Civic Media Center
Encyclopedia
The Civic Media Center is a grassroots, community-based radical
infoshop
, an alternative library
and reading room in Gainesville
, Florida
, United States
. The CMC is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization
funded by offering yearly memberships to access the substantial resources housed within the space and donations from friends and members alike.
dedicated the CMC on October 18, 1993 at its original venue upstairs at 1636 West University Avenue. The CMC was founded by Charles Willett, The Gainesville Iguana, and other members of the Gainesville alternative press and activist community.
In 1994, the CMC moved to an accessible and larger facility at 1021 West University Avenue.
After being chosen by Stetson Kennedy
, then 92 years old, who has worked with the center since its inception, as the repository for his personal library, the CMC moved to a yet larger venue at 433 South Main Street, which was dedicated by Kennedy.
The CMC houses a vast collection of periodicals, books from the alternative press, films, zines, and audio recordings which are available for its members to check out and everyone to use on site. The CMC boasts one of, if not the, largest collections of zines
in the United States, actually possessing too many to display at any one time.
The periodicals archive contains literature from African national liberation struggles from the '60s to local student newspapers put out during the Vietnam war era student movement at the University of Florida.
There is also a collection of early original documents from Gainesville Women's Liberation, the first women's liberation group in the South, which was formed in 1968.
And, finally, as noted above in the history, the CMC is the repository of Stetson Kennedy's
extensive personal library, which contains about 2,000 books and publications he collected over his 74-year career a folklore archivist and as an activist.
.
Weekly events at the CMC include:
Acting as progressive and radical community space is a priority for the CMC, and one may find everything from sundry activist groups' and unions' meetings to high school punk rock shows to knitting groups, workshops, or gatherings of the Gainesville Critical Mass riders.
Furthermore, the CMC has an impressive track record of bringing prominent progressive speakers to Gainesville, including Noam Chomsky
, Howard Zinn
, Michael and Christian Parenti
, David Barsamian
, and Diane Roberts
.
Far left
Far left, also known as the revolutionary left, radical left and extreme left are terms which refer to the highest degree of leftist positions among left-wing politics...
infoshop
Infoshop
An infoshop is a storefront or social center that serves as a node for the distribution of political information, typically in the form of books, zines, stickers and posters. Infoshops often serve as a meeting space and resource hub for local activist groups....
, an alternative library
Library
In a traditional sense, a library is a large collection of books, and can refer to the place in which the collection is housed. Today, the term can refer to any collection, including digital sources, resources, and services...
and reading room in Gainesville
Gainesville, Florida
Gainesville is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Alachua County, Florida, United States as well as the principal city of the Gainesville, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area . The preliminary 2010 Census population count for Gainesville is 124,354. Gainesville is home to the sixth...
, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The CMC is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization
Non-profit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
funded by offering yearly memberships to access the substantial resources housed within the space and donations from friends and members alike.
History
Noam ChomskyNoam Chomsky
Avram Noam Chomsky is an American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, and activist. He is an Institute Professor and Professor in the Department of Linguistics & Philosophy at MIT, where he has worked for over 50 years. Chomsky has been described as the "father of modern linguistics" and...
dedicated the CMC on October 18, 1993 at its original venue upstairs at 1636 West University Avenue. The CMC was founded by Charles Willett, The Gainesville Iguana, and other members of the Gainesville alternative press and activist community.
In 1994, the CMC moved to an accessible and larger facility at 1021 West University Avenue.
After being chosen by Stetson Kennedy
Stetson Kennedy
William Stetson Kennedy was an American author and human rights activist. One of the pioneer folklore collectors during the first half of the twentieth century, he is remembered for having infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan in the 1940s, exposing its secrets to authorities and the outside world...
, then 92 years old, who has worked with the center since its inception, as the repository for his personal library, the CMC moved to a yet larger venue at 433 South Main Street, which was dedicated by Kennedy.
Library
Zine library
A zine library is a repository of zines and other associated artifacts, such as small press books. These generally have minimal budgets. They have a close association with infoshops and other forms of DIY culture and independent media.-External links:***...
in the United States, actually possessing too many to display at any one time.
The periodicals archive contains literature from African national liberation struggles from the '60s to local student newspapers put out during the Vietnam war era student movement at the University of Florida.
There is also a collection of early original documents from Gainesville Women's Liberation, the first women's liberation group in the South, which was formed in 1968.
And, finally, as noted above in the history, the CMC is the repository of Stetson Kennedy's
Stetson Kennedy
William Stetson Kennedy was an American author and human rights activist. One of the pioneer folklore collectors during the first half of the twentieth century, he is remembered for having infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan in the 1940s, exposing its secrets to authorities and the outside world...
extensive personal library, which contains about 2,000 books and publications he collected over his 74-year career a folklore archivist and as an activist.
Activities
In addition to its functions as a library, the CMC also regularly hosts events, often partnering with community groups and student organizations from the nearby University of FloridaUniversity of Florida
The University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906...
.
Weekly events at the CMC include:
- Documentary screenings
- Poetry Jam, Gainesville's longest-running open poetry reading
- Free University, classes that are taught for free, escaping the expense, agenda, and bureaucracy that often corrupts state funded educational institutions
- Live acoustic music
Acting as progressive and radical community space is a priority for the CMC, and one may find everything from sundry activist groups' and unions' meetings to high school punk rock shows to knitting groups, workshops, or gatherings of the Gainesville Critical Mass riders.
Furthermore, the CMC has an impressive track record of bringing prominent progressive speakers to Gainesville, including Noam Chomsky
Noam Chomsky
Avram Noam Chomsky is an American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, and activist. He is an Institute Professor and Professor in the Department of Linguistics & Philosophy at MIT, where he has worked for over 50 years. Chomsky has been described as the "father of modern linguistics" and...
, Howard Zinn
Howard Zinn
Howard Zinn was an American historian, academic, author, playwright, and social activist. Before and during his tenure as a political science professor at Boston University from 1964-88 he wrote more than 20 books, which included his best-selling and influential A People's History of the United...
, Michael and Christian Parenti
Parenti
-People:*Christian Parenti, an American journalist*Michael Parenti, an American historian*Neri Parenti, an Italian film director*Umberto Parenti, an Italian entomologist-Animals:...
, David Barsamian
David Barsamian
David Barsamian is an Armenian-American radio broadcaster, writer, and the founder and director of Alternative Radio, the Boulder, Colorado-based syndicated weekly talk program heard on some 125 radio stations in various countries....
, and Diane Roberts
Diane Roberts
Diane Roberts is an American author, columnist, and professor.Roberts is professor of literature and writing at Florida State University and a visiting fellow in creative writing at the University of Northumbria in England, specializing in Southern United States culture...
.
External links
- Civic Media Center CMC website
- CMC myspace CMC myspace
- CMC Twitter CMC Twitter