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Pretty excited about this. Make sure and set aside the time to come and participate. It'll be fun too. Here's the PR:

"Earn Your Black-Belt in Verbal Self-Defense!
A workshop to help you effectively advocate for animal rights

When:
Saturday, March 10th, 2007.
1-5pm

Where:
Clinton Street Theater
2522 SE Clinton St., Portland, OR 97202

Cost:
Free (but you have to promise to mix it up and participate)

Summary:
A workshop for animal rights advocates to help them hone their debating and outreach skills. Emphasis will be on improving confidence and effectiveness in day to day scenarios. Speaker Pulin Modi (College Campaign Coordinator, peta2.com) will cover frequently asked questions and help participants frame and practice effective answers and debating techniques. He will also touch on tabling and handling more public settings. In addition to the presentation, there will be a “practice” session where participants can engage in mock debate.

Speaker:
Pulin Modi (http://www.peta2.com/staff_pulin.asp) has been active in the animal rights movement for nearly ten years doing everything from organizing demonstrations and tabling on the grassroots level with the Animal Defense League to getting media attention for demonstrations and media oriented campaigns. He graduated from Vassar College in 2002 with a B.A. in Ecology of Social Change via the school’s Independent Program, as well as correlate sequences in Geography and Anthropology. Pulin has toured the country for peta2.com, the youth division of PETA, doing outreach at concerts and festivals, been banned from several malls for dressing up as a giant rabbit to protest fur, and traveled to college campuses with controversial exhibits like Holocaust on Your Plate and Animal Liberation Project for PETA.

Currently Pulin serves as peta2.com’s College Campaign Coordinator where he corresponds with college activists, generates campus media in local and national outlets, and develops resources to reach the enormous number of university students about animal rights.

Sponsors:
Food Fight! Grocery, Herbivore Magazine, Blossoming Lotus, NW Veg, Scapegoat Tattoo, and peta2.com."

posted by Food Fight! Vegan Grocery # 2:42 PM

Comments:

Step one: pull your advertising?
Step two: clam up completely?

# posted by Matt Davis : 4:21 PM

Matt Davis...so controversial.

# posted by vmaas : 4:34 PM

Why is this on Saturday 1-5? Unless Schumacher has closed shop by then, this is the exact day and time of the week when people who are active animal activists are actually out protesting. Seriously. Consider changing the day and time. These protests have been going on for over a year and are the most prominent and regular AR protests in Portland.

# posted by Anonymous : 12:31 AM

I thought we won and theya re going out of business...Why are there still protests?

# posted by Anonymous : 8:44 AM

It was originally scheduled for Sunday, but the venue got double booked and we had to change it. Saturday is the only day it's possible, sorry.

# posted by Food Fight! Vegan Grocery : 9:42 AM

The protests continue because they continue to sell fur. The goal of the campaign from the beginning was to educate Portland and potential consumers, and that hasn't changed.

Another fur store probably wouldn't open up here because protesters have shown that they are tenacious. Protests continued even when the store was closed for the day - because the purpose was education. If protesters just pulled out because they thought they had "won," or got bored or went home on certain weekends, Schumacher probably would have been saying he was moving, just so protesters would go away. Persistence and tenacity show that protesters are not going away, even if he tries to open up again next year. And they also show fur buyers that the anti-fur people are serious.

One huge problem with most protests is that they are not consistent. If a type of business just wants to weather a once a year protest, no sweat. If the only time fur hags get a comment is once a year on fur free friday, no sweat. Persistence is key to making a change.

I would encourage those who go to this meeting to actually take it out into the streets. If you don't go to protests, why not? (And no excuses about how you don't like this one or whatever, if you want to see a different kind, make it happen).

# posted by Anonymous : 11:21 AM

Just wanted to add, that we'd also like to see the protests continue. But also, "taking it to the streets" isn't something a lot of people are into, and that doesn't mean they aren't as much of an activist as those who do. Taking it to the family reunion or the workplace makes a big difference too.

We're doing this workshop because we think our community can have a giant impact in our day to day interactions, and reach people that might be turned off by other tactics. We need it all. Hopefully, people will leave this workshop feeling more confident in their speaking abilities and be able to shut down all the jerky questions we all get everyday.

# posted by Food Fight! Vegan Grocery : 11:36 AM

Agreed, Food Fight. Taking it to the family reunion and workplace is important activism too - didn't mean to imply otherwise. In fact, that's some of the more difficult activism!

# posted by Anonymous : 12:23 PM

In "taking it to the streets news":

We just received an elephant costume in the mail for Pulin, the speaker for the event.

# posted by Food Fight! Vegan Grocery : 12:32 PM

PETA putting on a verbal debate class? What a joke. Peta needs to be attending classes itself and needs a serious public relations firm. I'm a vegan and don't eat 'em wear 'em or believe in vivisection or entertainment with 'em, but in Nebraska if anyone hears the word PETA, the door is slammed before any "verbal" exchange.

# posted by Anonymous : 9:31 AM

PETA isn't putting it on, we are. All the big groups have big problems, but we should still be able to use them for what they're worth. And Pulin, the speaker is a good guy with skills, and he's gonna do a great job. So there.

# posted by Food Fight! Vegan Grocery : 11:27 AM

Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Earn Your Black-Belt in Verbal Self-Defense!

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