Friday 5/7 – Thursday 5/13
Last year 26-year-old Jason West won the mayoral election in New Paltz, New York, and became the first Green Party mayor in that state. Early this year he made the news again as one of only three mayors across the country to grant marriage licenses to gay couples; he’s now facing several misdemeanor charges for performing same-sex marriages. Tonight West comes to town for the rally The Battle for Equal Marriage, where he’ll speak alongside former National Organization of Women president Patricia Ireland, veteran lesbian activist Robin Tyler, and the Illinois Green Party’s candidate in the recent senatorial election, Scott Summers. It’s tonight at 7 at the Preston Bradley Center, 941 W. Lawrence, and it’s free; call 773-671-7770. A party to benefit West’s legal defense fund follows at 10 at Atmosphere, 5355 N. Clark. There’s a suggested donation of $10, and you must be 21 or over.
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10 MONDAY Kwame Amoaku’s new documentary, F.E.D.S., draws on the stories found in the controversial hip-hop magazine of the same name–an acronym for “Finally Every Dimension of the Streets.” Featuring segments on underground pit bull fighting, the evolution of gang turf in Compton, and the attempted murder of F.E.D.S. founder Antoine Clark, the film’s scheduled to screen tonight at the Museum of Science and Industry, 57th and Lake Shore Drive, as part of the Russell Simmons Presents Def Filmmakers Screening Series. The evening starts at 6:30 with an open-bar reception; the movie’s at 8. Tickets are $20; you must be 21 or over. See www.screeningseries.com. Call 201-222-1248 to confirm.
13 THURSDAY Tonight at 5:30 DePaul University women’s studies professor Laila Farah will use poetry and personal experience to try and shed some light on what it’s like to be Arab-American after 9/11. Her new show, Living in the Hyphen-Nation, explores stereotypes of Muslim women and the institutional racism behind the use of profiling and secret evidence. Farah, who has toured the country with the show, performs at the new West Englewood branch of the Chicago Public Library, 1745 W. 63rd, under the auspices of the Public Square. Admission is free; call 312-993-0682.
