Friday 5/2 – Thursday 5/8
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3 SATURDAY As part of last year’s inaugural Free Comic Book Day, Chicago Comics gave away thousands of books, says manager Eric Thornton. The now-annual nationwide event is designed to bring new patrons into comic book stores–the majority of which are independently owned and operated–and expose them to the full range of the genre. But Thornton says that “the biggest effect I’ve seen is that it gets people who read just a little bit of comics to try something they normally wouldn’t.” Today Chicago Comics will be giving away a “hodgepodge” of stuff from 11 AM to 10 PM at the store, 3244 N. Clark. For more information call 773-528-1983 or see www.freecomicbookday.com.
Upon arriving at today’s daylong multimedia event Second Shift: The Art of Work, guests can stop at a table marked “Human Resources” and fill out “Hello My Job Is” name tags. From there, they can go on to play Kathleen Duffy’s board game about unemployment, go into a closet and tell secrets about their jobs, stamp and staple questionnaires in an area labeled “Mundane Tasks,” and post letters of warning and other embarrassing work memos on a “Wall of Shame.” The event is the brainchild of the local AntiGravity Surprise art collective–three members of which recently received written warnings at their respective day jobs. It’ll also feature Alma Washington performing as labor activist Lucy Parsons (3 PM), Jobs With Justice member and union organizer Luis Cordona discussing the Coca-Cola workers’ struggle in Colombia (7 PM), and activist artist Carlos Cortez presenting the history of May Day (9 PM). It runs from 2 to 10 at the Spareroom, 2416 W. North, and there’s a suggested donation of $3. For more information call 773-645-1853.
7 WEDNESDAY Columbia College’s five-day-long Dignity Without Borders: Art, Media & Human Rights conference encompasses a wide range of events relevant to the topic, including a panel on “Latin America’s Unpardonable Sins: Drugs, Dictators, and Economic Distress” (May 8 at 10:45 AM), a photo presentation on child labor by award-winning photographer Peter Turnley (May 6 at 9:15 AM), and a discussion of whether documentary filmmakers exploit their subjects (May 5 at 5 PM). Today’s programming focuses on women: the 9:15 AM keynote panel, “Rape, Mutilation, and Violence Against Women–What Everyone Should Know,” features Azza Karam, director of the women’s program of the World Council on Religion and Peace; Pauline Taylor, board chair of the Chicago Abused Women’s Coalition; and Teresa Loar, executive director of Vital Voices Global Partnerships. Author and scholar Marjorie Agosin, winner of a 1998 UN Leadership Award in Human Rights, will moderate. The conference began on Friday and runs through May 8 at the Chicago Hilton and Towers, 720 S. Michigan. It’s all free, except for several ticketed lunchtime events, which cost $36, food included. To register call 312-344-7675 or go to http://humanrights.colum.edu.
