November 20, 2009
Marching in solidarity on behalf of countless lives that have
been lost due to violence, St. John's University students travel
for the third year to Fort Benning, Georgia to march peacefully
with thousands of other men and women. In an effort to bring about
peace and social justice, students will march for those who
continue to suffer from violence.
On Nov. 16, 1989, 14 year old Celina Ramos, her mother Elba
Ramos, and six Jesuit priests were massacred in El Salvador. A US
Congressional Task Force reported that most of the killers were
trained at the U.S. Army School of the Americas (SOA) at Ft.
Benning, GA. Since then, mounting evidence proves soldiers who
trained at the SOA are and continue to be responsible for the worst
human rights abuses in Latin America.
SOA Watch began in a tiny apartment outside the main gate of Ft.
Benning by Fr. Roy Bourgeois in 1990. The vigils and activities
quickly grew, drawing upon the knowledge and experience of many in
the U.S. who had worked with people in Latin America in the 1970's
and 80's. Today, SOA Watch is a large, grassroots movement rooted
in solidarity with the people most affected by the SOA- those poor
and oppressed.
The main goal of the SOA Watch is to close the School of the
Americas and to change the oppressive U.S. foreign policy in Latin
America by educating the public, lobbying Congress, and
participating in creative, nonviolent action. St. John's students,
as a part of the Vincentian mission to serve the poor and act on
behalf of the oppressed, will march with 20,000 other men and women
whose silenced and peaceful voices are louder than any means of
violence.
RSVP:
Widian Nicola
nicolaw@stjohns.edu
(718) 990-6426
Date:
Friday, November 20,
2009
(From Friday Nov 20 to Sunday Nov 22)
Time:
All day
Location:
Off Campus - Fort Benning, Georgia
More
information:
Widian Nicola
(718) 990-6426
nicolaw@stjohns.edu