Film Screening and Discussion: Presumed Innocent (1979)
Saturday, August 5, 7pm

Join us for a critical look at Rikers Islands’ detention facilities, through the lens of both historic film and as well as the current organizing work of the Close Rikers Campaign.

Filmed in the late 1970s inside the House of Detention for Men (HDM) on Rikers Island, Presumed Innocent (1979, Claude Beller and Stefan Moore) was created to provide a critical look at pre-trial detention conditions through the viewpoint of inmates, guards, judges, lawyers and other criminal justice officials.

Following a screening of the film, the audience will have an opportunity to engage in conversation with filmmaker Claude Beller and a member of the Close Rikers Campaign for a discussion of historic and current work to raise awareness of conditions on Rikers Island.

This event is free and open to the public. Visit our website for more info.

Born In Flames Movie Night
Thursday, August 3, 6:30pm

Movie night at the archive! Join us for a showing of director Lizzie Borden’s 1983 film Born in Flames. Bring snacks if you like!

This event is free and open to the public. Visit our website for more info.

Take Back the Fight Exhibition Walk-Through
Sunday, August 6, 2pm

Our current exhibition, Take Back the Fight: Resisting Sexual Violence from the Ground Up, focuses on organized responses to gender and sexual violence, highlighting the ways individuals and communities have developed creative and powerful grassroots and non-institutional justice and healing practices.

Join four of the Take Back the Night curators (Louise Barry, Rachel Corbman, Melissa Forbis, and Lani Hanna) for a conversation about the material included in the show, and the history of organizing against sexual violence.

Radical Playdate: the Summer Edition!
Saturday, August 12, 1pm–3pm

Radical Playdate has been in full effect since February 2017. So far, we've made a zine, we made stencil graphics, created a growing resource list of music and storybooks, and we even had a little music protest parade. Now, we'd like to talk more about how we can make Radical Playdate more "radical," and to expand our all-ages community. If you've been thinking of showing up, now is the time to do that!

August 12 will have an open discussion about radical parenting. What does it mean to be a radical parent or caretaker of young people? What are some ways we can be even more radical? And how can we cultivate this practice through Radical Playdates at Interference Archive?  Let's share ideas, and build together.

Do you have questions? Send us an email or visit our website. Otherwise, we hope to see you soon!
 

Come Read With Us!
New reading group starts August 12

Come read with us! A few of us have decided to spend some time reading together over the coming weeks at Interference Archive. We’ve decided to focus on The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander, because we thought this would be a great book to have people to talk about with — whether you’re reading it for the first time, or for a second (or third?!).

Our discussion will happen every second Saturday afternoon (4-6pm) at Interference Archive, starting August 12, 2017. Participants should find a copy of The New Jim Crow at your local public library or bookstore; we’ve outlined the schedule we’re hoping to stick to below, and we’ll read in advance of meeting each time.

We’re coming at this discussion not as experts, but as people who love to learn and who hope to learn from the others who come to this group. We’ll also work together to find related material in the Interference Archive collection for us to read if we choose; participants are encouraged to suggest related articles, podcasts, and books for others to check out as we go along.

Check out our reading schedule and discussion times on our website, or email us for more info.

Take Back the Fight: Resisting Sexual Violence from the Ground Up
Exhibition Dates: June 1 – October 29, 2017

Recovery from trauma after sexual assault is often imagined as a personal, internal experience. However, an exclusive focus on individual narratives of victimization and healing can obscure decades of collective, grassroots struggle by and on behalf of sexual assault survivors. Rape is not an isolated experience, but a pervasive form of violence that acts in concert with oppression in the workforce, at home, and in medical and academic institutions--as well as with structural racism, homophobia, transphobia, and capitalism. Likewise, organizing against sexual violence is intimately linked to struggles for liberation in both public and private spheres. The history of organizing against sexual assault and rape helps us to understand feminist resistance to violence as a collective struggle against patriarchy, and sexual and gender violence as a function of state violence.

Interference Archive’s summer 2017 exhibition Take Back the Fight: Resisting Sexual Violence from the Ground Up focuses on organized responses to gender and sexual violence, highlighting the ways individuals and communities have developed creative and powerful grassroots and non-institutional justice and healing practices. A collaboration with Lesbian Herstory Archives, Take Back the Fight narrates intersecting histories of activism by and on behalf of survivors of sexual violence and their communities.

This exhibition will situate multiple histories of resistance to sexual violence within a broader narrative of feminist, anti-racist, and queer activism. It will present strategies of resistance, both historical and contemporary, looking at the ways in which activists have sought justice outside of the courts and the criminal justice system. Ultimately, Take Back the Fight will demonstrate the crucial role of grassroots organizing in the struggle against sexual violence and the importance of this activism as a tool of both healing and resistance. Read more on our website.