Join us for two weeks of counter-programming in the shadow of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. These events, put together by local and national artists and organizers, will include opportunities to workshop street art before the convention, gather to learn about the history that brought us here, and organize the movements of the future while the politicians make their speeches.
Radio partnerships with Pacifica, Democracy Now!, and WZRD will bring you round the clock news on WLPN Lumpen Radio and Lumpen TV, and movement workshops and panels coordinated by The Dissenters will bring leading activists and organizations from contemporary struggles against empire, the carceral state, and cop cities to engage with all of you who still care about tearing down the pig system.
Week 1: Art Builds, Workshops, Democrazy Fair, and Lumpen Magazine Launch Party!
August 12, 6 - 9 PM: Puppets For Protest Workshop with Grace Needlman
Learn how to build various types of street puppets in the tradition of Bread and Puppet.
Explore different materials and techniques for making large-scale, lightweight puppets for parades and demonstrations. Connect with other makers and activists to get your giant puppet ideas off the ground! Whether you have an idea for a puppet and need help figuring out the design or are looking for a crew to build with, this is a fun space to build skills and community.
August 13, 6 - 9 PM: The Anarchist’s Guide to Running for Office with Matt Muchowski
A workshop on how to run for local office from an anarchist perspective
August 14, 6 - 10 PM: Democracy in the Dark with Jason Lazarus
Experiment with free speech messaging at night. Prompts, materials, and food provided.
If we assume darkness, how can voices for justice become the light? This workshop invites participants to actively experiment with how we might reimagine free speech messaging at night. Prompts, physical materials, and food will be provided. We are also seeking participants who would like to join in leading the workshop by sharing kindred experiments and ideas designed specifically for darkness, please dm for more information.
August 16, 8 PM - late: Tech Noir Lumpen Launch Party ft. Bambi Kunst
Tech Noir, the nightclub featured in the first Terminator film. Live performance synth dance party, a return to the dystopian futures of the past. Look out for a performance from Bambi Kunst in wearable sculpture by O Tenzing, Democrazy Bambi Chips Themself at Tech Noir
August 17, 10 - 4 PM: Democrazy Fair: Radical Book, Zine, and Art Pop-up with Chicago Dissenters Day 1
FEATURING: Books from Pilsen Community Books, PM Press, Skunk cabbage books, Haymarket, and Other Forms. Printing for Protest by Fatherless. “Chicago ‘68'' Strategy Board Game Teach-and-Play Demo with Yoni Goldstein.
CHICAGO '68 is an antiwar wargame about revolutionary spectacle and collective action at the DNC riots of '68. Join Designer Yoni Goldstein for a live demo and teach-and-play of this upcoming historical board game!
10 AM: Art from the Heart - Art-Making ft AI-Hub
1 PM: Colonial Violence at Home and Abroad: A Public Health Issue ft. Healthcare Workers for Palestine - Chicago
3PM: Workplace Organizing for Palestine ft. Chicago Labor Network for Palestine
August 17, 7 - 10 PM: The Poet’s Platform presented by Exhibit B
Poets respond to the DNC platform with one of their own.
August 18, 10 - 4 PM: Democrazy Fair: Radical Book, Zine, and Art Fair Pop-up with Chicago Dissenters Day 2!
2:30 - 4:30 PM: Welcome to Chicago: Radical Memories, Revolutionary Horizons ft. March on the DNC Coalition, Chicago Torture Justice Center, NotMeWe, Chicago Alliance Against Racist + Political Repression. Special Guests: Laura Whitehorn, Jalil Muntaqim, David Gilbert, and Red Fawn Fallis
**Evening at Marz Brewing**
7 PM: Artcraft 4 Liberation: Community, Co-optation + Resistance presented by DJs Against Apartheid, Various Chicago DJs
FthGNC Dance Party (Marz Brewing)
Week 2: PANELS, TALKS, AND THEATER!
August 20: 10 AM - 4:30 PM: Panels with Chicago Dissenters
10 AM: Autonomous Organizer Training ft. Unity & Struggle
1 PM: StopCopCities: Domestic Warfare and Decolonization ft. StopCopCity, NDN Collective
3 PM: Undoing Border Imperialism: Migrant Defense + Mutual Aid ft. International Migrant Alliance, Chicago Mutual Aid Organizers
August 20, 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM: I Wish to Say Performance with Sheryl Oring
Twenty years ago, artist Sheryl Oring set out with a typewriter and offered people a chance to speak their minds as part of her I Wish to Say project. With this work, she sets up a public office – complete with a manual typewriter – and types people’s postcards to the U.S. president. Dressed as a 1960s secretary, she records whatever participants say. Originals are mailed to the White House and Oring keeps a carbon copy for her archive.
To date, Oring has typed 4,241 postcards, typed at hundreds of locations around the United States, from parks and town squares to college campuses and festivals. From August 19-21, she is bringing her show to Chicago to document the mood in the city during the Democratic National Convention and she’ll be at Co-Prosperity from 11:30 to 1 p.m. on Tuesday, August 20. Oring invites people to stop by and speak their minds.
August 21, 10 AM - 4:30 PM: Panels with Chicago Dissenters
10 AM: Sharpening the Tip of the Spear: Prison Abolitionism + Inside/Outside Resistance ft. In the Belly, In the Mix: Prisoner Podcast, Coalition to Decarcerate IL
1 PM: End Permanent Punishment: From Murder Registries to Death by Incarceration ft. Chicago Torture Justice Center
3 PM: US Out Of Asia Pacific ft. Nodutdol, Anakbayan, Cancel RIMPAC, International League of Peoples’ Struggle
August 21, 7:30 - 9:30 PM: '68 – a new American musical by Jamie Leo and Paul Leschen
A “sit in” concert version of the 2018 musical about the last big Chicago DNC. A festival of life. You are history, next Wednesday, August 21. Join Chicago-area activist folk and rock musicians and singer/actors in performing a sit-down reading / sing-through of '68, the new musical theater work that has been described as the ‘HAIR’ for our generation. The event is being conceived as a 1960’s “happening” —but streamed live and broadcast, as well as featured on national broadcast platforms. BYO instrument! (Sheet music and chord charts to be provided). We will self-organize to create history together. To hear a song samples + style: 68musical.com. Expect a 60+/- minute rich historical narrative that includes songs with a narrator. We ask a $10 donation to support performers, but no one will be turned away.
‘68 composer Paul Leschen is an outstanding composer, musician, and music director, and Jamie Leo (in addition to writing the book and lyrics), has directed unique, award-winning performances. Join us in honoring the history we sing and speak of and deliver a memorable experience to the audience.
August 22, 10 AM: Student Intifada: Reflections + Lessons from the Encampments presented by Chicago Dissenters ft. Direct Action 4 Palestine, SJP Chicago, Justice, Unity, & Social Transformation, Palestine Solidarity Working Group w/ Actionists from “CA”, “IL”, “MA”, “NY”, “OH”
August 22, 1 PM: Encampments, Blockades and Revolts: Strategic Reflections since Occupy presented by Chicago Dissenters ft. Escalate Network
August 22, 7:30 PM - 10:30 PM: I WANT AN AI FOR PRESIDENT by Garrett Laroy Johnson and Kristin McWharter
A new experimental theater piece about of leadership models and artificial intelligence
Please join us for a playtest of a new interactive performance "I WANT AN AI 4 PRESIDENT" developed by Garrett Laroy Johnson and Kristin McWharter. This live action role play style performance dives into the complexities of workplace leadership models and the evolving anxieties surrounding computer intelligence and the automation of labor. We hope you will join us for this intimate experience designed for small audiences. Attendance is limited, please RSVP via google form.
August 23, 10 AM - 3 PM: Breaks in the Chain: Resisting the Industrial Base of US Imperialism and the Fight to Free Palestine presented by Chicago Dissenters ft. Palestinian Youth Movement, Workers for a Free Palestine, Unity & Struggle