School of the Americas Watch – Westcordially invites you to attend an evening of
VOICES FOR PEACE
Friday, November 2, 2001 at 6:00 PM
First Unitarian Universalist Center
1187 Franklin Street/corner Geary Blvd.
San Francisco, CA 94109Let us gather together to share a meal,
To welcome Charlie Liteky back
and give thanks for his contributions to peace;To recognize our need for solidarity at this time,
And to hear of new ways to make our voices heard;To recommit ourselves to the work of Peace.
Speakers:
Charlie Liteky, SOAW Prisoner of Conscience
David Hartsough, Nonviolent Peace Force
Laura Slattery, Pace e Bene Franciscan Nonviolence Ctr
Eric LeCompte, SOA Watch, Washington, DC
Program: Social Hour 6:00 PM Dinner: Seafood or Veggie 7:00 PM Speakers, Q&A Donation: $25.00 per person Yes, please reserve _____ places for me. Seafood ____ Veggie ____
To: D.M.Priem, 310 Stanyan St #104, San Francisco 94118
Enclosed is my check to SOAWatch West for $_______.
Name___________________________________
Address________________________________ Phone/Email_______________Or, email: doloresmp@aol.com
This is to let you know that I got to do a little publicity for SOAWW, which aired on the KPFA "Morning Show," Monday 9/3 (Labor Day), with Andrea Lewis.
The context was a pre-event interview regarding the Watershed Poetry Festival, a 20-minute segment featuring Maxine Hong Kingston (a wonderful mentor to me, founder of the Veteran Writers' Workshop), her husband Earll Kingston, and myself. During the interview I got to read my poem about Charlie Liteky and give a brief explanation of the issue, and a plug for soaww. I'll also be reading the poem at the Festival.
The Watershed Poetry Festival takes place on Saturday, 9/8/01, at Martin Luther King, Jr. Park, at Center and MLK Jr. Way, Berkeley. Participants include Gary Snyder, Robert Hass (U.S. Poet Laureate, 1995-97, and originator of the festival), Joanna Macy, Francisco X. Alarcon, and many more wonderful poets and environmentalist speakers and activities.
The readings themselves are from 12:00 noon to 5:00 pm, preceded by a special "Strawberry Creek Walk" at 10:00 a.m., starting at Oxford and Center Streets (the western edge of UC campus, where Strawberry Creek goes underground). The Veterans' Group appearance, including myself, will be at about 1:45 p.m.
There will be a Cal football home game the same day, so parking may
be very difficult. Fortunately, it looks like the BART strike has
been averted; the main Berkeley station, at Center and Shattuck, is just
1.5 blocks to the East of MLK Jr. Park.
More info can be found at www.poetryflash.org. Or you may contact
me,
Ted Sexauer, (707) 996-8665
17th Anniversary Marin Interaith Task Force (MITF) Dinner
Sunday, September 9, 2001
Canoles Hall, First Presbyterian Church, 1510 5th St., San Rafael
Guest Speaker:
Fr. Stephen Privett, SJ, President of the University of San Francisco
"Reflections on Central America"
Honored Guests: Judy & Charlie Liteky
Cocktails & Dinner $25
6 pm No Host Bar -- 7 pm Dinner
By reservation only.
For more information, or to receive an invitation, please call (415)
924-3227 or (415) 924-7690.
*********************************************
Fr. Stephen Privett to Speak at MITF Dinner
by Jan Bauman, MITF Board
When Fr. Stephen Privett, S.J. was named as the 27th president of the
University of San Francisco, he wanted his inauguration to coincide with
the 11th anniversary of the murder of six Jesuits, their cook and her daughter
by members of the El Salvadoran military, several of whom had been trained
at the US Army School of the Americas. Behind the altar of St. Ignatius
Church where Privett was inaugurated on November 18, 2000, hung black and
white drawings of each of the
victims of the massacre. In his inaugural speech, Privett declared
that "their passion for the truth, and their courage in its telling, continues
to be a model and an inspiration."
Privett, who will speak at the 17th Anniversary MITF Dinner on September
9, has long been a passionate advocate for the poor and disenfranchised
both in this country and abroad. During the 1980s he served as a
missionary in El Salvador and worked with refugees in Honduras for five
months in 1988. As the former provost and vice-president for academic affairs
at Santa Clara University, he set up a program for study in El Salvador
and last year took a group of students to El Salvador. He went to Guatemala
to join more than 400 celebrants at the funeral liturgy for murdered Bishop
Juan Gerardi. His writing and sermons reflect his deep and abiding commitment
to those whose lives have been marked by poverty and repression.
Privett's driving passion is to bridge the gap between the rich and
poor of the world.
"Our world," he said, "is a place where 40,000 people die each day from easily preventable diseaseŠ.where $2.4 billion dollars a day is spent on weapons of destruction, while three billion people live on less than two dollars a day; where the total assets of the wealthiest 358 individuals exceed the combined annual income of the poorest 45% of the world's population; it should not be this way."
Special invited guests at the dinner will be Judy and Charlie Liteky of School of the Americas Watch.
The event will be held on Sunday, September 9 at Canoles Hall, First Presbyterian Church, 1510 5th St., San Rafael. The no-host bar will open at 6 PM and the dinner is at 7 PM. Tickets for the dinner are $25 and are by reservation. Reservations can be made by calling (415) 924-3227 or (415) 924-7690. Canoles Hall is wheelchair accessible.
(FW by) Rachelle Schlabach
MCC Washington Office
110 Maryland Ave., NE #502
Washington, D.C. 20002
Phone: 202-544-6564, ext. 6
Fax: 202-544-2820
----------------------------------
The U.S/Colombia Coordinating Office and Colombia Human Rights Network
is proud to announce the following U.S. national tour of Colombian civil
society leaders.
COLOMBIA'S UNTOLD STORY: VOICES FROM THE CONFLICT ZONES
U.S. NATIONAL TOUR MARCH 15 - APRIL 13
FEATURING: REGULO MADERO AND CARLOS ALBERTO PALACIOS
Colombian grassroots leaders Regulo Madero and Carlos Alberto Palacios, will visit 10 cities across the United States between March 15 and April 13 to tell their stories of advocating for human rights and peace in Colombia. Regulo is the president of the regional human rights organization CREDHOS, and will discuss the complex conflict in Colombia, and the extreme difficulty and danger of working for human rights in the violent city of Barrancabermeja. Carlos, a former priest and current organizer of the Putumayo Project of Peaceful Coexistence will address the impact of U.S. fumigation on human rights and the grassroots struggle for peace in the Putumayo department, the area where U.S.-backed counternarcotics offensives began late last year.
Colombia is in the midst of a four-decade old civil conflict in which over a hundred thousand people have died and over 1.9 million people have been internally displaced. Human rights violations continue to increase and the scope of those affected by the violence is ever widening. This dramatic escalation in the conflict has made it more difficult for human rights defenders and peace activists to work safely and effectively. The humanitarian crisis continues to grow, and innocent civilians are still the principal targets of this violence. The $1.3 billion U.S. aid package approved last year has already begun to exacerbate the violence. Armed actors in all areas, but particularly in Barrancabermeja and Putumayo have stepped up attacks.
PLEASE SEE BELOW FOR BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON OUR SPEAKERS AND CONTACT NUMBERS FOR LOCAL EVENTS IN CHICAGO IL, WASHINGTON D.C., NEW YORK NY, PHILADELPHIA PA, MORRISTOWN NJ, BOSTON MA, ALBUQUERQUE NM, LOS ANGELES CA, SAN FRANCISCO CA, AND SEATTLE WA. FOR MORE INFO PLEASE CONTACT THE U.S./COLOMBIA OFFICE AT 202-232-8090 OR EMAIL: AGIFFEN@IGC.ORG
___________________________________________
S P E A K E R S F R O M
C O N F L I C T Z O N E S
___________________________________________
R E G U L O M A D E R O is President of CREDHOS, the Regional Corporation for the Defense of Human Rights, a non-governmental human rights organization in Barrancabermeja that monitors human rights and international humanitarian law in the Magdalena Medio, one of Colombia's most violent regions. Since it was founded in 1987, numerous members of CREDHOS and their families have been the targets of persistent acts of intimidation, disappearance, and murder.
An area primarily controlled by guerrilla groups in the past, paramilitaries have been taking over the Magdalena Medio region for the last several years.
The National Liberation Army (ELN), Colombia's second largest guerrilla group is negotiating for a demilitarized zone in the area to hold peace talks. The paramilitaries have stepped up attacks to protest the demilitarized zone. Over 500 paramilitary have reportedly moved into the area since December 2000, carrying out numerous massacres and selective killings of civilians. Likewise, they have stepped up attacks and threats against national and international human rights organizations, including CREDHOS.
C A R L O S A L B E R T O P A L A C I O S is an ex-priest and native of Putumayo, the department in southern Colombia that is the focus of the current U.S. fumigation initiative. Between December 18 and January 5, the U.S.-backed aerial eradication program (part of the $1.3 billion U.S. aid package) has fumigated 25,000 hectares of coca crops and destroyed 70 labs in this department where, according to Department of Defense reports, over 70% of Colombia's coca cultivation occurs. However, the fumigation has displaced many civilians, exacerbating Colombia's internally displaced population that exceeds 1.8 million persons.
Carlos Palacios, coordinator of the human development office for the mayor of Valle del Guamez (La Hormiga) and Community Leaders in Defense of Campesinos, is currently providing assistance and programs for Colombians who have been displaced by U.S. fumigation programs and promoting alternative development and eradication measures. A long-time civil society leader working to promote human rights and alternative development in the region, he has experienced threats from armed actors on all sides, and was forcibly displaced while the priest of the Puerto Guzman parish in 1997.
__________________________________________________
I T I N E R A R Y & L O C A L C O N T A C T I N F O R M A T I O N
__________________________________________________
Below, you will find the cities and dates of travel for the tour. Some local events are listed, however to get a full list of activities please feel free to contact the local organizer. Although additional cities CANNOT be added to the tour itinerary, local organizers may be willing to add additional events in the scheduled cities or nearby.
***If you have trouble contacting the local organizer, please contact the U.S./Colombia Coordinating Office tel: 202-232-8090***
[NOTE: I recieved this several days ago, then got terrificly busy & am just now getting to it (sorry about the delay!) so I am including just the April dates. Sorry, Chicago, DC, New York, Philly & Morristown WASHINGTON, DC]
BOSTON, MA
APRIL 1 - 5
Speakers: Regulo Madero and Carlos Alberto Palacios
Contact: Cathey Crumbley, Colombia Vive, 59 Fenno St., Cambridge, MA
02138, Tel: (617) 868-7770, Email: Cathy_Crumbley@uml.edu
LOS ANGELES, CA
APRIL 5 - 9
Speaker: Regulo Madero
Contact: Esteban Pinilla, Colombia Human Rights Committee, P.O. Box
4643 Laguna Beach, CA 92652, Tel: (714) 859-5880, Email: cinearte@hotmail.com
ALBUQUERQUE, NM
APRIL 5 - 9
Speaker: Carlos Alberto Palacios
Contact: Justin Delacour: oakleyruth@igc.org,
Tel 505-247-1346, Colombia Solidarity Committee of New Mexico
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA
APRIL 9 - 13
Speaker: Carlos Alberto Palacios
Contact: Natalia Lopez, CHIBCHA - Colombia Human Rights Information
Committee, Tel/Fax: (415) 282-6941, P.O. Box 40155, San Francisco, CA 94140
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON
APRIL 9-13
Speaker: Regulo Madero
Contact: Cristina Reyes, Seattle Colombia Committee,
cristina_reyes33@hotmail.com
__________
END
__________
Alison Giffen
Director
U.S./Colombia Coordinating Office
PHONE: 202-232-8090 FAX: 202-232-8092
1630 Connecticut Ave. NW, Suite 200
Washington D.C. 20009
www.igc.org/colhrnet/
____________________________________________________________
The U.S./Colombia Coordinating Office promotes human rights, justice,
and peace in Colombia through coordinated advocacy and coalition building.
The Office supports efforts that work for peace and social justice
through non-violent means.
Two Events Toward Community Education and Discourse on Colombia This Week:
2. In Santa Cruz, Thursday and Friday, March 1-2:
Come hear activists, experts, professors, journalists, and students from the U.S. and Colombia speak about and discuss the issues at hand and learn about how to get involved in campaigns to help the people of Colombia.
-----SCHEDULE OF EVENTS-----
Thursday, March 1st:
Introduction -- 10 minutes
---Panel One: Colombian Culture and History; The Roots of the Conflict
-- 1 hour
David Sweet, Professor of Latin American History, UC Santa Cruz
Michael Stanfield, Professor of Latin American Studies, USF
---Panel Two: The Drug War and Plan Colombia -- 1-1.25 hours
Moyara Reuhsen, Graduate Professor, Monterey Institute for International
Studies
Andrew Miller, Advocacy Director for Latin America, Amnesty International
Alexandra Arango, Graduate Student, Scripps College <---she may
speak on first panel...
Friday, March 2nd:
Introduction -- 10 minutes
---Panel Three: Human Rights and the Environment: A Crisis -- 1 hour
Carwil James, Project Underground
Esteban Panilla, Colombian Human Rights Committee
--Panel Four: Efforts for Peace and the Future of Latin America--1 hr.
Ron Smith, Independent Filmmaker and Peace Brigades participant
Adam Smith, Colombian Support Network <---he may speak on Drug War/Plan
Colombia Panel
***Each Panel will be accompanied by a short documentary about the topic in question***
---------------------------------------
For more information, Contact SMAC at smacruz@hotmail.com
For press inquiries, please write to Sky Gilbar at immediact@yahoo.com
3. In Berkeley, Friday, March 2:
A groundbreaking conference bringing together leading Experts from both Latin America and the United States to discuss both the roots of the current Colombian crisis, and the future effects of US strategy in the region.
The one day event will have two panels. The first will focus on the historical context of the political and economic turmoil in Colombia; and the second will examine the current peace process, the Colombian and United States' government policies, and human rights concerns. This is a rare opportunity to hear prominent scholars, policy Analysts and journalists engage in an open dialogue about the volatile situation in Colombia.
Friday, March 2, 2001
First panel: 9 am to 12pm
Second panel: 2 pm to 4:30 pm
The Bancroft Hotel, 2680 Bancroft Way
University of California, Berkeley
For information and updates, see the "Colombia in Context" Website: http://socrates.berkeley.edu:7001/colombia/index.html
Center for Latin American Studies
University of California
2334 Bowditch Street
Berkeley, CA 94720-2312
E-mail: clas@uclink4.berkeley.edu
Tel: 510-642-2088
Fax: 510-642-3260
URL: www.clas.berkeley.edu/clas
Stephanie Salter says, "The Fr. Roy/USF students column is running this Sunday." Look for it in the paper if you get it or try www.sfgate.com.
And we hope for a story in the Contra Costa Times. www.hotcoco.com.
Grateful to all, Judy
[This item is very late in posting. Still, it contains useful information.]
---------------------
Here is the press release that went out this evening (Sunday) on today's inspiring and totally nonviolent action. It was a triumph for all who perservered through the rain and heightened security to bear witness here at Ft. Benning. LET'S HEAR IT FOR THE POWER OF NONVIOLENT DIRECT ACTION!!
We urge local groups to adapt this release for use in their local media work tomorrow and in the future.
Please be aware that as of this hour (midnight EST Sunday) everyone has been released and is accounted for, to the best of our knowledge.
---------------------
School of Americas Watch
PO Box 4566 ~ Washington DC 20017 ~ www.soaw.org
PRESS ADVISORY***FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE***Nov. 19th 2000
Contact: Fr. Roy Bourgeois 706-682-5369, Randy Serraglio 706-682-3843 or 706-682-2979
**10,000 Gather at the gates of Ft. Benning Military Base to Close the
US Army School of the Americas
**3,600 Risk Arrest by Crossing the Line in Civil Disobedience
**Simultaneous Action in Chiapas, Mexico
Over 10,000 people from all over the Americas gathered at the gates
of Ft. Benning today to demand the closure of the U.S. Army School of the
Americas (SOA). Over 3,600 risked arrest by crossing onto the base in a
massive act of civil disobedience. Thousands were called to express their
outrage at the deadly impacts of U.S. counterinsurgency training on Latin
American communities.
An estimated 2,000 protesters were arrested and processed. Hundreds of protesters, including clergy, students, veterans, grandparents and others are still being held on the base.
At 11am, about 3,400 filed onto the base in a solemn funeral procession, carrying thousands of crosses and other sacred symbols inscribed with the names of victims of SOA violence in Latin America. They were led by a group dressed in black shrouds and white death masks who carried coffins to commemorate the assassination of six Jesuit priests and their two co-workers in El Salvador in 1989 by SOA graduates. When met by military police a half mile inside the gate, the lead group fell to the ground, reenacting a massacre. They were among the first to be carried away by the military police.
Once the entire first procession had completely crossed the line, 32 additional activists, dressed as campesinos and soldiers, crossed the line and staged a massacre by Colombian paramilitaries. They were immediately taken into custody by military police.
Then a second procession of 200 activists with giant puppets, costumes and drums entered the base. Other affinity groups entered simultaneously through different entrances and engaged in various creative actions of nonviolent resistance, such as street-theater and the blocking of the road with their bodies. Dozens of activists planted corn in Ft. Benning soil as a symbol of life and hope.
In Chiapas, Mexico 300 members of the civil society group Las Abejas fasted and prayed simultaneously with the Georgia action. At great personal risk, Mexican human rights activists planted corn in soil at a military camp in Chiapas in a coordinated symbolic action.
The vigil featured speakers from Chiapas and Colombia, as well as several other Latin American nations. Both Colombia and Chiapas have been targeted for massive U.S. military aid and counterinsurgency training. Colombia has more SOA graduates (10,000) than any other nation. Paramilitary death squads are a key element of civilian targeted warfare as it is taught at the SOA.
In Colombia, former Defense Minister Gen. Harold Bedoya, SOA graduate and guest instructor, has advocated the use of paramilitaries for years. In Chiapas, Gen. Jose Ruben Rivas Pena, who took the elite Command and General Staff course at the SOA, has also called for the use of paramilitaries. Paramilitaries, in collaboration with the Colombian and Mexican militaries, are now cited for the vast majority of human rights abuses in these conflicts.
"We know the names of the generals and the high-ranking officers implicated
in these killings, and nothing has been done," said Luis Eduardo Guerra,
a Colombian peace activist whose community has repeatedly been targeted
by paramilitaries. "We know that the officers who trained the paramilitaries
were trained at the School of the Americas."
(1) Father Roy Bourgeois will be in San Francisco for one day -- TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 13. Mark this on your new calendars! The details of the places and times for the events are not yet finalized.
(2) The next SOAWW meeting in San Francisco will be Thursday, Jan. 4 from 7:00 to 8:30 PM at the Unitarian Universalist Center (Franklin at Geary). Help is needed in informing local Representatives and Senators about the lack of substantive change at the "new" SOA or WHISC (Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation) opening on Jan. 17. Help will also be needed to advertise Father Roy's events.
(3) Colombia: A series of four articles started in the Chronicle on
Sunday, December 17. The articles are available on the web at at www.sfgate.com..
Letters to the editor can be submitted at letters@sfchronicle.com
(4) Good wishes for shared joy and renewal at this holiday time!
You can hear them on KPFA -- 94.1 FM -- sometime between 5 and 6 PM.
An addition to our last e-mail...
On December 1, 2000, the Romero Foundation is hosting an evening to remember and celebrate the lives and death of Jean Donovan, Dorothy Kazel, Maura Clarke, and Ita Ford, the four churchwomen who were assassinated on December 2, 1980 while working toward peace and justice in El Salvador.
A screening of the movie "Roses in December" will be shown, which focuses on the lives of these remarkable women. Group discussion to follow.
6 pm, St. Peter's Chruch, 1249 Alabama Street at 24th Street. More information:
Romero Foundation, (415) 701-1221.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
On November 19, 2000, a delegation of religious leaders, students and other Bay Area activists, totaling over 100 strong, will join an expected 15,000 demonstrators from across the country at Fort Benning, Georgia in raising their voices to close the infamous US Army School of the Americas. The activists will mark the eleventh anniversary of the assassinations of six Jesuit priests, and two women co-workers at the University of Central America in El Salvador. Nineteen of the 26 Salvadoran officers cited for the massacre in a United Nations report for the massacre were trained at the School of the Americas.
The US Army School of the Americas, located at Fort Benning, Georgia, trains 900 to 2,000 Latin American soldiers each year. Graduates of the School of the Americas have been linked to human rights violations including genocide, massacres and torture throughout Latin America. SOA graduates include Manuel Noriega of Panama, Vladimiro Montesinos of Peru and the assassins of Archbishop Oscar Romero.
The following Bay Area events will be held in honor of those who have been killed by SOA graduates and in solidarity with those who will bear witness at the SOA:
• November 16, Thursday, 4:00 to 6:00 pm
National Day of Action to Stop US Militarism in Latin America and Around the World and Vigil in Commemoration of the Martyrs of El Salvador. Place: San Francisco Federal Building (Golden Gate Ave. between Polk and Larkin, near the Civic Center BART). Speakers, street theater, music. (Call Stephanie Doucette at CISPES, 415-648-8222)
• November 18, Saturday, 7:00 to 9:00 pm
An Evening of Solidarity and Remembrance Place: Bellarmine College Preparatory, Andrade Theater in the Bellarmine Library (Hedding and Elm Streets), San Jose. Speakers, films and discussion. (Call Larry Lauro, 408 294-9224 ext 288)
• November 19, Sunday, 1:00 pm
A Community Rally in Concord In solidarity with those "crossing the line" at Fort Benning. Gather at 1:00 pm at Todos Santos Park, Concord, followed by a vigil and procession at 1:30 pm, and a closing prayer service at 2:00 pm.
• November 19, Sunday, 1:30 to 3:30 pm
Procession and March in San Jose
March from First Christian Church, 5th Street (Between San Fernando
and Santa Clara) to the Federal Building, San Jose. (Contact Frank Kreikebaum
at SCU fkreikebaum@scu.edu)
• Saturday, December 2, 2000
Join us in San Francisco to commemorate the 20th Anniversary of the lives and death of Jean Donovan, Dorothy Kazel, Maura Clarke, and Ita Ford.
We Remember 20 Years Ago
Four Churchwomen
Murdered by Salvadoran Soldiers
Trained in the U.S.
At The School Of The Americas
Paid for by our Tax Dollars.
And U.S. Intervention Continues Today
In El Salvador and Columbia.
5pm Gathering: Justin Herman Plaza (Market St. at the Embarcadero)
Procession to
Union Square, San Francisco
6-7pm Commemoration at Union Square
(In case of
rain, meet at Old St. Mary's Church, 6:30pm, corner of Grant and California)
Bring roses, symbols, signs, candles, and your family and friends.
Sponsored by the School of the Americas Watch-West.
For more information call Tara Carr at 565-3673
CLOSE THE SOA NOW!
San Jose ACTIONS!
NOVEMBER 18TH AND 19TH
An evening and day of solidarity, action and reflection
Saturday November 18th, 7:00 P.M. to 9:00 P.M. @ Bellarmine Prep. Library (Hedding @ Elm)
Talks: SOA and El Salvador, U.S. interests and the SOA
Films: School of Assassins Guns and Greed
Reflection: Open sharing of prayers, reflections, and hopes.
Call Larry Lauro, 408-294-9224 ex. 288
--------------------------------------
Sunday November 19th, 1:30 P.M. to 3:30 P.M.
Procession and march from the church to Federal Bldg.
Litany of Names of the SOA victims.
First Christian Church @ 5th Street Between San Fernando and Santa Clara
Contact Frank Kreikebaum at SCU
We Remember 20 Years Ago Four Churchwomen Murdered by Salvadoran Soldiers Trained in the U.S. At The School Of The Americas Paid for by our Tax Dollars. And U.S. Intervention Continues Today In El Salvador and Columbia.
5pm Gathering: Justin Herman Plaza (Market St. at the Embarcadero)
Procession to Union Square, San Francisco
6?7pm Commemoration at Union Square
(In case of rain, meet at Old St. Mary’s Church,
6:30pm, corner of Grant and California)
Bring roses, symbols, signs, candles, and your family and friends. Sponsored by the School of the Americas Watch-West. Co-sponsors: Office of Public Policy and Social Concern of the Archdiocese of San Francisco, CISPES, University Ministry at the University of San Francisco, CARECEN, St. Ignatius Parish, and The Romero Foundation.
For more information call Tara Carr at 565-3673
Please take note of the two following program announcements!
CHIBCHA, CELASA, Latin American Studies and the History Department at the University of San Francisco present a forum for discussion:
"Uncle Sam in Narco Land: US Military Assistance and the Plan Colombia"
when: Thursday, October 19th, 5:00 - 7:00pm
where: University of San Francisco, Cowell 113
Free and open to the public. Please post. (Parking is available at the St. Mary's Hospital Parking lot on Stanyan Street at Fulton for a very reasonable rate.)
for directions, please see: http://www.usfca.edu/online/help_pps/come_visit/directions.html
For more information, visit Global Exchange at http://www.globalexchange.org
___________________________________________________________________
Attn: Students/Young Adults (Ages 18-35)
Close the SOA: 2nd Annual Young Adult Convergence
Please plan to attend and help spread the word!
Dear friends,
If you're planning on attending the vigil and action at Ft. Benning's School of the Americas this year sponsored by the SOAWatch, why not come a day or two early and join hundreds of college students and young adults from around the nation who will be gathering at the "Close the SOA: 2nd Annual Young Adult Convergence?" Last year, nearly two hundred people gathered to network, reflect and dialogue on our efforts to work for social justice locally, nationally and internationally. In light of this past year's events in Seattle, Washington DC, and at the political conventions, let's keep the conversation going and the work moving forward.
"Close the SOA: 2nd Annual Young Adult Convergence" will take place at Koinonia Farms, located in Americus, GA, (only 45 minutes away from Ft. Benning's main gate) beginning Thursday, November 16. We'll be holding a variety of roundtable discussions, opportunities for networking and sharing information on issues and methods, optional interfaith worship and much more. On Saturday and Sunday (Nov. 18 and 19) we'll participate in the events taking place at the main gate of Ft. Benning commemorating the assassinations of 6 Jesuit priests and their co-worker and her daughter in 1989 at the hands of Salvadoran soldiers trained at the US-taxpayer funded School of the Americas.
Koinonia Farms will be providing meals and accommodations that include bunk space, indoor sleeping space and camping from the beginning of the convergence on through the weekend's events at Ft. Benning. The convergence is being sponsored by the Pax Christi USA Young Adult Forum (a branch of Pax Christi USA, the national Catholic peace movement) and is open to all college students and young adults.
To register or for more information, please contact: Christine Brown at freetibet_mercyhurst@hotmail.com or (814) 825-9009 (east coast contact); or Steve Hughes at unterwegs78@hotmail.com or (360) 250-2510 (west coast contact).
Please feel free to circulate this e-mail invitation to any other individuals or groups that you know who may be interested in attending the convergence. Thanks!
Peace,
The Convergence Organizing Committee
