Wednesday, March 6 at 6 p.m. Center for Nonviolence Board meeting. Please call the Center for more information at 559-237-3223 Mon-Fri 11-3.
Wednesday, March 13 on KFCF 88.1 FM – 3 to 3:30 p.m. Our hosts will be Michael Black Bull and Angela Price. Their guest, by phone from Dublin, Ireland, will be Vincent Lavery talking about what is happening in Ireland. Call ins are welcome at 559-266-8888. For more information call 559-237-3223.
Wednesday, March 13 at 12 noon and at 7 p.m. (potluck at 6:30) Center for Nonviolence, 1584 N. Van Ness (SE corner Van Ness and McKinley). The Center’s 2ndWednesday Video will be Some Mother’s Son (1996). It is based on the true story of the 1981 hunger striker in the Maze Prison, in Northern Ireland of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) prisoner Bobby Sands who led a protest against the treatment of IRA prisoners, claiming that they should be treated as prisoners of war rather than criminals.
This video attempts to focus on the personal dimensions and the historical inspiration of the event through its portrayal of the families of the striking prisoners. Directed by Terry George, the film is anchored by Helen Mirren’s performance as Kathleen Quigley, an educated, thoughtful schoolteacher who feels the Irish-English conflict is remote from her life until her son is arrested for his involvement with the Irish Republican Army. Yet while she supports her son and works to save his life, Kathleen nevertheless maintains her disdain for violence. This is in great contrast to Annie Higgins, the mother of Gerard’s collaborator, who wholeheartedly embraces the IRA’s mission. Despite their differing philosophies, the women form an uneasy bond over the suffering of their imprisoned sons. Kathleen finds herself increasingly politicized but finds herself facing a moral dilemma when the prisoners begin a hunger strike. As Gerard’s next of kin, it is her right to agree to intravenous feeding should her son enter a coma; however, many people, including Annie, would see such as an act as betrayal of the strike, leaving Kathleen with a choice between saving her son’s life and respecting his cause. This video is 112 minutes long.
Free to the public and wheelchair accessible. For more information call 559-237-3233 Mon-Fri 11-3.
