Friends,
 Tonight and tomorrow in Rochester, Colombian youth Sebastián Patiño will speak on refusing to participate in war as a member of Conscientious Objectors' Collective Action.
War and militarism impact youths’ lives, especially when they are convinced, forced, or obligated to be soldiers and fight at the front lines, in futile wars that that profit few.
The Courage to Refuse War: Colombian conscientious objector speaks
TONIGHT, Wednesday, April 18, 7:30 PM
Rochester Mennonite Fellowship
111 Hillside Ave, Rochester, NY
Get directions to this event or view on Facebook
Tomorrow, Thursday, April 19, 11:00 AM
Allendale Columbia High School
519 Allens Creek Rd, Rochester, NY
Get directions to this event or view on Facebook
Amidst obligatory military service and a four-decade armed conflict, Colombian youth are courageously resisting to be part of the war machine: An organized youth movement has emerged to exert their rights as conscientious objectors to war and not perpetuate Colombia’s cycle of violence. Sebastián Patiño is an active member of Conscientious Objectors' Collective Action, a Bogotá-based group of young people promoting nonviolence and freedom of conscience.
He is coming to the United States to explore the common challenges that U.S. youth and Colombians face and find ways to empower youth to support each other in resisting militarism through solidarity and creative action.
The Patiño speaking tour (view all the events in the tour) is organized by the Fellowship of Reconciliation and the War and Peace in the Americas Working Group of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. FOR was founded by conscientious objectors to World War I in 1914, and today works with Colombian youth organizations like ACOOC that are working to break the country's cycle of violence. The tour is part of the War and Peace Working Group and FOR's efforts to create people-to-people ties between citizens of the United States and other nations working for peace. |
