15 August 2009
The G20media.org web portal has been created to serve as a comprehensive information clearinghouse for members of the media and as a centralized hub for organizations and individuals wishing to work with the media in the context of the G-20 Summit happening in Pittsburgh in September.
Information found on this site includes events and activities to voice dissent around the G-20 Summit, contact information for the organizers and spokespeople for each of these activities, and alerts and releases from the participating organizations. Also found on this site are links to recent news coverage of the G-20 Summit and responses from organizers.
For more information, check out www.g20media.org or contact us.
3 August 2009
Come join old and new friends at the Thomas Merton Center from 6:00 – 10:00 pm on Friday, August 7, as we gather for an evening of crafting, music, food, and fun. There will be plenty of art materials on hand to create your own work, and there will be an open mic for poets and musicians as part of this interactive arts showcase. We will also be displaying artwork created by community members and local artists.
This community event will specifically focus on art as a form of grassroots activism and a means of fostering strength from within the neighborhood as opposed to promoting growth via gentrification. Our ultimate goals are to promote visibility and sustainability through the arts and to create an all-inclusive space, defined by a variety of social and artistic perspectives.
For more information, call the Center at 412-361-3022 or e-mail Jessica.
9 July 2009
On Wednesday, July 15, the Thomas Merton Center’s newly-formed Outreach & Community Sustainability Committee is meeting at 7:00 pm at the Center. This committee will work to build ties with people in the greater Garfield-Bloomfield area, promote grassroots community stability and growth (as an alternative to gentrification), and offer the Center as community space. Current plans include renovating the Center’s library and planning a Thomas Merton Center art event and open house.
For more information, call the Center at 412-361-3022 or e-mail Jessica.
1 July 2009
Organizing around the upcoming G-20 Summit in September is well underway. The next meeting hosted by the Thomas Merton Center will be on Tuesday, July 7, from 7:00 – 9:30 pm at East Liberty Presbyterian Church (116 S. Highland Avenue, East Liberty), where we will discuss what lies ahead. Come join with others from Pittsburgh’s peace and social justice community as we discuss what this economic summit will mean for both Pittsburgh and the world, and how we can work together to make it as educational an event as possible.
For more information, call the Center at 412-361-3022 or e-mail us at g20@thomasmertoncenter.org.
25 June 2009
By now, we’ve all heard that Pittsburgh will be hosting the upcoming G-20 Summit in September. There will be a meeting on Saturday, June 27, from 9:00 am – 12:00 pm at First Unitarian Church of Pittsburgh (605 Morewood Avenue, Shadyside) to talk about what lies ahead. Come join with others from Pittsburgh’s peace and social justice community as we discuss what this economic summit will mean for both Pittsburgh and the world, and how we can work together to make it as educational an event as possible.
For more information, call the Center at 412-361-3022 or e-mail us at g20@thomasmertoncenter.org.
25 June 2009
Hello folks,
Melissa, Miles, and Leah, the current TMC staff, will be traveling to Trappist, Kentucky over the July 4th weekend to visit the Abbey of Gesthemani! This is where Thomas Merton, our Center’s namesake, spent a large part of his life and where he is buried. We are going for a bit of a retreat and to learn more about the abbey and Thomas Merton.
Contrary to popular belief, we are choosing to go on this trip of our own free wills, and bringing two friends with us! Also, this trip is being funded by our own money, from our pockets, NOT by the Thomas Merton Center, although the TMC may make a donation to the abbey.
If anyone has suggestions on what we might want to pay attention to at the abbey or if anyone has questions they’d like answers to concerning the abbey, let us know.
Also, note, the Center will be closed on Friday, July 3 and Monday, July 6, in observance of our trip as well as the national holiday. Enjoy yourselves!
-TMC staff
8 June 2009
Saturday, June 13 10:00-7:00
Sunday, June 14 10:00-4:00
Pittsburgh anarchists and anti-authoritarians are invited to participate in a planning meeting to form an anti-authoritarian working group to resist the G-20 in September. The working group will take responsibility for:
- providing a mobilization infrastructure on the ground in Pittsburgh
- circulating information and propaganda to build hype for the protests
- reaching out to activists across the country who are interested in resisting the G-20
- creating a space for the formation of an action framework
At the meeting, we’ll explore our individual and collective goals, come up with points of unity, begin to develop working groups, establish an organizational process, and chart out the start of our work-plan for the next four months.
If you plan on participating, please RSVP to 412g20temporary@gmail.com and we’ll send you details on the meeting location.
In the meantime, please think about taking some steps to make our time together as useful as possible. You might want to:
- meet with your respective groups to develop an internal consensus on what you want to see come out of anti- G-20 organizing and how you want to participate
- look back at some helpful resources on processes and approaches to Summit organizing
- think about how you personally want to participate in a broad mobilization infrastructure
- talk about your personal goals, hopes, and dreams with your comrades
- share ideas and spread energy
- look at your calendar and examine your other commitments so that you can come to the meeting with a clear idea of how much time and energy you’re going to be able to commit to this mobilization process over the next several months
28 May 2009
It’s official: the upcoming G-20 Summit from September 24-25 will be held in Pittsburgh.
The G-20 is made up of financial leaders from twenty economies: the world’s nineteen richest countries and the European Union. Collectively, these economies comprise 85% of the global gross national product, 80% of world trade, and 67% of the world’s population.
The G-20 Summit serves as a forum at which representatives of these countries discuss and decide matters pertaining to the international financial system. At the Summit in September, President Obama and leaders from the other nineteen economies will meet to review progress made since the most recent G-20 Summit – on April 2 in London – and to discuss future actions.
For more information, check out the article in today’s Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and stay tuned for updates.
The Thomas Merton Center’s annual New Person Awards recognize individuals and groups within the greater Pittsburgh community who are working for positive change. This year, we’re excited to honor four individuals – Emory Biko, Paradise Gray, Dr. Kimberly Ellis, and Jasiri X – who struggle daily for peace and justice within media and arts communities.
