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Afro-Descendant & Indigenous: News & Updates

Event
Merton and Indigenous Wisdom
February 18, 2020
Thomas Merton’s historical, spiritual and prophetic voices call us to deeper personal exploration of a distinctive culture and spirituality, one that challenges the anthropocentric influences of Euro-American culture and religion, as well as his concept of self. Presenter: Robert Toth, former Executive Director of the Merton Institute for Contemplative Living
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Event
Man on Fire
February 15, 2020
June 23, 2014: A 79-year-old white Methodist minister named Charles Moore drove to an empty parking lot in his old hometown of Grand Saline, Texas, and set himself on fire. He left a note on his car’s windshield explaining that this act was his final protest against the virulent racism of the community and his country at large. Followed by panel discussion: Joyce Roper (Church of the Redeemer UMC), Rev Chris Long (West Shore UU), Rev. Karen Georgia Thompson (Associate General Minister of the United Church of Christ)
PDF icon faith_in_film_feb_2020_-_copy_2_.pdf
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RRN Case Update
RRN Case Update: 2019 Year End Update- urgent human rights cases
February 13, 2020
RRN case summaries at a glance
On behalf of our 190 Rapid Response Network members, IRTF volunteers write and send six letters each month to government officials in southern Mexico, Colombia, and Central America (with copies to officials in the US). Who is being targeted? indigenous and Afro-descendant leaders, labor organizers, LGBTI rights defenders, women’s rights defenders, journalists, environmental defenders, and others. By signing our names to these crucial letters, human rights crimes are brought to light, perpetrators are brought to justice and lives are spared. Our solidarity is more important than ever. Together, our voices do make a difference.
PDF icon 2019_year_end_rrn_letters_summary_generic_reeel.pdf
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RRN Case Update
RRN Case Update: RRN Fall 2019 - urgent human rights cases
February 13, 2020
RRN case summaries at a glance
On behalf of our 190 Rapid Response Network members, IRTF volunteers write and send six letters each month to government officials in southern Mexico, Colombia, and Central America (with copies to officials in the US). Who is being targeted? indigenous and Afro-descendant leaders, labor organizers, LGBTI rights defenders, women’s rights defenders, journalists, environmental defenders, and others. By signing our names to these crucial letters, human rights crimes are brought to light, perpetrators are brought to justice and lives are spared. Our solidarity is more important than ever. Together, our voices do make a difference.
PDF icon 2019_12_rrn_letters_summary_generic_reel.pdf
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Event
20th annual IRTF Social Justice Teach-In
February 8, 2020
The InterReligious Task Force on Central America and Colombia, in conjunction with Case Western University, presents this day of workshops and speakers as an opportunity for people of all ages to learn about critical local, domestic, and global justice issues. Workshops: some will mostly present empirical data, others will do that as well but also engage attendees through art and storytelling. In recent years, students from 30-35 area schools have attended, but this event is open to people of all ages.
PDF icon the_20th_annual_social_justice_teach-in_rack_card_1.pdf
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Event
Seeking co-sponsors for IRTF Social Justice Teach-In on Feb 8
February 4, 2020
We expect hundreds of people of all ages to attend our Social Justice Teach-In on February 8 and engage in a variety of workshops covering issues such as environmentalism, food justice, peacemaking, racial justice, refugees, state-sponsored violence, creative nonviolence, and worker justice. Most of the attendees will be high school and college students from 30-35 schools, who can attend for free because of the generosity of dozens of co-sponsors. Please support this important event that empowers young people to become leaders for positive social change.
PDF icon teach-in_co-sponsor_form.pdf
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RRN Letter
RRN Letter: Honduras, 2/1/2020
February 1, 2020
Attacks continue on Garífuna territory defenders in Honduras. Karla Ignacia Piota Martínez was the 70-year-old sister of Amada Piota Martínez, a Garífuna spiritual leader and member of the governing board of OFRANEH (Black Fraternal Organization of Honduras). She died on January 11 from seven bullet wounds inflicted during an assassination attempt on December 28, 2019. This is the third killing of a Garífuna community member in Masca in recent months. The assassinations of Garífuna leaders is part of a strategy to expel the Garífuna people from their ancestral territories by dividing communal Garífuna territories into individual lots and selling them to land speculators. The National Agrarian Institute (INA) continues to illegally issue land titles to third party investors. The Garífuna people are watching their beaches, swamp forests, and lagoons taken away by force, with Garífuna leaders assassinated in the process.
PDF icon 2020_02_01_imdefensoras_honduras_letter.pdf
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Event
Homelessness & Hope: A Storytellers' Faith Journey - Chris Knestrick
January 29, 2020
Chris Knestrick's faith journey has taken him from St. Edward High School to Mercyhurst College, to the Catholic Worker, to IRTF, to Christian Peacemaker Teams-Colombia, to seminary in Chicago, and back to Cleveland as director of the NEO Coalition for the Homeless (NEOCH). NEOCH is front and center in the current struggle for dignity and justice for Cleveland's thousands of unhoused residents. Chris' guest column about the City of Cleveland's inadequate response to homelessness this winter was recently published in The Plain Dealer.
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RRN Letter
RRN Letter: Colombia, 1/26/2020
January 26, 2020
We are outraged at the wave of violence that continues to impact many regions of Colombia. Since January 1, two dozen social leaders have been assassinated across the country. In this letter we list the names of 20 assassinations that occurred in 6 departments: Antioquia, Cauca, Chocó, Huila, Norte de Santander, and Putumayo. These victims include ex-combatants who are abiding by the provisions of the Peace Accords by participating in the reincorporation process. Also being killed are farmers who are part of the crop substitution program, another key component of the Peace Accords. We echo the statement by the United Nations Security Council on January 15 which characterizes this as “a grave situation of security” and demands that the government of Colombia take “effective actions” to stop these egregious crimes against social leaders.
PDF icon 2020_01_26_telesur_jfc_peoplesdispatch_colombia_letter.pdf
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Event
Just Mercy
January 26, 2020
The Living Water Association of the United Church of Christ and the East Ohio Conference of the United Methodist Church have arranged for a free screening of this ground-breaking film. Just Mercy is the new film that tells the true story of Walter McMillian, who with the help of young defense attorney Bryan Stevenson, appeals his murder conviction.
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