Hi everyone, Monday's meeting was incredibly productive. All "assignments" are listed below. For those who were unable to make it to the meeting, please come to the next one. Also, if you are interested in any of the events/initiatives listed below, please let us know! peace, aparna
SAPAC General Meeting - April 19, 2004 Moti Mahal Restaurant - 1035 W. Belmont Present: Raj, Sapna, Sanji, Mary Ann, Nilofer, Alpen, Nishaant, Meera, Purvi, Kiran, Shivani, Sadaf, Aparna NEXT MEETING - SUNDAY MAY 9TH 1PM TO 3PM; 812 W. Van Buren #2G. BRING A DISH FOR A POTLUCK LUNCH! For more info on our next meeting, please go to our new and improved website! http://sapac.dreamhost.com/new/sapacwebpage.htm 1) Bringing South Asian writers to Chicago - Mary Ann has compiled a list of writers suggested on the list-serv and will send it back out for comment - To begin this process, Mary Ann will send out letters of inquiry to writers and their agents (Aparna will send the letter we are using for the Breakthrough event) - Funds: SAPAC may use some of its funds as SEED money; Nilofer will send Mary Ann some potential partner names; Purvi will send some foundation suggestions - Alpen will get Mary Ann the contact info for the UofC person who may be interested in partnering - Potential formats: Monthy/Bi-monthly series OR South Asian Literary Festival. Either way, we are looking to launch the event(s) in late spring 2005. - Interested? Contact Mary Ann at [EMAIL PROTECTED] 2) Website - Thanks to the tireless work of some SAPACers (Anoop, Sapna, Nilofer, Mary Ann), we have a comprehensive, updated website http://sapac.dreamhost.com/new/sapacwebpage.htm - Sapna and Mary Ann will be adding more links for the arts/culture section. Please send any suggestions to them at [EMAIL PROTECTED] 3) TODAY!!!!! Bhopal Event - Come learn about one of the worst industrial disasters in the world. - THIS FRIDAY APRIL 23rd at 4637 N. Ashland (Stone Stone Cooperative) - Co-presented with Voices in the Wilderness - Ryan Bodyani from International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal will be speaking and we will be screening "Hunting for Warren Anderson" - More info at http://sapac.dreamhost.com/new/sapacwebpage_files/Page773.htm 4) Forum for a New America - Sept 18th 2004. An event co-sponsored by Breakthrough Inc (an organization in NYC) and SAPAC geared toward bringing youth impacted by immigration issues into the political process. - Potential speakers/performers: Ebu Patel; Mango Tribe; Sapna Kumar, Capital D (Raj has contact info) - Committee: Aparna, Nilofer, Kulsum, Roshani, Sanji, Anoop, Rasheed, Raj, Sapna, Alpen, Purvi, Meera. - For more info, go to http://sapac.dreamhost.com/new/sapacwebpage_files/Page396.htm - Interested? Contact Aparna at [EMAIL PROTECTED] 5) Working with Hindu Student Councils - Shashi, Raj, and Mona attended a conference at Northwestern Univ on Hinduism and made some contacts with members of the Hindu Students Council - Potential outreach mechanisms: web-site on Hindus against Hindutva; joint letters to VHP etc. - Committee: Shashi, Raj, Mona, Nishaant - For more info, go to http://sapac.dreamhost.com/new/sapacwebpage_files/Page1029.htm - Interested? Contact Shashi at [EMAIL PROTECTED] 6) Building Bridges: SAPAC members have taken a leading role in organizing this region-wide collaborative of groups from the Indian Diaspora to address the issue of rising communalism in India - More info on the coalition at http://sapac.dreamhost.com/new/sapacwebpage_files/Page1029.htm - The coalition is now looking to create an action plan beyond the line of successful events over the last year. - They will be playing a key role in the Independence Day Parade - Connection to Andrea Wenzel and the WBEZ series on communalism. - Interested? Contact Shashi at [EMAIL PROTECTED] 7) Independence Day Parades - Last year, SAPAC joined CSDI (Coalition for a Secular Democratic India) and SAGAR (South Asian Group for Action & Reflection) on a float that celebrated a pluralistic and democratic India. This was a great success. - SAPAC is looking to have another float this year. - Rasheed from IMC (India Muslim Council) is interested in doing a float with SAPAC and Building Bridges. - Sapna & Shashi will follow up with Rasheed - SAPAC would also like to have a presence at the Pakistan Independence Parade. Nilofer will follow up on this. - Outreach: T-shirts; look up Caf� Press; Sanji will look into designs; Flyers in different languages 8) Outreach to Devon Ave Businesses - Nishaant will set up contact with Gandhi restaurant folks - Sapna will set up contact with Patel Bros - SAPAC will look into making a presentation at the Devon Ave Merchant Meetings - Alpen will follow up with this. 9) Bhangra for Unity: A celebration of Indian and Pakistani culture that will be set for August (close to the respective independence days). - Sanji will be setting a meeting to discuss format of event - Committee: Sanji, Shashi, Nilofer, Alpen - Interested? Contact Sanji at [EMAIL PROTECTED] 10) Third I: Several members of SAPAC have formed the core of a new Chicago chapter of a national organization, 3rd I South Asian Independent Film. - Have created a formal partnership with Chicago Filmmakers to screen Third I films on a regular basis. - The last screening at Chicago Filmmakers was April 13th - a very successful event! Congratulations! - NEXT Screening: Final Solutions, includes a conversation with the Director. 1pm at Mediterranean Ballroom, Lake Shore Center, 2nd floor, 850 N. Lake Shore Dr. - Tuesday, June 8th, 7:30 screening of My Mother India, Chicago Filmmakers, 5243 N. Clark. - More info at http://sapac.dreamhost.com/new/sapacwebpage.htm 11) Work with Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR) - Samia Khan, from ICIRR, has approached SAPAC to play a role in their efforts in a national and Chicago coalition on legislation impacting immigrants (e.g. Patriot Acts) - Samia will hopefully speak at the next SAPAC meeting to talk about the potential role that SAPAC could play in this coalition. - Nilofer will send out the PDF document that contains more information on the this coalition. 12) Miscellaneous - Nilofer's Rockefeller Fellowship group has some opportunities for SAPAC to connect with other activists around the country - A meeting to learn more about the "National Alliance of People's Movements" will be held soon (Nilofer) NEXT MEETING: SUNDAY MAY 9TH 1PM TO 3PM; 812 W. Van Buren #2G. BRING A DISH FOR A POTLUCK LUNCH! Please send any revisions to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Thanks!!! ------------------------------------------------ visit http://www.geocities.com/sapacchicago email [EMAIL PROTECTED] with "unsubscribe sapac" in msg body to unsubscribe
