 The Compass V Conference:We're All In This Together! New Vision. New Values. Join the Journey. This year's Compass Conference is going to be an event that you will not want to miss. Payment at the door is permitted, but we really would prefer advance registration, so that we'll have a better idea of how much food to prepare. You can pay online with a credit card [click here] or mail a paper form with a check [click here]. (The strategy session in the daytime on Friday is intended primarily for organization leaders.) TAP's annual Celebration, Long Haul Awards, and Silent Auction will be on Friday evening, May 16th.  Jim Hightower, America's #1 Populist, will be our Keynote Speaker as we celebrate people working hard for a better Tennessee. As a New York Times best selling author, national radio commentator, writer, and public speaker Jim Hightower has spent three decades battling the Powers That Be on behalf of the Powers That Ought To Be — consumers, working families, environmentalists, small businesses, and just-plain-folks. He's the publisher of the award-winning Hightower Lowdown newsletter, and his new book is Swim Against The Current: Even A Dead Fish Can Go With The Flow. Saturday, May 17th is People's Day at Compass. Click here for a detailed schedule. The opening plenary, "From Self Interest to the Common Good," will feature Richard Healey and Sandra Hinson of the Grassroots Policy Project and former Mayor Bill Purcell. This session will be followed by interactive workshops where we will discuss our vision and values, spirituality and politics, economic justice, environmental sustainability, and how government can help move us towards a more progressive future.In addition there will be a Youth Track, featuring a Hip Hop Workshop to activate Nashville's youth through poetry, spoken word and music. During lunch we will show the documentary "Books Not Bars," with Lissa McLeod of the Children's Defense Fund leading a discussion afterwards. This film looks at the U.S. prison industry and the social impact of moving inner-city minority offenders into prisons instead of giving them the education they deserve. To finish the day, Rev. Andre Johnson, professor of Communications and African American studies at the University of Memphis, will give a keynote address. Rev. Johnson teaches classes in African American religion and the Black Church and "The Rhetoric of Hip Hop". Compass V co-sponsors AFL/CIO of Tennessee Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, Nashville Chapter Bongo Java BURNT Common Cause of Tennessee Community Economic Development Network of East Tennessee Gathering to Save Our Democracy Gentle Arborist Grassroots Funding Exchange Green Party of Tennessee Jobs with Justice Kilowatt Ours Nashville Homeless Power Project Midsouth Peace and Justice Center Nashville Peace and Justice Center Radio Free Nashville SEIU Local 205 Tennesseans for Fair Taxation Tennessee Citizen Action Tennessee Coalition to Abolish State Killing Tennessee Conference on Social Welfare Tennessee Environmental Council Tennessee Guerilla Women Tennessee Health Care Campaign Tennessee Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition Tennessee Justice Center Tennessee NOW The Turnip Truck Trust for the Future Two Dogs Trading Urban Epicenter Veterans For Peace, chapter 89 Winnie Forrester, Socially Responsible Investments |