Labor and Equity
Solidarity Street Gallery 2021
East Side Freedom Library 1105 Greenbrier Street, St. Paul, MN, United StatesThe SOLIDARITY STREET GALLERY is a three-day art and cultural festival at the East Side Freedom Library and various locations along Payne Avenue, held this year September 23-25. All are invited and encouraged to participate. It aims to bring together artists, performers, poets, entrepreneurs, civic leaders, and the local community for important conversations about justice […]
Mai Der Vang for “Yellow Rain” with Kao Kalia Yang
This event will be streamed for free via Crowdcast. Register here to attend! SubText Books and East Side Freedom Library are pleased to present a virtual event to celebrate the release of Yellow Rain by Mai Der Vang (Graywolf Press) on Friday, October 1st at 7:00 PM. Mai Der Vang will be in conversation with […]
Book Talk—The Great Evil: Christianity, The Bible, and the Native American Genocide
The East Side Freedom Library invites you to a presentation by Dr. Chris Mato Nunpa, The Great Evil: Christianity, The Bible, and the Native American Genocide. Register here to join this event on Zoom. This event will also be live-streamed to ESFL's Facebook page. In this account of the history between Indigenous Peoples and the […]
Black Rain: A Forty-Year Struggle Helps Connect the Dots from Trinity to Hiroshima to Fukushima and Points Between
Register here to join this event on Zoom. This event will also be live streamed to ESFL's Facebook page and available for later viewing on our YouTube channel. On July 14 this year, the Hiroshima High Court delivered a stunning victory to aging sufferers of “black rain” fallout from the atomic bomb: it recognized them […]
Reparations: An Idea Whose Time Has Come with Dr. Yohuru Williams
The East Side Freedom Library and the St. Paul Recovery Act Reading Group invite you to a special conversation with Dr. Yohuru Williams, Professor of History and Founding Chair of the Racial Justice Initiative at the University of St. Thomas and Co-Chair of the St. Paul Reparations Study Commission. Register here to join this event […]
Labor History Film Discussion: Harlan County USA
Register here to join this event on Zoom. We invite you to discuss one of the most significant labor history documentaries ever made, Barbara Kopple’s Harlan County U.S.A. This Academy Award winning film documents a community in eastern Kentucky divided by a strike at its coal mine and gets to the heart of labor conflict […]
Introduction to Community Journalism – Training and Discussion
East Side Freedom Library 1105 Greenbrier Street, St. Paul, MN, United StatesCo-hosted by The UpTake In the event of bad weather, the training will be held online. This training introduces participants to community journalism through a discussion-packed, experiential two-hour training. Participants have the opportunity to explore the role that journalism can play in helping a community build power, the processes of community journalism, and the connections […]
Reparations Reading Group—Rondo: Its Place in History and Its Place in Our Discussion of Reparation
The East Side Freedom Library and the St. Paul Recovery Act Reading Group invite you to the November meeting of our Reparations Reading Group, Rondo: Its Place in History and Its Place in Our Discussion of Reparation. Register to join this event on Zoom. For nearly two years our reading group […]
Labor History Discussion—The Hormel Strike at 35: Triumph or Tragedy?
With Peter Rachleff, Co-Executive Director at ESFL Register here to join this event on Zoom. The Hormel strike of 1985-1986 captured the nation's attention. The most important strike since the PATCO (Air Traffic Controllers) strike of 1981, it represented, on the one hand, the further deterioration of unions' power during the Reagan era, but, on […]
Unsung Heroes of Justice
The East Side Freedom Library and Teamsters Local 320 invite you to a panel discussion, Unsung Heroes of Justice: Six Public Defenders and Staff Discuss Their Work. Register here to join this event on Zoom or watch it live streamed to ESFL's Facebook page. Minnesota Public Defenders are court-appointed attorneys for indigent citizens who cannot […]
Samora Machel: The Struggle Against Colonialism
The East Side Freedom Library invites you to Samora Machel: The Struggle Against Colonialism, featuring Allen Isaacman and Barbara Isaacman authors of the new book, SAMORA MACHEL: A LIFE CUT SHORT, in conversation with Rose Brewer and August Nimtz, Jr. Register here to join this event on Zoom or watch it live streamed to ESFL's […]
Body Response: Artists and the Civil Disobedience Movement in Myanmar
The East Side Freedom Library and FD13 invite you to Body Response: Artists and the Civil Disobedience Movement in Myanmar, a performance and discussion with artists Chaw Ei Thein and Moe Satt. Register here to join the event on Zoom or watch it live streamed to ESFL's Facebook page. In February 2021, the military seized […]
Reparations Reading Group: DeJure and DeFacto with Rashad Williams
The East Side Freedom Library and the St. Paul Recovery Act Reading Group invite you to a conversation with Rashad Williams, DeJure and DeFacto: How the Public & Private Sectors Have Collaborated to Perpetuate Institutionalized Racism. Register here to join the event on Zoom. At the height of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s […]
Labor History Discussion— “Striketober” and “The Great Resignation”: Putting the Current Labor Upheaval in Historical Context
The East Side Freedom Library invites you to "Striketober" and "The Great Resignation": Putting the Current Labor Upheaval in Historical Context, a conversation with labor historian Gabriel Winant. Register here to join this event on Zoom. Activists, scholars, activist-scholars, journalists, union leaders, and workers have been trying to make sense […]
Inflamed: Deep Medicine and the Anatomy of Injustice
The East Side Freedom Library invites you to a conversation, Inflamed: Deep Medicine and the Anatomy of Injustice, with authors Raj Patel and Rupa Marya and participants in the University of Minnesota Public Health Course " Global Health in Local Contexts." Register here to join this event on Zoom or watch it live streamed to ESFL's […]
Reparations Reading Group: The Labor Movement and the Fight for Reparations
The East Side Freedom Library and the St. Paul Recovery Act Reading Group invite you to our monthly Reparations Reading Group, The Labor Movement and the Fight for Reparations. Register here to join this event on Zoom. What roles has the labor movement played in institutionalizing racial inequities? What roles has the labor movement played […]
Labor History Discussion—Socialism: A Conversation Between the Past and the Present
The East Side Freedom Library invites you to our Labor History Discussion Group, "Socialism: A Conversation Between the Past and the Present," featuring JoAnn Wypijewski, former Managing Editor of The Nation magazine. Register here to join this event on Zoom. At the East Side Freedom Library, we do not see history as "a dead body […]
Renter Voices – Greater East Side Renter Forum
ARE YOU A RENTER IN THE GREATER EAST SIDE? Join East Side Freedom Library and Greater East Side Community Council to make sure the city listens to renters, that renters' voices are heard in development and planning decisions, and to learn about how we can start organizing renters for change. This month’s meeting will be […]
Attitudes on Policing: The Minneapolis 2021 Election and Beyond
*This event has been rescheduled and will now take place on January 27th, 2022* Register here to join this event on Zoom or watch it live streamed to ESFL’s Facebook page. The pandemic has been a monumental time to consider police reform and accountability in the Twin Cities. Minneapolis gained enough momentum to put serious steps […]
Bookstore Workers Organize: Not Just Something to Read About
The East Side Freedom Library and UFCW Locals 1189 and 663 invite you join a conversation, Bookstore Workers Organize: Not Just Something to Read About. Register here to join this event on Zoom. The past year saw significant developments in the labor movement—strikes to eliminate two-tier systems, raise wages, and improve safety precautions; local political […]