From the SOA to the Border
This October 7-10 join CODEPINK in Nogales, Arizona for a bi-national convergence that has brought thousands together at the U.S./Mexico border since the 1980s to demand a fundamental shift in U.S. foreign policy.
Ann Wright, Medea Benjamin, Tighe Barry, Nancy Mancias, Leslie Harris, Danna Miller Pyke, Martha Hubert, Josie Lenwell, Barbara Briggs-Letson and other amazing CODEPINK activists will gather in Nogales and we hope to see YOU!
Check out SOA Watch's website for information about lodging and travel! Please make your travel arrangements as soon as possible; accommodations are filling up fast.
With no end in sight to criminal gang violence in Central America’s Northern Triangle or the conflict in Syria and Iraq, spontaneous flows of child and family migration to U.S. and European borders show no signs of letting up. As violence continues, and millions of children and families are disenfranchised, displaced and abused, the vast majority of them are looking for a new peaceful home in the United States and Europe. In both regions, smuggling networks continue to operate and adapt to new policy changes.
Join Col. Ann Wright, CODEPINK and Nancy Mancias for a discussion and workshop on European and U.S. migration parallels and western foreign policy on refugees. Hear from volunteers who worked in the refugee camps in Greece. Learn to take action to end war and violence, and hear about CODEPINK’s "knitting for refugees" project.
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The patterns of violence and forced migration established during the dirty wars of the 20th century have continued unabated as a direct result of U.S. economic and security policies in Mesoamerica and the U.S.-led Drug War. How do we respond to this current reality in the same way we responded to the violence in the 1980’s? Where should our energies lie?
The border mobilization in Nogales is one more way to fight for the closure of the School of the Americas, and to work towards a world that is free of suffering and violence. We cannot forget that many of our immigrant brothers and sisters are survivors of U.S.-sponsored atrocities in Latin America. In calling attention to the militarization of the border, we continue to demand an end to state-sponsored terrorism and violence against our communities on both sides of the border.
At a time when refugees who are fleeing U.S.-sponsored violence are being branded as criminals, rapists and terrorists, and as anti-immigrant rhetoric continues to poison the public discourse in this election year, it is important for people of conscience to take a stand and to offer a different narrative.
As politicians build walls, we must build bridges.
We need to build grassroots power to challenge the racist status quo and we need to take action.