"The New Patriots" Video and Lunch on Sunday, Nov 4th

All are invited next Sunday, Nov 4th, from 12:30pm to 1pm. Come enjoy lunch provided by the CBC Peacemakers and Salvador Partners while we watch "The New Patriots," a brief documentary about the School of the Americas.

After the 9/11 tragedy the U.S. government called for the eradication of terrorist training camps. Not mentioned by officials was the U.S. Army School of the Americas (SOA), located at Ft. Benning, GA, described by the veterans as a school for terrorism. "The New Patriots" is an 18-minute video that includes footage of the civil disobedience actions at the military base in Ft. Benning, Georgia, and highlights on-going efforts to shut down the military training school for Latin American death squad leaders and military dictators.

Newsprint leaflets about the School of the Americas and the annual protests at Ft. Benning, Georgia, are available in King Commons. Kathy S, Caroline C, and Gwenyth L will be representing CBC this year at the gates of Ft. Benning as part of an anticipated crowd of over 20,000 protesters!

There is a tradition that people at the protests bring crosses with names of Salvadorans who were killed in the war written on them, and the crosses are placed by protestors at the fence that surrounds Fort Benning.

We will have materials ready to make simple wooden crosses that Kathy, Caroline, and Gwenyth will take to Georgia. Ruth and Alex Orantes and other friends from Shekina and Shalom in El Salvador are giving us a list of a few names for us to add to the crosses -- friends and family members who were killed in the war. So after the video, if you want to stay and make a cross, you can do that, too.

November plans - video about SOA and protests at Ft. Benning, GA

A few updates about plans for November...

• Mark your calendars for Sunday, Nov 4th 12:30pm - 1pm for a video about the SCHOOL OF THE AMERICAS. "School of Assassins" is a hard hitting documentary about the United States Army School of the Americas, the human rights abuses carried out by some of its graduates, and continuing efforts by human rights activists to shut it down. (This is different from the one the youth delegation watched at the "Boot Camp") We'll begin PROMPTLY at 12:30pm with the video because some of us have to leave at 1pm to attend other meetings. Peacemakers Mission Group is co-sponsoring the video presentation, and we're publicizing this for anyone interested to come and learn about the SOA. For more information about the award-winning documentary video, see "School of Assassins."

• Speaking of the protests in Georgia -- Kathy and Caroline have bought their plane tickets and will be representing CBC at the gates of Ft Benning this year! (Gwenyth may be going, too.) We'll be attending a number of workshops on Saturday, Nov 18th, and participating in the huge procession, memorial service, and "festival of resistance" on Sunday, Nov 18th. (see the schedule of events ) We would love to have a CBC banner to take with us to carry in the big procession! We can talk on Nov 4th about that and see if anyone has creative ideas to share. Anyone interested in making the banner? Designing a banner? Also, it is customary for folks in the procession to carry wooden crosses with names of people. You might remember that back in 2000 we made crosses with the names of people from Las Anonas who had died in the war, and those were sent to Ft. Benning for the procession. Is there any interest in making a few crosses this year for Kathy and Caroline to take? Maybe we could ask Ruth and Alex to suggest names of friends of theirs who were killed, and we could certainly carry a cross with Maria Christina Gomez. Anyone interested in thinking about that?

• Our friend Tara Carr-Lemke (SHARE Director in Washington) will be visiting CBC in worship on Sunday, Nov 4th. Say hello and be friendly to her and husband Kevin.
  

"Faces of Fair Trade" Event

Thanks to Katy F-N and Kathleen B for sending this info!

Farmers from Ecuador, Costa Rica, and Georgia, along with local farmers from New England will tell their stories.

Date: Tuesday, October 30th
Time: 6:00 pm - Local food tasting provided by the Fair Food Project
6:30 pm - Panel Discussion with farmers and our own Ann Karlen, founding director of the Fair Food Project
Place: Tabernacle United Church, 3700 Chestnut St., Philadelphia
Cost: Free. Food will be provided by Fair Food. Fair Trade Coffee and chocolate fondue courtesy of Equal Exchange
Please RSVP : (215) 386-5211 x101, ann@whitedog.com
More info: www.equalexchange.coop/faces-of-fair-trade