Please join us for an evening of discussion and reflection on Cooperative Culture!
The world we live in greatly favors domination culture. We see this culture in our work places, in our government, in our schools, and even in some of our houses of worship. We are constantly presented with organizational structures that divide, and alienate us. Ways of living and working that focus on control, authority, and management.
Threats of social cleansing that have been circulating in pamphlets in the departments of Valle del Cauca (Yumbo, Vijes, Yotoco) and Cesar (Valledupar, Pueblo Bello, Codazzi, and La Paz), spreading hate towards certain groups, explicitly threatening the LGBTIQ+ community. Many of the pamphlets are attributed to armed groups vying for territorial control.
These pamphlets have been accompanied by in-person actors threatening transwomen in Santa Marta (Magdalena Department). In April, several transgender women were approached by male members of an armed group, demanding payment of “security fees” to allow them to work (and threats if they did not pay). The armed men’s nightly patrols resulted in displacement, widespread fear, and the loss of work.
The stigmatization and dehumanization of LGBTIQ+ people expressed in these pamphlets is set in the context of a protracted and violent social climate for LGBTIQ+ persons that includes homicides, forced displacement, and systemic threats.
Join the United Church of Christ National Setting for an engaging and timely webinar exploring our "Love Knows No Borders" resource, a powerful witness and resource offered to equip congregations to respond to the continued attacks on immigrants, refugees, and LGBTQIA siblings.
to register click here
Join us for the screening of "Yanuni" with the Cleveland International Film Festival on april 17th at Playhouse Square
to purchase tickets for the creening click here
Promo Code: IRTF
$1 off any ticket, with the exception of Opening Night, 7x7 Retrospective and Day Pass purchases.
Join us for the screening of "Yanuni" with the Cleveland International Film Festival on april 17th at Cedar Lee Theatre
to purchase tickets for the creening click here (ticket sale will start on march 18th)
Promo Code: IRTF
$1 off any ticket, with the exception of Opening Night, 7x7 Retrospective and Day Pass purchases.
$1 off any ticket, with the exception of Opening Night, 7x7 Retrospective and Day Pass purchases.
IRTF initiated our annual Social Justice Teach-In (aka Liberation Lab) in 1999. This spring we feel a great need to call together justice-minded folks who are committed to human rights, liberation, and respect and dignity for all people.
Every year for the past 26 years, this event has been an informative and inter-generational day of community building and education for high school and college students and other community members seeking ways to take positive action for social justice.
To buy tickets or become a sponsor, click here. To sign up for a volunteer shift, click here.
The Civil Disobedience + Resistance Training will provide historical grounding, practical skills and nonviolent discipline strategies anyone who wants help navigating the current landscape. Participants will leave the training with a deeper understanding of direct action, policy change and solidarity building strategies for sustaining long-term movements for justice.
To register for this training being organized by Cleveland Votes, click here
This Equal Exhange article tells the story of two women who found hope in cooperatives
This article published in The Guaradian talks about the excruciating reality of criminalization faced by Salvadoran women who face obstetric emergencies.
In March 2022, President Nayib Bukele – a populist who described himself as the “world’s coolest dictator” – assumed emergency powers and suspended civil rights in a move known as the “state of exception”. Framed as a temporary response to combat rampant gang violence, the crackdown has had far-reaching consequences for human rights and the justice system. Due process has been suspended, and about one in 50 adults imprisoned.
Advocates say those emergency powers have quietly expanded into hospitals, ensnaring women who suffer miscarriages, stillbirths and other obstetric emergencies. There is a new spiral of criminalization against women.
Protests rarely incite policy or cultural changes overnight. Often, their rates of impact are much more gradual. For that reason, looking at them through a historical lens – when movements can be digested in terms of years, or even decades – is a helpful way to appreciate the tangible effect of taking to the streets.
