I hope every single activist and art lover in the NYC area will attend the ABC No Rio Gala & Benefit Auction on Wednesday, October 22 at the Angel Orensanz Cultural Center on the lower east side of Manhattan.

ABC No Rio has been the host of many NYC Radical Reference meetings and events and is also a neighborhood community center and home to many of NY's most valuable activist projects.

The problem is, our home is crumbling. It needs to be torn down and completely rebuilt, which will cost more than a million dollars. They have done an incredible job raising money so far, but still have a long way to go. This benefit will feature work from over fifty artists, many of whose names you'll recognize and performances by a local favorite, the Hungry March Band, and others.

The event costs $75 to attend, which is very reasonable when you compare it to the ticket price for other gala type events I've been invited to lately, and it's really really really worth it. They are not spending their money on frivolous things; they only have one paid staff member, for goodness' sake, and most of the time he doesn't even turn the heat on if he's alone in the building!

Just as young feminists and others came together to save Bitch Magazine in her hour of need, I hope that punks, activists, artists, and community members will come together to support ABC No Rio.

I'm also speaking to you, Radical Reference members and users. Our group has been supported directly by ABC No Rio. We have had meetings there for which we were asked a measly $1 or $2 donation per attendee, benefit events for which we paid well-below standard, training events in the computer center for the same small donation, and we have ABC No Rio's Director, Steven Englander, participating in our Radical Archives event in November for free. C'mon people, please show up if you're local, or send 'em some dough if you're not!