Potluck Briefing on Trump, International Trade, and How They Affect Our Community — featuring Jesse Lenney

Metro Justice is starting a series of monthly potlucks for members and friends to discuss the current state of our country and how it can relate to local organizing, informing our actions in the coming year. This will be the first of many events like this one!

What?

This Sunday, Jesse Lenney will share reflections on his work with the New York State Trade Justice Campaign.  The campaign is a statewide effort by labor and community organizations working together to improve U.S. trade policy. The conversation will start with a consideration of the upcoming and mandatory six-year review of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (or USMCA, President Trump’s revised NAFTA trade deal).  

While the Trump’s administration is currently negotiating secretly, on a whim, and without Congressional approval,  the USMCA falls under Congressional purview.  This will be an opportunity to better understand international trade maneuvers — driven by Big Tech, Wall Street, and agricultural and pharmaceutical players — and its impact on the environment and workers, both globally and locally..

Who?

Jesse Lenney began his work on trade issues through Metro Justice’s Rochester Committee on Latin America (ROCLA).  He did so prior to becoming a Metro Justice member — and before the WTO protest in Seattle and the FTAA protest in Quebec in 2001, where protesters were shot with 3,000 rounds of CS tear gas. He remains deeply engaged with organizing around the Rochester community.

Why?

Sunday’s potluck — the first of many in this vein — provides an opportunity to step back from the whiplash of Trump’s day-to-day attacks to think about efforts behind it. And to work together through how we can respond.

How to Participate:

Show up for the event and bring a friend if you can. We encourage you to bring a potluck contribution to share, too — and to become a Metro Justice member if you aren't one already.

When and Where:

This Sunday, September 21st at 6:30 PM.

Our office — 389 Gregory St. Unit A, Rochester NY 14620