latin american solidarity

Posts Tagged ‘latin american solidarity’

LASC – Spring 2025

LASC (the Latin America Solidarity Committee of WNY Peace Center) is helping plan some events for Spring, on practical and moral issues around migration and asylum and WNY. 

* Monday Jan.27, 7pm-9pm: LASC Coffeehouse, Science Hall at Canisius University. Justice for Migrant Families WNY’s Executive Director Jennifer Connor will speak on organizing and volunteering and accompanying, as well as rapid response, under the president’s new administration. There’s free parking along Main Street north of Delevan, and light refreshments, too. All are welcome.  

* Monday Feb.24, 7pm-9pm: The LASC Coffeehouse will feature Bill Jungels, local videographer, on Migration, and Chiapas, Mexico: a story of families. It’s again at the Science Hall at Canisius University, with free parking along Main Street north of Delevan, and light refreshments. He’ll include video interviews from his Chiapas projects. 

* Saturday afternoon April 5: LASC is organizing a large public event to be held at Montante Center at Canisius University, around the important local issues re migration and asylum, with local resettlement agencies and others participating, highlighting the work that needs doing. One part of the event will be a showing of a new half-hour documentary “Running to Stand Still: Migrants Search for Hope in the Promised Land,”  including discussion with one of the film team, Heidi Ostertag, who is based just south of Rochester NY  https://www.runningtostandstillfilmseries.com/       www.worldwidedocumentaries.com/  There’ll be Q&A, with voices from Central America, the southern border, and local refugee resettlement being featured.  
 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Once again, there’s so much going on that we’ll cover a couple of topics! They’re all related because they’re all about living in sync with the principles that we believe in – caring for #PeopleAndPlanet in #Truth and #Love.  “La verdad es que ninguno de nosotros puede ser libre hasta que todos sean libres – The truth is, no one of us can be free until everyone is free.” — Maya Angelou 

¡Poco a poco, lo conseguiremos!   ¡Si, se puede – Juntos!!! 

PANYS Book Talk: Green Card Soldier by Sofya Aptekar (Zoom)

Join Peace Action New York State (PANYS) for an online discussion on military recruitment practices targeting low-income and immigrant youth and how to respond with sustainable options.

Leading the discussion will be author Sofya Aptekar, an Associate Professor at CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies. She will be joined by Ramón Mejía, National Organizer for the Grassroots Global Justice Alliance.

While the popular image of the US military is one of citizen soldiers protecting their country, the reality is that nearly 5 percent of all first-time military recruits are noncitizens. In Green Card Soldier, Sofya Aptekar talks to more than seventy noncitizen soldiers from twenty-three countries, including some who were displaced by conflict after the US military entered their homeland. Their stories—stitched through with colonial legacies, white supremacy, exploitation, and patriarchy—show how the tensions between deservingness and suspicion shape their enlistment, service, and identities.

Ramón Mejía enlisted in the Marine Corps at the age of 18 to support his family. His experience in the invasion of Iraq in 2003 led him to convert to Islam and develop into an outspoken advocate and organizer against U.S. wars and the growing militarization of our communities.

Giving voice to a little-heard group of immigrants, Green Card Soldier shines a cold light on the complex workings of US empire, globalized militarism, and citizenship. It highlights the need for united action to defend immigrant and LGBTQ rights, end white supremacy and promote anti-militarism.

The event fee is $25 for general admission, $10 for students and those on a low income. All proceeds to benefit the advocacy work of Peace Action New York State. Register here.