USCaravana: this gorgeous personal journal recorded day by day memories, and includes videos of reflections and events in English.

Caravan for Peace: this site was updated daily, with photos, transcriptions of Javier Sicilia’s talks and videos from each stop on the Caravan.

RompeVientos tv (click on the ‘caravana por la paz en Estados Unido’s banner): this internet tv channel produced 7 video programs in Spanish.

Also, be sure to check out beautiful photos from the Caravan on the Caravan for Peace Flickr feed.

Take Action! Have you signed the petition to tell President Obama that you don’t want greedy gun merchants selling assault weapons, built for war, into our communities where they are then used to massacre tens of thousands of innocent people on both sides of the border? Watch this video: U.S. Guns: The Awful, Shocking Truth!

Sign the petition.

In every city we visited, the Caravan for Peace achieved powerful results and raised awareness that will fundamentally alter the course of the failed drug war.

Starting in Southern California, through the South West, into Texas, across the Deep South, north to Chicago, and along the East Coast, each community greeted the caravaneros with heartfelt and moving events, complete with music, food and commitments to support the Caravana’s on going agenda. Our journey would not have been possible without solid grassroots support — thank you!

photo: Caravan for Peace

Thousands of people have expressed their support for ending military aid to Mexico, changing the dialogue on prohibition, promoting immigration policies that respect the dignities of all people, and ceasing the flow of illegal weapons across the border.

Continue to join the Movement for Peace with Justice and Dignity for the next ten days as we take action for 10 Days for Peace & Human Rights from September 12-21.

Join the call on President Obama to stop the flow of assault weapons into our communities. Help us get to the critical 100,000 petition signature mark and support the victims of the drug war.

10 Days for Peace & Human Rights Sept 12 – 21

• We mourn the lives lost and dedicate ourselves the changes we need to see.
• Organize Your Communities and Prepare for the International Day of Peace on the 21st.
• Organize Conferences, Screenings and Artistic events that help further awareness of Human Rights.
• Generate working groups to peacefully and effectively speak out against violence and injustice you see in the world.
• Be creative!

Plan your action: 

1. Find a central place or a symbolic place where people can gather.
2. Dress in white and carry flowers, candles and statements calling for the end to the violence.
3. Make a call to your local press person and designate a press spokes person.
4. Sing, chant, march! Keep speeches to a minimum.
5. Send your best pictures and descriptions to Info@caravanforpeace.org so it can be posted on the Caravan for Peace website.
6. Collect names in order to continue your local work – passing a city resolution, setting up speaking events for victims fundraising for the Movement for Peace and Justice with Dignity.
7. Don’t forget to send us a description of your event it can be posted on the Caravan for Peace website.
8. Help reach the goal of 100,000 signatures in our petition to stop illegal gun smuggling by September 12th. You can do so by texting “peace” to 225568 or visiting the petition online at Presente.org.

Once again, thank you for your continued support every step of the way on this journey for peace with justice and dignity.

photo: Caravan for Peace

The following is a post by Global Exchange/Caravan intern Chelsea Brown, who is traveling with the Caravan for Peace with Justice and Dignity. Global Exchange Executive Director Carleen Pickard who is currently in DC joining the last days of the Caravan, describes Chelsea as the “calmest force behind the Caravan for Peace scenes.”
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The Caravan has arrived in Washington, D.C. after a month on the road. From one coast to the next, we have listened to one another’s stories—learning how violence and fear has touched every part of Mexico—and to the stories of brave souls we met along the way. We have come to speak these truths to the power that resides within the nation’s gleaming capitol buildings.

Most of these truths are self-evident: drug prohibition does not work and it never will. AK-47s are not being used to hunt deer, it is wrong to put non-violent people in cages, and  real democracy is not sown with bullets. Yet U.S. policymakers, year after year, decide to ignore these truths and instead perpetuate – and in some cases escalate – policies that are detrimental to both individual and national security. Why?

Much has to do with the overwhelming influence of corporate money in politics. This year, corporate interests have invested billions of dollars in lobbying and pumped hundreds of millions of dollars into election campaigns to gain influence in DC. Though legal, corporate-dominated elections interfere with the basic democratic process of elected officials representing the needs and interests of their constituencies. There are powerful interests that are turning profits at the expense of human lives on both sides of the border, especially where arms control and drug policy is concerned.

photo: caravan for peace

In Baltimore, the Caravan heard from a local mother and activist, Kimberly, who lost her son to bullets fired by a 14-year-old. Tragically, this is not a rare occurrence in a neighborhood where, Kimberly averred, it is easier to buy a rifle than a tomato. Similarly, drug cartels in Mexico have easy access to firearms smuggled from the U.S. Loose regulations enable the purchase of large quantities of weapons, without conducting background checks and even without showing identification.

This cavalier irresponsibility prevails in large part due to lobbying by the National Rifle Association, which spent $7.2 million supporting Republican candidates during the 2010 election cycle, and which routinely spends huge sums of money opposing all forms of firearm regulations (Open Secrets).

At a Caravan event in New York City, our hosts at the CUNY Graduate Center screened the award-winning documentary The House I Live In, which explores the human impact of the war on drugs in the U.S. One of the many tragic vignettes featured a young black mother with a wide-eyed baby in her arms. The father of her child was convicted of a drug charge and at best would be facing a 5-year sentence as a product of mandatory minimum sentencing. He would join tens of thousands of others. In 2010 alone, over 1.6 million people were arrested for drug charges, 88% of which were for possession of marijuana (FBI Uniform Crime Report 2010).

Again, we can look to the influence of corporate lobbying to explain why policymakers uphold such an ineffective and wasteful strategy for reducing drug use. The drug war has been a boon for private prisons, which require 90% of their beds to be filled in order to turn a profit. One of these private enterprises, Corrections Corporation of America, spent $14.8 million on lobbying between 2003 and 2010, and has dedicated millions to pass anti-immigrant legislation in states like Arizona.

Yesterday, members of the Caravan spent a day on Capitol Hill speaking with the political representatives of the American people about the personal tragedies that have resulted from these irresponsible, inhumane policies. While we can never undo the tragedies and pain suffered from the drug war, it is never too late to end these harmful policies and let the healing begin. We hope that this people-to-people lobbying effort will remind and inspire legislators to push back against powerful interests that value profit over human life.

photo: Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune

After 25 cities, 5760 miles, and 30 days the Caravan for Peace with Justice and Dignity is in Washington, DC for the final days of action, press conferences, and lobbying to bring a human face to the costs of the War on Drugs to our nation’s capitol. 

Global Exchange’s Organizing Director, Kirsten Moller just returned from her leg of the trip and recounts her experiences of going from Texas through the Deep South, and into Chicago.

In Austin, TX Global Exchange’s Executive Director, Carleen Pickard passed the baton on to me to begin my leg of the journey with the Caravan for Peace.

From Austin we headed to Houston, TX where we performed a final act of buying, destroying and burying (in blocks of cement) an assault weapon to commemorate the huge numbers of people killed by weapons crossing the border from Texas into Mexico.

Going from Texas and heading into the Deep South was a profound experience for the members of the Caravan for Peace. Leaving a state, which was once Mexico, and shares deep cultural and historical ties for the state of Mississippi was like crossing an international border. The South, drenched in the history of the civil rights movement and suffering from a different kind of poverty, was a real eye opener for many of us.

Though the effects of the drug war in local communities are apparent in the South, as the victims of Mexico traveled through the towns, there was a definite collective and visceral realization that the struggle is the same.

Hurricane Isaac kept us from visiting New Orleans where a fabulous host committee had been prepared to meet the group. They survived the storm and are committed to continue their community organizing and work against the police corruption fueled by the War on Drugs.

photo: Caravan for Peace

After that detour, we were fortunate to have the Central United Methodist Church in Jackson, MS agree to host the group for two days instead of one and because of the visit, have expressed a strong interest in getting involved in the work of the local host committee, the Mississippi Immigrant Rights Alliance (MIRA).

In the ornately decorated Rotunda of the Capitol building and the former Supreme Court chambers, the Caravan members exchanged testimonials with politicians, the ACLU, Southern Poverty Law Center, the Children’s Defense Fund, and local activists.

Mississippi has the second highest per capita prison population in the country. “We’re losing a whole generation to the prison system,” said Father Jerry Tobin. The war on drugs is really a war on whole communities who are losing their civil rights in order to support for-profit prisons like the Correction Corporation of America, a prison system now used to hold undocumented immigrants as well.

Heading to Montgomery we stopped to walk across the historic Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, made famous by the Civil Rights movement as the site where, in 1965, peaceful demonstrators were attacked as they tried to march to the capitol. Here Dr. Poe of NAACP and Javier Sicilia made the connections between the current struggle to end the drug war and the lessons we have to learn from the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s.

In Montgomery, AL there was a press conference featuring the NAACP and the Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice (ACIJ) calling for a focus on effective preventative and rehabilitative policies that have been proven to decrease drug abuse and associated violent crime instead of the current drug war policies. The ACIJ spoke about the new anti-immigrant law, HB56, calling for immigrants to ‘self-deport’ from Alabama, ignoring the fact that many can no longer safely return to their homelands due to the violent conditions created by the War on Drugs.

Elizabeth Brezovich, of ACIJ:
“We welcome the Caravan for Peace and the opportunity it provides the people of Alabama to learn about the interdependence of our countries and the effects of American domestic and foreign policies.”

Dr. Sharon Richards (NAACP) then invited us to a mega party in a mega church with a Job Corps choir and a drug program graduation ceremony and mountains of soul food!

photo: Caravan for Peace

From Montgomery we traveled on to Atlanta, GA where the Latino population is large and the Martin Luther King. Jr. Center creates a peaceful, yet powerful place to root the tradition of non-violent organizing. Reverend Durley of the Ebenezer Church extolled on the links to the past and urged us to Organize! Organize! Organize! as we laid flowers on the tomb and marched to the capitol building.

In the morning a men’s breakfast club hosted at the local Presbyterian Church brought out a dialogue about the failures of the Drug War and how it is used as a pretext to rob whole communities of their democratic rights. A prominent local prosecutor admitted that people caught in the War on Drugs, even for the smallest offenses can legally be discriminated against for the rest of their lives – in employment, housing and in some states in voting.

Then in Fort Benning, Georgia, we were invited by the School of Americas Watch to participate in a Die-In at the gates of Fort Benning  to highlight the role of U.S. military support and the thousands murdered during the past six years in Mexico. Family members of the victims and their allies, left photographs of their loved ones, signs and crosses on the main entrance’s sign.

photo: Caravan for Peace

After our time in the South, we made our way north to Chicago, IL with a stopover in Louisville, KY where churches, again, came to the rescue with delicious food and spacious lodging. Many of the victims on the bus commented on how generous the churches in the U.S . were, how much hospitality we experienced and how shocked they were at the levels of poverty and income disparity there are in the US. The myth of the streets paved with gold continues to be one of the biggest US exports.

In Chicago, the host committee arranged a three mile hike from the Latino community into the largely African American neighborhood bringing a message of unity and an analysis of what prohibition meant to Chicago historically and why that understanding of history is still relevant.

From Chicago, we drove through the rain to Toledo and Cleveland, OH where private prisons are a growing industry with groups organizing against them.

Much appreciation to the exhausted caravaneros, Sicilia and others from Mexico and the United States who have lost loved ones to the drug war and have led the Caravan for Peace on this journey highlighting the connections across borders and communities, strengthening and appreciating the local organizing and encouraging us to continue the struggle.

The next Caravan update installment will focus on the last leg of the journey.

60,000 dead. 10,000 kidnapped. 160,000 internally displaced.

These are the numbers and statistics that the War on Drugs has produced since 2006.

Here’s another one: Only 2% of all crimes committed in Mexico are investigated and solved.

Behind these numbers are actual people. Mothers. Fathers. Brothers. Sisters. Neighbors. Friends. All united by tragedy afflicted by the drug war. But, out of these tragedies the Caravan for Peace with Justice and Dignity seeks to bring “consolation, justice, and the path toward peace.”

The story of the Peace Caravan started with the loss of a loved one. In March of 2011, Javier Sicilia’s 24 year old son was killed by drug traffickers in Mexico. Sicilia describes him as “an athlete and professional who never tried drugs” that became an innocent victim in this “imbecilic war.” And it was with this loss that Javier Sicilia started the organization Movimiento por la Paz (Movement for Peace) to give a name and face to those that died and also giving a voice to the families of the victims.

Now traveling in two buses on the Caravan for Peace are 40 family members with their individual stories about their loved ones and one common goal to show the real costs of the drug war. Here are some of their stories:

Aracely Rodrí­guez – Mother of Luis Ángel León Rodrí­guez. In November of 2009, her son, a federal police officer was kidnapped and killed when he and his fellow officers refused to cooperate with a drug cartel in the state of Michoacán. She was told that they cut up their bodies with a chain saw and tossed their body parts in corrosive chemicals so the bodies would never be found. She is on the Caravan to “speak about the nightmare we are suffering in Mexico.” Read the profile on her in the Los Angeles Times. 

Maria Ignacia Gonzalez Vela – Mother of Andrés Ascención González, disappeared on March 27, 2011 in the city of Matamoros, Tamaulipas. She was on the phone with him when she suddenly heard him tell someone to drive faster. It was later found out that drug dealers had took her son.

Maria Guadalupe Guzman Romo and Maria Guadalupe Muñoz – Mother and sister of Miguel Orlando Muñoz, victim of forced disappearance in Ciudad Juárez on May 8, 1993. He was in the military, and reports show that he had stood up against his superior military personnel who had links to drug-trafficking operations in the area.

Dora Elvia Aguirre and Rosa Pérez Triana – Mothers of Guadalupe Coral Pérez Triana and Judith Ceja Aguirre, disappeared on July 24, 2011 along with Juanita Alemán, Almirsa Janet de León, Cinthia Lozano y Alma Mónica Álvarez García, when they where going from Reynosa, Tamaulipas to Monterrey, Nuevo León. Both mothers are part of the NGO Citizens in Support for Human Rights AC (CADHAC), which has documented hundreds of disappearances in the state of Nuevo León.

Guadalupe Aguilar – Mother of José Luis Arana Aguilar, disappeared in Tonalá, Jalisco, on January 17, 2011. It is suspected that the police in Tonalá were involved with this disappearance.

Benito Paredes – Benito comes as a representative for the Peoples of Morelos Council where there are more than 85 indigenous communities are experiencing problems with aggression, kidnappings, and murders.

Santos de la Cruz Carrillo – He is here representing the Wixárika people. The Mexican government is trying to give away 6,000 acres of their sacred land to a mining company. The mining operations would pollute and dry out their holy springs.

Sacario Hernández – He was wrongfully accused of murder, put in jail for five years and 51 days, and after a 35 day hunger strike, he was released and later exonerated. In his words, “I come to accompany the Caravan to demand justice for the victims who have suffered and to demand freedom for Profesor Alberto Patishtan Gómez as a political and conscience prisoner, who is a tzotzil indígena from Chiapas…. “In Mexico, guns are not only used for killing us each other, but for criminalizing Human Rights Defenders and mainly to the indigenous and outcast people from Mexico and Chiapas where they got us dying in jails.”

Gabino Israel Anzurez – Gabino is on the Caravan as representative of the Frente de Pueblos en Defensa da le Tierray al Agua (Peoples Front in Defense of the Land and Water). A thermoelectric plants is being built in his town without the communities permission, which would affect their surrounding environment, water reserves, and ultimately their lives.

Leticia Mora Nieto – Leticia is the mother of 22 year old Georgina Ivonne Ramírez Mora, who disappeared on May 30th 2011 on her way to the supermarket to pick up supplies for dinner. She never returned. Leticia is on the Caravan to represent other mothers whose daughters have disappeared.

08-SantaFE-VA from TUTTLE FILMS on Vimeo.

Arturo Malvido Conway – Arturo is on the Caravan to tell the story of his brother who was killed outside his home in Mexico City on August 11, 1997.

Teresa Vera Alvarado – Teresa comes representing her sister Minerva, a generous woman who often gave food, water, and clothes to passing migrants near the railway where she lived. She went out one day to a beauty parlor near her home, only to never come back.

Lourdes Campos Romo – Mother of Guillermo Gustavo Navarro Campos, murdered on June 16th, 2010. He was an organizer and an activist. Despite the violence that built up in his community he made sure to remind his neighbors to stay united to fight against insecurity in order to achieve change. He fought to create a family welfare program in the community to improve the standard of living for those living in the neighborhood. On June 16th 2012, he was shot five times through his window.

María Salvadora Coronado – María comes to represent her husband, Mauricio Aguilar, a kind and friendly person that loved soccer and always put others before himself. He disappeared from their home in Cordoba, Veracruz on May 27, 2011.

Olga Reyes – Her family are well-known human rights activists from Chihuahua that were able to organize and prevent the installation of a landfill in their community. For this, and for protesting against the growing militarization of their state. six members of her family have been killed and several others are living in exile to avoid the threats by cartels and public servants of the Mexican government.

Melchor Flores – Father of Juan Melchor Flores Hernández, better knwon as “El vaquero galáctico.” His son performed as a human statue on streets and various city squares throughout the country. He was repeatedly detained by police for not having the correct permit to perform. The last time he was detained was in Monterrey, Nuevo León on January 19, 2009. He has not been seen since.

José Carlos Castro – His family disappeared on January 6th 2011. A group of armed men broke into his home and took his wife, Josefina Campillo Carreto the former Mayor of Atocpan, Veracruz. They also took his daughters Joahana Montserrat Castro Campillo an Architecture intern at the University of Veracruz, and 19 year old, Karla Verónica Castro Campillo, a student of Graphic Design, at Getzal University.

Margarita López – She is the mother of 19 year old Yahaira Guadalupe who was taken from her home in Oaxaca by a group of armed men on April 13th, 2011. After faces multiple threats, some from authorities, during her search for answers on the disappearance of her daughter, she found out she was tortured, raped, and then decapitated. “I cannot breathe without thinking about my girl. Help me. Help me to let people know what’s happening.” Read the profile on her in the Los Angeles Times. 

María Herrera – She is the mother of four sons that have disappeared. Two of them from Atoyac de Álvarez, Guerrero, and two in Poza Rica, Veracruz. Raul and Jesus went missing in August 2008 and Luis and Gustavo in September 2010, all disappearing without a trace. She is on the Caravan with her 5th son, Juan Carlos Trujillo Herrera. When addressing a crowd in Alamo, TX she explained why she is on the Caravan, “At this time we are not fighting for our own but for each and every one of the children of the people who are here. Their hope is to stop the violence. We do not want more people to go through the pain that we have been going through.” Read the profile on her in the Los Angeles Times. 

The peace movement in Mexico has given these families of the victims the courage to step forward and honor their loved ones and demand justice. Despite the reality of fellow peace activists getting killed, the movement continues on.

No matter where we stand on any of the issues that this Caravan is bringing to light, we can all relate to the love we feel for our family and friends and will hopefully take time to reflect on the violence that brought all of this together.

As Javier Sicilia wrote, “Don’t wait until that pain reaches your intimate lives to hear the cry of those of us who cannot keep from uttering it: do not wait until the senseless death that this war has unleashed reaches your lives like it has reached ours, to know that such death exists and that it must be stopped. This is the moment for us to come together and change this policy of war and rescue peace, life and democracy.”

And as the poet does whenever he speaks about the victims, let us join in honoring those lost with a moment of silence.

…

In El Paso, TX the names of those killed in Mexico’s Drug War were projected on the side of the Annunciation House building, in this act of protest against harmful U.S. policies which fuel these deaths.

Global Exchange Caravan for Peace interns Chelsea (left) and Louise (right) at a rest stop along the Caravan route

The following is a post by GX/Caravan intern Chelsea Brown, who is traveling with the Caravan for Peace with Justice and Dignity. Global Exchange Executive Director Carleen Pickard who traveled last week on the Caravan, describes Chelsea as the “calmest force behind the Caravan for Peace scenes.”

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As the Caravan for Peace rolls along its ambitious route of 25 American cities in 30 days, we have been participating in marches, rallies, protests, and vigils to raise public awareness about the immense number of lives lost to the drug war in Mexico and in the U.S. We seek to not only be seen, but to be heard: to raise our voices in unison so civil society and policy makers from coast to coast will know our demands.

Caravan chanter in Laredo TX. Photo Credit: Global Exchange

Here is a bi-lingual breakdown of our most common shouts so you can jump right in if the Caravan comes to a town near you, followed by a video of chants in action:

Some gritos (yells) the Caravan participants use originated with the initial mass mobilizations in Mexico of the Movimiento por la Paz (Movement for Peace), where bereaved families and civil society activists began to demand government accountability for the atrocities resulting from drug war policies.

Caravan for Peace chanters

Today members of the Movimiento continue to voice their outrage about the Mexican government’s failure to provide assistance in the search for the disappeared, chanting: “Vivos los llevaron! ! Vivos los queremos!” (Alive, they took them. Alive, we want them!) This grito corresponds with the posters that the family members of the victims hold with them, showing the faces of their sons, daughters, husbands, wives, brothers, and sisters that were kidnapped or forcibly disappeared, with no trace of their whereabouts.

Javier Sicilia and fellow Caravaneros chanting

Another popular chant is “Que queremos? Justicia! Cuando? Ahora!” (“What do we want? Justice! When? Now!”)  This refers to facts like only 2% of the crimes in Mexico are investigated and solved. This statistic is even more shocking given what Javier Sicilia frequently describes during speeches as the 72,000 murders connected to the drug war that have occurred during President Calderon’s term in office.

While the Caravan was in the Southwest, we were either close to or actually touching the border between the U.S. and Mexico. Many Caravan allied organizations in this region focus on immigration reform and holding the government accountable for the human rights abuses perpetrated against migrants. So some common gritos have been borrowed from those commonly used in the immigration reform movement, including “ningun ser human es illegal!” (no human is illegal!)  and the classic “el pueblo unido jamas sera vencido!”  (the people, united, will never be defeated).

Chanters on both sides of the Rio Grande chanting back and forth.

Another gritos session took place across a river, the Rio Grande, to be specific. At sunset on August 22^nd, after a 10 hour journey from El Paso, the Caravan went directly to the bridge that spans the river dividing Laredo, TX from Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. Mexican civil society groups gathered on the Mexico side, while across the narrow river we bellowed gritos of solidarity and of hope, including “Obama, eschucha, estamos en la lucha!” (Obama, listen, we are in the fight!)

Caravan participants at the Vigil for Peace in Brownsville, TX

A few nights later, we stood at the metal fence in Brownsville, Texas, the tip of the state where the border dips into the Gulf of Mexico. Into the darkness on the other side, members of the Caravan and local families yelled the names of loved ones lost to drug war-related violence: an endless roll call of pre-maturely dead. The entire crowd would respond with a shiver-inducing cry in unison “PRESENTE!” (PRESENT!)

The Caravan is traveling across the U.S. demanding peace with justice and dignity and an end to the senseless drug wars rending families and communities across the continent. We are present, we are united, and we will not be defeated.

Join us as we continue our gritos along the Caravan route. Below are ways you can take action in support of the Caravan for Peace, but first, here’s that video of chants in action that I promised you:

TAKE ACTION!

Follow the Caravan on…

• Twitter: @CaravanaUSA
• Facebook: Facebook.com/Caravan4Peace
• Hashtag: #Caravan4Peace #CaravanaUSA
• Caravan for Peace website:  caravanforpeace.org
• Global Exchange People-to-People blog: Caravan Road Reports or Subscribe via RSS to receive new posts automatically

CARAVAN PHOTOS

Check out Caravan photos from the road…

Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/globalexchange
Facebook: Southern California photos. South-West photos. Texas photos.

LEND YOUR SUPPORT: Donations are still needed, now more than ever, to help fund this important trip. Will you give?

Children in Austin sing to Caravan to remind us why this is important

Global Exchange Executive Director Carleen Pickard, who spent the last week with the Caravan for Peace with Justice and Dignity,has handed the baton over to Global Exchange Director of Organizing Kirsten Moller who caught up with the Caravan in Austin, Texas. Kirsten shares some of her first experiences:

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Aztec dancers welcome caravan to Austin church

After months of working behind the scenes in San Francisco- talking to host committees all across the country, painting banners, and booking hotel rooms for our bus drivers, I am finally on the Caravan for Peace with Justice and Dignity.

We waited in the hot (though they call this mild) sun in front of the Capitol building in Austin for the two buses and the infamous RV to arrive. Aztec Dancers and the famous Austin ‘live music sound’ welcomed the bus when it arrived and the well-oiled team of Austin volunteers moved into place. Pop up tents for shades, ice chest full cold water, tables, name tags, security — not a detail was missed.

Ana Correa, Organizer in Austin

Ana Yanez-Correa of the Criminal Justice Coalition introduced the caravan and made the link between the deaths, disappearance and despair in Mexico and the increasing criminalization of Communities of Color in the US. As an immigrant herself and as a member of the NAACP she provides a unique bridge linking issues across the border.

She is proud of the decision of the national NAACP to endorse the caravan at its 102nd Annual National Convention in July. The NAACP  called for a repeal of the War on Drugs strategy noting that policies have failed to decrease illegal drug addiction or violence in our communities. The NAACP declared that under the current drug policies, statistics demonstrate that laws are more harshly enforced in African American communities and other communities of color.

Demonstrator on the capital steps in Austin

African Americans are 13 times more likely to go to jail for the same drug-related offenses than their Caucasian counterparts. And like the caravan they agree that smart and safe criminal justice initiatives are more effective in addressing drug abuse and its associated effects. These new initiatives include: sentencing reform to eliminate disparities in drug laws, repealing mandatory minimum sentences, promoting diversion programs, improving parole and probation revocation rates, supporting re-entry initiatives, and supporting youth violence reduction programs.

Ana can not only bring together the criminal justice coalitions and the immigrant rights coalitions, she mentioned to me that she is able to engage in a dialogue with Tea party activists as well. Being able to talk to each other over great divides is especially important in a state like Texas where a conservative base continues to grow.

Rappers at St. James Episcopal Church in Austin

An American mother whose son recently disappeared in Mexico is comforted by a Mexican mother on the Caravan in Austin.

After a stop to the Capitol building, we drove up to the St. James Episcopal Church for a mass and community dinner with more music, dancing, sharing of stories, tears and hugs and a beautiful  ceremony passing candles for the more than 60,000 people killed and the 10,000 people who have disappeared because of drug violence in Mexico in the last few years. “No Deberia morir” we chanted as the sun went down.

Included during the Caravan visit to Austin was a ceremony to commemorate the anniversary of the casino fire massacre that took place in Mexico one year ago, leaving 52 victims in its wake. The casino fire was presumably set by drug traffickers.

Miguel

Finally there were awards for all the volunteers, and I was once again reminded of why the caravan is so meaningful – so many people giving their time, their energies and creativity to end the violence now. The caravan is planting seeds as it passes through but the movement is being built by the solid organizing in communities across the country. Remembering to appreciate and thank each other for the work we do makes us stronger.

As fellow Caravanisto Miguel told me — “this is the not the end, this is just the beginning.’

Onward to Houston!

TAKE ACTION!

Follow the Caravan on…

• Twitter: @CaravanaUSA
• Facebook: Facebook.com/Caravan4Peace
• Hashtag: #Caravan4Peace #CaravanaUSA
• Caravan for Peace website:  caravanforpeace.org
• Global Exchange People-to-People blog: Caravan Road Reports or Subscribe via RSS to receive new posts automatically

CARAVAN PHOTOS

Check out Caravan photos from the road…

Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/globalexchange
Facebook: Southern California photos. South-West photos. Texas photos.

Lend Your Support: Donations are still being accepted to help fund this important trip. Will you give?

The Caravan for Peace consists of two full size buses carrying the caravanistas across the United States and, to date, one RV.

The RV looks funny tailing the buses wrapped with the Caravan for Peace banner and the Movimiento Por la Paz dove that has become iconic to the movement, because it’s one of those CruiseAmerica vans that clog campgrounds and National Parks every summer and are typically viewed as greedy, gas guzzling monsters contributing to climate change.

The buses make sense. The Caravan for Peace is itself meant to be a spectacle – our branding is visible and proud and at each rest stop or restaurant we offload and talk to anyone and everyone about our travel and our mission. The victims from Mexico spend time together, with U.S. riders and Mexicans and U.S. media, giving lots of time for coverage. Their solidarity with each other grows each day and people’s good-night hugs grow stronger when we get split up into home stays.

But even I’ve been thinking – an RV? Really?

I boarded our RV monster at 5am today (Wednesday) and for the next 10 hours en route from El Paso to Laredo, TX I’ve thought very carefully about its service to the Caravan for Peace.  As I’m part of the Committee in charge of the overall finances, I need to be mindful about it’s cost versus benefit to the Caravan. Can we keep it? Should we keep it?

Firstly, it’s used as a ‘peace room’. Organizers meet en route and review the day’s agenda, make changes to the schedule, come up with new ideas for actions as we approach cities and pieces fall into place (look out, Houston!). Reviews are also done of the previous days, so that we are sure to take our new experiences forward.

Javier Sicilia giving a mobile interview

For example, this morning we talked about the City Council meeting in El Paso yesterday, thought through the presentations by Javier and  Ruben Garcia of Annunciation House, and agreed we can be a little more clever in our messaging at the next opportunity to speak to elected officials.

Second, it acts as Javier’s mobile interview room. There is never a moment – even while we are en route – without a reporter around and the RV acts as a quiet(ish) place to conduct an interview. After addressing the crowd in El Paso on Monday night, Javier was swarmed by reporters and could barely make it back to the RV.

Third, over and above the organizing and the planning, we organizers are learning too.

Gas pump for the RV!

This morning Oscar Chacon of National Alliance of Latin American and Caribbean Communities (NALACC) in Chicago talked through his vision of the Caravan ‘planting a seed’ for the future of successful progressive organizing, building on his decades of experience organizing immigrant Latino communities. Roberto Lovato of Presente.org supported our media strategy planning, advising on the delicate line to tell victims’ stories, but not exploit the story for the purpose of ‘getting the hit’. He later, and somewhat privately, takes Javier aside and records an interview with him about his poetry. And Janice Gallagher – an amazing woman leading most of the logistical planning for the Movimiento por la Paz continues to blaze our path forward, modeling calm and dedicated organizing.

So, I’m not sure. Do we keep this beast, which does provide a decent mobile meeting and interview space, and some solace between city stops? We’ll see.

TAKE ACTION!

Follow the Caravan on…

• Twitter: @CaravanaUSA
• Facebook: Facebook.com/Caravan4Peace
• Hashtag: #Caravan4Peace #CaravanaUSA
• Caravan for Peace website:  caravanforpeace.org
• Global Exchange People-to-People blog: Caravan Road Reports or Subscribe via RSS to receive new posts automatically

CARAVAN PHOTOS

Check out Caravan photos from the road…

Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/globalexchange
Facebook: Southern California photos. South-West photos. Texas photos.

Lend Your Support: Donations are still being accepted to help fund this important trip. Will you give?

Welcoming the Caravan to El Paso!

Global Exchange Executive Director Carleen Pickard has joined the Caravan for Peace!

I arrived Monday night to the main square in El Paso and thought ‘oh no, we’ve double booked the plaza for the Caravan for Peace arrival!’ as Mexican rock blasted through the empty downtown streets at 8:30pm. When I arrived to la Placita it turned out that the party atmosphere was for the Caravan’s arrival, pleasing the few hundred people that had gathered with banners of bienvenidos, candles, pan dulce and hot chocolate.

When the 2 buses arrived, the worn and bleary eyed caravaneros walked through an aisle of supporters and treated to a beautiful ceremony. Representatives from Border Network for Human Rights communities presented the Caravan with:

Javier Sicilia giving testimony to El Paso Council.

• a symbol of Human Rights from East El Paso County;
• a symbol of Justice from Mission Valley;
• a symbol of Respect from Mission Valley;
• a symbol of Peace from Southern Dona Ana County;
• a symbol of Liberty from Las Cruces; and
• a symbol of Dignity from North of Las Cruces.

Tuesday morning

We rose early, boarded our buses and sat in the audience as the City Hall council heard a resolution presented by Ruben Garcia of Annunciation House and other El Paso community members. Read into the record by Councilwoman Susie Byrd, the resolution calls on El Paso to endorse a voluntary Code of Conduct for gun sales developed by mayors across the U.S. (for more info on the problems with lax gun laws, watch ‘U.S. Guns: the Awful, Shocking Truth’), discuss drug policy, money laundering and prioritize human rights.

The Caravan outside the El Paso DEA offices.

With the support of more than 50 victims of the War on Drugs in the room, many holding photos of their loved ones, dead or missing family members, Javier Sicilia spoke in favour of the resolution and appealed to the Council by stating, “The United States helped create this war, so that’s why we come to you today to help us create peace.” Despite challenges from 2 community members about the resolution’s language concerning U.S. citizens’ right to bear arms and clarification about the resolution’s intent of a discussion on drug policy, the El Paso City Council passed the resolution with 7 votes in favour and 1 abstention.

Tuesday afternoon

We protested at the DEA offices, and over lunch victims met with members of the Border Network for Human Rights, and later Javier Sicilia spoke at the University of Texas – El Paso campus.

Annunciation House with names of victims of the War on Drugs projected onto it.

After a symbolic community signing of the voluntary Code of Conduct for firearm sales in the same la Placita the Caravan was welcomed to last night, we marched to the immigrant support center Annunciation House for a closing vigil. Names of the victims of the drug war were projected onto the side of the Annunciation building, while classical music played.

It was astounding to spend 35 minutes watching hundreds of names reach upwards with classical music playing through the streets as everyone sat in silence. I believe each of us re-committed our pledge to impact the dialogue in the United States on the war on Drugs as our El Paso hosts wished us well as we travel eastwards across Texas tomorrow morning.

Watch the names projected onto the Annunciation House:

TAKE ACTION!

Follow the Caravan on…

• Twitter: @CaravanaUSA
• Facebook: Facebook.com/Caravan4Peace
• Hashtag: #Caravan4Peace #CaravanaUSA
• Caravan for Peace website:  caravanforpeace.org
• Global Exchange People-to-People blog: Caravan Road Reports or Subscribe via RSS to receive new posts automatically

CARAVAN PHOTOS

Check out Caravan photos from the road…

Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/globalexchange
Facebook: Southern California photos. South-West photos.

Lend Your Support: Donations are still being accepted to help fund this important trip. Will you give?

At every stop along the route, the Caravanistas, including more than 40 Mexican victims of the drug war, have been greeted by communities standing in solidarity on issues related to the War on Drugs ranging from challenging lax policies on gun trafficking, promoting immigration policies that respect the dignities of all people, to rethinking drug prohibition, and more.

The Caravan first embarked on its journey in Tijuana, MX and crossed the border into San Diego, CA before making its way to Los Angeles. Watch this ReasonTV video from the day.

After an energizing two days in Los Angeles, where the Caravan was joined by supporters from Hollywood, grassroots organizations, artist activists, members from the Los Angeles community at cultural events, candlelight vigils, actions, and marches, the group continued on to Arizona.

photo: peperivera.com

In Arizona, the Caravan made a symbolic visit to the “Tent City” jail to express solidarity with those incarcerated and to condemn the inhumane practices of the infamous Sheriff Joe Arpaio, longtime drug war enforcer also known for being anti-immigrant.

After making its way through Arizona, the next stop on the route was New Mexico, where one of the stops was a gun show. Watch two videos of Javier discussing gun control with a seller at the show. Part one. Part two. You can also watch archived livestream video of events in New Mexico.

Today, the Caravan marches on to Texas at the El Paso-Juarez border. The Caravan will be visiting the Drug Enforcement Administration Office (DEA) at the border town, where Juarez is seen as the epicenter of drug war violence.

If you are in Texas or in any city along the Caravan route, be sure to come to the events and get involved. Hear the stories of the victims of the drug war and help deliver the clear message to put an end to the war on drugs.

PHOTOS!
Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/globalexchange
Facebook: Southern California photos. South-West photos. 

TAKE ACTION!

Follow the Caravan on…

• Twitter: @CaravanaUSA
• Facebook: Facebook.com/Caravan4Peace
• Hashtag: #Caravan4Peace #CaravanaUSA
• Caravan for Peace website:  caravanforpeace.org
• Global Exchange People-to-People blog: Caravan Road Reports or Subscribe via RSS to receive new posts automatically

Lend Your Support: Donations are still being accepted to help fund this important trip. Will you give?