Friends,
Beginning this weekend, Baltimore and Washington will host the cross-country Caravan for Peace with Justice and Dignity, led by poet Javier Sicilia and the Mexican peace movement. FOR is supporting the caravan, and we hope you'll join us!
Saturday, Sep. 8, 11:00 AM
"Keep Us Home" celebration
Irvington Park, 4521 Frederick Avenue, Baltimore
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Saturday, Sep. 8, 7:00 PM
Presentation and discussion with Javier Sicilia
Hodson Hall #110, Johns Hopkins University-Homewood Campus, Baltimore
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Sunday, Sep. 9, 2:00 PM
A Summit to End the War on Drugs
Sojourner-Douglass College, 200 N Central Ave, Baltimore
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Monday, Sep. 10, 6:00 PM
Gathering, march to Freedom Plaza and vigil
Beginning at the AFL-CIO, 815 16th St NW, Washington
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Tuesday, Sep. 11, 8:30 AM
Presentation, Spanish-language (no translation)
Woodrow Wilson International Center, Sixth Floor, 1300 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington
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Tuesday, Sep. 11, 6:00 PM
Presentation, English-language
Lindner Family Commons, George Washington University, 1957 E St NW, Washington
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Wednesday, Sep. 12, 5:30 PM
Procesión de la Paz
Beginning at St. Stephen's Church, 1525 Newton St NW, Washington
Proceeding at 6:30 to Malcolm X Park, 16th & Euclid Streets NW
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The caravan began in Tijuana, and traversed more than 5,600 miles along the U.S.-Mexico border, through the Southeast, to Chicago and New York, and culminates here in Washington.
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.
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! |