Friday, February 14, 2025

News and Ideas Worth Sharing

BITS & BYTES: Schumacher Center annual lecture; Berkshire Stonewall Trans Day of Visibility; Dr. Kyle Velte at Simon’s Rock; Berkshire Botanical Garden staff and volunteer art show; ‘Dear England’ at The Mahaiwe

PODER Emma's emergent solutions prove that, when community comes together, people can transform their lives for themselves and future generations.

Schumacher Center for a New Economics presents annual Robert Swann lecture featuring Andrea Golden of PODER Emma

Sheffield— On Saturday, March 30th at 3 p.m., Schumacher Center for a New Economics presents their annual Robert Swann lecture featuring Andrea Golden of PODER Emma, an emergent community ownership and cooperative development organization based in Asheville, N.C. Golden will deliver her lecture “Community Not For Sale: Popular Education, Community Organizing, and Cooperative Economics.”

Andrea Golden is a popular educator deeply committed to cooperative economics and building collective power. She is co-director and founder of PODER Emma Community Ownership, co-founder of Cenzontle Language Justice Cooperative as well as Dulce Lomita mobile home park cooperative.

PODER Emma is doing inspiring work in their neighborhood of Asheville, N.C. In the face of gentrification, the Emma community has built a flourishing cooperative ecosystem that includes four worker cooperatives, four mobile home park cooperatives, and a real estate cooperative with 25,000 sq. ft of commercial property. PODER Emma’s emergent solutions prove that, when community comes together, people can transform their lives for themselves and future generations.

“Community Not For Sale: Popular Education, Community Organizing, and Cooperative Economics.” Photos by Wild and Bright Photography.

The lecture will be on Saturday, March 30th at 3 p.m. at the Race Brook Lodge on South Undermountain Road in Sheffield. Andrea will be introduced by Alice Maggio with a Q&A to follow. It is free and open to the public. Registration is required. Registration and more information can be found online. 

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Berkshire Stonewall Community Coalition’s Berkshire Queer History Project: Trans Day of Visibility

Pittsfield— On Saturday, March 30th from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., Berkshire Stonewall Community Coalition’s Berkshire Queer History Project invites you to celebrate and learn more about the local transgender community for their first organized observance of Trans Day of Visibility (TDoV). They will be celebrating by debuting new interviews with trans people by trans people.

Started in 2009 by Michigan psychotherapist and trans activist Rachel Crandall as a counterweight to the grief of Trans Day of Remembrance, Trans Day of Visibility is a celebration of life and its possibilities for those of us who experience gender differently. TDoV has since blossomed into an international recognition of trans accomplishments. It received its first US presidential recognition in 2021.

Berkshire Stonewall Community Coalition’s Berkshire Queer History Project: Trans Day of Visibility.

Please come celebrate the lives and accomplishments of Berkshire’s trans individuals. The event is on Saturday, March 30th from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the office of Berkshire Pride at 314 Depot Street Suite #207 in Pittsfield. There will be refreshments. No ticket is required. More information can be found online. 

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Bard College at Simon’s Rock presents their Pride Week lecture with Dr. Kyle Velte

Great Barrington— On Friday, March 29th at 3:30 p.m., Bard College at Simon’s Rock presents their Pride Week lecture with Dr. Kyle Velte.

Dr. Kyle Velte.

In her lecture “The Legal Minefield for LGBTQ+ People and How You Can Make a Difference”, Dr. Velte will cover the current legal and political landscape of LGBTQ civil rights, talk about allyship, and talk about how to resist without giving up joy in these dark legal and political times.

Dr. Kyle Velte is the Associate Dean for Faculty, Professor, and Karelitz Chair in Evidence Law at the University of Kansas School of Law where she teaches Evidence, Torts, Employment Discrimination, and Sexual Orientation & Gender Identity Law. She is a nationally recognized expert on sexual orientation and gender identity law and has taught her Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Law class as a visiting professor at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law and the University of Denver Sturm College of Law.

The lecture is on Friday, March 29th at 3:30 p.m. in the McConnell Theater at the Daniel Arts Center at Bard College at Simon’s Rock on Alford Road in Great Barrington. It is free and open to the public. More information can be found online. 

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Berkshire Botanical Garden presents “BBG Creativity Unleashed,” an art exhibition featuring artwork created by BBG staff and volunteers

Stockbridge— From March 29th through April 12th, Berkshire Botanical Garden presents “BBG Creativity Unleashed.”

Self-portrait by Mya Terry.

Featuring botanical bas relief, ceramics, concrete leaf sculptures, acrylic, oil and watercolor paintings, carved walking sticks, photography, and fine needlework, the exhibition will highlight work from staff and volunteers who have shown their work both professionally or only to the delight of their friends and families.

The exhibit runs from March 29th through April 12th in the Berkshire Botanical Garden’s Leonhardt Galleries on West Stockbridge Road in Stockbridge. There is an opening reception on Friday, March 29th from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. More information can be found online. 

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The Mahaiwe presents ‘Dear England’ from London’s National Theatre in HD

Great Barrington— On Saturday, March 30th at 6:30 p.m., The Mahaiwe presents “Dear England” from London’s National Theatre in HD. 

The country that gave the world football has since delivered a painful pattern of loss. Why can’t England’s men win at their own game? The team has the worst track record for penalties in the world, and manager Gareth Southgate knows he needs to open his mind and face up to the years of hurt to take the team and country back to the promised land.

‘Dear England’ from London’s National Theatre in HD.

A fictionalized account of the struggles and successes of England’s football teams, based on extensive research and interviews, it features characters inspired by some real-life individuals, and some composite characters entirely imagined by the author.

The broadcast is on Saturday, March 30th at 6:30 p.m. at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center on Castle Street in Great Barrington. Tickets are $17 and $10 for those ages 21 and under; Card to Culture accepted. More information can be found online. 

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The Edge Is Free To Read.

But Not To Produce.