Date: 2011-04-11
Room: 5414
Location: The CUNY Graduate Center 365 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY.
SUBWAY: trains B,D,F,M,N,Q or R to 34th Street – Herald Square
Colombian peace community leader Jesús Emilio Tuberquia will be speaking about the experience of community and nonviolence in the midst of war.
Jesús Emilio has far too much first-hand knowledge of just how dangerous it is to work for peace in the middle of a war zone. He is a founding member of the San José de Apartadó Peace Community located in northwest Colombia.
In 1997, he and 800 other small farmers claimed their territory as a neutral civilian community, refusing to cooperate with any armed group. The community has survived threats, killings, massacres, disappearances and food blockades by armed groups, including the U.S.-funded Colombian army.
Earlier this month, a man entered the peace community, went to Jesús Emilio’s house and asked where he was, then walked around the settlement and asked others. On Wednesday, after threatening peace community members together with paramilitaries, the man was picked up by the army and taken to the nearby army base.
Despite the threats and violence, Jesús Emilio and the peace community have succeeded in building a nonviolent community in resistance as an alternative to the war around them. Come hear their story!
(Source: http://forusa.org/blogs/susana-pimiento/struggling-peace-war-zone-courageous-experiment-non-violent-resistance/8484)
