Subscribe to RSS feedThat’s what UM student activist Jennifer Mills says about her work to organize a bus to the School of the Americas Rally and Vigil in Ft. Benning, Georgia. Thanks to donors like you, ICPJ has been able to be there for Jennifer’s development as an activist, from bringing her to her first peace and justice event to working with her to organize an entire busload of people to attend a rally and vigil in Georgia.
Please make sure that ICPJ is here for activists like Jennifer in 2007 and beyond by making your tax-deductible donation of $40, $60, $100, or another amount to the Interfaith Council for Peace and Justice today.
As you probably know, the School of the Americas (renamed in 2001 as the “Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation) is a military training facility that is notorious for training some of the worst human rights abusers in Latin America. The international campaign to close the school has become the centerpiece of the movement for human rights in Latin America for the past decade.
I first met Jennifer last year as she was planning to attend her first SOA vigil. When her original travel plans fell through, she emailed ICPJ to see if she could ride with us, and ICPJ was there to offer her a ride and an opportunity to speak out for justice in Latin America.
If you’ve been down to the SOA rally, you know it’s a powerful experience, and it had a profound impact on Jennifer. She told me:
“It was definitely a turning point for me. Before I went to my first SOA rally, going to a vigil was completely out of character for me. Now, working for peace and justice is a major part of who I am. My friends from High School think it’s strange that I protested anything, but my friends in college think it’s odd if there’s an issue I’m not involved in.”
Jennifer was able to go to the SOA rally and vigil, and to return inspired, because ICPJ was there. And ICPJ was there because you were there to support us.
Six months later, in April of 2006, Jennifer took the next step in her work for justice in Latin America by joining the ICPJ lobby delegation to Washington, DC. There, Jennifer served as our information person as we called on Congress to close the School of the Americas.
Jennifer was there to answer the detailed questions that the congressional staffers asked, and she was there because ICPJ was there to support her by organizing the lobby trip, setting up the lobby visits, and providing experienced grassroots lobbyist to accompany Jennifer. And ICPJ was there because you were there to support us.
This fall, Jennifer decided to organize a bus to the Ft. Benning rally and vigil. She talked to her pastor, who was supportive, but also a bit skeptical that she’d be able to pull it off. She talked to the United Auto Worker Supporters of the School of the Americas Watch group. They were also supportive, but they could only commit to twenty seats, not to taking a full bus.
But when she called us at ICPJ we said, “Let’s do it.” (Okay, I admit there was some number crunching and checking to make sure the finances worked. We owe it to donors like you to be thoughtful before we shell out five thousand dollars for a bus).
As Jennifer went out to talk to student groups and college classes, members of our Latin America Task Force recruited community members for the trip, organized lodging and logistics and raised scholarship money so that the trip could be affordable for everyone.
And on November 19, a bus with thirty-five students, unionists, and community members left for Georgia to call for justice in Latin America. They returned with a new commitment to work for peace.
And thanks to donors like you, ICPJ will be there with them in their work for peace.
I’m sharing Jennifer’s story with you because it shows the important role that ICPJ plays in building the peace movement. Jennifer has tremendous passion for justice in Latin America and a real talent for community organizing, and thanks to you ICPJ has been there to ensure that she can put her talent to good use.
If it weren’t for ICPJ, would she have gone to that first rally?
Would she have had the opportunity to lobby Congress?
Would she have the support she needed to organize the bus trip to the SOA rally?
Your support for ICPJ makes it possible for us to be there to support Jennifer and other activists like her. Thanks to you, Jennifer was able to take that first trip to the SOA rally. Thanks to you, Jennifer was able to get first-hand experience in grassroots lobbying. Thanks to you, Jennifer had the support she needed to organize a full bus to the Ft. Benning vigil.
Thanks to you, ICPJ was there to help support Jennifer’s growth as an activist.
When you make a contribution of $40, $60, $100, or another amount , you ensure that ICPJ will be there for the next aspiring activist like Jennifer Mills. Your contribution is an investment in ICPJ’s grassroots organizing and to building the future of the peace movement.
Please make send your donation today so that we can continue to bet there to support more people as they act on their values to create a more just and peaceful world.
In peace,
Chuck Warpehoski, Director.
P.S. Our Fundraising Committee set a goal of raising $100,000 this year to strengthen our peace and justice work. We’re three quarters of the way there. Please send your donation today so that we can have the resources we need to build a strong peace and justice movement for the activists of today and tomorrow.