BRIDGING THE AMERICAS: BLACK LIVES MATTER FROM COLOMBIA TO THE US

Buenaventura, Colombia, considered one of the world’s most violent cities, is a place of ongoing nonviolent civilian resistance and resilience. Faced with deadly attacks and ongoing threats, a courageous Afro-Colombian community is taking a stand against the illegal armed groups that had controlled their daily lives for over 15 years. In the United States, an African-American is killed every 28 hours, and the Movement for Black Lives has vividly drawn national attention to an epidemic of state violence against Black communities.

On November 18, join this face-to-face exchange with Black community leaders from Colombia and the U.S. demanding respect for their lives, lands, and rights. Learn what strategies other communities are implementing to uproot the systemic barriers and injustices that prevent us from gaining the resources, leverage, and capacity needed for our communities to be self-sufficient. Bring your experience and wisdom to share strategies about how communities can more effectively organize to confront and take control of policing as well as to transform decision-making processes for greater community control.

Sponsored by the Fellowship of Reconciliation.

Willian Mina- Youth leader at the Puente Nayero Humanitarian Space, Colombia

Willian is a sociology student at the University of the Pacific, working with children, teenagers and youth on issues of peace building and the appropriation of territories through the cultural practices of dance, traditional music from the Colombian pacific coast and traditional games

Anthony Grimes – Director of Campaigns and Strategies FOR-USA 

Nhora Isabel “Chava” Castillo Panameño – Leader at the Puente Nayero Humanitarian Space, Colombia 

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Chava is a founding leader, mother of three, and a student in sociology at the University of the Pacific in Buenaventura. She says, “my leadership comes from my family.. My father has been a natural leader for over 40 years…”