigrant labor is needed for certain industries, like agriculture and food service, but they acknowledge that immigrant labor forces down wages for working Americans. <br /> <br /><strong>Voter Slam Format</strong><br />If you’re new to the voter slam format, here's how it works. It's not unlike a poetry slam but the topic is politics and your answers don't have to rhyme. We pick a topic and recruit one expert to spend 5 minutes at the beginning framing the issue. We recruit 10 to 15 “slammers” of varying viewpoints to speak for 90 seconds or less. Off-topic responses may be cut short.<br /><br />If you want to participate, please send an e-mail to <a href="mailto:pubprog@newberry.org">pubprog@newberry.org</a> with your name, contact info and position on immigration.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31902409.post-74453328092297595182007-06-19T13:22:00.000-05:002007-06-21T13:28:02.688-05:00Ernest Hemingway, Also BannedPoems from another frequently banned author: Oak Park's own Mr. Ernest Hemingway:<br /><br />Ernest Miller Hemingway (1899-1961)<br />The Age Demanded<br /><br />The age demanded that we sing<br />And cut away our tongue.<br /><br />The age demanded that we flow<br />And hammered in the bung.<br /><br />The age demanded that we dance<br />And jammed us into iron pants.<br /><br />And in the end the age was handed<br />The sort of shit that it demanded.<br /><br />Notes <br />1] Gerogiannis notes that "The title and the rhythm are borrowed from the second part of Ezra Pound's `Hugh Selwyn Mauberly'" (139).Gretchen Kalwinskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10641962583945060755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31902409.post-22662091979359406962007-06-10T18:33:00.000-05:002007-06-21T13:22:10.342-05:00Poems: D. H. LawrenceIn keeping with the recent post about the American Library Association's "Banned Books Week" I'll be posting some poems by authors whose work has been frequently banned. First up, D.H. Lawrence. <br /><br />David Herbert Lawrence (1885-1930)<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><br />"Stand Up!"</span><br /><br />Stand up, but not for Jesus!<br />It's a little late for that.<br />Stand up for justice and a jolly life.<br />I'll hold your hat.<br /><br />Stand up, stand up for justice,<br />ye swindled little blokes!<br />Stand up and do some punching, <br />give 'em a few hard pokes.<br /><br />Stand up for jolly justice<br />you haven't got much to lose:<br />a job you don't like and a scanty chance<br />for a dreary little booze.<br /><br />Stand up for something different,<br />and have a little fun<br />fighting for something worth fighting for<br />before you've done.<br /><br />Stand up for a new arrangement<br />for a chance of life all round,<br />for freedom, and the fun of living<br />bust in, and hold the ground!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><br />"Relativity"</span><br /><br />I like relativity and quantum theories<br />because I don't understand them<br />and they make me feel as if space shifted about like a swan that can't settle,<br />refusing to sit still and be measured;<br />and as if the atom were an impulsive thing<br />always changing its mind.Gretchen Kalwinskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10641962583945060755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31902409.post-12826907376196538992007-06-05T16:00:00.000-05:002007-06-05T16:03:30.976-05:00Banned Books Week Event on Sept. 29A little far in advance - but put it on the calendar for a post-Bughouse Square event.<br /><br />Celebrate your freedom to read during the 26th annual celebration of Banned Books Week. Join the American Library Association, McCormick Tribune Freedom Museum, and the Newberry Library for a Banned Books Week Read-Out on <strong>Saturday, September 29</strong> in Pioneer Plaza—at Michigan Avenue and the Chicago River. From 1:00 pm–4:00 pm join highly acclaimed authors Chris Crutcher, Carolyn Mackler, and Robie Harris and local Chicago celebrities as they read passages from their favorite banned and “challenged” books. For more information, visit the ALA's Web site at <a href="http://www.ala.org/bbwreadout">www.ala.org/bbwreadout</a>.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31902409.post-66618700709330069252007-05-31T16:32:00.000-05:002007-05-31T16:58:27.343-05:00Black Bear Combo: This Year's Bughouse BandWe are happy to report that the Black Bear Combo will provide the soundtrack to this year's Bughouse Square Debates. Their website is here: <pre><a href="http://www.blackbearcombo.com/"></pre> http://www.blackbearcombo.com/<br /><pre></a></pre><br />This renegade marching band from Chicago will open up the festivities on Saturday, July 28, 2007, at 12:00 PM. Live drums, a tuba...what more could you ask for?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31902409.post-26881361248281207262007-05-30T10:11:00.001-05:002007-05-30T10:23:16.719-05:00John Williams, Bughouse Square Judge<a href="http://wgnradio.com/shows/williams_john/index.html">John Williams</a>, WGN-AM's afternoon host, will reprise his role as a Soapbox Debate Judge this year at the 2007 Bughouse Square Debates. He, and two other judges, choose the winner of the Dill Pickle Award, and present the coveted larger-than-life Dill Pickle statue.<br /><br /><em>On his program, John discusses the news of the day, sports, television programs, movies, books, and, on occasion, he will take calls from “Thomas Jefferson” and a cast of other historical characters.</em>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0