More info about the November convergance here: [soaw.org/november/en]
Over the past two decades, SOA Watch has grown from a handful of people into one of the most dynamic multi-generational, cross-continental movements against militarization.
Thousands have been educated and mobilized to take a stand against Pentagon-driven U.S. foreign policy and to engage in nonviolent direct action. New layers of activists are joining the movement to close the SOA, including numerous youth and students from multinational, working-class communities.
This year, join thousands of students, nuns, migrants, unionists, people of faith, torture survivors, families, veterans, artists from across the Americas from November 22-24 as we converge at the gates of the School of the Americas (SOA; also known as the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, WHINSEC), where we continue to reaffirm life and our creativity in the face of Empire. The November Vigil is not just a protest, but also a place where we come together as a community to mourn, resist, strategize, debate, learn, celebrate, and heal. The vigil weekend includes concerts, theater performances, nonviolent direct action, film screenings, workshops and caucuses.
Our work has not gotten easier, and we need everyone's energy, creativity and participation. The current push for military action in Syria, the coup in Honduras and the continuing repression against the pro-democracy resistance, the expansion of U.S. military bases in Colombia and Panama, and the militarization of the U.S./Mexico border are grim examples of what we are up against. We must come together to reaffirm our belief in justice and peace, and our commitment to ending militarization and injustice. As we struggle, we see hope as movements throughout the hemisphere are standing up for dignity and self-determination. The November Vigil is about resisting militarization and affirming life, dignity, justice, and peace in our interconnected world. We are organizing together with our partners in the Americas for justice and accountability. Be part of history.
We mobilize because standing still is not an option…
Remaining silent during slavery was to take the side of the slave owner, remaining silent now is to take the side of those who are committing genocide against the earth and the people…
Because memory is not static. History is not a museum. Our narrative is too great for history books, our legacy larger than any casket or mass grave. Because reckless heaps of Earth in clandestine burials cannot silence the ghosts of our ancestors. No–these memories live on.
Truth cannot be obscured by “courts which pretend to dispense justice” (paraphrase: Arundhati Roy). Truth is the glowing ember of justice. Let us feed the fire. Let us breathe life into the flame until it rises, white hot, to the heavens and banishes the dark from the night.
We will converge, many thousands strong, at the gates of Fort Benning, Georgia in November because justice will not be delivered unto us. We will come to demand it.
Read more about why we mobilize against the SOA.
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