Thursday, February 10, 7pm: Advocating for Justice: Remembering the Holocaust and Fighting Book Banning – WBAI 99.5 FM and WBAI.org  | Your host for this evening of programming (and, for that matter, all weekly installments of Advocating for Justice) is Arthur Z. Schwartz (Principal Attorney, Advocates for Justice Chartered Attorneys, Political Director- NY Progressive Action Network, Democratic District Leader – Greenwich Village, NYC, and one of the fine 2021 candidates for NYC Council District 3). Of the show’s programming tonight, Schwartz writes, “Last week was the 77th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, memorialized as Holocaust Rememberance Day. In a national and world setting where anti-Semitism is very much alive, we were all shocked last week with a decision by a Tennessee school Board to remove the book Maus from its shelves because of its graphic depiction of the Holocaust. Remembering the Holocaust is not only impotant to Jews, it is a constant reminder of the ultimate result of racial and religious hatred. (And yes, as Whoopie learned, Hitler considered Jews to be a race.) And it is a reminder of just where neo-fascist movements can lead to.” Schwartz will rebroadcast Maus author Art Spiegelman’s interview last week, on Democracy Now! This installment of the show will also feature interviews With Holocaust survivors. As for Maus and why you should care (as in, care enough to read the excellent, groundbreaking work), Schwartz notes, “Maus is about his [the author’s] relationship with his father, a Holocaust survivor. The postmodern book depicts Germans as cats, Jews as mice, and ethnic Poles as pigs, and took 13 years to create until its completion in 1991. It won a special Pulitzer Prize in 1992. Earlier this month, Maus was removed from an eighth-grade English language arts curriculum by the McMinn County, Tennessee, Board of Education over concerns about “rough, objectionable language” and a drawing of a nude woman.” Can’t give a listen in real time? That’s what archives are for! “You can always find our podcast at wbai.org / On Demand,” notes Schwartz. “And while you are there please make a donation – become a WBAI Buddy!”

Through March 1: Manhattan Community Board Applications Accepted | A result of last year’s Primary and General Election process, newly installed Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine has already embarked upon on of his marquee responsibilities: Appointing new members to Manhattan community boards. In order to be considered for appointment, a complete application must be submitted online or postmarked by no later than 5:00pm on Tuesday, March 1, 2022. Click here to see the application, which is a doozy, and must be completed in one single sitting–so be sure and preview it before embarking upon it.

Through March 2: “Futures” at Fountain House Gallery | Fountain House Gallery–representing artists with mental illness–presents this  group exhibition on view through March 2, and curated by Barbara Pollack.

“Post-2020, predicting the future is perhaps an antiquated game, given how the sudden onset of the pandemic surprised all prognosticators,” said Pollack, co-founder of Art at a Time Like This, a nonprofit platform serving artists and curators in the 21st century, as they live through crises and comment on social issues; she will serve as the lead curator of Mirror Image: A Transformation of Chinese Identity, opening at Asia Society in June 2022. “Combining boundless imagination with low-tech materials, the nearly 20 artists of Futures create a new way of dealing with our hopes, fears and anxieties, conjuring visions that cannot be seen through telescopes or crystal balls. From apocalyptic nightmares to over-the-rainbow fantasies, the artworks in this exhibition underscore the limits of politicians, scientists and astrologers to find a new way of envisioning imminent change. Only artists, like these, seem capable of creating images that are dynamic and capture the diversity of the future, or more accurately, ‘futures,’ since this holds a different meaning for each.”

To preview selected works, click here. Note: Masks and proof of vaccination are required for entry to Fountain House Gallery. To learn more about the gallery (702 Ninth Ave. at W. 48th St.), click here.