August 2026

Happy August! We are meeting, as we do on the second Tuesday of every month, at 6:30pm at Various/Artists (19 Essex St). If you are seeing this too late, our next meeting will take place on Tuesday, September 8 (sorry).

See below for some recent and upcoming events across the boroughs, including not one, but two, eight-day marathons.

Last month, we were thrilled to participate in the Brooklyn Art Book Fair for the very first time, along with comrades from Brooklyn Jail Support (BKJS) and No Brooklyn Jail — thank you to everyone who stopped by our table! We raised more than $700 in proceeds, which we split between BKJS, Friend of a Friend, and a family in Gaza that a dear comrade is supporting.

To get involved with No Brooklyn Jail, you can fill out this form and find additional resources here. The campaign is also organizing a Black August screening at Fort Greene Park on Saturday, August 29 (details TBD). 

Last Tuesday, home care workers concluded a marathon, eight-day hunger strike outside City Hall — as part of longstanding efforts to end the racist violence of 24-hour shifts and pressure City Council Speaker Julie Menin to finally bring the No More 24 Act to a vote. The hunger strike brought together an impressive coalition of labor, disability justice, women’s rights, and other advocates across the city.

In response, the Department of Labor is reopening illegally closed wage theft cases for unionized workers, and United Nations Special Rapporteurs sent Speaker Menin, Governor Hochul, and Mayor Mamdani their letter denouncing 24-hour shifts as government-sanctioned abuse.

Home care workers have called for another mass mobilization on Saturday, October 3, outside City Hall! Follow Ain’t I A Woman!? for updates.

This Thursday at 9pm, comrades will be reading powerful poems by people imprisoned on Rikers as part of JS Fest, a marathon, eight-day celebration of the second anniversary of Brooklyn Jail Support’s weekly mutual aid distro. Zines will be available for purchase, and all proceeds will support the poets’ commissary and reentry funds.

JS Fest continues daily through Sunday, August 16, across the street from Central Booking (120 Schermerhorn St) in Downtown Brooklyn. On top of the usual 12-hour distro (2pm to 2am), there is nightly programming; see the full schedule below.

If you’re able, please bring hot food, snacks, water, juice, clothing, hygiene supplies, and/or cigarettes!

Next Tuesday, August 18, at 6:30pm, join Storefront, Alex Strada, and Martha Rosler for a conversation that explores the continuities between Rosler’s landmark project, If You Lived Here (1989), and Strada’s Public Address, currently on view across the city. The artists will reflect on Rosler’s decades-long engagement with housing, public space, and community — and how it might inform how we think about displacement and belonging in the present.

We were fortunate to collaborate with Storefront and Strada on a program this past March (Homes for People, Not for Profit), which will have a second life this fall (to be discussed at our meeting tonight!).

RSVP for the lecture & discussion here.

Western Queens Community Land Trust (WQCLT) is working to acquire a large city-owned building on the Long Island City waterfront (the former proposed site of Amazon HQ2), with the goal of transforming it into a truly affordable hub for cultural workers, community non-profits, and small businesses.

If you are a working artist, have a business that needs manufacturing space, or represent a cultural organization, please take this brief survey to help WQCLT build a strong case to the city for the Queensboro People’s Space.