Events

East Side Freedom Library Monday, October 6, 2025, 7pm Join historian Marcus Rediker, author of the new book, FREEDOM SHIP: THE UNCHARTED HISTORY OF ESCAPING SLAVERY BY SEA, for a conversation about the many ways that enslaved men and women, and their accomplices, resisted slavery in the United States, and how this is relevant to […]

**Important note: this event is happening in person at MOON PALACE BOOKS in MINNEAPOLIS** Please join us on Saturday, October 18th from 5:00pm - 7:00pm for a book talk and art happening with author Avigdor Edminster, in collaboration with the East Side Freedom Library.  ESFL staff member Camila Leiva will moderate this event!   **This is […]

Important to note ** Event co-sponsored by ESFL but held at United Labor Centre** LABOR CONVENING: ENDING SLAVERY IN MINNESOTA Did you know that we have legal slavery in Minnesota, with incarcerated people forced to work for $0.25 and hour -- this is a labor issue, a justice issue, and one the labor movement can […]

Friday, October 24th from 6:00-8:00pm at the East Side Freedom Library   Join us at ESFL for a hands-on button-making workshop! Create your own Anti-Fascist button and explore examples from the Buttons of the Left archive, which document struggles for peace, justice, and equality. All supplies provided, no registration necessary. BUTTONS OF THE LEFT is an archive and […]

Labor activist and author Jaz Brisack will lead a discussion about their new book, Get on the Job and Organize: Standing Up for a Better Workplace and a Better World. Jaz, a former Starbucks worker from Buffalo, NY, will be presenting the key ideas in their book and they will be in conversation with a panel of local labor organizers. […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]