Friends,
 This Wednesday and Thursday, Arizona will host the cross-country Caravan for Peace with Justice and Dignity in Phoenix and Tucson, led by poet Javier Sicilia and the Mexican peace movement. FOR is supporting the caravan, and we hope you'll join us at these events!
Wednesday, Aug. 15
6:00 PM to 10:00 PM
Civic Space Park, 424 N Central Ave, Phoenix
Get directions to this event, view on Facebook or read details
Thursday, Aug. 16
6:00 PM to 9:00 PM
Southside Presbyterian Church, 317 W 23rd St, Tucson
Get directions to this event, view on Facebook or read details
The Caravan began in Tijuana, and will traverse more than 5,600 miles along the U.S.-Mexico border, through the Southeast, to Chicago and New York, and culminating in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 12. Download a flyer about the Caravan's visit to Arizona.
 Javier Sicilia will be accompanied by more than 60 other Mexicans, victims of violence, representatives of indigenous communities, human rights leaders, artists, youth groups, churches for peace, and allied organizations. Many U.S. activists will also travel with the Caravan, as will journalists from Mexico and the United States.
The Caravan addresses the United States' role in the violence that’s afflicted so many Mexican families, including global drug prohibition and consumption, gun trafficking, militarized foreign policy, the denial of immigrants' rights, and money laundering. At the heart of the Caravan will be testimonies of victims of violence by criminal and state forces, who are bearing the human cost of these policies and calling for change.
 The movement organized two national caravans in Mexico last year, from Cuernavaca to Juárez at the border, and another to Chiapas in the south, with FOR activists in both. Some 60 organizations from the U.S. and Mexico are supporting this year's caravan, including Global Exchange, NAACP, Drug Policy Alliance, Labor Council for Latin American Advancement, Presente, School of the Americas Watch, Border Angels, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, and FOR.
Bringing Down the New Jim Crow, a radio documentary series on the drug war and mass incarceration produced by Chris Moore-Backman, will feature an hour-long program on the Caravan. Chris served on FOR’s first Colombia peace team in 2002, and he will travel with the Caravan. With support from FOR and many others, the project just met its Kickstarter goal to raise $17,500 for the whole series.
Among those participating in the Caravan and coming all the way from Kabul will be Dr. Hakim (Wee Teck Young), leader of Afghan Peace Volunteers and recipient of the 2012 FOR Pfeffer Peace Prize.
Want to learn more about the Peace Caravan? Follow along on the Caravan's Tumblr page, or check out these short, powerful videos by Javier Sicilia and others. You can also view the entire Caravan route across the United States.
The Caravan is still raising funds to pay for this ambitious project to help change U.S.-Mexico relations from the bottom up, and end the drug war and gun violence. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to the Peace Caravan -- thank you! |
