Just Some of the Featured Speakers and Performers for the 2017 Encuentro

Dear Eladio ,   From November 10-12, after 26 years of protest at the gates of Ft. Benning to call for a closure of the notorious School of the Americas (renamed the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation - WHINSEC), human rights activists, torture survivors, anti-war veterans, students, families, union workers, artists and educators will converge in Eloy-Tucson-Ambos Nogales for the SOA Watch Border Encuentro. Register HERE!   We are excited to announce just a few of the confirmed speakers and performers who will join us at the US/Mexico border to challenge US imperialism and racism. As a grassroots movement, we seek to uplift the voices of those most directly impacted by state violence and to inspire resistance to the racist US policies forcing migration and threatening our migrant and immigrant communities.   For this year's Encuentro, we are working to ensure that activists and artists from across the Americas join us on stage and in forums. Help us honor and recognize their work to share stories, transform trauma, and nourish resistance by making a donation to support their participation in the 2017 Border Encuentro!    CLICK HERE TO SUPPORT! Contact Candice for any questions about donations.   Gaspar Sánchez, COPINH (speaker) Since 2014, Gaspar has served on COPINH's leadership team as the Sexual Diversity & Rights Equality Coordinator. COPINH (Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras) is the first Indigenous organization in Latin America to establish LGBTQ issues as a pillar of its work. Gaspar is a popular educator who works to shape the next generation of young Indigenous leadership, and serves as a spiritual guide for the Lenca people in their collective efforts to recuperate historical memory through the processes of life, land defense, and ancestral practices. Gaspar has represented COPINH all over the world, from Mexico, Cuba, Venezuela, and Brazil, to the United States and the United Nations. He will be on tour throughout the US this Fall.    Jarochicanos (performer) Jarochicanos was formed in 2008 as a youth workshop with the desire to learn the musical tradition of Son Jarocho. Jarochicanos uses music as a tool to create community-based projects like Talleres en la 18: free weekly jarana workshops, as well as Son Chiquitos: a grassroots early childhood Spanish immersion program with a focus around language, cultural music and art. They bring music to local marches, protests, fundraisers and events as a form of support and spirit-lifting.    John Gibler (speaker) John Gibler lives and writes in Mexico. He is the author of Mexico Unconquered: Chronicles of Power and Revolt (City Lights, 2009), To Die in Mexico: Dispatches From Inside the Drug War (City Lights, 2011), Tzomplaxtle: La fuga de un guerrillero (Tusquets, 2014) and I Couldn't Even Imagine That They Would Kill Us: An Oral History of the Attacks Against the Students of Ayotzinapa (City Lights, 2017).    Lengualerta (performer) Lengualerta is a project focused on awareness and social transformation through music and poetry of his lyrics. Lengualerta infuses elements from the Jamaican Sound System culture of the 60's with Latin American protest song tradition whose lyrics reflect social and political commitment. Lengualerta has toured Mexico, South America, Canada and Europe, bringing a positive and constructive message combined with festive rebellion.     Rosa Clemente (speaker) A native of the South Bronx, Rosa Clemente is one of the most raw, honest, political, social and cultural voices in the US. From Harvard to prisons, Rosa has spent her life dedicated to scholar activism. Rosa has been a constant on-the-ground presence through the many political struggles facing Black and Latinx people in the 21st century, and is engaged in Hip-Hop activism, media justice, voter engagement among youth of color, third party politics, intercultural relations between the Black and Latinx community, immigrants' rights as human rights, and universal healthcare.    Son del Centro (performer) Formed in 2002 to create a space for youth to explore their traditions, creativity and consciousness through son jarocho, Son del Centro has developed into an active project that today symbolizes a community's struggle for justice, economic sustainability, and empowerment through culture.     To view an updated list of featured speakers and artists, please visit www.SOAW.org/border. peace, Olmeca, Becca and the rest of the SOA Watch Stage and Program Working Group   We appreciate your interest! You are subscribed to the SOA Watch list as eladiogonzaleztoto@gmail.com. We believe that emails are a vital way for SOA Watch to stay in direct contact with supporters. Click here if you'd like to unsubscribe from these messages, or change your email address. The movement to close the SOA is a community, and all ideas are welcome. SOA Watch, 733 Euclid St. NW, Washington DC 20001 To make a donation to support the movement, please visit SOAW.org/donate. To make a tax deductible donation, please visit SOAW.org/educationalfund .

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