Providence, RI – April 6, 2007. MDSers have announced a “Port of Providence” Conference to be held on April 15th, 2007 at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. Radical historian and MDS Inc, Board member Paul Buhle, who is a senior lecturer at Brown, said: “A relaxed discussion will follow two days of the SDS Comic Show, a traveling roadshow installation designed to help promote the new comic book format history of SDS.” The SDS graphic history book is in the style of the very popular “Wobblies” trade paperback. Buhle reports that the MDS conference is intended to be a chance for MDS organizers to talk about how to get active chapters going, across the US.

There will be speakers at the event, including a number of familiar faces, but discussion will follow each presentation. The event is intended to be very focused on building MDS and it’s various projects – including Radical Education (REP), SDS Legal Defense, Radicals In The Professions (RIP) and community organizing. There will also be discussion of recent direct action done in concert with other activist organizations including Voices for Creative Nonviolence and the War Resisters League. A schedule for the event has been announced:

9:00-9:45 am, coffee hour/recovery from hangover, Saturday night’s party
9:45 Greetings to SDS/RI, Brown SDSers
10:00 Collective document, “‘America and the New Era,’ rewritten 1963 SDS overall perspective
11:00 “After the Demonstrations: What SDS Needs from MDS” by Senia Barragan
11:30 Manning Marable, MDS/SDS and the Color Lines
12:30 lunch on your own
1:15 Organizing experiences of MDS/SDS, local and national, fleshly and web, by Devra Morice, Jay Jurie and Tom Good
2:30-conclusion, “Structure and Strategy,” presentations by Bruce Rubinstein and Al Haber

There is no admission charge and the event is open to the public. It is being held in Room 106 in Smith-Buonano Hall at Brown University in Providence. Anyone seeking more information can contact info@movementforademocraticsociey.org