Friday 5
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During World War I, most of the white male populace of the small town of Corbin, Kentucky, went off to battle. Upon their return, they faced another fight, this time to get back the lucrative railroad construction jobs obtained in their absence by the town’s black male residents. In 1919 the white men rounded up all of Corbin’s black men, women, and children, set their houses afire, and shoved them into train cars, literally railroading them out of town. Seventy years later, residents recall the event with an amazing absence of self-awareness and a surfeit of racism. White Kentucky native and documentary filmmaker Robby Henson has recorded their comments in Trouble Behind, which makes its Chicago premiere tonight at 8 as part of the “Discourse of Racism” program at Randolph Street Gallery, 756 N. Milwaukee. Salim Muwakkil, senior editor of In These Times, will lead a discussion after the screening. Reservations are recommended; call 666-7737. Admission is $6, $4 for students and gallery members.
So you’ve got concerns about solid waste but no place to put ’em? Check out the Sierra Club’s Workshop for the Occasional Activist. Full-time activists and Illinois state legislators Jan Schakowsky and Barbara Flynn-Currie walk you through the lobbying and lawmaking process and explain how you can get your legislator to listen. The focus is on environmental laws, naturally, but their advice is eminently recyclable. The free workshop runs from 9 to 12:30 today. Call 431-0158 or just show up at the Sulzer Regional Library, 4455 N. Lincoln.
Dr. Alejandro Bendana served as one of the principal architects of Nicaraguan foreign policy in the Sandinista government and as ambassador to the United Nations. Currently he is a columnist for the Nicaraguan daily newspaper Barricada, writing on the role of the U.S. in his country’s elections. As a guest of the Nicaragua Solidarity Committee, he speaks tonight at 7:30 at DePaul University’s Schmitt Academic Center, 2323 N. Seminary. Admission is $3, $1 for students. Call 276-5626 for information.
It’s Underwear Obsession Night at Berlin. Starting about midnight, models undulate in corsets, girdles, negligees, boxer shorts, old-fashioned union suits, and more–or should we say less?–to the accompaniment of Madonna and other underwear-related videos. Strip down to your underthings and the club checks your clothes for free. Berlin is at 954 W. Belmont, 348-4975. No cover.
