UN Tribute to Monsignor Romero Highlighted in El Salvador

SAN SALVADOR - The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of El Salvador highlighted a resolution of the United Nations General Assembly that pays a fitting tribute to Monsignor Oscar Arnulfo Romero.

In a communiqué sent to reporters, the Foreign Ministry reported the declaration of March 24 as International Day of the Right to Truth in relation to serious violations of Human Rights and Dignity of Victims.

The Foreign Ministry added that in this a way the UN pays a fitting tribute to Archbishop Romero, a tireless defender of human rights until his assassination on March 24, 1980.

This initiative recognizes the need to promote historical memory and the importance of the right to truth and justice, the Alternate Permanent Representative to the UN, Carlos Garcia, said.

The resolution, proposed by El Salvador, was cosponsored by 45 countries, including Argentina, Austria, Bolivia, Cuba, Denmark, Finland, France, Guatemala, Hungary, Nicaragua, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador and Mexico.

On March 24, President Mauricio Funes acknowledged Romero's legacy and on behalf of the Salvadoran state apologized for the assassination perpetrated 30 years ago, the Foreign Ministry said in the memo.


http://www.insidecostarica.com/dailynews/2010/november/14/centralamerica10111402.htm

Views on White Allyship from a Person of Color

by Stefanie Tsosie
you can visit her blog here: http://whatwouldjohncollierdo.blogspot.com/

Here it is. I've had some people ask me before about how white people can help with anything. This is what I came up with. Enjoy!

Rule number one: Step off.

Sometimes I think it’s nearly impossible for some white people to just chill out and not lead any groups, not spearhead any activities, or to not go out and teach people the ways of whatever culture they just learned about. We don’t need that. WE can do that. That’s what we WANT to do. Rather, you’d be much more helpful by just sitting back and stepping up when we ask for help. 500 years of colonial leadership got us in this situation in the first place, so why would we want that same power to lead our movement for community empowerment?

Rule number two: Ask people directly about what you can do.

Instead of telling others what they should do, or expressing opinions on how communities can fix themselves, why don’t you ask THEM what THEY NEED. You’d be surprised to know that most communities already know what they need and they know what makes them thrive. We don’t need 5,000 copies of Ayn Rand that you collected from your whatever drive (although if it’s a cold winter, we’ll take them!). My suggestion is to find an organization or community you’re interested in and care about and contact them to see what they need. Don’t approach communities with your ideas because they’ll probably get shot down. Also, keep in mind that ‘your part’ can be big or small. Some communities may want you to attend a rally, or to gather resources for an event. Others might simply ask you to help them by changing a part of your daily routine (ie. don’t shop at this store because the owner is doing x, y,z). Those types of contributions are okay. As long as you asked, and as long as you follow through, your contribution will not go unrecognized.

Rule number three: Don’t get butthurt.

You will be excluded from some things. You will feel left out sometimes. You will get made fun of and laughed at sometimes. But don’t get butthurt and say we hate white people and we’re racist.

It’s not racist.

And if you don’t understand that, then this isn’t the first thing you need to be doing to help out other communities. Instead, you need to educate yourself on race and power structures. Unless you do that first, you’re doing everybody a disservice. Please understand that although you are an integral part in helping communities get recognition/sovereignty/rights/resources, etc, you are not a part of the grassroots constituency served.

Rule number four: Don’t go blabbing to your friends about how cool you are because you’ve joined the ‘movement.’

It’s not your movement. It’s our movement. And don’t join it to impress other people. We expect people to be committed. Not only to whatever movement it is, but also to education, empowerment, and understanding. People that blab are the ones that set up ‘Warrior Camps’ and ‘Sweatlodges’ and think they ‘Know the way of the Indians.’ You may appear to be cool to your friends by wearing your ‘spirit object’ around your neck, but to us you just look like a jackass. The other thing that happens when you start talking to other people, is that sometimes people get misconceptions and don’t fully understand what community empowerment is. See rule number five.

Rule number five: Refer interested people/parties to the organization or community itself.

The second biggest problem to white people taking over movements started by communities of color, is white people speaking on behalf of those same communities. First off, it makes us look like we can’t speak for ourselves, which is just offensive. Secondly, we want to be the ones to finally educate others properly on issues that we think are important. Why would you take that away from us? That would take us back to square one. Thirdly, this always leads to bad news. Like whities dying in sweat lodges constructed out of noxious plastic.

So whether it’s a media representative at a rally, or an inquiring friend, ALWAYS refer them to speak with a representative from the organization/community. We know how to tell our stories best.

Rule number six: Educate yourself and be aware of your surroundings.

If you don’t understand something, just ask. Most people are more than willing to impart knowledge of why they’re pissed at something.

Also, pay attention to where you are and who is around you. And don’t pretend like you’re ‘colorblind’ or ‘you don’t see race.’ That’s bullshit. Even if you don’t see race, it sees us and it impacts the world whether we like it or not. Being colorblind is one of the most selfish things you can do. Feel free to question who is around you and always be aware of that. Ever notice that sometimes you’re the only white person in a room? How about if there are no people of color in a room? Yeah. We notice those things all the time. Now try and think about why that is. It’s okay to recognize privilege and that you have some. We don’t hate you for that. We just don’t like it when you don’t recognize it. Practice run - Why are there no or very few people of color on a golf course or ski resort? I’ll just leave that at that. We’ll see how you do on figuring out the rest.

Rule number seven: Be persistent.

Power structures and institutions cannot change without everybody involved. Thank you for your help, but it’s a long fight. Be persistent and enduring.

I’m sure there are more subtleties to the rules. And there may be amendments later. This is just a start. Please feel free to comment, question, share, whatever. Thanks!

Music Video! "Quiznos your stalling is killing me!"

This is hot!!! As promised, here is the music video from the Oct. 15 "Quit stalling, Quiznos" flashmob and protest.

Check out the video on youtube or view it below.

Share with all your friends!

See our photoreport from the action as well: "Quiznos, the world is changing!!! When will you?"

And read the article from the Westword blog: "Denver Fair Food and Coalition of Immokalee Workers target Quiznos"

"Quiznos, the world is changing!!! When will you?" Photoreport from the Oct. 15 action outside Quiznos HQ

During the morning preparations for our action outside Quiznos headquarters last Friday, Gerardo Reyes Chavez (on the left) from the Coalition of Immokalee Workers quickly scrawled a sign reading "Quiznos!!! The World is changing. When will you?" His words cut to the significance of the current moment in the Campaign for Fair Food and the urgency of the need for Quiznos to join the potential tidal shift in farm labor relations in Florida (and beyond) which the moment represents.

Just last week, the CIW and Pacific Tomato Growers, one of the nation's largest tomato growers, announced a milestone agreement embodying the principles of fair wages, human rights and a voice for farmworkers for which the CIW has been fighting for so long. The agreement represents the first direct relationship between a grower and the grassroots, worker-led Coalition. Such a relationship would have been unimaginable just a couple years ago and is a profound break with literally hundreds of years of history during which farm owners have viewed farmworkers as little more than "machines in the fields."

Nonetheless, as Lucas Benitez of the CIW stated at the announcement of the agreement, "As we turn the page on this new chapter in Florida agricultural history, however, I do want to make one thing crystal clear. We are not today claiming that we have achieved the changes sought by the Campaign for Fair Food. Rather, we are announcing that we have forged a plan of action that gives us a realistic chance to bring about those changes."

The vision of a more just and humane agricultural system is teetering on the edge of becoming a reality. As a major buyer of tomatoes, Quzinos' purchasing power can contribute to pushing this reality into being or can serve to hold it back, delaying the hopes of thousands of farmworkers. With Pacific - in addition to the other leading Florida grower East Coast, two of the largest organic tomato producers, all Quiznos' leading fast food competitors, and the food service industry - now solidly behind the CIW's plan of action, there can be no acceptable excuses for Quiznos' failure to join the emerging Fair Food concensus. Justice delayed is justice denied, and unless Quiznos works with the CIW, it is supporting the intolerable status quo which is the human rights crisis in Florida agriculture.

"Quit Stalling, Quiznos!" Photoreport from the Action
With this dramatic background, a rowdy crowd - including not only a broad spectrum from clergy to students of the Denver community, but also our Fair Food companer@s from around Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Illinois and as far away as New York and Florida - convened on Quiznos headquarters. We had a simple message: Quzinos must quit stalling!

Never content with your average protest, the Fair Food activists kicked things off with a song and dance routine to the tune of "Hit Me Baby One More Time" to delivery our message.




"Quiznos, your stalling . . . is killing me (and I), I must confess I still believe (still believe) working conditions must be in line with human riiiiiighhhttts! This agreement you must sign!"
The music video is forthcoming, but beware, 'cause it'll get stuck in your head.

After a few inspiring words from Gerardo Reyes, we began a lively picket. Meanwhile, a delegation went upstairs to Quiznos headquarters . . .

. . . to deliver a set of jumper cables to the sandwich franchise. In May, Quiznos promised us that it was pursuing an agreement with the CIW. Quiznos' words have rung hollow as the months have passed and there has been no progress on its part. We brought the cables as a gift to help Quiznos quit stalling and start moving in the right direction again.

To our dissapointment, no one from Quiznos was willing or able to meet us and accept our gift. Eventually, a senior vice president got on the phone and spoke with Rudy Cortinas, national co-coordinator of the Student/Farmworker Alliance. But not only was the VP unwilling to meet with us in person, he refused to so much as listen over the phone to Gerardo Reyes from the CIW. And instead of affirming the importance of a partnership with farmworkers in the protection of human rights in Quiznos supply chain, he regurgitated tired explanations about how the company was taking its own steps to address the issue. The cold shoulder we received at Quiznos headquarters is a big departure from the respect for workers in its supply chain that Quiznos claims to embrace.

Gerardo closed things up by rallying the crowd to continue the struggle and indeed re-double our efforts to bring Quiznos to the table. Everyone present may have been frustrated having been snubbed by Quiznos, but we left more determined than ever to bring about justice for farmworkers in Quiznos' supply chain.

Time to talk about immigration: Welcome to Shelbyville

Originally posted on 10.19.2010 by
Janine Vanderburg, JVA Consulting
visit JVA here!

Over 250 people jammed into the Aurora Fox Arts Theater in Aurora for a special screening of Welcome to Shelbyville, a film directed and produced by Kim Snyder that weaves the narratives of different groups of residents—white, African American, Latino and Somali—in a small southern town as they grapple with the changing demographics of their community and their beliefs about themselves and others in their town.

Following the movie, Joe Wismann-Horther of the Spring Institute for Intercultural Learning facilitated an audience conversation, asking thought-provoking questions like:

What are things from the film that are uncomfortable and that you’ve heard in our own community?

Diverse members of both immigrant and refugee communities and “receiving” communities shared honest and painful experiences that mirrored those in the movie:

A young Muslim woman shared the challenges she faces when asked why she wears a veil
A consultant shared the negative attitudes about refugees that she has heard during group facilitations
Others shared how they felt unsettled by the conversation in the movie among a group of Christian ministers when they realize the potential to convert Somali refugees: “These are the people we have been trying to reach—now we don’t even have to get a passport.”
It was also an opportunity to educate the audience about what the refugee resettlement process is like. One refugee explained the challenges of the resettlement process and the need to be self-sufficient eight months after arriving in this country; others expressed their desires to help others from their communities resettle and the feelings of frustration they have felt through the sometimes systemic barriers to offering that help. Paul Stein, director of the Colorado Refugee Services Program, explained that refugee resettlement is the “local completion of a foreign policy commitment,” adding that refugees now receive eight months of resettlement assistance compared to the 36 months of assistance they used to receive in the 1980s.

Mostly, audience members acknowledged the importance of bridges between immigrant and refugee communities, which could be organizational, or individuals like Luci, the ESL teacher in the movie who explains to her students how they should approach a newspaper reporter who writes negative stories about immigrants, and who helps bring together the different communities around food, music and conversation. As one audience member stated: “We can help bridge the cultural divide through the gift of hospitality.”


This comment had parallels to the conversation that followed of a comment Senator Michael Bennet made in a Meet the Press debate on Sunday:

“And what I’ll tell you is this, my favorite rooms are the ones where there are Democrats, Republicans, unaffiliated voters and Tea party people, because when folks are together in a room, they actually have to listen to each other. I think one of the things that we are facing right now is that we’ve stopped listening to each other in our politics.”

On Monday night, in the movie and in the conversation that followed, people were both saying tough things and listening to each other. I came away feeling inspired and optimistic about the ability of people coming together to break down the barriers that distance us, and thinking that if we could all watch this movie between now and the end of the year, how 2011 might be different.

A shout-out to the people who brought this event here and who work hard every day to make the vision of integrated communities a reality:

Meg Allen, Denver Coalition for Integration
Jordan Garcia, Immigrant Ally Organizing Director, American Friends Service Committee
Rich McLean, St. Therese Catholic Church
Jenny Pool-Radway, Original Aurora Community Integration Collaborative
Kit Taintor, Colorado African Organization
Jamie Torres, Office of Support Services, Denver Office of Human Rights and Community Relations
Joe Wismann-Horther, the Spring Institute for Intercultural Learning
Screenings are taking place tonight in Longmont and Glenwood Springs, and on Thursday in Grand Junction. Click here for times and locations.



Resources:
For more information about the film, see http://welcometoshelbyvilleonline.org/wordpress/

For more information about how you can get involved in Colorado, see http://welcomingcolorado.org