School of the Americas

Two weeks ago, I had the opportunity to travel to Columbus, GA, with a group of young adults from Amate House to participate in a educational event and demonstration to protest the federal funding of the School of the Americas. This military institution (whose name was officially changed in 2001 to the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation) has been training combat soldiers from Latin America since 1946. Originally located in Panama, it was kicked out in 1984 and relocated to the Ft. Benning base in Georgia. The School of the Americas Watch website describes the work of the SOA this way:

"Over its 59 years, the SOA has trained over 60,000 Latin American soldiers in counterinsurgency techniques, sniper training, commando and psychological warfare, military intelligence and interrogation tactics. These graduates have consistently used their skills to wage a war against their own people. Among those targeted by SOA graduates are educators, union organizers, religious workers, student leaders, and others who work for the rights of the poor. Hundreds of thousands of Latin Americans have been tortured, raped, assassinated, “disappeared,” massacred, and forced into becoming refugees by those trained at the School of Assassins [the school's nickname]."

Basically, SOA graduates are responsible for some of the worst human rights violations in the history of Latin America, and we traveled to Georgia to stand with others and say that the school needs to be shut down! Over 20,000 people joined from all over the U.S. and the world on the 27th anniversary of the slaying of six Jesuit priests, their housekeeper, and her 16-year-old daughter. Fr. Roy Bourgeois, a Catholic priest who served with the poor in Bolivia for several years, started this annual rally and vigil (and is the director of the SOA Watch, which organizes the event), after four nuns (two of them his friends) were raped and killed in 1980 by Salvadoran soldiers trained at the SOA.

The first day of the event consisted of powerful speakers, performances by musicians, and testimonies of family members and survivors of SOA violence and torture. After driving 16 hours through the night, we arrived mid-morning, just in time to attend the Ignatian Family Teach-In. I was amazed at the strong Jesuit presence, though later look backed and was surprised that I did not expect it. Since the beginning, the gathering has been a peaceful one build on the foundations of love, grace, and non-violence--and church people have led the way.

At the teach-in, coordinated by the Jesuit Solidarity Network, there were several inspiring speakers, including Sister Helen Prejean.

Sr. Helen is well-known for her work with death-row inmates and her efforts to stop capital punishment (she was portrayed by Susan Sarandon in the 1995 movie, Dead Man Walking). She shared the story of Cathy Henderson, a Texas woman who has been on death row for 12 years and who Sr. Helen believes has been wrongly sentenced. We were all invited to write letters to Cathy to support her. One thing Sr. Helen shared really stuck with me (and it may have been a quote from someone else): "Hope has two daughters, anger and courage." In order to truly create a better world for all, we must become angry for all the injustices in the world, for those things that break the heart of God. And then we must have courage to act--to work for change. It was so inspiring to hear the stories of nuns like Helen (and other clergy and laypeople) who have risked everything to stand in solidarity with and stand up for the rights of the poor and marginalized. To borrow a quote from a friend, those nuns are "fearless."

In the afternoon we headed to the boulevard that leads up to the gates of the base for the rally. To the left is my group:

More speakers and musicians spoke about and urged peace and justice while folks lounged in the sun and visited tables of over 100 organizations. Behind and to the left of the stage is the gate.

I was very excited to run into Albion friend Liz Kenyon--who lives in Vermont--just by chance!

I also saw our friend, Kristin (who just happens to be our new member "sponsor" at church), and helped her pass out information and action postcards related to former Guatemala president Rios Montt, who was in power when some of the worst atrocities transpired there.

That night, our group enjoyed delicious food and margaritas at a Mexican restaurant in town. Anthony, Nate, Mo, Lisa, me:

Sarah, Jonathan, Trina, Anjali, Erin:

The next morning was very cold. We arrived early to the gathering site with our homemade crosses, each bearing the name of a person killed at the hands of an SOA graduate.

The day began with more speakers and musicians, and the mood went back and forth from celebratory to somber. Here I am with Cat and Mo:

There was a clear shift when we moved into the funeral procession. Individuals on the main stage sang the names of those killed, and after each one, everyone lifted their crosses and sang in unison, "Presente," acknowledging that not only are the victims not forgotten, but they were there with us, bearing witness to the violence, giving strenth to those who continue to struggle. For more pictures and audio of the vigil (which I would highly recommend), and media coverage of the event, go to the SOA Watch website.

The procession began with this banner and this beautifully crafted puppet...

...who were immediately followed by families of victims. The woman on the left is a mother whose three small children had been kidnapped some years ago, and she had never seen them again. She had shared her story the day before...and she wept as she marched. The man in the center carries a picture of Archbishop Oscar Romero, assassinated in 1980 in El Salvador.

Many others, like this member of a group called Grandmothers for Peace, were clearly moved.

A large group marched in black cloaks and carried caskets.

The procession continued slowly, in a large loop, around the boulevard and toward the main gate.

As I came closer to the gate, I thought of what our Pastor, Trey, had said about his experience here. He had had an overwhelming awareness of the presence of evil in that place--though that is generally not part of his theology. I was wondering if I would experience something similar. But what came over me was more like paralyzing grief. It rested heavily on my chest and I struggled to breath as I slowly shuffled toward the gate. As folks approached the gate, they placed their white crosses in the slats of the fence, creating a memorial and powerful visual. I wasn't completely surprised by the tears that streamed down my face, but I was not expecting to fall onto my knees when I reached the chain links. The names continued to echo out in a minor key from the stage, now behind me, and I grieved for all those who had suffered and lost their lives, and all those whose loved ones had disappeared or been killed in front of them. I knew that I played a part in this school, in all that had passed, and I was overcome with grief.

I placed my own cross, the one I had carried for the last several hours, in the fence and remembered Celestina Vigil.

When I moved back away from the fence, I saw that those who dressed in black where now reenacting a massacre. They lay, unmoving, and their cloaks and faces were splattered with red.

As I stood by, reflecting on this image, resting in the heaviness, I suddenly heard some of those around me begin to cheer. People were craning their necks to see over the crowd, off to the left, and to the other side of the fence. There was a slope with some underbrush and trees, and when I caught glimpses of a couple people coming down the slope, I knew that someone had crossed the fence. Crossing is an act of civil disobedience. It could bring prison time and significant fines, but sixteen people, ages 17 to 71, decided to cross anyway. Though the presence of the SOA is currently legal, and crossing onto Ft. Benning property is not, Sr. Helen had reminded us, "Abiding by the law does not make us spiritual people."

When I realized what was happening, a hope rose up in me and I began to breathe normally again. More people were being led down the hill and into the second gate of the base by guards. The heaviness was lifted, just a little. What an amazing sacrifice those people made in order to really stand by what they believed. As the SOA website says, they were, "publicly defying the laws which prevent political speech on military bases and making a bold call for justice and accountability." Their boldness was inspiring and challenging to me.

I slowly made my way back around the other side of the loop, away from the gate. On the way, I paused by a "live" memorial to the people of El Mozote, a village of 800 that was almost completely wiped out by SOA grads. Almost two hours after the vigil had started, names continued to be sung out and people continued to march and raise their crosses.

As I made my way back toward the van, I saw another church friend, Dave, who was being interviewed. Seeing the story getting out at that moment provided another flash of hope.

As we climbed in the van and headed back north, the singing of the names continued, as did those marchers' voices responding, "presente."

The weekend was a powerful one for me. I know that God calls us to open our eyes to the pain in the world around us and to share in that pain together. Though it was difficult, I can't help but think that we were doing, if only for a short time, what God asks of us. We lifted up those who have suffered and we took on that burden together. And then we committed ourselves to doing something to prevent others from suffering in the same way.

The gathering was full of hope. People from different faith traditions and those who do not claim one came together for a common purpose--to learn about injustice, to remember our brothers and sisters, and to work for justice. There were so many groups present who are working for the good of all. And there is hope for the closing of the SOA. The most recent proposal to close the school that went through congress failed by only 12 votes. And 35 of those who voted against the proposal are no longer in office as off a couple of weeks ago. There is hope! And there will always be more work to do!

Thanks so much for reading! If you are interested in learning more and/or taking action, please go to the SOA Watch site.

Hellooooooo winter!

Just days after our frolic on the playground on that remarkably warm Thanksgiving afternoon, we woke up to find that...well, it was quite cold and snowy! Tonight the low is eight degrees. That's right, eight.

Here is the view out our front window on Friday:

Speaking of frolicking...

On my way to the el:

On Saturday morning, I had to rise in the dark in order to get to my citizenship workshop by 8:30 am, and I was rewarded with a (rarely-seen-by-me) sunrise over the lake:

Some houses in Pilsen near the workshop (also near my office):

Later, Goose and I made a trek to the Burlington Coat Factory in Glenview to get him something nice and warm. For a long time, he's been envious of our friend, Josh, who's always bragging about his coat that's made of money, so he really wanted to get this one:

I talked him into a sensible black wool one.

Thanksgiving weekend

We had such a nice Thanksgiving weekend! Our wonderful families reminded us that we have a whole lot to be thankful for.

On Thursday, we took the el a few stops north to Evanston, then walked the rest of the way to Susan and Steve's where their family was gathering. I had to ask Eric to remind me again how we are related to everyone... Susan is Eric's mom's cousin's daughter, so that would make her my...well, I'm still not really sure. Anyway, Susan's parents, sisters (and their kids), and some other related folks were there and we had a fabulous time--there were about 20 of us in all! I had met many of them for the first time at our wedding and this was the first time we had seen them since then, so it was really nice to catch up! And of course, the food was amazing. We will certainly have to get together more often with the ones that are in the area!

The weather was so incredible all weekend here! Goose thought it was a perfect day to bust out the Norwegian sweater. Those of you who know our neighborhood will understand when we say that we stuck out on our way to the train--not a lot of guys walking around in Norwegian sweaters and carrying pecan pies.

Steve is really excited to get the pie in his mouth :)

Saturday was the family Thanksgiving gathering in Holland. Rose, Robert, and Justin came from Lansing, and as a preemptive calorie burn (and of course, for fun!) we headed to the playground next door before the big meal! Justin absolutely loved this swing:

But he was not the only one to enjoy the equipment:

I had never seen anything like this spinny pod. It was like a one-person merry-go-round.

It was very fun--for about 10 seconds:

This thing may have been made for someone a bit smaller...

Justin tried out everything at the park.

And dinner was wonderful! We thought about getting the tri-pod and getting us all in one picture, but we were way too hungry!


It was so great to see everyone during this perfect fall weekend!

It's not a skirt, it's an apron

Goose looked so cute leaving for work this morning!

Election Day

Mira here. It was a huge honor and a powerful experience to be one of over 1,500 hundred Election Day volunteers getting out the immigrant vote as part of the New Americans Initiative (a project of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights). My small group was assigned to a couple of precincts in La Villita (Little Village), the largest Mexican-American community in the midwest, where we knocked on the doors of registered voters to encourage them to get out and vote if they had not already.

Here are some of the folks with whom I walked the neighborhood: Jim, Maria, Susie, Candice and Rogelio:

After a long day, we gathered from all over the city at this ginormous Mexican restaurant called Mi Tierra, and it was only then that I realized just how expansive this collaboration had been. The NAI volunteers knocked on more than 51,000 doors and hung 72,000 door hangers, as well as serving as poll watchers and judges and making phone calls! And many of the predominantly immigrant precincts we targeted had enormous increases in voter turnout. If you'd like, you can read the ICIRR press release.

Although a few people on my route were rude or uninterested, most folks enthusiastically told us that they had already voted or they planned to do so soon. We had some really neat conversations and it was so cool to see new citizens so excited about having voted for the first time. A few people even proudly produced their voting receipts!

Here we are at the "after-party" (I think the sweater/t-shirt combo is classy, don't you?):

Eric's parents came out with us on their final night in Chicago:


Quite an event!


It was an exhausting, but very fulfilling day! It was so life-giving to realize that I was a small part of something really big!

Quick trip

We had such a nice day in Rockford (MI) yesterday. Justin and Andria, two Garrett friends, are getting married next month, so we joined them for some pre-wedding merriment. Well, the official festivities were for the guys, so while they played poker, video games, and Star Wars Monopoly, the women enjoyed a nice afternoon and evening of shopping and dinner. Not very stereotypical, I know.

Justin and Joe. Heh heh heh...

Goose prentended to take the game seriously:


Andria, Erin, Jessica and I had such a nice meal at this fancy place by the Rogue River. The food was amazing and the french press pumpkin spice coffee even better!

Make-a-Wish

Mira here. Many of you know that my nephew, Justin, has epilepsy and some developmental disabilities. Well, Justin was accepted as a recipient of a "wish" by the Make-a-Wish Foundation, and he, my sister, Rose, and her husband, Robert leave for their adventure tomorrow! A Limo will pick them up at home and drive them to the airport, where they will catch a plane to California. Because Justin loves water in every form, their trip will revolve around water! They will stay on the beach in San Diego for the week and will visit the Zoo, SeaWorld and the Aquarium, and even have a special "lunch date" with Shamu. There may be some plastic water to experience at Legoland, and of course, they will do lots of playing on the beach and in the hotel pool. I am so excited for them and wanted to share a bit about this blessing! And how neat that they are able to have this family vacation without any cost because Make-a-Wish has so many generous donors!

Here's a picture of Justin playing in the sink this summer:

Sunshine and Citizenship

Our friend Joseph's church in Evanston has a gathering called Sunshine Group every other Friday evening. For about 20 years now, people of all abilities have been gathering for a meal and a time of faith sharing. A month or so ago, Joseph, who goes regularly, invited us to participate and we found it to be such a neat time of authentic connection. Though I could not attend Sunshine Group yesterday with Eric and Joseph because I normally work until 8pm Fridays (I know, you wish you could work Friday nights, too), I met them, along with Chuck and John, on the EL. Chuck and John are two participants who live down closer to downtown than we do, and we had the joy of accompanying them home on the train. When we arrived at the new assisted-living apartment complex where they have lived for one month, they invited us in for a tour. Here are Chuck and John and the guys in the new place.


Today my office put on a "mega-workshop" at West Side Technical Institute (a city college where Instituto del Progreso Latino has some of its offices). Between 9 and 3, about 300 permanent residents, with the assistance of volunteers, filled out their application for naturalization, went through a legal screening process, had their required photos taken, and received information about citizenship classes that we offer. All the folks on the bleachers in the background are waiting for their number to be called.

The workshops make for exhausting and chaotic, but very fulfilling, days. The 10-page applications are tedious and require us to record things like exact dates for trips out of the country during the entire time the applicant has been a US resident (for those who have 25-30 years of residency, this is a pain in the butt), and personal information for the person's spouse's ex-spouse. We also have to ask questions like "have you ever been a habitual drunkard?" "do you hold any titles of nobility in any other country?" "have you ever advocated to violently overthrow any goverment?" and "do you belong to any terrorist organizations?" Surprisingly, no one that I've worked with has ever responded affirmatively to any of these questions.

Anyway, it's an interesting process and the time goes by very quickly. And it's really neat to be able to be a caring and patient person who assists in making one step of a really long, confusing, and often frustrating process a bit easier.

Now it's off to class for many of them, where they will prepare for the citizenship interview/exam by studying information that is "essential" to being an active, responsible citizen. Things like, "who said 'Give me liberty or give me death'?," "name the 13 original colonies," and "what is the name of the ship that brough the Pilgrims to America?" Plus they have to practice writing sentences like "America is the land of the free," which is not only propaganda, but also perpetuates using the name "America" for the United States.

Ok, I obviously have some issues with the process, but thankfully, the vision of our classes is a bit broader. We hope to give students/applicants a broad understanding of the context of the history and civics questions and teach skills that will help them be more active in their communities, like writing letters to their representatives and participating in community decision-making.

Unfortunately, the citizenship application process is just going to get more difficult. Check out this Washington Post article, Citizenship Changes Draw Objections, if you're interested in some of the details.

Ok, Eric's been cleaning the apartment for a while now and I keep saying that I will join him soon!

B-day gift

When I got home from work today, Eric had a surprise for me...

...a new camera! Ok, so I knew that the camera had arrived today while I was working, but it really was a surprise that it was pointed at me when I opened the door. This is one of the first pictures taken. I'm so excited to take it out on the town and show it a good time.

Here are a few pictures from the weekend that my mom sent: