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IRTF Events Calendar

March 21, 2024: Equal Exchange: Building a Cooperative Economy with Equal Exchange
5:30pm - 6:30pm
Equal Exchange 23400 Aurora Road, Unit #4Bedford Heights, OH, 44146United States

Join Equal Exchange for an evening of exploration into one of the critical but lesser-known aspects of our alternative business model: the role of capital. You may know about our direct relationships with farmer co-ops and the work we do with Citizen-Consumers, but where do investors fit into our democratic worker co-operative? Learn about how Equal Exchange is doing business differently and how you can make a meaningful impact in  the food system. And of course, you can count on an ample offering of fairly traded treats!

Join us at Equal Exchange’s Cleveland office for this in-person event.

March 23, 2024 to March 30, 2024: CPT Colombia Delegations (Spanish Speaking)
Community Peacemaker Teams (CPT) organizes short-term (7-14 day) peacemaker delegations to engage with and learn from partner communities and organizations actively and nonviolently resisting structural, political and physical violence in several locations around the world. CPT Delegations, formed by individuals and groups coming from a variety of contexts, offer participants a first-hand experience of CPT’s on-the-ground experiment in non-violence.
 
Join the Colombia delegation to learn from and share with communities and grassroots organizations that resist violence and oppression and who build peace day by day. You will hear directly from social and land rights activists about their commitment to a dignified life based on respect for Human Rights, and you will be able to discover how you can be part of the change. You will also learn to sleep in a hammock and scare away mosquitoes :). It will be a transformative learning experience.
 
Dates: 
March 23-30 (Spanish Speaking)
July 8-17 (English Speaking)
 
March 26, 2024: Modern Slavery in Agriculture
2:00 pm EST

Attend Our Modern Day Slavery Webinar!

Farm workers are some of the most oppressed workers in the United States. In some cases, they are subject to physical and psychological abuse in the fields. In the worst and most extreme cases, they live in conditions constituting modern-day slavery.

Join Marley Monacello & Lupe Gonzalo from Coalition of Immokalee Workers and Julie Taylor from NFWM on Tuesday, March 26 at 2PM/ET in learning more about how Farm Workers of all races still suffer from the enduring legacy of slavery and racism in America. In our free webinar, offered in English and Spanish, viewers will discover how common slavery (human trafficking) is on today’s farms and what farm worker groups are doing to end slavery for good.

Please share our webinar with your networks by using the above graphic on your preferred social media channels. The Spanish version of the graphic is below. You can also get the word out about this important webinar by sharing the attached flyers.

Register: National Farm Worker Ministry - Modern Day Slavery Webinar (networkforgood.com)

 

 

April 13, 2024: Liberation Lab 2024: Lessons from the Modern Abolitionist Movement
5-9pm
Cleveland State University College of Law, 1801 Euclid Ave, Cleveland, OH 44115

LIBERATION LAB: LESSONS FROM THE MODERN ABOLITIONIST MOVEMENT

DAY I: The Duty of Dissent in a State of Injustice

Thursday, March 7, 2024, 5pm – 9pm

From the Chicago Eight Trial (1968) to Cop City, Atlanta (2023): The state’s dark history of suppressing civil dissenters’ First Amendment freedoms

 

 DAY II: Building Worlds Not Jails

Saturday, April 13, 2024, 11am – 3pm

Working to Bring Beloved Community: Building to endure, survive, and replace the militarized carceral state

Registration at: https://partiful.com/e/Vq41yvKKZPqRxsMSWu1K

 

Speakers and workshops to be announced. We will send updates!

Program will include a Know Your Rights presentation and a Legal Observer Training hosted by National Lawyers Guild (NLG).

 LOCATION (for both March 7 and April 13):

Cleveland State University College of Law

1801 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44115

 

SEEKING SPONSORSHIPS

 The InterReligious Task Force on Central America (irtfcleveland.org) is pleased to announce the Cleveland State University chapter of the National Lawyers Guild (nlg.org) as our partner for the 2024 Liberation Lab! We invite your listing as a co-sponsor of our annual social justice teach-in on collective liberation and community building.

IRTF is seeking sponsorship in support of our programming for Saturday, April 13, 2024. Liberation Lab sponsors, partners, and premium partners will be promoted online at irtfcleveland.org and other event websites, as well as in promotional materials. If you wish to co-sponsor, please fill out the form at http://tinyurl.com/2024teachin. Thank you!

 

SPONSORSHIP LEVELS

 Sponsorship - $100: Includes your name in promotional materials, on event websites, and 2 individual tickets for both days

 Partnership - $250: Includes your name and logo in promotional materials, on event websites, and 4 individual tickets for both days

 Premium Partnership - $500: Includes highlighted announcement during opening remarks; and your name and logo prominently featured on promotional materials and event websites, and 8 individual tickets (or a student group) to both days

  

For a just peace,

IRTF Board and Staff

(216) 961 0003

 

April 24, 2024: An Afternoon with John Dear: "The Gospel of Peace"
Pilgrim Congregational United Church of Christ 2592 West 14th St., Cleveland, OH 44113

Peacemaker, author, and Nobel Peace Prize Nominee, Father John Dear, will be with us to talk about and sign copies of his new book, his life's work: The Gospel of Peace: A Commentary on Matthew, Mark, and Luke from the Perspective of Nonviolence. It is the first ever commentary on the Synoptic Gospels from the perspective of active nonviolence in the tradition of Gandhi and Dr. King. In this original work, Fr. John walks us through every line of the three synoptic Gospels pointing out Jesus' practice and teachings on nonviolence, peace, and universal love and invites us to follow him. Join us!

DATE/TIME:

April 14, 2024 @ 3pm, doors open at 2:30 for book signing

Potluck meal after the discussion

LOCATION:

Pilgrim Congregational United Church of Christ

2592 West 14th St., Cleveland, OH 44113

CONTACT: 

email clevelandpeaceaction@gmail.com to volunteer

email Doug, revdchorner@gmail.com to purchase books

 

For further information, visit www.johndear.org and www.beatitudescenter.org

 

From <https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/FMfcgzGxSHcJshlmgHXJxGnfFxjcdVKg>

 

 

 

July 8, 2024 to July 17, 2024: CPT Colombia Delegations (English Speaking)

The mining and farming communities of Northeast Antioquia fear a new escalation of violence by different armed groups in their territory. The lack of implementation of the peace agreements signed between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia -FARC- in 2016 has created an environment where there is no guarantee for establishing a comprehensive and lasting peace. Faced with the panorama of abandonment, the communities that walk in resistance accompanied by the Corporation for Humanitarian Action and Peaceful Coexistence of Northeast Antioquia – CAHUCOPANA, weave alternatives to war and build paths to move towards peace with social justice.

In this delegation, you will share with communities and grassroots organizations that resist violence and oppression, building peace day by day. You will hear directly about their commitment to a dignified life based on respect for Human Rights, and you will discover how you can be part of the change. (You will also learn how to sleep in a hammock and keep mosquitoes away). It will be a transformative learning experience.

For more information: https://cpt.org/delegations/colombia

August 1, 2024 to August 10, 2024: Honduras delegation: Root Causes of Migration
Honduras

This delegation will  focus on US-backed militarism in Honduras and its negative impact on communities struggling against the climate crisis by contextualizing the root causes of climate migration. Delegates will learn directly from frontline communities and organizations centering the experiences of Indigenous and campesino people who are witnesses and victims of hyper-militarism and who are at risk of being displaced because of climate aggravation. This delegation intends to spread awareness of how militarism exacerbates the climate crisiss which harms the living conditions of Indigenous and campesino communities. Climate and anti-war activists are strongly encouraged to apply, as well as students interested in global human rights and climate migration.

Delegation Fee: $2,000 fee + airfare (sliding scale range available for request on application

Delegation fee covers all meals, lodging, transportation, interpretation, and reading and activist tools

Sliding Scale: $1,000-$2,500+

The delegation fee covers all in-country expenses (lodging, travel, meals, interpretation, etc.) along with pre-travel resources, reading lists, and support. The delegation fee also covers our international team’s expenses for delegation preparation and coordination. Any amount paid over the delegation fee will go to support delegation scholarship and sliding scales, helping to ensure the delegations are more accessible to everyone. A delegation payment of $2,000 or more is ideal to cover all of your expenses and the broader delegation needs-- please pay this amount if you have institutional support or other financial resources. 

Application and $300 deposit due May 1st, 2024

The remaining balance, due June 15th, 2024

​Vaccination Policy: We require that all delegates be fully vaccinated and we ask that you please get your booster shot. Read our full vaccination policy here

​Refund policy: Read our full refund policy here