activism

The Opening Night Screening of this year’s Berkshire International Film Festival is “A Man with Sole: The Impact of Kenneth Cole.” The documentary will show at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center in Great Barrington, Massachusetts at 7pm on May 29.Global fashion designer and social activist Kenneth Cole has put ’cause’ before ‘commerce’ for 40 years. His commitment to HIV AIDS, homelessness, LGBTQIA+ rights, social justice and mental health has built coalitions and inspired action for good.Designer and activist Kenneth Cole and Emmy and Tony Award-winning director Dori Berinstein will be at The Mahaiwe for a Q&A following the film with BIFF Board Member Mary Mott.

Linda Mary Wagner’s new memoir, "Rear-View Reflections on Radical Change," offers a distinctive perspective on 50 years of social movements that have shaped our world. This collection of essays, nonfiction stories, and poems written between 1972 and 2022 calls for unity around the goal of climate action for the sake of all the world’s children today and tomorrow.

In historian Max Wallace's new book, "After the Miracle: The Political Crusades of Helen Keller" is the first major Helen Keller biography and more than 40 years. The book reframes history to focus on the powerful, under-explored story of Keller's adult life as a fervent advocate for racial justice, socialism and disability rights.

Incomparable two-time Tony Award Chita Rivera winner will recreate signature moments from her legendary career at The Colonial Theatre in Pittsfield, Massachusetts on July 31. In addition to a tribute to her dear friends John Kander and Fred Ebb, the timeless music of Leonard Bernstein, Charles Strouse and Lee Adams, Jerry Herman and Stephen Sondheim will also be featured, accompanied by her long-time trio.

Representatives of local unions and progressive organizations gathered Saturday in Albany's Washington Park for a May Day rally.

Deon Jones is a musician and artist with one of the most important voices of his generation. Jones created his first recording project—a powerful rendition of “Sunday Bloody Sunday” featuring Academy Award-winning composer Jon Batiste — after being shot by police in the face with a rubber bullet during the 2020 summer protests. The recording has been hailed by Rolling Stone magazine and U2’s Bono as “transformative” and by The Boston Globe as “a performance with clarifying power.” Jones brings his transformative energy to the Hunter Center at MASS MoCA on Saturday, March 19.The music video for Deon Jones’ cover of “Sunday Bloody Sunday” is part of artist Glenn Kaino’s exhibition “In the Light of a Shadow” which is installed in MASS MoCA’s Building 5 through September 5. The exhibition is inspired by the connection between protests across the globe.

"We Who Believe in Freedom: Activism and the Struggle for Social Justice" exposes readers to police abuse and accountability, criminal justice and prison reform, and political abuse of power in Albany, New York.

Longtime area journalist Jim Odato joins us about his new book, "This Brain Had a Mouth, Lucy Gwin and the Voice of Disability Nation," about author, advocacy journalist, disability rights activist, feminist, and founder of Mouth magazine, Lucy Gwin.

Dinah Yessne's first political act, as she recalls it, was spinning a homemade Wheel of Fortune at a fundraiser for presidential candidate Henry Wallace…

Paul Greenberg is the author of the James Beard Award-winning bestseller "Four Fish," "American Catch," and "The Omega Principle," and a regular…