City Lights release party

Wednesday, July 28, attend a book-release celebration for City Lights' new title, Globalize Liberation: How to Uproot the System and Build a Better World. The event includes speeches by activists published in the anthology and a street theater performance by Antonia Juhasz and David Solnit of Art and Revolution. 7 p.m., United Food and Commercial Workers Local 648 Union Hall, 1980 Mission, S.F. Free. www.globalizeliberation.org.

Democratic County Convention West

Thursday, July 29, watch Sen. John Kerry's acceptance speech for the Democratic Party's nomination for U.S. president at the Democratic National Convention in Boston with San Francisco Democratic Party leaders and activists. Proceeds go the local party's pledge to register 10,000 new Democrats by October. 5:30-8:30 p.m., Marriott Hotel, Atrium Lounge, second floor, 55 Fourth St., S.F. $25-$100 donation. (415) 333-4338 (RSVP).

Housing and land-use seminar

Thursday, July 29, at the sixth seminar in the San Francisco Green Party's series on housing and land-use issues, Oscar Grande of the Mission Antidisplacement Coalition and Kate White of the Housing Action Coalition lead a discussion on gentrification and displacement. 7-9 p.m., New College of California, 777 Valencia, S.F. Free. (415) 826-2140, drwsf@sbcglobal.net.

Ward Churchill speaks

Thursday, July 29, hear Ward Churchill, professor of American Indian studies at the University of Colorado, speak on his new book, On the Justice of Roosting Chickens: Reflections on the Consequences of U.S. Imperial Arrogance and Criminality, which examines U.S. attempts to violate international law from 1945 to the present. 7-9 p.m., New College of California, 777 Valencia, S.F. $5-$10 donation. (510) 208-1700.

Factory-farming film

Friday, July 30, join filmmakers Jenny Stein and James LaVeck for the San Francisco premier of their latest documentary, Peaceable Kingdom, which examines several individuals, including farmers, as they challenge the injustices of factory farming. A discussion with the filmmakers and several of the film's subjects follows the screening. 7:30 p.m., Herbst Theatre, 401 Van Ness, S.F. $15 (with discussion $25, with discussion and reception $75). (415) 392-4400 or (415) 478-2277 (tickets), www.tribeofheart.org.

Political magazine launch party

Friday, July 30, in celebration of the debut issue of Dialogue Magazine, a publication devoted to the development of a democratic and secular Palestinian nation, its creators hold a political review and discussion with UC Berkeley professor Hatem Bazian, Israeli antiwar activist Ben Eckstein, and Palestinian rights activist Mayssoun Succarrie. 7 p.m., Center for Political Education, 522 Valencia, S.F. $3. (415) 431-1918.

Prisoner's book release

Friday, July 30, celebrate the release of David Gilbert's No Surrender: Writings from an Anti-Imperialist Political Prisoner with Gilbert's son, Chesa Boudin, Native American activist Ward Churchill, former prisoner Linda Evans, Kali Akuno of the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, Clare Bayard of Heads Up Collective, and poet Maria Poblet. Hear recorded statements by the author, who is currently serving a minimum 75-year-to-life sentence in the New York state prison system for felony murder, and by California federal prisoner Marilyn Buck, who is serving an 80-year sentence for, among other things, helping break Black Panther Assata Shakur out of prison in 1985. 7-10 p.m., AK Press, 674A 23rd St., Oakl. $5-$10 donation. (510) 208-1700.

Former prisoners speak out

Saturday, July 31, learn about and discuss the many barriers to reentry people confront when coming out of prison at a Peace and Justice Community Summit sponsored by All of Us or None. Speakers focus on the family and community impacts of sentencing policies, the institutional discrimination faced by formerly incarcerated people, and specific recommendations for policy changes at the local, state, and federal levels. 10 a.m.-2 p.m., First Unitarian Church, 685 14th St., Oakl. Free. Child care and lunch provided. (415) 863-9977.

Suburbia's end

Saturday, July 31, join New College of California faculty Richard Heinberg and Julian Darley for a screening and discussion of the film The End of Suburbia, an exploration of the decline of the fossil fuel supply and the sustainability of the American way of life. 1 p.m., New College of California Cultural Center, 766 Valencia, S.F. Free. (415) 437-3400.

Nader campaign need volunteers

Saturday, July 31-Sunday, Aug. 1, join other campaigners in an effort to get Ralph Nader and his running mate for U.S. president, Peter Camejo, on the California ballot. Volunteers need to get 153,000 signatures by Aug. 6. 10 a.m., 16th Street BART Station, 16th and Mission Sts., S.F.; 10 a.m., Nader Campaign Headquarters, 318 Harrison, Ste. 101, Oakl. (510) 238-9668, jessmuldoon@aol.com.]