Carney Latin American Solidarity Archive (CLASA)

CLASA Events History

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  2014-2024

  Fall 2023 and Winter 2024 Events

  

  Fall 2023

  In fall 2023, we gathered on Sept. 16 to commemorate the 40^th anniversary of the disappearance of our namesake, Fr. James "Guadalupe" Carney. We gathered in Lansing-Reilly Parlor and watched a livestream of the Mass in Honduras that was dedicated to Fr. Carney's memory. Fr. Mark George, an artist who lives in the Jesuit Community here Detroit,  attended the SHARE delegation to El Salvador. On Nov. 1, Fr. Mark shared what he learned on the delegation. He was joined by educator Mary Anne Perrone, who helped to organize the delegation. On Nov. 8 we heard from Fr. Joe Mulligan who joined us via Zoom from his home in Nicaragua, where he has been serving the disabled and Christian Base communities for over 35 years. He spoke on the Gospel of Luke. On Nov. 15, we heard a talk by National Catholic Reporter journalist and lifelong Catholic Worker Claire Schaeffer-Duffy, who spoke on "Conversations on Nonviolent Action in a Time of War." Schaeffer-Duffy researched nonviolent movements in Ukraine that engaged in activities to defend the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.   The event was co-sponsored by Mercy Peace Forum and the Peace History Society.

  Winter 2024

  On Feb. 12 we called on the expertise of David Neuhaus, S.J., a Jesuit from the Holy Land who spoke via webinar on “A Catholic Priest’s Reflection on War in the Holy Land.” On March 13 we had a successful UCA Jesuit Martyrs Fundraiser Dinner, with 90 attendees raising $10,700 for the scholarship fund. Our keynote speaker was Leslie Schuld, from CIS (Centro de Intercambio y Solidaridad) who spoke on “All that Glitters is not Gold.” The Cristo Rey Choir came from Lansing and performed several songs. On March 18 we hosted University of Michigan Doctoral Candidate in Philosophy Ariana Peruzzi, who spoke on Refugees and Asylum Seekers. On April 10, as a participant in the Mercy Peace Forum, we hosted Michael Baxter of University of Notre Dame for a talk that was entitled "The Grace of Doing Almost Nothing: Reflections on Peacemaking Amid the Perplexities of War in Ukraine and Gaza," moderated by Dr. Ben Peters of St. Joseph's University. On April 20, 2024, CLASA was the co-host and co-sponsor of the Pax Christi Michigan conference. The keynote speaker was Lisa Sullivan, the Integral Ecology senior program officer for the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns. The theme of her talk was: "All is Connected: The Sacred Journey of Caring for our Common Home."

  Fall 2022 & Winter 2023 Events

  In September, CLASA co-sponsored the visit of Marianne Comfort, who spoke on the "Care of Creation in a Throw-Away Culture” (as part of Founders Week). Comfort works on the Justice team of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas. In October, CLASA was a major sponsor of the Great Lakes Bioneers Detroit conference. On Nov. 9, CLASA participated with three other Mercy universities and the Peace History Society to host an online panel on the topic of: “Critically Concerned: Catholic Women Religious and the Nonviolent Quest for Peace and Justice…” including speakers Jean Clark, OP; Diane Guerin, RSM; Eileen Markey; and Carole Sargent. Nov. 16, 2022, CLASA hosted Fr. Joe Mulligan, S.J., who shared his presentation on "'Each country also belongs to the foreigner:' Church doctrine on property as applied to migration today." We also commemorated the 33rd anniversary of the deaths of the Central American University (UCA) Martyrs of El Salvador. Detroit Mercy students presented Mary Anne Perrone’s play about the martyrs. On Nov. 21, 2022, CLASA hosted Pambana Bassett of Witness for Peace Solidarity Collective in Cuba, and Julia Thomas (a journalist) to talk about the effects of the blockade of Cuba.
  
  In Winter of 2023, we participated in the Mercy Peace Forum again, to hear: “Joanne Sheehan: Nonviolent Activist for Peace & Justice…” On March 28 we co-sponsored a screening of the documentary film, “The Letter’” about Pope Francis’s encyclical, Laudato Si. Elizabeth Garlow, co-founder of Francesco Collaborative spoke about the film and her work on ecological economics. On March 29, we hosted Dr. Jennifer Hart and her talk, “Conceptual Schemes and the Decolonization of African Studies…” On April 17, CLASA hosted "Defying Canons: an examination of the philosophy of two Caribbean women," by Khimaja Connell of University of the West Indies - Mona Campus. On April 19, we hosted the UCA Jesuit Martyrs Fundraiser Dinner featuring Jose Artiga, Founder and Director of SHARE Foundation. Our event began with music by Julie Beutel, Bob O'Brien and Charles Green, and an introductory talk by Carrie Nantais, Interim Vice President for Mission Integration, "Remember the Joy;" and Karla Rivas shared her memories of her graduate studies at the UCA. We were able to raise $8,000 for the UCA Jesuit Martyrs Scholarship this year. On April 20 we held two events. First, Karla Rivas, an award-winning Journalist from Radio Progreso in Honduras spoke about violence against women. In the evening, we were joined by Elaine Carey, former director of CLASA, who reflected on how the Carney archive began. Then our guest speaker, Reynaldo Dominguez, spoke on the environmental effects of mining on the Bajo Aguán. After the Honduras events, we co-sponsored the Healing Wall event in CLAE.

  

  CLASA was also a sponsor of the Great Lakes Bioneers Detroit conference that took place Oct. 14-15, 2022

  Over 400 people attended the two day environmental justice conference, with 230 of those being Middle and High School students. Of those students, 125 of them came from Southwest Detroit schools: Detroit Cristo Rey, Holy Redeemer, and Academy of the Americas. Other student groups came from University Prep Math and Science, Davis Aerospace High School, Boggs School, and Mt. Clemens High School. We had bilingual translation during the student talk-back session. It was a great day of learning and adventure, as students went to five tour destinations around Detroit to learn more about the environment and participated in ten learnshops on campus. See the Great Lakes Bioneers or Facebook page for a report (and photos) of the conference.

  Winter 2022

  UCA Jesuit Martyrs Fundraiser Dinner Photo Gallery

  See photo highlights of our 2022 UCA Jesuit Martyrs Fundraiser Dinner, which was held on Tuesday, April 5, 2022. CLASA successfully raised over $7,000 for the scholarship!

  

  View UCA Fundraiser on Google Slides

  CLASA had four events each in fall 2021 and winter 2022, a total of eight events. We began by celebrating Founders Week with Sr. Mary Kay Dobrovolny, a Sister of Mercy, and Mary Anne Perrone discussing their recent trip to Honduras to explore the human rights situation there. After Founders Week we co-sponsored a talk by Sr. Simone Campbell on Sacred Listening. CLASA co-sponsored the Great Lakes Bioneers conference. The last event in fall 2022 was hosted by Assistant Professor of Philosophy Danny Marrero, who discussed Rights attributions to Rivers with a focus on Colombia. In winter 2022 we hosted Sr. Ana Maria Pineda, José Artiga and Fr. Joe Mulligan and discussed the recent beatification of El Salvadoran Jesuit, Rutilio Grande, S.J. After this discussion we hosted Strangers No Longer for two events, one on Zoom and one in person, focusing on women’s immigrant circles. The women shared their stories of struggle. The in-person talk in April featured Daris Bartolon from Guatemala. We ended winter 2022 events with our annual UCA Jesuit Martyrs Fundraiser dinner. Our keynote speaker was Tizziana Carmona. Also speaking was Fr. Rick Cassidy and student Olivia Vitale. The Ballet Folklórico México Lindo performed twice with colorful costumes. We raised over $7,000 for the scholarship! 

  Fall 2020 & Winter 2021 Events

  

  View anniversary event on Google Slides

  In Fall of 2020, CLASA held an event for the anniversary of the deaths of the Jesuit Martyrs, Nov. 16, 2020. There were two main guest speakers, Joe Mulligan, S.J. (in Nicaragua), and Padre Melo S.J. of Honduras. They were joined by José Artiga and Amy Arundel. In Fall CLASA also co-sponsored several events, including a “Nuns on the Bus” event especially for Michigan, with Sr. Nina Simone being the main speaker. The well-attended Zoom event was called a "Town Hall for Spirit-Filled Voters," co-hosted by the IHM Sisters. CLASA also co-sponsored a talk (with Catholic Studies) by Julie Pycior on Thomas Merton. Also, CLASA co-sponsored and co-hosted four Zoom webinars offered by Great Lakes Bioneers Detroit (in lieu of an in-person conference which couldn’t be held due to coronavirus precautions). Victor Carmona, Nick Schroeck, Jason and Maecy Zarate and Sr. Gloria Rivera featured in three of the four webinars, and the remaining webinar had several High School and University students organized by Caleb Scheys, discussing their research on the environment.

  In Winter of 2021, we hosted several events in March (Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day) co-sponsored with the Women’s and Gender Studies program. On Thursday, March 11, we hosted Foro de Mujeres por la Vida (Honduras) with Carolina Sierra and Andrea Paz (leaders), who spoke on “Defending Women’s Rights and Stopping domestic and State-sanctioned violence against women.” The Zoom meeting featured Karla Lara singing a song, Sin miedo and two Sisters of Mercy, Kathleen Erickson and Diane Klyne also spoke about the work of the Foro. On March 25, University of Windsor Professor of Philosophy Catherine Hundleby spoke on "Feminist Approaches to Argument." The Philosophy Dept. co-sponsored this event. On March 29, University of Nairobi Author and Researcher Mary Njeri Kinyanjui, Ph.D., spoke on "Utu Feminism: Towards an African feminism."

  On April 8, 2021 we hosted the online version of our annual UCA Jesuit Martyrs Fundraiser dinner. Our keynote speaker was Cardinal Michael Czerny, S.J., who spoke on "Remembering Dean [Brackley] for Tomorrow." We had music contributed by the band from the Centro Arte para la Paz in Suchitoto, El Salvador. We also had a talk by Laura Ash-Brackley, the sister-in-law of Dean Brackley. Others briefly spoke as well. We had almost 100 attendees and we were able to raise over $6,000 for the scholarship. On April 14, 2021 we aired the talk by Humphrey Ojwang, Ph.D., “Pedagogical Value of Indigenous Knowledge for Food Security: Learning from Women Sages in East Africa.” Ojwang is a senior research fellow at the Institute of Anthropology Gender and African Studies at University of Nairobi, Kenya. Please visit the CLASA and GLBD you tube channels to see videos of the above mentioned events! 

  
  

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  Fall 2019 and Winter 2020

  

  View 2019-20 on Google Slides presentation.

  In July of 2019, at the National Jesuit Student Leadership conference held on our campus, CLASA co-hosted a panel with Strangers No Longer on the topic of immigration. Our students, Luz Ramos of Guatemala and Vania Noguez, were part of the panel. Gail Presbey, CLASA director, led a workshop on understanding justice issues in Central America. In the fall semester we hosted Dr. Murilo Seabra of Brazil to discuss how social media ads affected the recent Presidential election in Brazil. For Oct. 2, 2019, we celebrated the 150th birthday of Gandhi by hosting Fr. Peter Doughterty, recipient of the Jamnalal Bajaj award for fostering Gandhian values in 2010. He is founder of Meta Peace Team —active in Michigan and elsewhere to lessen violence. Later in Oct. we had Ethriam Brammer share some of his poetry and other writings, addressing the theme “Beneath the Barbed Wire: Banned Verses and Translating Transnationalism.” Also, Angelica Cancinos, Guatemala Program Director for International Samaritan, spoke on “Why People are Leaving Guatemala.” Finally, in November, Bernard Matolino from University of KwaZulu Natal gave three talks. One talk was on his book, Afro-Communitarian Democracy; the other two talks looked at the issues of racism and homosexuality in the context of South Africa. Also in the fall, working with Swords into Plowshares gallery in downtown Detroit, we put up a display of art from the young artists of Suchitoto, El Salvador, and the Centro Arte para La Paz. The exhibit was up for three months, between Oct. 2019 and Jan. 2020. Many people saw the art works and several were purchased, raising funds for the art center.

  In winter, our first event, Jan. 15, 2020, focused on the medical crisis in Venezuela. We were visited by Kevin Young, history professor at U Mass Amherst. He showed his documentary film, "Venezuelans under Siege" about current suffering caused by lack of medical supplies during the US blockade. Young also visited the following day with the history class, Modern Latin America, to share highlights from his book, Blood of the Earth: Resource Nationalism, Revolution, and Empire in Bolivia (University of Texas Press, 2017). In early Feb. we hosted "Youth Leaders Across Borders," young people from Mexico (Leni Alvarez) and El Salvador (Fernando Jose Trejo Guevara) who are engaged in organizations and community art projects. Their speaking tour was organized by Alianza Americas (Amy Shannon) and Strangers No Longer. The following week we hosted activist and author Kathy Kelly (co-founder of Voices for Creative Nonviolence) who spoke on "Resistance to the 'Forever Wars.'" Her talk focused on Afghanistan, Iraq, Gaza and Yemen. In March and April, we had three planned events canceled, due to the coronavirus pandemic and the closing of the university. We continued our fundraiser for the UCA Jesuit Martyr’s Scholarship, which helps students from poor families in El Salvador to attend the UCA, the Jesuit university in San Salvador. Without our event, we did not raise as much money as usual, but we did raise over $1,000 which we sent to the scholarship fund.

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  Winter 2019

  

  View Winter 2019 Google Slides presentation.

  This winter semester, CLASA hosted nine speakers for 10 events. On Feb. 6, we hosted Kim Redigan and Elliot Adams from Meta Peace Team who spoke on “Walls and Wars or Nonviolent Resistance? The Work of Meta Peace Team in Palestine and at the U.S. – Mexico Border.”  On Feb. 19-21, CLASA hosted Asha Mukherjee, Ph.D., Visva-Bharati Central University, Santiniketan, West Bengal, India. She gave three talks: “The History of Jainism and the Moral and Social Implications of Jaina Logic” was held on Feb. 19. On the morning of Feb. 21, she spoke on “Women, Dharma and Social Justice in India: Utopia and Reality.” In the afternoon, at Lansing-Reilly Hall, she spoke on: “Rabindranath Tagore on comparative study of religions.” In March, CLASA joined with the Chavez-King-Parks Program to celebrate Cesar Chavez Day by hosting a speaker on Mar. 25, José-Antonio Orosco, professor of philosophy, Oregon State University – Corvallis. He gave two talks, one each about his two recent books, "Cesar Chavez and the Philosophy of Nonviolence," and "Toppling the Melting Pot: Immigration and Multiculturalism in American Pragmatism." On April 4, with Sr. Peggy O’Neill, a Sister of Charity who has lived in El Salvador for 30 years and is director of Centro Arte para la Paz, we held an opening for a display of art works from her center at the McNichols Campus Library. In the evening of Apr. 4, CLASA held its annual fundraiser dinner for the UCA Jesuit Martyrs Scholarship. Joe Reilly provided music, and Sr. Peggy was the keynote speaker. The following week, we co-sponsored the talk at Gesu Parish on Apr. 9 (and the Law School) from Sr. Magda from Alianza Americas who spoke about the current immigration crisis. On Apr. 10, we hosted a film screening for "The Nuns, the Priests, and the Bomb," about nonviolent resistance to nuclear weapons. Afterward, a panel including Kim Joy Bergier, Sharon O'Hara-Bruce and Sr. Elizabeth Walters, IHM, discussed the film.

  This winter semester, CLASA hosted nine speakers for 10 events. On Feb. 6, we hosted Kim Redigan and Elliot Adams from Meta Peace Team who spoke on “Walls and Wars or Nonviolent Resistance? The Work of Meta Peace Team in Palestine and at the U.S. – Mexico Border.”  On Feb. 19-21, CLASA hosted Asha Mukherjee, Ph.D., Visva-Bharati Central University, Santiniketan, West Bengal, India. She gave three talks: “The History of Jainism and the Moral and Social Implications of Jaina Logic” was held on Feb. 19. On the morning of Feb. 21, she spoke on “Women, Dharma and Social Justice in India: Utopia and Reality.” In the afternoon, at Lansing-Reilly Hall, she spoke on: “Rabindranath Tagore on comparative study of religions.” In March, CLASA joined with the Chavez-King-Parks Program to celebrate Cesar Chavez Day by hosting a speaker on Mar. 25, José-Antonio Orosco, professor of philosophy, Oregon State University – Corvallis. He gave two talks, one each about his two recent books, "Cesar Chavez and the Philosophy of Nonviolence," and "Toppling the Melting Pot: Immigration and Multiculturalism in American Pragmatism." On April 4, with Sr. Peggy O’Neill, a Sister of Charity who has lived in El Salvador for 30 years and is director of Centro Arte para la Paz, we held an opening for a display of art works from her center at the McNichols Campus Library. In the evening of Apr. 4, CLASA held its annual fundraiser dinner for the UCA Jesuit Martyrs Scholarship. Joe Reilly provided music, and Sr. Peggy was the keynote speaker. The following week, we co-sponsored the talk at Gesu Parish on Apr. 9 (and the Law School) from Sr. Magda from Alianza Americas who spoke about the current immigration crisis. On Apr. 10, we hosted a film screening for "The Nuns, the Priests, and the Bomb," about nonviolent resistance to nuclear weapons. Afterward, a panel including Kim Joy Bergier, Sharon O'Hara-Bruce and Sr. Elizabeth Walters, IHM, discussed the film.

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  Fall 2018

  

  View Fall 2018 Google Slides presentation.

  On Friday, September 28, 2018, we listened to our special guest speakers from Brazil, Paula Santos and Mel and Guellwaar Adún. They shared with us the story of the movement of Black arts and culture in Brazil. This included a poetry reading by Mel and songs by Guellwaar, an overview of the arts scene, and the sharing of the story of how they started their own press, Editora Ogum's Publishing House. On Wednesday, October 3, Jesuit Father Joe Mulligan spoke on “My Involvement in the Struggle for Justice and Peace.” He shared his life of active nonviolence from the days of the Vietnam War to today. Students were impressed as he challenged them to think about their life’s priorities in light of the call to work for justice. On Wednesday, October 10, Sr. Mary Ellen Brody of the Sisters of Mercy spoke on "Reflections on Mercy, Spirituality, and Justice." Sr. Mary Ellen shared her spiritual insights which she gleaned, in part, from her nine years as a missionary in Honduras. She was then joined by Dr. Gail Presbey, Director of CLASA, and the two of them described their participation in a recent human rights delegation to Honduras in May of 2018. They went to support Padre Melo (Ismael Moreno, S.J.) as well as the work of the Sisters of Mercy in Honduras. (See the link to Dr. Presbey’s letter on the CLASA main page). On Wednesday, October 24, Dr. Beth Blissman spoke twice on, "U.N. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Pathway to Empowerment?" She is the Loretto Community Representative to the United Nations. She updated the audience on the progress made towards ensuring that all women and girls around the world get the nutrition, health care, education and opportunities they need to flourish. On October 25, Dr. Blissman led faculty and staff in a workshop co-sponsored by the Institute for Leadership and Service on the topic of community engaged learning. CLASA also co-sponsored several events, including the talk by on Tuesday, Nov. 6 by Dr. Bill Cook on “Two Men Named Francis,” that is, Francis of Assisi and Pope Francis. We also co-sponsored with the English Department the Tuesday, November 13 talk on “Immigration: Personal Stories” with special guest Sarah Alvarez, founder and director of Outlier Media, and a family seeking asylum that is sponsored by the Gesu Parish.

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  Winter 2018

  

  View Winter 2018 Google Slides presentation.

  CLASA hosted another art exhibit in the McNichols campus library. We displayed the paintings of Joseph DeWindt, father to our dear departed history professor Edwin DeWindt. There was a reception and a silent auction on Wednesday, January 31, 5 to 7 p.m. All 25 paintings were auctioned, and it raised $1,675 for the History Department. Thank you to Anne DeWindt for donating the paintings.

  On Tuesday, January. 30, we hosted Oscar Castaneda, a Community Organizer with Action of Greater Lansing. Dr. Castaneda shared his personal experience with immigration, his analysis of the causes of anti-immigrant sentiment and the story of his participation in the campaign to have Lansing be declared a Sanctuary City. On Wednesday, February. 7, we hosted “Sanctuary Then and Now” -- with the Gesu Catholic Church Sanctuary Team and a Salvadoran family. Cesar and Carmen described why they left their beloved El Salvador, their experience as immigrants in SE Michigan, and their hopes for their future. Bill O’Brien and Jim Sweeney of Gesu Catholic Church (neighbors to University of Detroit Mercy) described why Gesu decided to offer support to the family – and their efforts to build a Catholic network of congregations committed to immigrants and to Pope Francis’ challenges to Catholics to support refugees and immigrants. On Monday, February 26, CLASA was one of many of the university’s co-sponsors for Dr. Ibram X. Kendi, author of the 2016 National Book Award-winning Stamped From The Beginning: A Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America.

  On March 12, 2018, CLASA hosted Patrick Brosnan, executive director of Chicago-based  Brighton Park Neighborhood Council. His center has many helpful programs for the immigrant community. On March 16, we hosted a talk on the significance and lessons to be learned from the Vietnam War, given by Emeritus professor Fran Shor, on the 50th anniversary of the My Lai massacre and the 53rd anniversary of the self-immolation of Detroit based activist Alice Herz. The event was co-sponsored by Phi Alpha Theta (History Honor Society). On March 26 (at the Law School) and March 27 (at the McNichols Campus) we hosted Professor Dawn McCarty of University of Houston Downtown, who lives at Casa Juan Diego, the Catholic Worker house in Houston. She works with immigrants both in Texas and Mexico.

  On Thursday, April 5, we hosted our annual UCA Jesuit Martyrs Fundraiser dinner with keynote speaker Francisco Mena Ugarte, director of CRISPAZ (Christians for Peace in El Salvador). The event which had, as usual, about 100 attendees, raised over $5,000 for the scholarship. In addition to Mena’s moving talk, we also heard from Richard Brackley (Dean Brackley’s brother) and Jack Podsiadlo, S.J., who knew Dean Brackley well. We also heard from Tom Florek, S.J., as he introduced a video taken of one of the mothers of a scholarship recipient. The event began with a moving dance performance from Danza Guadalupana. Event co-sponsors were University Ministry, Gesu Peace and Justice Committee and the Jesuit Community at University of Detroit Mercy.

  On Monday, April 9, 2018, we hosted Mary Anne Perrone (Educator and former Principal of Our Lady of Guadalupe Middle School) who gave a “Report from an Interfaith Delegation to Honduras: The Honduran elections and a Crisis of Legitimacy” based on the experiences of an interfaith group, including members from the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas Justice Team, SHARE Foundation and Friendship Office/Honduras. Perrone reported on the findings of the delegation’s visit. On Wednesday, April 18, we hosted a panel discussion, "Radiation Knows No Borders: A Citizen Panel & Forum On Reactor Emergency Preparedness." The event was organized by the Alliance to Halt Fermi-3, moderated by Keith Gunter, and co-sponsored by Peace Action, DC-area Beyond Nuclear, and CLASA. On Monday, April 23, we hosted a talk, “AFL-CIA: U.S. Labor Intervention in Chile and throughout Latin America, then and now” by Prof. Ruth Needleman, Labor Studies professor emerita from Indiana University.

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  Winter & Fall 2017

  

  View 2017 Google Slides presentation.

  In the winter of 2017 we hosted sixteen speakers and a musician, and we held 8 speaking events, a fundraiser dinner, a library exhibit, and an information table, as well as having co-sponsored one speaking event at which I was a speaker. Our first event was “REFUGEES AMONG US,” held on Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2017, 5:15 p.m. Chemistry 114. The presenters were: 1. Kevin Piecuch, an attorney and executive director of the Southwest Detroit Immigrant and Refugee Center; 2. José David Valladares Trujillo, who has applied for asylum (his message was translated by Sister Nina); 3. Nina Rodriguez CSJ is a Catholic Sister who has lived and worked with the immigrant community in Southwest Detroit for most of her life; 4. Karen Donahue, RSM, a Sister of Mercy who has sponsored a weekly vigil at the ICE offices in Detroit for the past nine years and who attends services at the jail with immigrants who have been arrested and await deportation.

  On March 20, 2017 we held the Fundraiser Dinner for Dean Brackley S.J.’s UCA Jesuit Martyrs Scholarship Fund, to enable Salvadoran students to attend Universidad Centroamericana (UCA), the Jesuit University in El Salvador. The event was 6:30 – 9 p.m. in the Ballroom. Our special guest speakers from El Salvador were Kevin Yonkers-Talz (Director of Casa de la Solidaridad) and Julio Perez (Director of the Romero Program at the Casa). Music was provided by Ismael Duran. This fundraiser dinner raised $8,200 for the UCA Jesuit Martyrs Scholarship Fund. On Tuesday, March 28, Bargman Room of the McNichols library, 6 – 8 p.m., CLASA co-sponsored the Cesar Chavez Day celebration, sponsored by the King-Chavez-Parks S.T.A.R. Program (Janis Strickland, organizer of the event) and the Hispanic American Student Association (HASA). The speaker was Jeff Stewart of Immigrant Workers Project; with additional speakers Tom Florek, S.J. and Gail Presbey, Detroit Mercy.

  On Wednesday, March 29, 2017 4 p.m., Sergio Pacheco of Mexico Solidarity network was skyped in to the new CHP high-tech multipurpose room so that he could share his projects with the students at Detroit Mercy. Tony Nelson of Mexico Solidarity Network was here on campus to facilitate the technology and translate for Sergio. He shared the story of the Tlanezi Calli public housing project in Iztapalapa, Mexico City, and its many educational projects, as well as its democratic structure. Sergio had hoped to come on tour in the US but his visa was denied.

  Mary Walle researched and wrote “The Blood Stops Here: Democratic Citizenship, Faith Communities, and the Question of Human Rights in Detroit’s Sanctuary Movement,” consulting the Carney archive and interviewing area participants. She presented her talk on Detroit’s Sanctuary movement twice, once from 2 – 3:15 and once from 4 – 5:15 pm, both in Briggs 317. A companion exhibit in the display cases in the McNichols Campus Library lobby highlighted the history of Detroit’s Sanctuary movement. Students from HIS 4670 Latinos in the U.S. created the display, drawing upon documents from the Carney Archive. The exhibit was on display from March 30 to May 15, 2017. Luis Zaldaña, Macomb county Hispanic Ministry director, spoke on “Supporting Undocumented Immigrants in Macomb County,” on Friday, March 31, 2017 11 a.m. in C&F 209. Luis Zaldaña works for the Archdiocese of Detroit and has a special ministry to the Hispanic community of Macomb County. He shared accounts of the local struggles of the migrant community here in our State.

  CLASA co-sponsored the Pax Christi Michigan Conference on April 1, 2017, at St. Simon and Jude Church, Westland, MI. CLASA co-sponsored the conference and set up an information table. On Thursday, April 6 at 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm in Life Sciences 113, we hosted a panel called “Nukes and Your Future? A Forum to Address Nuclear Weapons in the World.” Panelists were: Cynthia Stiller, Henry Ford College Associate Dean of the Science, Arts and Fitness Division; Dr. Frederic Pearson, Director of the Center for Peace and Conflict Studies at Wayne State University, and author of “The Global Spread of Arms” and “Arms and Warfare”; Dr. Alvin Saperstein, Professor Emeritus of Physics at Wayne State University; and Dr. Prasad Venugopal, Associate Professor Physics at University of Detroit Mercy. On Friday, April 7, 2017 in Briggs 005, Joan Smith spoke on “Volunteering in a migrant shelter in Guatemala.” Earlier, in February of 2016 we hosted Joan Smith who spoke about her motivation to work at Casa del Migrante in Guatemala with the Scalabrini religious order. That was before she did her service. This year she came back to give a report of her nine months’ volunteer experience.

  In August and September of 2017 CLASA collaborated with a calligrapher, our Engineering professor Dr. Nihad Dukhan, to hang an exhibit of his calligraphy throughout the first floor of the McNichols campus library. There was an opening reception on September 6, and Dr. Dukhan gave a special lecture, “Fruit of the Reed Pen,” on September 20. The exhibit and its opening was co-sponsored by the McNichols campus library as well as Students for Justice in Palestine, and the talk was co-sponsored by them and the Muslim Student Organization.

  On September 26 in Grounds Coffehaus we heard the music of the band “Comparsa Sur” featuring Ismael “Bandolero” Duran and singer Mariana Risquez. They played a concert in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, and the list of songs included hits from across Latin America. The band also remembered on this day the missing students of Ayotzinapa, Mexico. CLASA was happy to have the co-sponsorship of Student Programming Board for this event. On Sept. 28 we were happy to host an event of Michigan Coalition for Human Rights called “Project Safety Net: Detoxifying Hate on the Internet,” in LS 113. The moderator was Saeed Khan of Wayne State University, and panelists were Adonis Flores, Asha Noor and Barbara Jones.

  On October 28 we hosted Jeff Cohen, director of the Park Center for Independent Media and endowed chair/associate professor of journalism at Ithaca College. We had a Detroit premiere viewing of the film he co-produced called “All Governments Lie: Truth, Deception, and the Spirit of I.F. Stone” (2016). We were happy to co-sponsor the event with Huntington Woods Peace Group and Progressive Arts. Jeff Cohen was able to answer questions after the film viewing. We ended the semester with two talks by John Barrie of Appropriate Technology Collaborative, on December 5. He spoke to students of Environmental Science about his ongoing projects with solar power and other alternative technologies in Guatemala.

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  Fall 2016

  

  View Fall 2016 Google Slides presentation.

  During Fall of 2016 we hosted and co-sponsored many excellent events. We were a co-sponsor of an MCHR event on Sun. Sept 11 at 4 pm, when noted author and editor of Sojourners magazine, Jim Wallis, spoke at Gesu Church. On Wed. Oct. 5 at 7 pm in Life Sciences 113 we hosted a panel discussing nuclear energy safety: “Fermi-1 at 50: We almost lost Detroit… Accidents can Happen.” This event which featured David Lochbaum, Director of the Nuclear Safety Project at the Union for concerned Scientists, also featured Paul Gunther, Director of Reactor Oversight at Beyond Nuclear, and Ethyl River, Campaign Coordinator of the Alliance to Halt Fermi-3. On Friday Oct 7 at 10 am, in Lansing-Reilly Parlor, Fr. Joe Mulligan spoke about the recent passing of Fernando Cardenal, SJ in Nicaragua, and how Fr. Cardenal's life fits in with liberation theology and the current situation in Nicaragua. On Wed Oct 12 at 5:15 pm in C and F 139 we had Gabriella Torres of SIPAZ talk about the role of women as agents for social change in Chiapas, Mexico. On Friday Oct 21 at 10 am in the President’s Dining Room, Julie Pycior of Manhattan College spoke about her new book, Democratic Renewal and the Mutual Aid Legacy of US Mexicans; and at 11 am the same day, she spoke about her interests in Thomas Merton and Dorothy Day.

  On Nov. 1 CLASA co-sponsored a Catholic Studies event called "The Reconstruction of the Social Fabric: The Tale of Two Cities: Tancitaro Michoacan and Detroit Michigan." This event brought up two Jesuits from Mexico, Fr. Jorge Atilano, S.J., and Fr. Gabriel Mendoza, S.J., directors of the Miguel Pro Human Rights Office in Mexico City, and they shared their work for justice, with Tom Florek S.J. translating and sharing his own perspectives on their project. On Thurs. Nov 3 at 5:30 and 6:45 pm, Margaret Potts spoke of her work with youth at the Standing Rock Reservation; and on Fri Nov 4 at 11 am Margaret Potts spoke about her work founding People over Pipelines, as she explained the environmental situation in light of pipeline construction in the Dakotas.

  On Nov. 17, Kim Redigan and Sr. Mary Ellen Howard RSM spoke on Detroit’s Water Crisis in the Ballroom. This University Ministry event was co-sponsored by CLASA. On Dec. 6 at 5:15 pm in Briggs 13 philosopher (from Brazil and Australia) Murilo Seabra spoke about his year living in the Amazon and reflections on indigenous philosophies of the Amazon. The Philosophy Dept. co-sponsored this CLASA event.

  ---

  Winter 2016

  

  View Winter 2016 Google Slides presentation.

  Watch this slideshow for highlights of our Winter 2016 events: Collaboration with Swords into Plowshares (Jan- March), Laila Hamdan and Joan Smith on volunteering in Guatemala (Feb. 29), Eric LeCompte on Pope Francis’ Year of Mercy, and he and Jorge Chinea on Puerto Rico’s debt crisis (March 30), Irma Ilsy Vásquez Cardenas and Alejandro Monzón on indigenous rights in Chiapas, Mexico (April 4), Jose Idiáquez S.J. on contemporary Nicaragua, and he and Richard Brackley on Dean Brackley (April 5), Marilyn Fischer on Jane Addams’ peace activism (April 20), and Ruth Needleman on Brazil (April 25).

  ---

  Fall 2015

  

  View 2015 Google Slides presentation.

  Watch this slideshow to see photos from 2015 CLASA events: Frida Berrigan on peace mothering (Feb. 4), Eben Levey on teachers in Oaxaca (March 16), Jeff Stewart on immigrant minors from Central America (March 20), Ismael Moreno Coto S.J. (“Padre Melo”) on human rights in Honduras and on Dean Brackley (April 7), Don Voelker’s art of Latin America (Sept-Oct), Joe Mulligan on Pope Francis’s visits and Romero’s beatification (Sept. 30), Jesse Freeston on his film “Resistencia” and Honduran land struggles (Sept. 30), Jorge Parra and Paige Shell-Spurling on the rights of injured workers in Colombia (Oct. 1), Dana Frank on Honduras (Oct 22), Berta Esperanza Alvarez Martens on race and gender in Cuba (Nov. 3 and 4), Jason LaFay and Alan Kaufman on Cuban youth and chess players (Nov. 4).

  ---

  2014 Events

  

  View 2014 Google Slides presentation.

  Watch this slide show to see highlights from our 2014 CLASA events: Denise Griebler on the immigrant crisis and the film “Harvest of Empire” (Feb. 6), Matt Meyer on liberation in Africa (March 13), Danielle Poe on ending slavery in Brazil (March 27),  Gene Palumbo on Dean Brackley (April 8), Bishop Thomas Gumbleton on the film “Monsenor” on Archbishop Oscar Romero (April 10), Joe Mulligan S.J. on the Jesuit martyrs (Sept. 22), Laura Finley on preventing domestic violence (Oct. 2), Abdilatif Abdalla on Kenyan politics and culture (Oct. 28), Joe Tropea and Jerry Berrigan on the film “Hit and Stay” about the Catonsville 9 and the peace movement (Oct. 29), Anke Graness on ancient Egyptian philosophy (Nov. 25) and John Barrie on green technology for indigenous communities in Central America (Dec. 5).

•  

  2002-2013

  CLASA events history 2002-2013 by Gail Presbey, Director, CLASA

  2002-03

  The first CLASA history I remember organizing is an event held on Oct. 8, 2002. It was a panel in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month. Tom Walker, a Professor of Political science and Director of Latin American Studies at Ohio University spoke on “Latin America in the Talons of the Eagle.” Richard Stahler-Sholk, a Professor of Political Science at Eastern Michigan University, spoke on “Neoliberalism and Alternatives in Latin America. Anthony Vento of Pax Christi USA spoke on “Pax Christi Activism for Peace and Justice in Colombia.” The event was co-Sponsored by the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) and Lambda Theta Phil, and received funds from the University Student Speakers Committee.

  In February of 2003 we hosted an exhibit, “Artwork from Solentiname, Nicaragua,” February 10-27, 2003, displayed in the Genevieve Fisk Loranger Exhibition Hall, School of Architecture. At the opening on Feb. 10 there was a public talk by the curator of the collection, Dr. John Brentlinger, Emeritus Professor,  University of Massachusetts at Amherst. His topic was “Religious Groups’ participation in the Central American Solidarity Movements, 2005-06.” Provost and AVP Dr. Gerry Stockhausen welcomed the gathering. While the exhibit was up we had two more public events in the exhibit space. On Thursday, Feb. 20 there was a Lecture and Slide Show by Dr. Sara Murray, Associate Curator, Cranbrook Institute of Science. She had spent 8 years living and working in Mexico. Her presentation was: “The Mayan Cultures of Southern Mexico/ Chiapas.” The Closing event/ celebration on Thursday, Feb. 27, was a Concert by Julie Beutel. Julie had lived and worked in Nicaragua, and sang songs in Spanish and English. We sold enough art to raise $1600 to go toward development projects in Nicaragua. One of the viewers of the show was Ursula Murray, who is curator for the Bagley Housing art gallery in Southwest Detroit. She asked if she could have a showing of the art in her gallery (exhibiting the paintings and ceramics which we were not able to sell), and we arranged for her to do so. She had the show up for two months during the summer, and through sales raised another $2,000 to send to Nicaragua.

  CLASA also co-sponsored (along with Catholic Studies and the Archdiocese's office of Social Ministry) a Peace Essay contest for high school students, in honor of the fortieth anniversary of Pacem in Terris. The event was held in the chapel in June 2003. The event drew a crowd of around fifty people.

  2003-04

  On Oct. 8, 2003, Dr. David Gandolfo gave two talks for us. His first was, “The Philosophy of Ignacio Ellacuria.” Ellacuria was the rector of University of Central America (El Salvador) for over ten years, up until the time of his death at the hands of a right-wing death squad in 1989. His second talk was “Ignacio Ellacuria’s ‘Idea of a University.’” Ellacuria's philosophy of education and understanding of the mission of Jesuit Education led him to shape University of Central America in a certain way, to be an activist university dedicated to the poor and to overcoming injustice.  A university’s credibility was to be found, Ellacuria challenged, in the level of its dedication to the poor.  Dr. Gandolfo had recently been Scholar-in-residence at UCA and then at Furman University. At the evening talk on Oct. 8 there was a second speaker, Fr. Joe Mulligan, S.J. who spoke on “The Life, Work, and Message of Father James “Guadalupe” Carney, and Our Investigation of his Disappearance.” Fr. Joe Mulligan, who has lived in Nicaragua for many years now, has dedicated himself to finding out what has happened to Fr. Carney since his disappearance in 1983. Fr. Mulligan described new evidence divulged in the Miami Herald in 2003.

  On November 13, 2003 Dr. Russell Crandall, MacArthur Assistant Professor of Political Science at Davidson College, NC, spoke on "From Drugs to Thugs:  United States Policy in Colombia."  Colombia is the third largest recipient of US foreign assistance in the world.  Crandall's talk addressed the shape of US policy in Colombia in the context of the war on terrorism.

  In April of 2004, we hosted another art exhibit in the Loranger Exhibit Hall. The show was called "Chile's 9/11." The following is an excerpt of the Artist's Description: "This project tells the story of the overthrow of the Chilean government of Salvador Allende by Augusto Pinochet on September 11, 1973, and its aftermath. The images were created from very large (4' x 4', 4' x 6' and 4' x 8') woodcut blocks. The prints depict notable figures on both sides of the coup, such as Pinochet, Allende, Pablo Neruda, Henry Kissinger and others. Some of the prints depict scenes of events and significant places historically important to the coup and events preceding and following the coup. Some of the places depicted are, the Santiago soccer stadium, which was used to exterminate political prisoners and the beautiful navy training clipper ships, used to house political prisoners. Accompanying the prints are notes describing the incidents and the roles of many of the people depicted. The grand scale of the images, the sequential display of the prints and the graphic nature of prints in general are intended to create a cinematic experience."

  On Friday, April 2, the artist Eric Skoglund gave two talk to Ethics classes. That evening he addressed a public audience, where about fifty people gathered. The audience was welcomed by Dean John Staudenmaier, S.J., of the College of Liberal Arts and Education, who commented that he enjoyed Skoglund's wry sense of humor contained in the text accompaniment of the art works. Skoglund spoke of his reasons for choosing art as a vehicle to make his political point. He referred to his frustrations with media coverage, or lack of coverage, of important human rights abuses. He referred to Goya as one of his inspirations of an artist who used art to make his political commentary. He talked of his earlier work representing victims of human rights abuses in wood block prints, and how the idea had come to him while being part of a demonstration in which passers-by were handed flyers which included photos of those who were tortured and killed. While Skoglund agreed that the public had to be made aware of the atrocities going on in the world, he thought that shocking people by exposing the photographs might be assaulting to passers-by and in the end counter-productive. He set about the task of drawing in the viewers through an artistic representation of the suffering, so that they would feel closer to the victims. Recently his attention turned to Chile, noticing the irony that on 9-11-73, Chilean democracy had suffered a military coup, which was aided by the U.S. government. While in the recent Iraq war, the U.S. government would like to be known as the government that topples dictators and establishes democracy, in Chile they had done the opposite. The coup against Salvador Allende which installed Pinochet, a notorious abuser of human rights, had resulted in several thousand deaths in the immediate days following September 11, and more than that over time. And yet Americans who mourned their several thousand dead on September 11, 2001 (without question a terrible tragedy), seemed unaware that their own government had played a hand in wreaking similar destruction on another people on that same day years earlier. Through his art, Skoglund represents both the victims and the executioners, not only in Chile but throughout Latin America, when any dictator and killer is sponsored by the backing of U.S. money and influence.

  The art exhibit was also the venue for a series of three additional public events connected to the theme of the artwork. The first of these events was a talk, "From Politics to Printed Page (or Pixel): The Life Experiences of an International Journalist." on Monday, April 5, 2004. Vivianne Schnitzer Hendrickson studied journalism at University of Chile where she received her degree writing her thesis on "The Press During the Thousand Days of Salvador Allende." She left Chile during Pinochet's regime, after being persecuted by the government for a piece of expose journalism she wrote about the Pinochet family. Exiled abroad, she worked for "El Pais" (Madrid) during the 80s and 90s. In 1996 she moved to The Hague working for EFE (Spanish-based news agency) and covered the Tribunal for War Crimes in the former Yugoslavia, as well as social and political issues in the Netherlands. A freelance journalist in Michigan in 2004, she shared with us her life's experiences as an international journalist.

  The second event was a showing of a recent 2002 documentary, "Pinochet's Children" on April 6, 2004. This film was part of a local Detroit-area international Human Rights Watch film series that benefitted Freedom House, which houses refugees. It follows the life of several protagonists who had been imprisoned and tortured during Pinochet’s reign, but are now pursuing art, politics, and meaning in their lives in a post-Pinochet Chile, while encouraging their compatriots to have a reckoning with the past.

  The third event, on April 7, 2004, was the performance of the play, "Speak Truth to Power: Voices from Beyond the Dark." The play was based on the book by Kerry Kennedy, Speak Truth to Power: Human Rights Defenders Who are Changing our World. Pulitzer Prize winning Chilean playwright Ariel Dorfman of Duke University was inspired by Kennedy's book and wrote the play based on the testimonies of human rights defenders. Director Gillian Eaton put together a local performance of the play as part of the six week "Detroit Celebrates Speak Truth to Power" series sponsored by Freedom House and Focus Hope. The play was read with the use of nine voices. Sr. Rachelle Harper, RSM was one of the performers. It was only performed four times in the Detroit area, so UDM was very happy that our university could be one of its venues. About fifty students witnessed the event. Many students were very moved, and wrote excellent papers about their experiences for their teachers Drs. JoAnne Isbey and Gail Presbey. Ariel Dorfman, the playwright, was cultural advisor to Allende before Allende's ousting. CLASA was also very happy to be able to sponsor events that helped Freedom House raise much needed funds to help refugees.

   

  2004-05

   

  On October 13, 2004, we hosted our Annual Hispanic Heritage Month Event. The topic of the evening was “SOA Explored In-Depth.” There were two speakers. The first was Andrés Thomas Conteris, co-producer of the documentary, "Hidden in Plain Sight" (an award-winning documentary film about U.S. policy toward Latin America and the U.S. Army's School of the Americas in Fort Benning, GA).We viewed the documentary, which contains many first-hand interviews on both sides of the debate regarding the effects of U.S. military training of Latin American troops at Ft. Benning, GA., including the military instructors at the SOA in Ft. Benning as well as activists who have been trying to close the school due to its connection with human rights violators. After the documentary there was a unique opportunity to discuss the video with Conteris, who shared with us some of his experiences as an activist involved in nonviolent resistance against oppressive governments in Latin America, as well as his experience creating documentaries. Conteris was recipient of the Earlham College Sesquicentennial Alumni Peacemaker Award. Conteris has been Program Director for Latin America and the Caribbean for "Nonviolence International" in Washington, DC., and he has been involved in producing several films.

  We also hosted Joe Mulligan, S.J., who gave a talk entitled  "My Participation in Civil Disobedience at the SOA and my 90-day Sentence." Many of you know Fr. Mulligan as one of the most dedicated investigators into the still unclear circumstances of Fr. Carney's death. Fr. Joe, a Catholic priest from Detroit and member of the Jesuit Order, has been working since 1986 in Nicaragua with the Christian Base Communities, with people with disabilities, and as in-country coordinator of the Jesuit Volunteers International.Fr. Mulligan shared his experiences "crossing the line" in an act of civil disobedience at the SOA/WHISC in November 2003, which led to his sentencing and incarceration. He described his fast in prison, during which he asked (along with other issues) for increased information regarding the case of Fr. Carney's death.

  On Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2004 (the anniversary of the death of the Jesuit Martyrs of El Salvador and the two women), we co-sponsored (with University Ministry, Student Senate and International Education Week) a showing a film, “The Gatekeeper,” by John Carlos Frey who wrote, directed, and acted in the film, as it was based on his own life experience. The film had won the “Best Film” award at the International Hispanic Film Festival. After the film, a discussion was led by Tom Florek, S.J. and Carmen Fernandez, both of whom at the time were from the Instituto Cultural de Liderazgo en el Medio-Oest at University of Notre Dame. 

  Note: We did not have any Winter 2005 events, because I was in India for six months on a Fulbright, researching Gandhian nonviolence.

  2005-06

   

  On Sept. 22, 2005, Fr. Joe Mulligan shared with us an account of his “Fasting in Solidarity with the Guantanamo Bay Detainees.” The previous year he had served a ninety day sentence for protesting the School of the Americas. This year he was fasting to protest the conditions under which detainees are kept at Guantanamo Bay as part of the “war on terror.” He talked about the legal limbo and harsh treatment of the Guantanamo Bay detainees in Cuba.  Many detainees have been on a hunger strike to protest their detention without trial as well as their conditions. In solidarity, Fr. Joe Mulligan was starting a fast and finding Nobel Prize laureates as well as other prominent spokespersons to sign a statement of solidarity with the prisoners. His presentation was very eye opening.

  On Sept. 28, 2005, Eric LeCompte spoke on “Human Rights Violations in Latin America:  the role of the School of the Americas.” He talked about his work with SOA Watch. In Washington D.C. the Assisi Community helps torture survivors and Latin American refugees. He also discussed the crimes of The School of the Americas in Fort Benning, including training manuals found in 1996 that teach inhumane methods. He was concerned that the armed forces are used to protect strategic supplies of natural resources and free markets rather than human lives. HR 1217 hopes to close the school. Julie Beutel sang at our event.

  On October 2, 2005, we hosted Joel Wendland, editor of Political Affairs to present on "Reform and Revolution in Venezuela: A Report Back and Discussion on the World Festival of Youth held in Caracas August 8-15, 2005." Wendland was able to tour Venezuela and see the various reforms implemented by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. He and others who attended the festival reported on their experiences in Venezuela.

  On Oct. 31, 2005, Jenny Neme from Colombia (Director of Justapaz) spoke on a tour organized by Witness for Peace and Mennonite Central Committee. She toured with translator Nikki Thanos. Both women shared their experiences of the rising violence in Colombia, and their working with churches, women, and peace communities to find a peaceful alternative to the reigning culture of violence. Justapaz is an organization of the Colombian Mennonite Church.

  On Nov. 14, 2005, Fr. John Dear spoke on “Standing up for Peace in a World of War: From San Salvador to Iraq to Los Alamos.” Quoting Ignacio Ellacuria, S.J., John Dear challenged us saying that the purpose of the University is to promote the reign of God. And yet U.S. society is addicted to violence. There are over 25,000 U.S. nuclear weapons. Georgetown took money from the Pentagon, despite being a Jesuit university. The spirituality of violence means God blesses war and wants us to dominate. But Dear argued that violence is not the will of God. This was a popular event and the Life Sciences 113 venue was nearly full, which may mean about 200 people were in attendance.

  On Nov. 16, 2005, the University Ministry held a commemoration for the Jesuit Martyrs, which CLASA promoted. On Nov. 17, Mark Danner, a staff writer at the New Yorker, spoke on “Do We Remember? A Lecture on US Foreign Policy from El Salvador to Iraq.” CLASA worked with Carrie Monette and the Detroit Province Jesuits as well as University Ministry to bring this event to our campus.

   February 2006, Joe Carr (an activist and performance artists from Kansas City, MO) came and shared his poetry. His event was called “Music of Resistance: From Solidarity Work in Iraq and Palestine.” He had worked with Christian Peacemaker Teams and shared his experiences in Iraq and Palestine. He performed his Radical Hip-Hop, poetry, and shared stories and pictures.  

  On Feb. 7, 2006, Fordham University professor Jim Marsh came and delivered a talk, “Philosophy After Catonsville.” He discussed the important role of Daniel Berrigan, S.J. in the peace movement. At the time, Marsh was also President of the American Catholic Philosophical Association. This event was cosponsored by the Philosophy Department and the Philosophy Club, and luckily two philosophy classes were able to attend.

  On Feb. 18, 2006, Sr. Ann Nett, IHM, spoke about her 30 years living and working in Brazil. Her topic was “Northeast Brazil: Personal Experiences.” She talked about her study and use of medicinal herbs, and her work in community health in Recife. She also discussed key peace and justice issues. Sr. Nett met with the students who were planning on visiting Brazil as part of their study abroad experience. All sat in a circle with her, and she was able to interact with all the students and answer any questions they had about preparing for their experience in Brazil.

  On March 17, 2006, we hosted Denis Mueller, Director and Producer of the film, "Howard Zinn: You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train." A large crowd showed up on a Friday night for the screening the new documentary. The documentary was very informative and moving, as we learned about Zinn's life, from his years in the service during World War Two, to his studies after the war as a veteran, to his job at Spelman College in the South and his participation in the Civil Rights movement, to his continued anti-war activism of today. Joining us for the screening and taking questions was Director and Producer of the documentary, Denis Mueller. He had some unique insights to share about Zinn after having followed Zinn on the road and having interviewed him on many occasions The CLASA event was co-sponsored by the History Department, Phi Alpha Theta History Club, and the Peace and Social Justice Floor (Four West Quad).

  In March 2006, Simon Harak, S.J. who worked for the War Resisters League at the time, visited our campus and gave two talks. On March 22 he spoke on “Stop the Merchants of Death.” He discussed the connections between corporations and war. Fr. Harak gave us a very moving and informative talk filled with mind-boggling facts and keen analysis. Whereas before it was thought that corporations (called "war profiteers") would rush in to make their profits whenever a war arose, nowadays, Fr. Harak suggested, it is more apt to note that "corporations more and more 'call the shots' when it comes to US war-making policy." His presentation documented the connections between politicians and the corporations who get government contracts to build weapons. He showed the ways in which politicians get rewarded for handing out the big contracts to businesses. He included documentation on how our own Vice President Dick Cheney is making millions on his "futures" options of Halliburton stock even while he is Vice President. In the meantime, Halliburton and other companies are making high profits on contracts for reconstructing Iraq while doing shoddy work with little oversight. Fr. Harak suggested a nonviolent way to counter this trend, through counter corporate recruitment.

  On March 23, 2006, Fr. Harak spoke on “Iraq, An Analysis of Ends and Means.” He presented his ethical evaluation of the war. He also used photos in a power point presentation to convey the suffering of the people of Iraq, including women, children, combatants, and prisoners. He argued that if our goal is as we say, to help the Iraqi people, then this invasion and occupation will not reach that goal. The means chosen by our government are improper and will not be able to reach the desired goal. Therefore, we should stop the U.S. occupation of Iraq and present a new plan for peace in the region. We were grateful to Fr. Harak for not only sharing his ideas with us, but also presenting the same ideas at U of D Jesuit High School.

  In April of 2006, Ana Rosa Narvaez of Compas de Nicaragua presented “Another World is Possible: Women Working for a Better World.” She spoke about the struggles of Nicaraguan women, especially unemployment, domestic violence, community health and nutrition, and reproductive freedom. Her center, which works with "Compas de Nicaragua," employs forty women who organize health and education projects in a neighborhood of Managua called "La Primavera" (Springtime). Narvaez's talk was filled with anecdotes from daily life recounting the struggles involved in getting women to prioritize their own needs in a culture which promotes women as sacrificing all for their families and being subservient to their husbands. There is a need for health education so that women can do a better job in helping their children and themselves. The Center tries to find the women where they are and offer them services that they themselves say they need. Michael Boudreau also supports the center and shared some of his experiences. Narvaez was involved with the Fraternal Association of women, and with tree planting organized by the Augusto Cesar Sandino Association. She also told the story of how she started a folkloric dance group as a fundraiser for the women.  She showed us some video of the dances and brought gourd art the women created.

  2006-07

  Last academic year (2006-07) was filled with excellent speakers addressing a wide variety of topics. In Fall 2006 we began with Hector Aristizabal performing his one act play "Nightwind" about his personal experience being tortured in Colombia.  We had excellent presentations by Mary Ann Perrone, who described her SOA Watch work in Uruguay and Argentina, and CLASA Board director Richard Stahler-Sholk on his research on the Zapatistas in Mexico. We had Gaye Moorehead RSM explain immigration law and proposed changes to the law so that our country can practice hospitality, benefit from foreign workers, and reunite families. We had Dr. Anna Brown, Chair of the Political Science Department of St. Peter’s College (in Jersey City, another Jesuit university) talk about her participation in a walk across Cuba to visit the prisoners in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The group drew attention to the prisoners’ mistreatment.

  And now let me tell you a bit more about those fall events. On September 21, 2006, Hector Aristazabal, a very talented actor and teacher, performed a one-person play in which he re-created the scenario in which he was tortured in his home country of Colombia, in 1989, because he had been a human rights advocate. The play began with a scenario of daily life for the carefree teenager, which made the contrast with life after torture even more glaring. Aristazabal's family had their house broken into and searched by Colombian police. When they found "subversive" literature, he and his brother were tortured so as to reveal the source of the literature and whether they were politically active. Aristizabal's acting talents are amazing, as he enacted roles of both the tortured and the torturers. It must be very psychologically challenging to go through a recreation of the torture each time he enacts the play. They story of the play continues as after his release, he witnessed the killings of many of his friends. In exile in the United States, he noticed that his taxes were funding the war in Iraq including torture at Abu Ghraib and the continued bloodshed in his country. When Aristizábal's brother was abducted and killed by the
  paramilitary, his own rage and desire for violent revenge was awakened -- what he calls "the terrorist within." Inspired by his own young children, the play shows how he finds ways to re-channel this terroristic energy into constructive action. Aristazabal, now based in California, raised our awareness as to the U.S. role in torture abroad, and inspired some of our students to be advocates for closing of the U.S. Army's "School of the Americas," now called the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation. Aristizabal also challenged our students to express their feelings about his play, not just verbally, but by body movement on stage, in an impromptu lesson in acting after his performance.

  On Oct. 3, 2006, Mary Anne Perrone spoke on "SOA Watch Successes in the Struggle Against State Terrorism in Latin America." She was a member of a recent SOA Watch delegation to Argentina and Uruguay. The delegation had as its goals raising awareness in Latin America about the SOA Watch movement. Countries were asked not to send more of their soldiers to the SOA, and officials from the government agreed. Perrone shared her experiences, slides, and, encouragingly, the successes that came out of her delegation's meetings with government officials. Through an extensive power point slide show, she helped us to meet people in those countries who have been advocates for human rights. She shared one disturbing story with us of a man who was recently "disappeared" after he testified in a court case about another person's role in past torture and abuse. Perrone commends current attempts in Argentina to bring justice and reparations for past torture victims. Perrone was Principal of Our Lady of Guadalupe Middle School in Southwest Detroit. She has been active in Latin American solidarity work and advocacy for the past thirty years, and is a longtime active member of the Latin America Task Force of the Interfaith Council for Peace and Justice in Ann Arbor.

  O October, 30, 2006, Sr. Gaye Moorhead, RSM, spoke on "Welcoming the Stranger." Sr. Moorhead gave us a thorough and compelling presentation of the key legal and moral issues of the immigration situation in the U.S. Her talk focused on the worldwide eruption of migration. Who's leaving their homelands, and why? She explained the array of U.S. law categories of foreign citizens in our midst (asylees, refugees, immigrants, etc.) She explained migration's effect on countries of origin, transit and destination, and the impact of globalization and NAFTA on migration. Moorhead also reflected on our national debate, which is centered mainly on undocumented immigrants. She outlined the various views and perspectives of citizens and politicians, and the reasons for their views. She noted that attempts to increase border security and intensify enforcement on unauthorized immigration had done little to stem the tide of immigrants during the past ten years. There are grave problems in enforcing current immigration law. Deporting the 11-12 million people here illegally is not feasible. In addition, there are severe backlogs and unrealistically low quotas in family-based immigration visas. She shared with us excerpts and key ideas from the document, STRANGERS NO LONGER (which is the U.S./Mexican bishops' joint pastoral), and proposed that the goal of family reunification should be the cornerstone of comprehensive legislation. She also presented a survey of the Catholic Church's position, as evidenced in the U.S. Catholic Conference of Bishops Campaign for Justice, as well as the statement at Medellin, Cardinal Mahony's public position, and Pope John Paul II's statements.

  Sr. Moorhead gave us helpful handouts on the public stance of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas (Laredo, Texas, June 20-30, 2005) on the immigration issue. To quote briefly from that Act: "We say to you immigrants who are in our midst: We will welcome you to our land; as a people we are enriched by your presence. We will use our influence to advocate that services be offered to you at ministries sponsored by our directed by the Sisters of Mercy, including our health care institutions and clinics, educational facilities, Houses of Mercy, prayer centers, shelters, housing developments, and outreach, pastoral and advocacy ministries. We will make every effort to serve you regardless of your immigration status or your ability to pay." Sr. Moorhead received her J.D. from University of Notre Dame. She has spent eight years in ministry to migrants and refugees in El Paso, Texas (1993-2001). At the time, she was the head of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, Regional Community of Rochester.

  On November 16, 2006, Dr. Richard Stahler-Sholk spoke on "Another World Is Possible: Zapatista Autonomous Communities in Chiapas, Mexico." We were very fortunate to have the personal insights of Dr. Richard Stahler-Sholk, who gave a detailed presentation with many slides, based on the time he spent in autonomous communities in the Lacandón Jungle of Chiapas over the previous year. He gave us an inside look at this unusual movement. The event was part of International Education Week. Since 1994 the Zapatistas, from the Mayan indigenous communities in Southwest Mexico, have demanded work, housing, education, land, health care, democracy and justice from the Mexican government. But the Mexican government responded with a counterinsurgency strategy designed by a General trained by the US Army School of the Americas. In response, the Zapatistas have declared themselves autonomous. Tired of the government's broken promises and the empty rhetoric of election campaigns, the indigenous communities have been implementing their own alternative vision without waiting for anyone's permission. In this fascinating experiment in radical democracy, Stahler-Sholk showed us how villagers are creating their own autonomous systems of education, health, justice, and grassroots development from the bottom up. An ambitious project of theirs involves indigenous education, which emphasizes recovering indigenous history, languages and traditions. In 2005-06 the Zapatistas have also launched "The Other Campaign," traveling around Mexico to engage other groups down below and on the left, in discussions about organizing alternatives.

  Richard Stahler-Sholk was an associate professor of political science at Eastern Michigan University. (Now he’s an Emeritus Professor of EMU!). He spent 2005-06 on sabbatical researching the Zapatista autonomy movement in Chiapas, Mexico, where he has served as a human rights observer on more than a dozen visits since the 1994 rebellion. For those of you who missed his presentation, his reflections about the year in Chiapas can be found on his blog, http://richinchiapas.blogspot.com.

  On November 28, 2006. Dr. Anna Brown presented on the topic, "Walking to Guantanamo." Dr. Brown participated in a nonviolent action (in December 2005) called "Witness Against Torture" intended to express concern and outrage at the way prisoners in custody at a United States military base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, were being treated. She and 25 other activists, including Sr. Anne Montgomery, RSCJ, Fr. Steve Kelly S.J., Frida Berrigan and others, walked across Cuba to the gates at the Cuban checkpoint Glorieta, which was the closest they could get to the prisoners. There they vigiled and repeatedly asked to be allowed to visit the prisoners. Brown shared her reflections on her motivation to do the action, as well as experiences during the walk and vigil. She quoted from scripture, poetry, the works of theologian Dan Berrigan, newspaper stories, books that exposed the conditions in the Guantanamo prison, and from testimony of some freed prisoners from Guantanamo. All of those in attendance found the talk to be very moving. This event was the last in the "9-11 Five Year Later" speakers series which had engaged our campus all semester on burning moral issues confronting our nation. Dr. Anna Brown teaches Political Science at St. Peter's College in Jersey City. She is also director of their Social Justice Studies program.

  In Winter 2007 we had Dr. Eric Smaw as a Martin Luther King Day speaker. He explored the topic of agape love in King's works. He also gave a talk at the UDM Law School on the U.S. opposition to the creation of an International Criminal Court. UDM's Ensemble of Praise choir opened for the King Day event.

  On February 6 and 7, 2007, photojournalist Jim Harney presented his photos of the struggles of undocumented immigrants who try to get to the U.S. He went to both the Mexico-Guatemala border and the Mexico-U.S. border, documenting the struggles of migrants, many of whom hitch rides on trains going north. Some of them are killed or maimed by this dangerous kind of travel.

  During March 17-22, 2007 we had an art exhibit, (co-sponsored with Women's Studies) called "Women of Peru," coordinating art works from three missionary Sisters who work in Peru, Thoma Swanson OP who worked in Chimbote, Barbara Cervenka OP who worked in Pamplona Alta, and Terry Saetta, RSM in Chulucanas. The extensive exhibit in the Loranger Exhibition Hall succeeded in selling over $3,000 worth of art works. Those funds go back to the women of Peru through each of the Sisters organizing the exhibit. We also had excellent power point presentations from Sr. Thoma (on March 16, “Holy Preaching, Holy Art), and Sarah Shaffer and Meg Marshall (March 20, “Stretched for Greater Glory:  UDM student Sarah Shaffer speaks about Casa de la Solidaridad” and “JVC Meg Marshall speakers on her CRS work with Salvadoran migrants”). Musically, Bob Scullin S.J. serenaded us with his peace and justice songs. The closing event on March 22 included a talk by Teresa Saetta, RSM, on “Mercy Sisters’ Mission Work in Peru” and a mini-concert by Bob Scullin, S.J.

  2007-08

  On Sept. 18, 2007, Sr. Peggy O’Neill spoke on “Creating a Culture of Peace in El Salvador.” She is the founder of Center of Peace through the Arts in Suchitoto, El Salvador. Sr. Peggy O'Neill, who is a Sister of Charity, a theology professor at University of Central America in El Salvador, and missionary in Suchitoto, El Salvador, told us about her religious experiences in El Salvador. She also described her work setting up a center for the arts in Suchitoto.

  On Oct. 8, 2007, Joe Kunkel, Professor Emeritus of University of Dayton spoke on “Colombia and the War on Terror: Connections to the School of the Americas.” Kunkel was Professor of Philosophy Emeritus at the University of Dayton. He visited Colombia in 2002 as part of a Witness for Peace delegation to learn about the many sources of conflict in the country.

  Thomas Melville and George Mische spoke on Oct. 29, 2007. They discussed the research for their book. They spoke on “Through a Glass Darkly:  The U.S. Holocausts from Iran – Central America – South America – Vietnam – Iraq.” Each of them had participated in the Catonsville 9 civil disobedience action. Their talk and the book explain their previous experience (with Melville having been serving with Maryknoll in Guatamala). Melville's book documents that U.S. supported terrorism resulted in the loss of over 300,000 lives since the Eisenhower administration.

  Rocio Quispe-Agnoli spoke on Oct. 30, 2007 on the topic of “The Fear of the Other:  Stereotyping Native Latin Americans in the Film Industry.” Dr. Rocío Quispe-Agnoli is Associate professor of Colonial and Postcolonial Latin American Studies and Acting Director of the Center for Integrative Studies in the Arts and Humanities at Michigan State University. She is affiliated with MSU's American Indian Studies Program.

  Donald Moore, S.J. spoke on Nov. 6 and 7, 2007. His first  topic was “Signs of Hope: Palestinian and Israeli Possibilities for Peace (Nov. 6). ” Donald J. Moore, S.J. is a Fordham University emeritus professor of theology, who has lived for the past eight years at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Jerusalem, where he engaged in interfaith dialogue, assisting Palestinian Christians and supporting movements for peace and reconciliation. He has published books on Martin Buber and on Abraham Joshua Heschel. Fr. Moore spoke about how he finds rays of hope in members of the Israeli and Palestinian peace communities he encounters there. He discussed the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD), Machsom Watch, and the Bereaved Families Forum, among others. He also shared his insights from a recent trip to Gaza in July 2007.  His second talk was “When Faith Leads to Dissent:  The Example of Franz Jagerstatter (Nov. 7).” Fr. Moore, who received a doctorate from University of Strasbourg, shared his enthusiasm for Franz Jagerstatter, who was a conscientious objector during the second World War and was killed for his stance. Jagerstatter's beatification was on October 26, 2007. Fr. Moore had freshly come back from the beatification ceremony in Austria. Fr. Moore shared how Franz Jagerstatter is a role model for those who want to refuse military service in today's unjust wars.

  There was a “BigThink” event and talk called “Creativity, the Arts, and World Peace” with Lou Rizzolo on Nov. 30, 2007. Rizzolo is a university Professor Emeritus of Art from Western Michigan University. He is Co-Founder of World Peace Art Initiatives. He described his several large environmental multimedia sculptures, whose goals are to help participants envision and experience peace.

  C.W. Dawson, Philosophy Professor at Bethune-Cookman University gave two talks on Jan. 18, 2008. In the morning he spoke on “The Concept of Hope in the Thinking of Martin Luther King, Jr.” and in the evening he spoke on “When the House is on Fire: Finding Hope in the Midst of Democratic Despair.”

  On Jan. 30, 2008, CLASA was happy to co-sponsor and support a Catholic Studies event. Dean Brackley, S.J. Professor of Theology, University of Central America, spoke on: "The Challenge of the Jesuit and Catholic University Today." Fr. Brackley received his Ph.D in theology from the University of Chicago. He taught at Fordham University and worked in the South Bronx for a number of years. When the six Jesuits and two women were murdered at the University of Central America in El Salvador in 1989, he volunteered to take one of their places.

   On Feb. 21, 2008 we showed a film about Dorothy Day called “Don’t Call Me a Saint,” and Fr. Tom Lumpkin and Marianne Arbogast spoke and answered questions about their lifelong work in the Catholic Worker Movement. 

  There were two speakers  on Feb. 28, 2008 discussing “Casualties, Refugees, and Reconstruction in Iraq.” Raed Jarrar was part of a door-to-door casualty survey effort in Iraq. Patricia McCann was an Iraq War Veteran. Both were part of a speaking tour organized by American Friends Service Committee.

  David Kaulemu, a Woodstock Theological Center International Visiting Fellow from Arrupe Jesuit College, Harare, Zimbabwe spoke on “The Role of Religion in Societal Transformation: The Case of Zimbabwe.” He spoke on March 24, 2008. He talked about the Christian Alliance’s “Save Zimbabwe” campaign.  

  Bart Jones spoke on April 8 and 9, 2008. His talk was entitled “Hugo Chavez: From Mud Hut to Perpetual Revolution.” Jones had been in Venezuela for eight years working for the Associated Press as a foreign correspondent. He had recently published his biography of Chavez with Steerforth Press.

  2008-09

  As Director I oversaw the move of the archive collection to the Library. I also hosted fifteen speakers, 5 films, two music events, a photo exhibit and an art exhibit. many of this year’s speakers have been Catholic sisters, such as Kathleen Erickson RSM, Sisters Ann Nett and Dorothy Diederichs IHM, Sr. Beth Murphy, and Sr. Barbara Cervenka (Adrian Dominican), as well as a priest, Fr. Roy Bourgeois. The students get a chance to see that Catholic clergy are active in the promotion of peace and justice in many parts of the world. Also, lay speakers like Patricia Isasa and Frida Berrigan, who have connections to the Catholic community, show examples of lay leadership in Peace and Justice movements.

  To describe the above in more detail, on Sept. 8, 2008, Fr. Roy Bourgeois spoke on “Disturbing the Peace: Challenging U.S. Policy in Latin America." The event was co-sponsored by Michigan Coalition for Human Rights, National Peace with Justice Priorities Center, Gesu Parish Peace and Justice Team, and the Jesuit Province of Detroit. Fr. Roy Bourgeois, a Maryknoll missionary who has led the campaign to close the US Army School of the Americas (now WHINSEC) talked about his ongoing project to close the school. He and others concerned about human rights have wanted to close the school because of its role in training Latin American troops in counter-insurgency warfare, and the connections between its graduates and human rights abuses in the Americas. Particularly, those involved in the murder of the six Jesuits, their housekeeper and her daughter at the University of Central America in El Salvador had been trained at the SOA. Those who come to the talk can learn about the trip our university plans yearly, to attend the protest and prayer vigil that happens each November. The gathering to hear Fr. Roy was quite large. Fr. Gerry Stockhausen greeted our speaker and the crowd. He told Fr. Roy how much he appreciated everything Fr. Roy had done to draw attention to the assassination of the Jesuits in El Salvador.

  On September 19, 2008, History Prof. Elaine Carey who was at St. John's University at the time gave two talks. The first, in the morning, was "Los estudiantes contra los gorilas: Militarization in 1968." Carey  examined Mexican student rhetoric as it foreshadows the growing militarization that would grip the country in the wake of 1968, and how students attempted to use imagery to undermine that shift. Her book, Plaza of Sacrifices: Gender, Power, and Terror in 1968 Mexico (University of New Mexico Press, 2005) examines the generational and cultural clashes between youth and the government during the Mexican student movement. The second talk later that same day was "The Role of Women in Mexico - U.S. Drug Trafficking: The Case of Lola La Chata." She described the thirty year career of Lola la Chata, a female Mexican heroin peddler and trafficker, and the efforts of police, government officials, and diplomats on both sides of the border to undermine her criminal empire. By placing women within the contemporary studies of drug trafficking, La Chata complicates the masculine constructions of the history of narcotics. While teaching at UDM (1998-2002), Carey co-founded the James Guadalupe Carney Latin American Solidarity Archive (CLASA), and currently serves on its Board of Directors.

  On October 9, 2008, torture survivor Patricia Isasa spoke on "Bringing Torturers to Justice in Argentina." Patricia has been featured in several documentaries about the dirty wars in 1970s Argentina. She told the story of her imprisonment and torture (at age 16), and her search for the perpetrators. She gave testimony to the National Commission on the Disappearance of People, CONADEP, in 1984. Since the government was not investigating or prosecuting, she did her own investigation, which led to the prosecution of several people in the Argentinian military.  Our student, China Sellars, interviewed Patricia and won an award for the broadcast (you can see a story about this in the Varsity News archive, Feb. 9, 2005, p. 3).

  On Oct. 23, 2008, Philosophy professor Dr. Greg Moses, who was at the time teaching at St. Edward’s in Texas, spoke on “Liberation and Sacred Texts:  What 'The Great Debaters' Can Teach Us about the Ideals of the Civil Rights Movement.” He discussed the history, theology and philosophy behind the popular Hollywood film starring Denzel Washington as James Leonard Farmer, “The Great Debaters,” which highlighted the African American intellectual movement for social justice.

  On November 13, 2008, we had a viewing of the film, "Soldiers of Conscience" about conscientious objectors to war, mostly in the context of the current Iraq War.

  We also brought Sr. Kathleen Erickson, R.S.M. on Nov. 20, 2008, to speak on her experience at the U.S.-Mexico border, where she has lived and worked for 14 years. Her talk was entitled ““Immigration:  A Spiritual Challenge to Discover Who We Are in Today’s World.” She was co-founder and former director of the Women’s Intercultural Center in Anthony, NM. She provided spiritual direction for women incarcerated the immigrant detention system.

   

  In January of 2009, CLASA installed and hosted a photography exhibit, “If They Had Faces” by Sr. Beth Murphy, O.P. in the lobby of the McNichols Library. The exhibit featured photographs that Sr. Beth had taken in Iraq from 2001-2004. She noted sadly that already 700,000 Iraqis had died since the beginning of the U.S. invasion and occupation there in March 2003. Having a background in journalism as well as theology and ethics, her photos told the stories of persons affected by the war. Photos were from Baghdad, Mosul, Nineveh, and Basra. Sr. Beth worked with the Catholic Archdiocese in helping Iraqi refugees to settle in the Detroit area. Sr. Beth was a Dominican Sister of Springfield, Illinois (and should not be confused with the other Sr. Beth Murphy who worked for University Ministry for many years!).

  On Jan. 21, 2009, Frida Berrigan gave a talk on “U.S. Weapons at War: Confronting and Getting Beyond the Bush Legacy.” This talk focused on the U.S. role as arms supplier to many repressive governments, and the rationales used (such as fighting the “War on Terror”). Her second talk, on Jan. 22, was entitled “100 Days to Close Guantanamo + End Torture.” At the time, Barack Obama had just been elected President and had promised to close the prison in his first 100 days. Berrigan led an organization of activists who attempted to remind Obama of this pledge that he had made. Later the same day, she gave the same talk at our Law School. Frida Berrigan was Senior Program Associate of the Arms and Security Initiative at the New America Foundation. Previously, she served for eight years as Deputy Director and Senior Research Associate at the Arms Trade Resource Center at the World Policy Institute at the New School in New York City. She also helped co-found Witness Against Torture in 2005.

  From March 25-31, 2009, CLASA hosted an art exhibit, "Expressions of Faith from Northeast Brazil:  The Intersection of Catholicism and African Religions." The exhibit was located in the Genevieve Fisk Loranger Exhibit Hall, School of Architecture. The show was curated by Sr. Barbara Cervenka O.P. from Sienna Heights University, and Marion Jackson from WSU, who together run Con/Vida:  Popular Art from the Americas. During the time of the exhibit there were several events held there, including an opening reception on March 25. Brazilian music by New York-based Detroit musicians Dan Kendall and Anthony Lanni from the band “Los Clavelitos,” joined by UDM-affiliated musician Stuart Tucker, played music for the opening. Food was catered by a local Brazilian caterer.

  Also on March 25^th, at the opening event, we had a special program on “Sr. Dorothy Stang and the Landless Movement in Brazil.” Sr. Dorothy Stang is the Catholic Sister of Notre Dame who was killed in Brazil while defending the rainforest and the rights of the landless. The talk was presented by Sisters Ann Nett and Dorothy Diederichs IHM, each of whom have spent 20-30 years in Brazil. They had known Sr. Dorothy and her work.

  On March 26, 2009, there was a talk, “Candomblé:  Memories of Africa in the Heart of Brazil.” The two speakers were Marion Jackson and Barbara Cervenka (the Exhibit curators). They conveyed to students how the African values of enslaved and free blacks in Brazil mixed with the Catholic religion they were being taught by the Portuguese in order to create a unique religion and artistry.  Marion Jackson was an art historian from Wayne State University, and Barbara Cervenka taught art at Albion College. On March 27 there was a Capoiera performance (with Gary Williams playing the berimbau), and then a talk by WSU professor Dr. Ollie A. Johnson III, "Promoting Afro-Brazilian Culture and History in a Racial Democracy: An Analysis of the Fundação Cultural Palmares." We showed several films, including "Central Station" (1997) on March 28, presented by Lara Wasner of Languages and Cultural Training at UDM: and the documentary “Quilombo Country" (2006) on March 29, and then "Quilombo" (1991) (114 min.) on March 30, with a discussion moderated by History Professor Roy Finkenbine, our resident specialist on the history of slavery and the abolition movements.

  On March 31, 2009, in the morning, Dr. Lonn Monroe (University of Florida- Gainesville) spoke on “The African Diaspora in Latin America: Religious Practices and Ethnic Identity.”  His research focused on Central African religious and cultural influences in the African diaspora in Brazil and Cuba. In the evening we held a Cesar Chavez Day celebration. Matrix Theatre came with their large puppet head of Chavez and helped all in attendance to create an improvised play about Chavez’s movement. Then Prof. José Antonio Orosco (from Oregon State University – Corvallis) gave a talk, “Cesar Chavez and the Foundations of Peace and Democracy in America.” The following day (April 1) he gave a second talk on Chavez, ““Refusing to be Un Macho: Cesar Chavez on Gender and the Culture of Peace.”

   

  2009-10

  In 2009-10, CLASA hosted 4 speakers and co-sponsored Congo Week events with HASA in Fall 2009; and had 6 speakers and a circus in Winter 2010. CLASA always hosts a speaker connected to SOA Watch in Fall semester to promote attendance on the University Ministry bus to Fort Benning for the Ignatian Family Teach In. We hosted Lisa Sullivan in September 2009. I also rode on the bus with students, JVC's, Jesuit novices and others, to the teach-in in November 2009. In Winter of 2010 we brought Gustavo Morello, S.J. from Argentina to present his research.  Other CLASA topics were immigration reform, the war in Afghanistan, racism, Catholic Relief Services' relief work, constitutional crisis and reform in Guatemala, nuclear disarmament, coup in Honduras/human rights issues, environment, and in the co-sponsored events with HASA, women's rights and safety in Congo.

  On Sept. 16, 2009, Lisa Sullivan spoke on “Crisis of Democracy in Honduras: The Role of SOA Graduates in Latin America.” Lisa Sullivan directs the Latin American office of the School of the Americas Watch and leads its Partnership America Latina (PAL).  She has lived in different countries of Latin America for the past 32 years. Lisa Sullivan had recently traveled to Honduras with Fr. Joe Mulligan, S.J. and six others to ask for democracy to be restored by reinstating the elected President Zelaya who had been ousted by a military coup. Sullivan has traveled to seven Latin American countries to ask their governments to not send their military to the U.S. Army School of the Americas for training. She had just been to Honduras and met with Pres. Zelaya a few months before the coup.

  On October 16, 2009, we heard two talks by Addis Ababa University philosophy professor Workineh Kelbessa. His first talk was, “Environmental Injustice in Africa” and his second talk was “Indigenous Environmental Ethics in Africa.” Dr. Kelbessa is author of the book, Indigenous and Modern Environmental Ethics (Council for Research and Values in Philosophy).  He has received his Ph.D. from University of Wales, UK, focusing on environmental ethics.

  On November 9, 2009, Emeritus Philosophy professor Ron Hirschbein from California State University, Chico, gave two talks. The first, in the morning, was “Peace on Earth Without Goodwill Toward Men: Nuclear Deterrence Doctrine.” Later the same day he spoke on “Through the Looking Glass: Nuclear Strategists in Wonderland.” He analyzed the language games and fallacious arguments of nuclear strategists from the Cold War to current times (finding parallels to the classic Alice in Wonderland). He also offered a cultural analysis of Americans who have normalized and even celebrate the nation’s nuclear arsenal.

  On November 12, 2009 we hosted Carlos Euceda from Mexico Solidarity Network who spoke on "Mexico's Security State." Euceda has been working with the Lenca people of Honduras for their indigenous rights, and defending the rights of indigenous and Afro-Honduran people with the Confederation of Indigenous People of Honduras (CONPAH). He studied law at the Autonomous University of Honduras. In this talk, he spoke about the Merida Initiative, known as Plan Mexico, which is a security cooperation initiative between the US and Mexico.

  Moving now to winter of 2010, we hosted  Tim Broyle on both February 1 and 2. He spoke on “Annunciation House:  30 años caminando con los migrantes—Solidarity and the changing reality of the US/Mexico Border.” He described the mission of Annunciation House, how it intends to help migrants. Broyle was Assistant Campus Minister at Brophy College Preparatory, Phoenix, AZ. He worked at Annunciation House for four years.

  On Feb. 16, 2010, we hosted Jorge Rodriguez of University of San Carlos of Guatemala, who spoke on “The Latin American tradition of human rights: problems and perspectives.” He repeated his lecture at the Law School. In the absence of constitutional law, how can one advocate for human rights? The deeper roots of structural injustice started with laws passed to disenfranchise the Amerindians. His goal is to foster the growth of moral consciences among the citizens. Rodriguez-Martinez was a Professor at the Graduate School of Law, University of San Carlos of Guatemala. He teaches Philosophy of Law, among other topics, and he researches alternative law in Latin America as well as Indigenous Rights.

  On March 1, 2010, Thomas Awiapo spoke on "The Role of Catholic Relief Services in Africa." Thomas Awiapo was Senior Program Director for Catholic Relief Services in Ghana. He shared his own life story of struggling to continue his education as a child in Ghana, and how he knows firsthand how the support of Catholic Relief Services was so central to his own life and that of many other youths.

  On March 5, 2010, we hosted Gustavo Morello, S.J. to speak on “Catholicism and State Terror in 1970s Argentina.” His talked focused on the diverse Catholic perspectives within Argentina regarding the State of Terror in the 1970. With a special emphasis on the “La Salette case” of 1976, which involved a priest and five seminarians being kidnapped, he explained how different groups of Catholics understood the scenario in almost opposite ways. Fr. Gustavo Morello, S.J., was a Jesuit priest, and a scholar at Universidad Católica de Córdoba - Argentina. He researches the relations of Catholicism and Modernity in Argentina. He was Visiting Fellow at The Jesuit Institute at Boston College (2005-2006) and during Winter 2010 he was Visiting Scholar at University of Michigan.

  On March 16, 2010, Arnold Farr, Associate Philosophy professor at University of Kentucky, gave a talk on “Collective Evil, Wrong Life, and the Possibility of Ethics.” Drawing on Adorno and Rawls, he argued that individuals may think they are acting morally, but without paying attention to the decisions of the larger society, individuals may find that their actions are immoral due to the larger context. Moral actions are a function of the social system.

  On March 17, 2010, we hosted the Olive Tree Circus, a creative group of performers based in East Tennessee. They presented several circus pieces about their experience of being in Palestine in Fall of 2008. Using humor, and sometimes being very serious, they made clear several aspects of the Israel-Palestinian situation, such as the difficulties farmers have caring for their olive trees if they are blocked off from their farms by a large separation wall, and, how international relations are impacted by major U.S. funding to Israel (dramatized by “Uncle Sam” courting two women). A dramatization of Palestinians in a vehicle trying to get through a checkpoint, with a pregnant woman among them, turns into a circus act reminiscent of how, at the circus, a large number of clowns can emerge from one vehicle. They wove musical performances and art work into their skits. The circus troupe promotes nonviolence and calls for peace, justice, and reform.

  On March 31, 2010 we hosted Former Marine, Jake Diliberto who was the Founder of Veterans For Rethinking Afghanistan. his B.S. in Political Science from Illinois State University Also Jake has an M.Div. in Theology & Ethics from Fuller Seminary.  Formerly he was a Marine Cpl. who served with the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit during Operation Enduring Freedom in 2001 and served on security forces for II MEB in Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003. Now he has become critical of the U.S. war effort there. He showed clips from the film by Robert Greenwald, “Rethink Afghanistan.”

  2010-11

  On Sept. 20, 2010 we showed the film, “Atomic Mom,” by director M.T. Silvia. She created this documentary centered on her mother’s role as a scientist in building and testing the atomic bomb. She (and most women scientists involved) never got credit for her contribution. But Silvia goes further, to challenge her mother to think about the impact of the bomb on those who lived in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The event was timed to celebrate the International Day of Peace, and was coordinated with the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF).

  On Sept. 23, 2010, in the morning we had a talk, “Challenges of Women's Empowerment in Nicaragua,” by Ana Narvaez, Executive Director of COMPAS de Nicaragua, we had an evening program of Nicaragua Folkloric Dancing, led by Ana Narvaez who brought several young women dancers from her community in Nicaragua to share with us. On Sept. 27, 2010, our university had the good fortune to host an important speaker, Marilyn Lacey, RSM, founder and Director of Mercy Beyond Borders, and author of the book This Flowing Toward Me (2009) which describes a moving account of spirituality of hospitality.                    Her first talk was on "Partnering with Displaced Women in Post-War S. Sudan." Her second talk was on "A Spirituality of Welcome." Sr. Marilyn has worked with refugees for over 25 years.

  On Oct 1, 2010, West Cosgrove of Project Puente in El Paso spoke on:  "Borders, Immigrants and National Values: Shaping Immigration Policy to Benefit Everyone." West Cosgrove is the founder and executive director of Project Puente in El Paso, Texas, an educational project along the US - Mexico border addressing the realities of economic and political injustice arising from globalization. West's lecture focus on the phenomenon of immigration, responding to common questions such as, "Why do people come, why don't they come legally? Do they take jobs from U.S. citizens?" He argued that it is in everyone's best interest that we enact comprehensive immigration reform as soon as possible.

  On Oct. 27, 2010, Vinay D'Souza gave his presentation, "Just Out of Africa: Serving in the Peace Corps in Uganda." D’Souza taught students math and related skills in Hoima, Uganda, from 2008-2010. He shared his photos and his reflections on Uganda’s educational system and daily life in Uganda.

  On Nov. 8, 2010, we were happy to host Father Alberto Franco, a Colombian priest and outspoken peace and human rights advocate. He was executive secretary of Inter-church Justice and Peace Commission, a 22 year-old Colombian human rights and community organizing group. Fr. Alberto was not deterred by death threats. He described his continued work to defend farmers of Afro-Colombian, indigenous and mixed race farmers. His time with us was part of his speaking tour organized by Witness for Peace.

  On November 22, 2010, we heard two talks by Kolya Abramsky, on the topic of “Social Struggles in the Transition to a Postpetrol World.” He addressed the problem of the energy crisis and how it intersected with class struggles. He addressed the topic of “renewable energy,” cautioning us that not every renewable energy project is good for society and the environment. The talk was related to his edited book, Sparking a Worldwide Energy Revolution- Social Struggles in the Transition to a Postpetrol World, published in July 2010 by AK Press. His book has been described as “The Encyclopedia of the Energy Transition from an anti-capitalist perspective” by philosophy professor George Caffentzis. Kolya Abramsky was a former visiting fellow at the Institute of Advanced Studies in Science, Technology and Society, in Graz, Austria, where he had received the Manfred-Heindler Award for Energy and Climate Change Research. 

   

  At the McNichols library, from January 10 – 31, 2011, we hosted an exhibit, “Art from Central America,” with art works by artist Donald Voelker (known as "Donaldo" in Costa Rica where he now lives). There was an opening reception Wed. Jan 12, including a talk by the artist's friend and fellow artist, Patrick Dengate. There were over twenty paintings on display. Donaldo had generously donated his art works so that they could be sold to help CLASA as well as Centro Arte para la Paz in Suchitoto, El Salvador, a center devoted to helping children and adults overcome the trauma of civil war, through the arts. Donaldo, who received a Master’s degree in archives from WSU, had earlier helped to catalog the CLASA collection. The exhibit was a great fundraiser. You can still see several of his paintings on display in the Briggs building, for example, there are two in the basement lounge.

  On Feb. 17, 2011, we showed a film, “The 800 Mile Wall,” about the migrants who were dying in the desert in Arizona (and whose journey grew more treacherous as the U.S. built a border wall). The film also presents No More Deaths, the organization trying to bring them humanitarian aid. After the film, we had a discussion led by Charlie and Jean Rooney, active members of No More Deaths.

  On Feb. 23, 2011, Norma and Jose Gonzales spoke on, “Saving Ethnic Studies.” These two teachers from Tucson  challenged the constitutionality of Arizona's ban against ethnic studies, HR 2281. They argued that students who took part in their special High School Mexican American Studies program, "La Raza," did much better in school across all of their classes, and were more motivated to attend and graduate. These teachers had to contend with politicians who tried to shut the program down, charging the program with promoting hate of white people and animosity toward the U.S. government. We learned a lot about the importance of teaching Ethnic Studies. (There was a documentary film made about this struggle that came out after our event, called Precious Knowledge. The library has a copy.)

  On March 2, 2011, we had a presentation by Martin Dale-Hench called “Hitchhiking Across Central and South America.” Martin’s story was fascinating, as he explained that soon after graduating college, he and his girlfriend Leala Holcomb decided to hitchhike all across South America (over 20 countries), camping in their tent. The did the entire trip, which lasted over a year, on about $5 a day. While both are deaf, they found many ways to communicate with people they met. They also visited deaf schools in many countries. Martin shared his reflections on life lessons he learned while traveling as well as on the current state of deaf education in the Americas. All were amazed by his bravery, fortitude, adventurous and trusting nature. A key idea of his is summed up in this quote:

  "Every country thinks their neighboring countries are dangerous and they are always wrong.  ... Humans should not know any borders, or choose one´s people over another. We all have same battles, we all have same things to go through, and we want and need love, acceptance, and understanding from others."

  On Feb. 10, 2011, John Barrie gave a talk, “Technological Design to Improve the Lives of Indigenous Peoples of Nicaragua and Guatemala: How Michigan Students Get Involved.” John has been the Executive Director of the Appropriate Technology Collaborative, a nonprofit organization dedicated to spreading technological innovation and sustainability around the world with its great simple and inexpensive inventions. Student groups and other volunteers have had a hand at designing and implementing the projects, which depend on locally available supplies.

  On April 7, 2011, we held a viewing of a new film, Human Terrain: War Becomes Academic. We hosted the two professors featured in the film, Roberto Gonzalez and Hugh Gusterson. They are both anthropologists, and the film looks at how the U.S. military hired anthropologists to work in Iraq and Afghanistan as part of the “War on Terror” with the goal of winning the “hearts and minds” of locals (a technique of psychological warfare). These two academics were concerned that using the skills of their profession to win a war did harm to the scientific nature of their research, harming the relationship between researcher and informants, and undermining the trust of the local population.

  On March 26, 2011, CLASA was a co-sponsor of the Pax Christi Michigan conference, “Behold, I Shall Make All Things New:  Building the New in the Shell of the Old,” with Fr. Peter Dougherty as keynote speaker. The day-long event is held at St. Mary Magdalen Church in Brighton, MI. Several workshops focused on aspects of immigration. And from April 30 to May 9, CLASA Director Gail Presbey participated in a delegation to Honduras organized by SOA Watch, and led by Lisa Sullivan, Mary Anne Perrone, and Fr. Roy Bourgeois. We visited the town named after Fr. James Carney, “Padre Guadalupe Carney Community.”

  2011-12

  In Fall 2011, there were 7 events.

  On Oct. 11 we hosted Nina Rodriguez, SSJ who spoke on “Working with Michigan Peace Team in Juarez, Mexico.” We also had Marisela Ortiz Rivera, co-founder of Nuestras Hijas de Regreso a Casa A.C. ("May our Daughters Return Home, Civil Association") of Juarez speak on “Working for Women's Safety and Rights in Juarez.” She shared her personal story of being harassed and threatened for her work to defend women and girls from violence. She was hoping to receive asylum in the U.S. 

  On October 12, 2011 we hosted a panel on the upcoming elections in Nicaragua. Victor Hugo Tinoco represented the MRS/ Sandinista Renewal Movement Alliance, and Katherine Hoyt presented the record of the FSLN (Sandinista National Liberation Front) government. Prof. Brad Roth, WSU, was the Moderator.  Tinoco had been a former Sandinista who held important positions like Ambassador of Nicaragua to the United Nations and Vice-Minister of Foreign Relations. Since 2007 he had represented the SRMA as a member of the National Assembly. Hoyt had lived in Nicaragua for over 16 years at the time of this talk. She was co-director of the Nicaragua Network and author of the book, The Many Faces of Sandinista Democracy.

  On October 13, 2011, in the morning, John Donaghy spoke on “Catholic Social Teaching: A Honduran Experience.” In the evening he and Gail Presbey together spoke about “Contemporary Challenges in Honduras: Focus on Teachers and Education.” Donaghy, who has his Ph.D. in Philosophy from Boston College, was a lay missionary with the Catholic diocese of Santa Rosa de Copán in western Honduras. Presbey had recently attended an SOA Watch delegation to Honduras.

  On October 24, 2011 (United Nations Day), Deirdre Mullan, RSM spoke on “Living in a complex world: Mercy at the UN.” At the time of her talk, she had already spent ten years as Director of the Mercy Global Concern (MGC) at the United Nations.

  On October 27, 2011, Jaqueline García Salamanca spoke about Jesuit Migrant Services in Veracruz, Mexico. She works for the Jesuits providing training on how to support migrants, in particular along the route of a train called “la Bestia.” On November 9, 2011, we hosted Miriam Miranda, who spoke on “Human Rights and the Garifuna of Honduras.” She is one of the well known leaders of the Garifuna community, who are descendants of escaped slaved living in the northern coastal region of Honduras.

  In winter of 2012 we began by showing two films about Liberia. On Feb. 1, 2012, we showed “Iron Ladies of Liberia” about Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, woman President of Liberia and many of her women Cabinet Ministers, and “Pray the Women Back to Hell” about Leymah Gbowee and women peace activists trying to end the Liberian civil war. Discussion was led by Dionne Bennett, director of African American Studies and Gail Presbey.

  On Feb. 17 we hosted Dr. Estrella Torrez of Michigan State University who presented us “Testimonios of Migrants, Chicana Studies and Indigenous Youth Empowerment.” She came with several MSU students who helped present the testimonios in a youth performance of "Danza Mexicayotl.”

  On Feb. 20, 2012, we hosted a performance of the music group, “BombaRica” led by Osvaldo (“Ozzie”) Rivera & Consuela Lopez, Co-Directors. They explained the cultural history of their music which comes from the Afro-Latin heritage of Puerto Rico.

  Winter of 2012 (March 20) was the first time we held the UCA Jesuit Martyrs Fundraiser Dinner. Our keynote speaker, Adrianne Aron, gave a talk in the afternoon on "Trauma, Gender, and Human Rights." Then during the dinner she gave a talk entitled “Martin-Baro and the 99%: From El Salvador to Occupy.” (This talk later became a book chapter in a book co-edited by Presbey called Peace and Public Philosophy.) Aron is a liberation psychologist in the San Francisco Bay Area, working with survivors of traumatic abuse--torture, domestic violence, and political persecution.  She is co-editor of a collection of essays in translation by UCA Jesuit Martyr Ignacio Martin-Baro, S.J., Writings of a Liberation Psychology (Harvard University Press). Dr. Aron was a clinician specializing in trauma. She spent over ten years doing pro bono work at Centro Ignacio Martín-Baró, a project of the Committee for Health Rights in the Americas. She has worked extensively with refugees who have suffered traumatic abuse, providing psychological evaluations to submit in their petitions for political asylum in the U.S.  Also at the event, Julie Beutel played music, and attendees were treated to a pupusa dinner! We raised over $3,000 for the scholarship.   

  On March 22, 2012, Macrina Cárdenas de Alarcón of Tijuana's Casa del Migrante, and Mexico-US Solidarity Network representative, spoke on “On the Edge of Reason: Border dynamics and the spread of violence.” She had spent the past five years aiding deportees and doing grassroots organizing in Tijuana with La Casa del Migrante.

  On Monday, April 16 we viewed a film, “The Age of Stupid,” which addressed the problem of inattention to the growing climate crisis through fiction. The film is set in 2055 and shows the impact of different forms of environmental devastation around the world. The discussion was led by Frank Hammer, who is a retired UAW International Representative and former President of UAW Local 909 (Warren). He has held many leadership positions in the Greenacres Woodward Civic Association (GWCA), Detroit. He had recently returned from an international conference in South Africa that focused on the topic of social ownership of renewable energy.

  CLASA had two summer 2012 talks as well. The first was a talk by Kathy Kelly from Voices for Creative Nonviolence entitled “Ground the Drones: Lest you Reap the Whirlwind.” We also hosted Joe Mulligan for a talk, “Whatever Happened to Nicaragua? An Update By Joe Mulligan, S.J.” on July 27.

  2012-13

   

  In September 2012, CLASA hosted Jorge Parra of Colombia, who had been injured working for a GM plant in Colombia. He was on a speaking tour in the U.S. to raise awareness about the need for increased safety for GM workers in Colombia, and for adequate medical care for injured workers. He founded a group called the Association of Injured Workers and Ex-Workers of GM-Colmotores (ASOTRECOL) and he spoke about his fifty day long hunger strike. He also spoke of the tent they erected outside the U.S. embassy in Bogota.

  On Oct. 29, 2012, we hosted Jose Luis Escobar Recinos, President of The Committee for Reconstruction and Economic and Social Development of the Communities of Suchitoto, Cuscatlan ("CRC"), El Salvador, and Yaquelin Guadalupe Vasquez Rivera, program director.  While Suchitoto is an important place of cultural heritage, many families there do not have basic services such as clean drinking water, health care, education and transportation. The CRC was a non-profit, non-governmental organization to help many communities resettled by people displaced during the war, with projects addressing of women's development, popular education, community health, community radio, sustainable agriculture, reforestation and environmental conservation. We learned how the CRC has worked actively over the past several years with various organizations here in Detroit-Metro to support a rural clinic in the cantone of La Mora (supported by Resurrection Parish in Canton, MI) and Rotary Clubs in Canton, Livonia, Northville and Plymouth, MI and other clubs from Ohio, Indiana, and Canada to implement community-wide potable water systems in their communities. 

  Later on the same day (October 29, 2012) we hosted Francia Marquez, an environmental activist from Colombia. She was active defending the Afro-Colombian artisanal gold miners of her community, La Toma. She led 80 women on a 350 mile march to the capitol, Bogota, to get reform. A film about her was part of Abigail Disney’s Women, War, and Peace (Part 1, 2011). She visited us at Detroit Mercy as part of a Witness for Peace speaking tour. (Since speaking for us, she won the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2018. She has been elected as Vice President of Colombia in 2022!)

  On Nov. 8, 2012, we held a speakers’ event on the topic of Human Trafficking. Cherie Sammis who was Vice President of Mission Integration at St. Mary’s of Michigan spoke, along with Deb Drennan, who was Executive Director of Freedom House, a shelter here in Detroit for those seeking asylum. Freedom House was an official partner in the Northern Tier Anti Trafficking Consortium. The speakers explained that human trafficking is a contemporary version of slavery. Usually, persons sign up for contracts that are very exploitative because they feel they have no choice. Sometimes the desperate family members provide a person in the family to the traffickers without their consent. Workers are mistreated physically and psychologically, and sometimes they are cheated of their meagre pay and/or prohibited from leaving the job. The speakers discussed the situation in Michigan.

  In January 2013 we held an exhibit of Amnesty International photos in the library lobby, and had several events to coincide with the themes of the photos. CLASA worked closely with Detroit Mercy student Kyle Ortiz, who had the idea to hang the exhibit. The Phi Alpha Delta Pre-Law Fraternity was co-sponsor. The exhibit was called “Timeline of an Execution Night” by photographer, Scott Langley, and it was intended to show the inhumanity of the death penalty. There were three events during the month-long exhibit, starting with the Opening Reception on Jan. 12, featuring Speaker Sally Peck. Sally had persistently worked to abolish the death penalty. She was the family member of a murder victim, and a long-time activist for civil rights. On Jan. 28 we showed the film, “Doctors of the Dark Side.” The film shows how the U.S. government and military recruited psychologists (some of whom had played a role in helping military personnel cope with or recuperate from torture) to design techniques that were torturous or near to torture without legally being considered torture, and to use these techniques on prisoners in Guantanamo prison and elsewhere during the War on Terror. After the film, Professor Cheryl Munday (Psychology) discussed how this recruitment impacted the American Psychological Association (whose members finally rallied to ban such recruitment at their conference). Also, Sr. Gilmary Bauer, RSM (Health Care Ethics) related the topic to her time as a missionary in Argentina during the Dirty War when torture techniques were being used.

  On Jan. 31 at the closing event, educator Lois DeMott shared her insights into the need for change in Michigan’s treatment of the mentally ill, particularly juveniles, in Michigan prisons. She worked with local mothers of incarcerated teens, and exposed the horrifying conditions these juveniles were kept in, with some in solitary confinement. Some youths had died in prison. She also shared her personal experience, having raised a son who had mental and emotional challenges. She witnessed firsthand how her son’s incarceration in the adult prison system at the age of 15 jeopardized his health and wellbeing. Lois was nominated for the “National Mother of Distinction Award” by the Michigan Council on Crime and Delinquency. She was awarded this honor by the National Juvenile Justice Network and Campaign for Youth Justice.

  On Feb. 6, 2013, Pat Chaffee, O.P. spoke on “U.S. Drone use in Pakistan.” Sr. Pat joined an October 2012 delegation to Pakistan organized by Code Pink. She heard firsthand accounts of people who had survived drone attacks. She felt strongly that the U.S. government should stop using drone attacks. A lively debate followed, as some Detroit Mercy students in attendance thought that use of drones would minimize U.S. military casualties. Sr. Pat struggled to describe a more peaceful way forward that would not depend on these flawed technologies that create terror and deadly carnage.  Chafee has been active in human rights work since 1982. She was director of the Michigan Interfaith Committee on Central American Human Rights (MICAH), an organization whose papers are included in the Carney archive in UDM’s library. She was a staff member of the Central American Refugee Center in San Francisco. She has traveled with human rights delegations to Nicaragua, El Salvador, Colombia, the West Bank, Gaza, and now Pakistan.

  On April 1, 2013, Chaungo Barasa, a water engineer from Kenya, shared with students his insights on Humanitarian Assistance, based on his long career in humanitarian emergency and development work in Africa and the Caribbean. He has worked for Doctors without Borders (MSF), CARE International, and is currently based in Haiti with Concern Worldwide. Barasa has worked in some of Africa's largest refugee camps including Benaco in Tanzania, Dadaab in Kenya and Darfur in Sudan. Barasa also developed an interest in philosophy through his long association with the late Professor Odera Oruka beginning in the early 1980s. He has published several articles in philosophy as well as numerous technical papers in his professional field, Water and Sanitation. He shared his passion for this work, and explained that once you see how people’s lives are on the line, it is hard to walk away from this challenging work, because you know that people’s survival depends on your actions. All the hardships of being away from home and living in basic austerity in scenarios which may be insecure are worth it, to save one life.

  On April 10, 2013, we had our second annual Fundraiser Dinner for the UCA Jesuit Martyrs Scholarship. Music was provided by guitarist and vocalist Tim Greenia. Our two speakers were Mary Anne Perrone and Miny Romero. Miny Romero was the Head of the Medical clinic and doctor for the Society of Jesus in El Salvador. She was the physician and a close friend of Dean Brackley’s, and she had accompanied him during his illness and death in 2011. She shared her reflections on Dean. Fr. Rick Cassidy introduced Miny Romero. Mary Anne Perrone is an educator and she was the co-leader of the recent SOA Watch delegation to El Salvador in March 2013 (which happened to be the 33^rd anniversary of Archbishop Oscar Romero’s death). Our special guest who also briefly addressed us was Jane Brackley Davis, the sister to Dean Brackley. Fr. Si Hendry blessed the food.

  2013-2014

  On Sept. 16, 2013, CLASA worked with the Sigma Theta Tau Lambda Zeta International Honor Society of Nursing to host a meet and greet with Sr. Angela Limiyo, head of Mercy Beyond Borders Pre-Nursing Internship Program. Sister Angela told stories of the challenges she had providing health care in war torn South Sudan. She even told a story of a man with a bullet wound who walked into her office, where she had to provide emergency care with little supplies, and hardly any pain killer. She also described the local women who were able to go to nursing school due to the support of Mercy Beyond Borders.

   On September 19, 2013, Dr. Maria-Carolina Cambre presented on “The role of art, philosophy, and Technologies of Friendship in the social struggles of youth in Argentina and Venezuela.” Cambre is an artist/scholar teaching in the Sociology department at King’s University College at Western University, Ontario, Canada. As a child she left, with her family, from Argentina (and its ruthless dictatorship led by Onganía) to Canada. During her talk she described university student movements in Buenos Aires which involved students occupying their Social Sciences building and a parking lot. She also shared her research on youth movements in the neighborhood 23 de enero in Caracas, Venezuela. Cambre considers Hannah Arendt’s theory of action (in her book, The Human Condition) as a parallel to what these youth call “actioning.”

  On Sept. 30, 2013, Theresa Cameranesi of SOA Watch gave a talk on “Paraguay: Corruption, Impunity, the New-Style Coup, and the need for Land Redistribution.” Cameranesi reported on the findings of a delegation she led, of SOAW activists to Paraguay during the April 2013 elections (coming at the request of Paraguayan human rights groups). She came to Paraguay in 1983 as a Peace Corps volunteer, and lived there 3 years under the harsh Stroessner dictatorship. She is on the SOAW National Council and on the Legislative Working Group.

  On Oct. 8, 2013, Pamela Fitzpatrick and Paul Dix presented photos from their book, Nicaragua: Surviving the Legacy of U.S. Policy. Dix was present in Nicaragua from 1985 to 1990 and he used his photographic skills to document the extent of damage created by the U.S.-funded contra war against the Sandinista government. Both he and Pamela Fitzpatrick went back in 2002, after the war, to see how those Paul had met earlier had fared in the meantime. You can now download a free pdf of the book at nicaraguaphototestimony.org.

  On Oct. 22, 2013, Nick Braune, Associate Professor of Philosophy at South Texas College spoke on “Police interrogation, false confessions and jurors’ roles.” Braune was Associate Professor of Philosophy at South Texas College in the Rio Grande Valley. He is concerned about police use of “legal” interrogation methods that can result in false confessions. Many innocent persons are jailed due to being fooled and trapped by these methods. (See his subsequent chapter in the book by Presbey and Moses, Peace Philosophy and Public Life, Rodopi, 2013, 71-84).

  On Oct. 23, 2013, we hosted photographer and photo-journalist David Bacon for a talk entitled “A Human Rights Perspective on Migration and Labor Rights.” This was related to his recent book, The Right to Stay Home: How US Policy Drives Mexican Migration (2013). Bacon thinks that migration should be choice and not something demonized or criminalized. People in the U.S. should realize that economic conditions in Mexico (such as those caused by NAFTA) drive migration waves. Since people would often rather stay home, the U.S. should help countries stabilize their economies instead of foregrounding the U.S. profit motive at other countries’ expense.

  On Oct. 30 and 31, CLASA co-hosted the event sponsored by the Jesuit Community at Detroit Mercy with Fernando Cardenal, S.J., the Jesuit priest and social justice activist who spent over four decades in Nicaragua. Fr. Cardenal was accompanied by Marco Gomez, S.J., who served as his translator. Fr. Cardenal described his life-long commitment to the people of Nicaragua, his Jesuit identity and to Fe y Alegría (the system of Jesuit schools across Central and Latin America).  The first talk was more formal, to the whole university community, and the second talk was more intimate, with a smaller group of students. Both talks were very motivational, as he described how his first-hand encounters with poverty suffered by Nicaraguans motivated him to dedicate his life to addressing the root causes of poverty in his country.

  On Nov. 13, 2013, Aracely Medina Castillo of Jesuit Migrant Services-Honduras spoke on “Human Rights and Mass Migration.” Aracely Medina Castillo is a Honduran activist and educator who has defended the rights of Hondurans. She is especially concerned for migrants and their families. She is the deputy director of the Jesuit Center for Reflection, Research, and Communication (ERIC-SJ) in Progreso (Padre Melo’s center) and she was also the national supervisor of Jesuit Migrant Services-Honduras (SJM) and the Social Ministries coordinator for all of Central America. She described the migrant crisis and told those gathered what they could do to support the migrants. She also outlined what kind of changes to U.S. policy would help migrants.

  On Dec. 3, CLASA co-sponsored an MCHR event with Joe White, entitled “The Caging of America's Youth: The School to Prison Pipeline.” Mr. White’s background and degree was in physical education, and he worked for many years as the Southeast Michigan “Skate in School” manager for Rollerblade, promoting physical activity at several school districts. He also worked for the Michigan Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness, Health, and Sports. As an active citizen he began to worry about how youth of color were discriminated against, with any discipline problems becoming considered crimes, giving these youths criminal records which would then soon land them in prison. If society would use funds for after school programs and constructive employment programs, and if the negative policing would be reduced, the youth would have a better chance to flourish and society as a whole would be better off.