Monseñor: The Last Journey of Oscar Romero

The Latin American Task Force and First United Methodist Church of Ypsilanti are hosting a screening of this documentary about the events leading to the death of Archbishop Oscar Romero.

Date: Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Time: 7:00 pm

Where: First United Methodist Church of Ypsilanti (209 Washtenaw Ave., Ypsilanti, MI)

(in Spanish with English subtitles)

Following the murder of his good friend Fr. Rutilio Grande, a priest killed for speaking out against injustice and organizing the poor people of El Salvador, Archbishop Oscar Romero asked, “If we do not change now, then when?” For the next three years, Romero tirelessly preached against the oppression and violence perpetrated by the government of El Salvador against its people and worked for a culture of peace in his homeland. He cried out to the soldiers committing these acts of violence:

“I want to make a special request to the men in the armed forces: brothers, we are from the same country, yet you continually kill your peasant brothers. Before any order given by a man, the law of God must prevail: “You shall not kill!”… In the name of God I pray you, I beseech you, I order you! Let this repression cease!”

The day after he spoke these prophetic words, he was assassinated.

Monseñor: the Last Journey of Oscar Romero, a documentary produced in 2010 to coincide with the 30th anniversary of Romero’s death, chronicles the last three years of his life through moving images and the inspiring words of the people of El Salvador whose lives and faith were transformed by his witness.

The Latin American Task Force and First United Methodist Church of Ypsilanti will show this powerful film and take up Romero’s charge to work for peace and justice:

“If my death is accepted by God, let it be for the liberation of my people, and as a testimony of hope in the future.” ~March 1980

Download  Monsenor_RomeroFilm_Flyer.

The School of the Americas/SOA (renamed the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation in 2001) has trained some of the worst human rights abusers in Latin America. On November 16-18, thousands will gather at the gates of Ft. Benning to stand up for justice, to shut down the School of the Americas/SOA and to end the oppressive U.S. foreign policy that the school represents. Join us as we take a delegation to the annual vigil in Ft. Benning, GA to say no to militarism in Latin America and Yes to human rights and justice.

Read more… and register online now!

Join ICPJ’s Latin America Task Force for guest speaker, Francia Marquez, an Afro-Colombian woman from the Cauca region of Colombia, who risks her life to defend the gold-rich land that has sustained her community through small-scale mining for centuries.

Hear from Francia about:

• the women leading the resistance;
• the paramilitaries and private foreign mining companies that threaten their lives, livelihood, and the environment;
• and how justice for her people can be achieved.

Tuesday, October 30th
7pm
Canterbury House (721 E. Huron, Ann Arbor, MI 48104)

Parking available on the street and at the Liberty Plaza on Washington (~3 blocks from venue).

Refreshments will be served. Open to the public.

Please contact Grace Kotre (gracek@icpj.net, 734-663-1870).

Many of the worst human rights abusers in Latin America were trained at the School of the Americas (SOA/WHINSEC) at Ft. Benning. Travel with us to Georgia as we join thousands of others from across the hemisphere at the annual vigil and rally to close the school.

SIGN UP TO JOIN THE ICPJ DELEGATION! Online registration will be available soon. Until then, please email gracek@icpj.net to reserve your spot in the ICPJ delegation.

BACKGROUND: SOA Watch reports that “Since 1946, the SOA has trained over 64,000 Latin American soldiers in counterinsurgency techniques…. These graduates have consistently used their skills to wage a war against their own people. Among those targeted by SOA graduates are educators, union organizers, religious workers, student leaders, and others who work for the rights of the poor. Hundreds of thousands of Latin Americans have been tortured, raped, assassinated, ‘disappeared,’ massacred, and forced into refugee by those trained at the School of Assassins.” We will continue to raise our voices until the SOA is shut down and the U.S. government has stopped relying on violence to enforce its oppressive foreign policy in Latin America and the Caribbean.

LOGISTICS: ICPJ will be organizing carpools from Ann Arbor area to Ft. Benning, GA for the vigil and rally, leaving on Friday, Nov. 16th, and returning on Sunday, Nov. 18th. Exact leave and return times will be determined by car/driver. The ICPJ delegation will be staying together at rooms reserved at a hotel nearby the event site.

QUESTIONS: Contact Grace Helms Kotre at gracek@icpj.net (734.663.1870).

Honduras has recently been named the most dangerous place in the world to speak out against the government. Human rights activists, journalists, and members of the LGBT community have been under constant threat in Honduras since the 2009 military coup ousted democratically elected President Manuel Zelaya. Many have been killed, their murders left unprosecuted. Many others receive regular death threats. These human rights abuses are serious, but millions of dollars from the U.S. continue to be sent to Honduras for police and military aid.

Why does the US continue to support such an abusive government, one that is killing its own citizens who speak out against it? 

Join us to learn more:

Atrocities in Honduras with Mary Anne Perrone
Tuesday, Sept. 18th
7-9pm
St. Mary Student Parish (331 Thompson St., Ann Arbor)

Light refreshments will be provided.

National Day of Action Against Chipotle- July 25, 2012

Chipotle Mexican Grill, one of the first fast casual restaurants, prides itself on bringing “food with integrity” to its customers. Founded in 1993 in Denver, it has grown to over 1200 restaurants, each one company owned, in 43 states, DC, Canada, England, and France.

“Food with Integrity” is Chipotle’s mission to ensure that all of its ingredients are raise with respect to the animals, the environment, and the farmers. Its pork, chicken, and beef are raised naturally and not in concentrated animal feed lots while it attempts to source local and organic produce. While all of this is laudable and its chickens and pigs are “happy”, are the farmworkers who actually supply their ingredients happy?

Since 2006, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, the farmworkers rights organization in the tomato fields of Florida, has been urging Chipotle to sign on to its Fair Food agreement to ensure a penny per pound increase in farmworkers wages and justice in the fields. Chipotle has constantly rebuffed their efforts while extolling their ethical business practices. Human and labor rights activists have called that “chipocrisy”.

At ICPJ, we support justice for the people who feed us so in solidarity with the men and women who pick our tomatoes we are participating in a National Day of Action against Chipotle on Wednesday, July 25th

Location: 235 S. State St., Ann Arbor (near the State Theatre)

Time: at 12:30pm and again at 6:00pm

What: With signs and literature, we will send the message that it is not “food with integrity”   when chickens and pigs are treated fairer than people.

To learn more about the work for justice in the tomato fields of Florida, please visit the Coalition of Immokalee Workers.