UNION: documentary about union campaign by Amazon workers! - Film screening for Give to the Max Day
2025-11-20 19:00 - 21:00 (America/Chicago) | East Side Freedom Library, 1105 Greenbrier St, Saint Paul, MN, 55106
Union
November 20th, 7:00pm
East Side Freedom Library
1105 Greenbrier Street,
St Paul, MN 55106
FREE SCREENING, RESERVE YOUR SPOT HERE:
Join us for a celebration of solidarity and storytelling and a special screening of the film UNION on Thursday, November 20th, at The East Side Freedom Library.
Synopsis
Through intimate cinema vérité, UNION chronicles the extraordinary efforts of an unlikely group of warehouse workers as they launch a grassroots union campaign at an Amazon fulfillment center in Staten Island, New York. Led by the charismatic but underestimated Chris Smalls, the diverse band of workers start the Amazon Labor Union (ALU) and embark on a journey against one of the largest and most powerful companies in the world. The odds are stacked against them, as the group finds itself up against a tech industry giant with unlimited resources, without major support from national unions or politicians, and while navigating internal divisions within their own ranks. Filmmakers Brett Story and Stephen Maing document the struggle from day one, offering a gripping human drama about the fight for power and dignity in today’s globalized economic landscape.
This film is not rated but should be appropriate for youth 14 and over. Parents or guardians are encouraged to use their own discretion.
This film will be screened in English with English subtitles.
Trailer
Event hosted in conjunction with our dear friends of TriLingua Cinema:

REMINISCING RONDO: A Community Archiving & Art Collaging Event
2025-11-29 13:00 - 16:00 | Golden Thyme Cafe, 856 Selby Ave, St Paul, MN
ESFL’s Community Digital Repository (CDR) Team has been collaborating for some time to make this event happen. CDR Director, Michaela Day, will be there that day facilitating an Art and Archives Collage workshop!

REMINISCING RONDO: A Community Archiving & Art Collaging Event
Location: Golden Thyme Cafe, 856 Selby Ave St. Paul

“Celebrate History, Art, and Memory in the Heart of Rondo”
Join us for hands-on community archiving event featuring student collage art inspired by Black entrepreneur — abolitionist in 1850s Saint Paul.
Bring in family photos to preserve digitally. Free printing and scanning for family documents is available.
Create an archival collage that tells YOUR story.

Public Reading of new writing by Refugee Writers Cohort, mentored by award-winning author Kao Kalia Yang!
2025-12-03 18:00 - 20:00 | East Side Freedom Library, 1105 Greenbrier St, Saint Paul, MN, 55106
Public Reading of new writing by Refugee Writers Cohort, mentored by award-winning author Kao Kalia Yang
Wednesday, December 3rd, from 6-8pm at the East Side Freedom Library
Over the past seven months, a group of seven writers—Minnesota’s first-ever Refugee Writers Cohort—have been gathering monthly at ESFL to develop new work under the mentorship of award-winning author Kao Kalia Yang. We now invite you to join us in celebrating their voices and hearing the powerful writing they have created. The event will including a reading and a Q & A with the writers.
We will have light refreshments.
ESFL is a wheelchair accessible space.

“This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.”

MATEWAN Free Screening + discussion
2026-01-15 18:00 - 21:00 | East Side Freedom Library, 1105 Greenbrier St, Saint Paul, MN, 55106
Sometimes we need to look back at history to find strength to continue the struggles for justice we are currently facing. Along with our siblings at Trilingua Cinema, we invite you this Thursday, January 15th at 6pm for a free screening at ESFL of the epic film MATEWAN.
This film will be screened for free as part of our Reel Stories: Labor in Film series, presented in collaboration with East Side Freedom Library and the ESFL Labor Advisory Committee.
January 15th, 6:00pm
East Side Freedom Library
1105 Greenbrier Street, St Paul
“It makes history sing,”
-Michael Willmington, The Los Angeles Times
Start your new year with a free labor film series. TriLingua Cinema brings three landmark films to the East Side Freedom
Library, each illuminating the struggles, victories, and everyday courage of working people. Each film will be introduced by a local scholar-activist who will also lead a post-film conversation.
Starring James Earl Jones, “Matewan” is a dramatic film about the early 1920s mine wars in West Virginia. Leading the discussion of the film will be Gary Kaunonen, the Education and Program Manager at the Minnesota Discovery Center in Chisholm. He is the author of three terrific books about immigrant iron and copper miners in the early 20th century, and he is also a documentary filmmaker. His “Northern Minnesota’s Labor Wars” looks at strikes in 1916 and 1917 and their significance to World War I-era repression and deportations. We can count on Gary to help us tie the West Virginia labor story to our own Minnesota history, and to put the past challenges faced by immigrant workers in conversation with those of our present moment.
Synopsis
IT TAKES MORE THAN GUNS TO KILL A MAN.
Filmed in the coal country of West Virginia, “Matewan” celebrates labor organizing in the context of a 1920s work stoppage. Union organizer, Joe Kenehan, a scab named “Few Clothes” Johnson and a sympathetic mayor and police chief heroically fight the power represented by a coal company and Matewan’s vested interests so that justice and workers’ rights need not take a back seat to squalid working conditions, exploitation and the bottom line.
This film is rated PG-13. Parents or guardians are encouraged to consult the IMDB Parents Guide.
This film will be screened in English with English subtitles.

HISTORY DAY MENTORING! - Every Saturday morning from 10am-12pm
2026-01-24 10:00 - 12:00, 2026-01-31 10:00 - 12:00, 2026-02-07 10:00 - 12:00, 2026-02-14 10:00 - 12:00, 2026-02-21 10:00 - 12:00, 2026-02-28 10:00 - 12:00, 2026-03-07 10:00 - 12:00, 2026-03-14 10:00 - 12:00 and 2 more dates | East Side Freedom Library, 1105 Greenbrier St, Saint Paul, MN, 55106
National History Day Mentoring Returns to ESFL!
We’re excited to launch this year’s ESFL National History Day Mentoring Project!

Our first session was Saturday, December 6, and will continue every Saturday morning from 10AM–12PM throughout the season through April 2026.

This year’s National History Day theme is: REVOLUTION, REACTION, AND REFORM IN HISTORY
As the nation approaches the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, students are invited to explore how revolutions spark reactions, how reactions inspire reforms, and how each moment sets off the next, just like a line of falling dominoes.
Are you or your students passionate about racial justice, labor activism, women’s rights, immigrant history, GLBTQ+ movements, environmental activism, or other powerful stories of change?
Do they want to create performances, documentaries, exhibits, websites, or research papers?
Send them to the East Side Freedom Library!
Here they’ll find:

Rich research resources (books, art, music, archival material)
Connections for oral histories
Experienced mentors who have supported local students for over 10 years
And our results? Last year, three ESFL-mentored students won first or second place at Nationals!
STARTING THIS SATURDAY, DECEMBER 6 – THEN EVERY SATURDAY MORNING, 10AM–NOON
East Side Freedom Library

Students are encouraged to make an appointment by emailing Peter Rachleff (American History professor at Macalester College for 30 years and coordinator of the ESFL mentor team): peter@eastsidefreedomlibrary.org
After their first session, students are welcome to return anytime to use ESFL resources. Menors will be available for in-person or remote one-on-one support.

Who's Got The Power? The Resurgence of American Unions
2026-01-24 13:00 - 14:30 | East Side Freedom Library, 1105 Greenbrier St, Saint Paul, MN, 55106
Join us for an essential conversation about the labor movement’s revival with Dave Kamper, author of “Who’s Got the Power? The Resurgence of American Unions.”

Saturday, January 24, 2026
1-2:30pm
East Side Freedom Library

A Twin Cities resident, veteran labor organizer, and labor historian who has taught at Metro State University and now works at the Economic Policy Institute, Kamper offers a compelling exploration of how American workers emerged from the pandemic with newfound energy and strength.

Through interviews with workers and labor leaders—from Frito-Lay workers in Kansas and teachers in Chicago to Amazon warehouse workers in New York and auto workers in Detroit—he captures the stories of those on the front lines of a new wave of labor activism.

Dave will be joined by a panel of local labor activists who have been part of this resurgence and have read his book. Copies will be available for purchase.

Whether you’re deeply involved in labor organizing or simply curious about the seismic changes reshaping American work today, this is a conversation you won’t want to miss.

CLASSES: HISTORY & ORGANIZING TACTICS OF THE LABOR MOVEMENT
2026-01-26 18:30 - 20:30 | East Side Freedom Library, 1105 Greenbrier St, Saint Paul, MN, 55106
Taught by Peter Rachleff and Carson Starkey
@ the East Side Freedom Library
Starting on Monday, January 26th
from 6:30-8:30pm

Register through Saint Paul Community Education, but you can also email Peter at: peter@eastsidefreedomlibrary.org

Screening: SALT OF THE EARTH, as part of the Reel Stories: Labor in Film Series
2026-02-19 18:00 - 20:30 | East Side Freedom Library, 1105 Greenbrier St, Saint Paul, MN, 55106
UPCOMING EVENT AT ESFL, Thursday, February 19th at 6pm

Screening: SALT OF THE EARTH

This film will be screened for free as part of our Reel Stories:
Labor in Film series, presented in collaboration with East Side Freedom Library and the ESFL Labor Advisory Committee.

February 19th, 6:00pm
East Side Freedom Library
1105 Greenbrier Street, St Paul

“Proudly, deeply, defiantly humanistic,”
-Matt Brunson, Film Frenzy

Salt of the Earth is an extraordinary film — extraordinary in the story it tells of Mexican zinc miners and their families who engage in an historic strike in post-WWII Arizona, and extraordinary in its very making, with a creative team consisting of blacklisted Hollywood writers, directors, and actors, and a cast in which many of the characters are played by actual participants in the strike.

The film is so extraordinary that we will have TWO terrific scholar-activists introduce it and lead our discussion afterwards. Both of them have conducted research and published studies that center communities of color here in the Twin Cities. One is Rahsaan Mahadeo, Assistant Professor of African American and African Studies at the University of Minnesota. He is the author of “Funk the Clock,” a study of race and time, which upends what we think we know and offers new ways to think about the production of knowledge. The other is Jimmy Patiño, Associate Professor of Chicano Studies at the University of Minnesota. While his first book, “Raza Si, Migra No” focused on Chicano struggles in San Diego, his current work explores solidarity among Chicanos, African Americans, and American Indians here in Minnesota.

Their work, and this film, could not be more timely. Join us to explore how Mexican miners and their families wrote a new chapter in American labor history, and how their story speaks to the challenges we face today.

Synopsis
At New Mexico’s Empire Zinc mine, Mexican-American workers protest the unsafe work conditions and unequal wages compared to their Anglo counterparts. Ramon Quintero (Juan Chacon) helps organize the strike, but he is shown to be a hypocrite by treating his pregnant wife, Esperanza (Rosaura Revueltas), with a similar unfairness. When an injunction stops the men from protesting, however, the gender roles are reversed, and women find themselves on the picket lines while the men stay at home.

This film is not rated. Parents or guardians are encouraged to consult the IMDB Parents Guide.
This film will be screened in English with English subtitles.

PANEL: VOICES WITHOUT BORDERS with writers Kao Kalia Yang, Dinaw Mengestu and Burhan Sönmez
2026-02-27 18:00 - 20:00 | East Side Freedom Library, 1105 Greenbrier St, Saint Paul, MN, 55106
PEN America and the East Side Freedom Library are pleased to present Dinaw Mengestu, Burhan Sönmez, and Kao Kalia Yang in a timely conversation about the role of writers and the power of solidarity in moments when human rights and democratic values are under strain.
Drawing on their experiences as writers shaped by displacement, censorship, migration, and political upheaval, the speakers will explore the role of literature as witness, refuge, and resistance. The evening will feature readings from Dr. Jonas Attilus and Hawra Alnabi, refugee and immigrant writers based in Minnesota, centering voices whose work emerges directly from their experiences of exile and resilience.

Friday, February 27th, 6-8pm
at the East Side Freedom Library
1105 Greenbrier Street, Saint Paul, MN 55106
Wheelchair accessible entrance. No previous registration necessary.

https://pen.org/event/voices-without-borders/

WRITERS' WORSHOP with acclaimed writers DINAW MENGESTU and BURHAN SӦNMEZ
2026-02-28 10:00 - 13:00 | East Side Freedom Library, 1105 Greenbrier St, Saint Paul, MN, 55106
Saturday, February 28th from 10-1pm
at the East Side Freedom Library
join Burhan Sönmez and Dinaw Mengestu for an intimate writers’ workshop on using craft to process moments of crisis. Drawing on their experiences writing through political upheaval, exile, and uncertainty, Burhan and Dinaw will guide participants through conversation and exercises focused on transforming fear, disruption, and grief into language that clarifies and endures.
Limited spots available. Email info@eastsidefreedomlibrary.org to register.

WRITER BIOS
DINAW MENGESTU, is the President of PEN America. Mengestu directs both the Center for Ethics and Writing and the Written Arts Program at Bard College. A PEN America trustee since 2016, he has won the prestigious 2012 MacArthur Genius Grant and the National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 Award. He has reported on conflicts in Darfur, Uganda, and eastern Congo in articles for The New York Times, The New Yorker, Harper’s, Granta, and Rolling Stone.
Mengestu’s first three novels – The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears (2007), How to Read the Air (2010), All Our Names (2014), all New York Times Notable Books – explore the psychic toll and complexities of immigration from his native Ethiopia to the United States. His most recent novel, Someone Like Us (2024), shifts to the U.S.-born second generation, examining how displacement shapes their identity and a sense of belonging; it was named one of former President Obama’s ten best books of 2024.

BURHAN SӦNMEZ, a Kurdish novelist from Türkiye, is the President of PEN International. His novels have been translated into more than forty languages and received international prizes, including the EBRD Literature Prize, the Orhan Kemal Novel Award and Vaclav Havel Library Award. He translated the poetry book of The Marriage of Heaven and Hell by William Blake into Turkish.
He received a Law degree from the University of Istanbul and worked as a lawyer before moving to Britain due to political reasons. Sonmez is a Senior Member of Hughes Hall and Trinity College, University of Cambridge. From Middle East Technical University in Ankara to The Università della Svizzera italiana in Lugano he has given lectures on literature and freedom of expression in various universities.

Food for Thought: Cultivating Community through Culinary Curiosity
2026-03-04 18:00 - 20:00, 2026-03-11 18:00 - 20:00, 2026-03-18 18:00 - 20:00, 2026-03-25 18:00 - 20:00 | East Side Freedom Library, 1105 Greenbrier St, Saint Paul, MN, 55106
COURSE DESCRIPTION: Over four weeks, this course invites participants to explore food as history, memory, and connection. Through shared stories and discussion, participants examine meaningful foods from their personal and family traditions and craft short personal narratives. We will begin every session sharing a meal from a local chef, as a way to launch us into our food memories. Come have fun eating and writing in community!
WHEN: Four Wednesday evenings – March 4, 11, 18 & 25 from 6:00-8:00pm.
WHERE: East Side Freedom Library, 1105 Greenbrier Street, St Paul.
HOW: Email info@eastsidefreedomlibrary.org to register. Course is free and open to all, but must commit to attending the 4 sessions.
Artist Facilitator: Ánh-Hoa Thị Nguyễn, (MFA) is a refugee, poet, community artist, curator, educator and food scholar/writer. Her most recent publication is a food essay titled “Buy 10 Get 1 Free! Open Letter to Bánh Mì Wanna Be’s” in What We Hunger For: Refugee and Immigrant Stories about Food and Family” edited by Sun Yung Shin 신 선 영.

FILM SCREENING: The Brother from Another Planet
2026-03-06 19:00 - 21:00 | East Side Freedom Library, 1105 Greenbrier St, Saint Paul, MN, 55106
FILM SCREENING: The Brother from Another Planet
This film will be screened as part of our series We Belong: Immigration in Film.
March 6th, 7:00pm
East Side Freedom Library
1105 Greenbrier Street, St Paul
This is a free community screening. Attendees are encouraged to donate to East Side Rent Assistance here.
“Immigration? Gimme a break. We had a kid overdoes downstairs last night and you’re pestering people about some piece of paper that says they’re legal? You wanna know my opinion? My opinion is you people just made up the immigration scam just to keep people under your thumb.”
–The Brother from Another Planet
Join us at the East Side Eagle’s Club for a free community screening of this warm and heartfelt social satire from master filmmaker John Sales. We’ll have free popcorn, with drinks and pizza available for purchase at the bar. Take a couple hours to relax and recharge in community as we continue to fight for our neighbors.
Synopsis
The Brother (Joe Morton) is an alien and escaped slave on the run from his home planet. After he lands in New York City, he tries to adapt to life on the streets of Harlem. Although the Brother is mute, he does have great abilities at fixing machines, and he gets a job. As the Brother tries to blend in with his new culture, he finds an apartment and gradually makes friends. Meanwhile, he is pursued by two agents from his home world who are intent on returning there with him.
This film is Rated R. Parents or guardians are encouraged to consult the IMDB Parents Guide.
This film will be screened in English with English subtitles.
Trailer

MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO - Rent Relief Assistance Fundraiser!
2026-03-07 18:00 - 20:00 | East Side Freedom Library, 1105 Greenbrier St, Saint Paul, MN, 55106
My Neighbor Totoro
Neighbors Supporting Neighbors: Pantry Drive and Rental Assistance Fundraiser!

Saturday, March 7th, 6:00pm

East Side Freedom Library1105 Greenbrier St, St Paul, MN 55106

Join us for a very special screening of the globally beloved animated masterpiece MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO! The third in a series of fundraiser screenings for East Side Rental Assistance, this time we will also be supporting a pantry drive for Indigenous Roots Cultural Arts Center. Take a couple hours to recharge in community while raising money for our neighbors!

About the Fundraiser
With more evictions looming we are organizing this event in support of Rent Assistance for Families Affected by ICE – an online fundraiser hosted by Cempazuchitl Collective. You can donate and find out more about this campaign here:
https://www.givemn.org/story/arpbcg

A donation of $25 is recommended to see the movie. In addition, we encourage folks to bring pantry items such as diapers, baby formula, basic food stuffs, cleaning supplies, etc. You can also donate money to the pantry here: http://indigenous-roots.org/donate
We hope you will attend, share this event, and donate.

Synopsis
My Neighbor Totoro (1988) follows young sisters Satsuki and Mei, who move to the 1950s Japanese countryside with their father to be near their hospitalized mother. They discover and befriend magical, cuddly forest spirits, including the large, titular Totoro, who aids them in navigating their fears in this beloved family classic.

This film is rated G. Parents and guardians are encouraged to consult Common Sense Media.
This film will be screened in English with English subtitles.

Trans Host Home Sessions with MUUSJA
2026-03-10 17:30 - 19:00 | East Side Freedom Library, 1105 Greenbrier St, Saint Paul, MN, 55106
Trans Host Home Sessions with MUUSJA @ ESFL
March 10th from 5:30-7pm

Learn how you can support trans/nonbinary refugees of all ages who are coming to MN seeking a safer life. This session is for people interested in providing housing for folks needing a safe place to land, welcoming refugees by sustaining relationships with them, or offering support in other ways. Hosted by MN Unitarian Universalist Social Justice Alliance (MUUSJA).

ConneQT Information Session with Avenues for Youth
2026-03-12 17:30 - 19:00 | East Side Freedom Library, 1105 Greenbrier St, Saint Paul, MN, 55106
ConneQT Information Session with Avenues for Youth @ ESFL
March 12th from 5:30-7pm

ConneQT, a host home program, is a housing option where LGBTQI+ youth choose to live with community members. The goal of this program is to provide culturally responsive housing within a youth’s own community. They do this by recruiting, training, and supporting community members that share their homes.

ConneQT needs hosts now more than ever. Between long-term effects of COVID-19 and short-term impacts of the immigration raids, many queer youth are in highly vulnerable positions. Anti-trans legislation around the country means more trans people arrive in Minnesota every day. Join this information session to learn how you can help.

Rebuilding Home: A Conversation on the Impact of Immigration Raids on Housing
2026-03-16 16:30 - 18:00 | East Side Freedom Library, 1105 Greenbrier St, Saint Paul, MN, 55106
Rebuilding Home: A Conversation on the Impact of Immigration Raids on Housing @ ESFL
Monday, March 16th from 4:30-6pm

We all know ICE is still terrorizing our neighborhoods. As a result, people are continuing to stay home in fear and many renters now face potential eviction. These raids are harming housing in many ways. It is crucial that we show up as a community to process the harm and work to support those most impacted. As we have learned many times now, we help us.
Join hosts from East Side Freedom Library and Indigenous Roots for a conversation on the devastating impacts on housing from these past months as well as how we can band together to start healing our communities.

FILM SCREENING: A BUG'S LIFE, as part of the Reel Stories: Labor in Film Series
2026-03-19 18:00 - 21:00 | East Side Freedom Library, 1105 Greenbrier St, Saint Paul, MN, 55106
This film will be screened for free as part of our Reel Stories: Labor in Film series, presented in collaboration with East Side Freedom Library and the ESFL Labor Advisory Committee.

March 19th, 6:00pmEast Side Freedom Library1105 Greenbrier Street, St Paul

“Critics who write off A Bug’s Life focus on the surface-level plot about Flik’s individual perseverance … But under this palatable veneer is a story about workers’ rights,”
-Rebecca Long, Observer

Synopsis
Flik is an inventive ant who’s always messing things up for his colony. His latest mishap was destroying the food stores that were supposed to be used to pay off grasshopper Hopper. Now the strong-arming insect is demanding that the ants gather double the food or face annihilation. To avert disaster, Flik goes on a journey to recruit fighters to defend the colony. When he meets a band of high-flying circus insects, he thinks he’s found his salvation.

This film is rated G. Parents or guardians are encouraged to consult Common Sense Media.
This film will be screened in English with English subtitles.

Reel Stories: Labor in Film
This winter, Reel Stories: Labor in Film brings three landmark films to the East Side Freedom
Library, each illuminating the struggles, victories, and everyday courage of working people.
From the coal fields of West Virginia in Matewan (January 15), to the groundbreaking, worker-
led Salt of the Earth (February 19), to a family-friendly look at collective resistance in A Bug’s
Life (March 19), this series pairs each screening with speakers, panels, and community
conversation. Join us as we explore the history and future of the labor movement—and the
power of solidarity on screen and in our neighborhoods.

Good Energy Connections Info Session
2026-03-24 17:30 - 19:00 | East Side Freedom Library, 1105 Greenbrier St, Saint Paul, MN, 55106
Good Energy Connections Info Session @ ESFL
Tuesday, March 24th at 5:30pm

Need help lowering your energy bills and making your home more comfortable? There is SO much information out there and so many programs…it can be hard to
know where to start!
Good Energy Connections can help – at no cost to you.
Join us at East Side Freedom Library on March 24th at 5:30 to learn about ways to make your home more comfortable and lower your energy bills!
Topics that will be covered include:

How energy is used in your home and how it impacts your utility bills
Types of projects you can do yourself to make your home more comfortable and save money on utility bills
Types of upgrades that will make your home more comfortable and save money on utility bills
Details on the various options available to cover all or a portion of the cost for home energy upgrades
How Neighborhood Energy Navigator Freddy Alvarado-Sariñana will support you throughout the process!

Good Energy Connections is “program-neutral” – which means they don’t represent any specific programs. They are here to make sure your household gets whatever fits you best. If your home feels drafty, your bills are too high, or you’re ready to upgrade your appliances, Freddy can help.
Homeowners and renters in 1-4 unit buildings in Payne-Phalen, Dayton’s Bluff, Rondo, Midway, and Frogtown are eligible.
Light snacks will be provided.
