Sunday, March 02, 2008

Cost of Freedom Antiwar Panel Discussion, March 21, 2008

Track 16 Nights presents a panel discussion on Cost of Freedom: The Anthology of Peace and Activism. Edited by Michael Annis, Mike Palecek, Whitney Trettien

DATE: March 21, 2008

TIME: 7 P.M.

PLACE: Track 16 in Los Angeles, CA.

RSVP 310.264.4678, Free admission

Track 16 Gallery is pleased to present a panel discussion on Cost of Freedom. Cost of Freedom (Howling Dog Press, 2007) is an anthology of stories of individuals and groups in the current American peace movement. The book has been praised by Howard Zinn, Noam Chomsky, Thom Hartmann, Harry Belafonte, Ralph Nader, and Ramsey Clark.

Challenging this suspiciously heinous conception of patriotism, novelist Mike Palecek began gathering stories from activists across the United States, asking their perspective on the "cost of freedom." He found accomplices in Whitney Trettien, an MIT graduate student, and Michael Annis, an independent publisher. Together, the three of them assembled contributions from activists who knew that America was losing her Constitution to liars, murderers, and thieves.

The resulting letters, articles, sentencing statements, songs, poems, collages and photos are Cost of Freedom. From a grandmother's stay at Camp Casey to a young man's counter-inauguration protest (and subsequent run-in with the FBI), Cost of Freedom documents the everyday revolutionary acts of over 75 courageous men and women -- common citizens with an uncommon resolve and mission in life for peace, truth, and liberty, oftentimes at their personal expense.

Panelists include Rex Butters, Elena Siff Erenberg, Michael Palecek, and Thomas M. Sipos. The discussion will focus on US foreign policy, the Iraq War, the protest movement, etc. What's the current status of the antiwar movement? What hasn't it been more successful? What may the future hold? Will the upcoming elections change our foreign policy?

To stand as one against tyranny . . . Cost of Freedom celebrates that.