Events
Interfaith Clergy and Religious Leader Breakfast: "Building Community Where All Are Welcome"
Wednesday, March 3rd, 8:30-10:30AM
Chicago Methodist Temple (2nd Floor Parlor)
77 West Washington Street
Chicago, IL 60602-2802
The Chicago New Sanctuary Coalition, a project of the Chicago Religious Leadership Network on Latin America, invites clergy and religious leaders from diverse faith traditions to come together to listen, learn and discuss the issue of immigration and explore how to incorporate immigrant justice issues into their ministry.
Featured Speakers Include:
The Reverend David Fraccaro, United Church of Christ
Bishop Wayne Miller, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Sister JoAnn Persch and Sister Pat Murphy, Sisters of Mercy
Please RSVP by February 26th by sending an e-mail to Jenny Dale at jdale@chicagosanctuary.org or calling 773-293-3680
Rev. David Fraccaro is a recent graduate of Union Theological Seminary and Columbia University in New York City with a focus on religion and human rights. He most recently served as the young adult ecumenical formation coordinator for the National Council of Churches and the US Conference for World Council of Churches, as well as the coordinator for Sojourners visitation program with detained immigrants and asylum seekers out of The Riverside Church in NYC, the program that helped inspire the recent independent movie "The Visitor." Rev. Fraccaro is an ordained minister with the United Church of Christ, formerly serving two UCC churches in NJ, while also representing the UCC at the United Nations. He currently works with the Interfaith Youth Core in Chicago as an Education and Outreach trainer, working specifically on a new "Stranger to Neighbor" initiative which seeks to build greater interfaith collaboration and friendship between diverse communities of faith and their immigrant/refugee neighbors.
Click here to read an article written by Rev. Fraccaro about immigration detention
Rev. Wayne Miller, bishop of the Metropolitan Chicago Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), and member of the ELCA's Ready Bench on Immigration, is a vocal advocate for immigration reform. His involvement with immigration and refugee issues first began in the 1970s when he worked on a refugee resettlement project with his congregation.
Bishop Miller believes that welcoming immigrants in and of itself is a tangible way of breaking down boundaries and borders of separation. In Chicago he works to educate others on the destructive and divisive impact that ignorance about America's newcomers has on the life of a church and a community. Bishop Miller continues to be transformed in his search to further understand and speak boldly in support of immigration reform.
Click here to watch a video of Bishop Wayne Miller speaking on immigration
Sister JoAnn Persch and Sister Pat Murphy, Sisters of Mercy, have worked together on justice issues and the accompaniment of marginalized communities for decades. In 1990 they began Su Casa Catholic Worker Community for Central American Refugees seeking political asylum as survivors of torture as part of the Sanctuary Movement. They have continued to live out the prophetic tradition of "Sanctuary" by taking leadership in the Chicago New Sanctuary Coalition. Sister Pat and Sister JoAnn became Peace and Justice Coordinators for the Sisters of Mercy in Chicago and currently continue their work as Peace and Justice Ministers in the Chicago area of the WestMidwest Community. They have been leadesr both locally and nationally in advocating for the rights of immigrants, especially those held in detention. They are two of the coordinators of the Interfaith Committee for Detained Immigrants, a coalition of religious that led the campaign to provide pastoral care for detained immigrants and continued to coordinate that ministry programs at McHenry County Jail and Broadview Detention and Processing Center.
Click here to read a recent article about their work in immigration detention
Join CRLN and Chicago-Cinquera Sister Cities Group as we bowl to raise money to help the town of Cinquera, El Salvador! Spots are available for $25-50 (sliding scale).
Timber Lanes
1851 West Irving Park Road
Chicago, IL 60613-2405
Please contact Gary at gcozette@crln.org or (773) 293-2964 for more information.
"National Coming Out Of The Shadows Day"
Immigrant Rights March and Rally
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
11am Rally at Union Park (Ashland & Lake)
March Step-off at 1pm to arrive at Federal Plaza at 3pm (Dearborn and Jackson)
Look for the CNSC banner at Union Park
Call Stephanie at 773-960-3325 to meet up with the CNSC group
Chicago will come out of the shadows for a mass mobilization on March 10th, 2010.
The Immigrant Youth Justice League (IYJL) is working with community organizations for a mass youth-led immigrant rights mobilization in Chicago, and national coordinated actions by youth and students starting on March 10th, 2010 in support for a path towards citizenship.
IYJL members have been coming out or openly identifying as undocumented immigrants, and speaking about our stories, as a strategy to get the issue of immigration in peoples minds, and on the national agenda. In collaboration with the national youth-led network United We Dream, students and youth from around the country will be organizing coming out of the shadows actions between March 10th and March 21st, starting right here in Chicago.
We live everyday in fear and we are tired of it. We want to be able to talk about our lives and our stories without fearing persecution or deportation. We are not free to travel, go to school, work, live, but we refuse to be helpless.
In Chicago on March 10th, 2010 youth are calling for a community mobilization from Union Park to Federal Plaza, ending with a mass coming out direct action demonstration by undocumented youth. This coming out of the shadows is meant as a call for leadership from Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), who has been supportive of immigrant youth, but has not taken action to pass immigration reform this year. IYJL has also extended an invitation for a place at the table to the Senator, as well as President Barack Obama and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, so that they can hear the proposals for immigration reform from the people that are affected the most.
The Chicago New Sanctuary Coalition is endorsing the event
For more information visit: http://iyjl.wordpress.com/
Join CRLN for Ecumenical Advocacy Days
The theme this year is "A Place Called Home: Immigrants, Refugees, and Displaced Peoples," and is an exciting fit with the work CRLN is doing in regards to Mexico, Colombia, and the Chicago New Sanctuary Coalition!
Click here for more information: http://www.crln.org/Ecumenical_Advocacy_Days_2010
Join CRLN for Ecumenical Advocacy Days
The theme this year is "A Place Called Home: Immigrants, Refugees, and Displaced Peoples," and is an exciting fit with the work CRLN is doing in regards to Mexico, Colombia, and the Chicago New Sanctuary Coalition!
Click here for more information: http://www.crln.org/Ecumenical_Advocacy_Days_2010
Join CRLN for Ecumenical Advocacy Days
The theme this year is "A Place Called Home: Immigrants, Refugees, and Displaced Peoples," and is an exciting fit with the work CRLN is doing in regards to Mexico, Colombia, and the Chicago New Sanctuary Coalition!
Click here for more information: http://www.crln.org/Ecumenical_Advocacy_Days_2010
Breaking Bread with America’s Families: Setting the Table for Immigration Reform
People of faith can make a difference for immigration reform! At the high point of debate, we will gather from faith communities across the country for a witness for just, humane immigration reform on West Lawn of the US Capitol!
For more information visit: www.interfaithimmigration.org or http://breakingbread.ogravitymedia.com/
Join CRLN for Ecumenical Advocacy Days
The theme this year is "A Place Called Home: Immigrants, Refugees, and Displaced Peoples," and is an exciting fit with the work CRLN is doing in regards to Mexico, Colombia, and the Chicago New Sanctuary Coalition!
Click here for more information: http://www.crln.org/Ecumenical_Advocacy_Days_2010
DePaul University, Cortelyou Commons
2324 N. Fremont Street
For more information please contact Dale.Depaul@gmail.com
After a decade marked by frequent visa denials, Cuban students will arrive this week to speak in Chicago on issues affecting young people in Cuba . Yenaivis Fuentes Ascencio, 23, was born in Guantánamo , Cuba . Fuentes completed five years of study at the School of Medical Sciences in Guantánamo and is finishing her sixth and final year of undergraduate medical studies in Havana . Fuentes is serving as the National Public Health Education Coordinator of the Federation of University Students. Aníbal Ramos Socarrás, 30, was born in Manzanillo , Cuba . Ramos is a third-year graduate student in surgery at the Manzanillo School of Medical Sciences at the University of Granma . Ramos served one year in Haiti with a volunteer medical brigade. He is a leader of the Federation of University Students at the School of Medical Sciences in Manzanillo.
Northeastern Illinois University , Science Building Room 101Northeastern Illinois University's main campus is bordered by Bryn Mawr (5600 N) on the north, Foster (5200 N) on the south, Kimball (3400 W) on the east, and Pulaski (4000 W) on the west. For a campus map visit: http://www.neiu.edu/Getting%20to%20NEIU/Getting_to_NEIU.html
After a decade marked by frequent visa denials, Cuban students will arrive this week to speak in Chicago on issues affecting young people in Cuba . Yenaivis Fuentes Ascencio, 23, was born in Guantánamo , Cuba . Fuentes completed five years of study at the School of Medical Sciences in Guantánamo and is finishing her sixth and final year of undergraduate medical studies in Havana . Fuentes is serving as the National Public Health Education Coordinator of the Federation of University Students. Aníbal Ramos Socarrás, 30, was born in Manzanillo , Cuba . Ramos is a third-year graduate student in surgery at the Manzanillo School of Medical Sciences at the University of Granma . Ramos served one year in Haiti with a volunteer medical brigade. He is a leader of the Federation of University Students at the School of Medical Sciences in Manzanillo.
Dr. Luther Castillo is a young Garifuna medical doctor and community organizer who directs the Luaga Hatuadi Waduheñu (Garifuna for "For the Health of our People") Foundation, dedicated to bringing vital health services to isolated indigenous coastal communities. After his 2005 graduation from the Latin American Medical School in Havana, Dr. Castillo returned to the Honduran coast, where he led the Foundation's construction of Honduras' first Garifuna Rural Hospital, now serving some 20,000 in the
surrounding communities. The hospital opened in December 2007, a few months after Dr. Castillo was named "Honduran Doctor of the Year" by Rotary International's Tegucigalpa chapter. Since the military coup on June 28, 2009, the hospital has been closed and subject to many threats and other attacks by the military. Dr. Castillo will speak on what life has been like under the coup, especially in regards to his hospital. Dr. Castillo has just returned from assisting thousands of those wounded by the worst earthquake in 200 years that devastated Haiti on January 12, 2010
Dr. Juan Almendares is an internationally known Honduran medical doctor, human rights activist, environmental leader and alternative medicine practitioner. He holds a medical degree from the University of Honduras, an M.S. degree in Physiology from the University of Pennsylvania Medical School, and is the co-founder of the Honduras Academy of Sciences. A torture survivor who has been targeted by death squads himself, he was internationally chosen to receive the Barbara Chester Award in 2001 for his groundbreaking and outstanding work with prisoners, victims of torture, the poor, and indigenous populations. In 2004, the World Health Organization recognized him for his efforts on tobacco control in Honduras. He has publicly addressed the impact and effects of mining on the Central American environment and people and has devoted considerable effort to reducing the prevalence of violence against women. Also a poet, short-story writer and free-lance journalist and author, Dr. Almendares received Honduras’ highest journalism award from his peers in 2003.
RALLY FOR AMERICA with Senator Durbin
National Day of Action to push for comprehensive immigration reform
Join the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR) to celebrate the contributions of immigrants to Illinois and remind our political leaders that we need their leadership to pass just and humane immigration reform this year.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Seating begins: 10:00 a.m.
Rally: 10:30 a.m.
Teamsters Local 705, 1645 W. Jackson Blvd.,
Click here to download flyer
Cristo Rey Jesuit High School, 22nd Place and Wolcott
See more info and purchase tickets by following this link http://www.crln.org/fiesta
Benefit Event for Casa Migrante in Ciudad Juarez
Sunday, April 11, 6 PM, the Casa Migrante in Ciudad Juarez fundraiser at Galvin Hall in the Sullivan Building (6339 N. Sheridan Road) of Loyola University's Lake Shore Campus
A silent auction will begin the evening (see "events" in Craig's List for a peek at the items offered)
Followed by a screening of the award-winning documentary, Anatomy of Hate: Dialogue for Hope
Tickets are $10 for students and $15 for the general public
To RSVP or for more information please call Rachel 847-491-6640
Click below to download the flyer.
MEXICO'S DRUG WAR
April 15 at 4:00 in Finnegan Auditorium
18,000 people killed since January 2006.
536 executions reported in just 7 days this March.
10,000 Mexican troops occupy Juárez.
Washington just proposed a $331 million plan.
UTEP anthropologist, Dr. Howard Campbell, discusses his new book Drug War Zone: Frontline Dispatches from the Streets of El Paso and Juárez (2010). Book sale and singing will follow.
Co-Sponsored by the Departments of Criminal Justice and Anthropology, the Latin American Studies Program, and CARTE. Contact Prof. Dina Berger, Department of History, with questions at dberge2@luc.edu.
Collins Hall / 624 S Michigan / Room 602
Gloria Rolando has been making films for more than 20 years at ICAIC (the Cuban National Film Institute) and is a founding member of Images of the Caribbean, a film collective dedicated to developing projects that focus on Afro-descendant communities in Cuba. On Thursday, she will screen and discuss the first chapter of her new work-in-progress Breaking the Silence, a project consisting of three chapters dedicated to the history of the Party of the Independents of Color (PIC) in Cuba. The first chapter documents the history of Afro-descendant Cubans’ struggles from colonial times through 1902, when Cuba achieved its independence from Spain.
For more info on Breaking the Silence see: http://www.afrocubaweb.com/gloriarolando/breakingthesilence.htm
For a list of other films by Gloria Rolando see: http://www.afrocubaweb.com/gloriarolando/gloriarolando.htm
2006 Interview with Gloria Rolando by Adventure Divas http://www.adventuredivas.com/divas/cuba/gloria-rolando/
Join CRLN and our partners, 8th Day Center for Justice and US Labor Education in the Americas Project (USLEAP), for an evening of making posters featuring some of Colombia's Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). These posters will be displayed in Federal Plaza on April 19th and then sent on the Washington with the message that it is time to change US policy toward Colombia. For more info, go to www.crln.org/DOPA_2010
Where: 8th Day Center for Justice, 205 W Monroe, 5th Floor
Illinois Maya Ministry Forum - "Immigration Stories"
Saturday, April 17
Our Savior's Lutheran Church, Rockford, Illinois,
Registration: $35.00
Presenter, Rev. David Vásquez, Campus Pastor, Luther College, Decorah, Iowa,
Our Savior's Lutheran Church, Rockford, IL
Rev. Vásquez is presently the campus pastor at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa. During this, his sabbatical year, he has been focusing on migration narratives--in the Bible and in people's lives today--exploring how the immigrant experience mighthelp us better understand our sacred texts while engaging our faith communities in the contemporary conversation about immigration reform. Pastor Vásquez was pivotal in providing support and advocacy for the immigrant community in Postville and Decorah, Iowa, after the largest (to that date) Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid in May 2008.
A play recounting the experience of the Guatemalan and Mexican workers of the May 12, 2008, raid in Postville, Iowa, will be presented that was originally acted out by people who were detained awaiting deportation.
Send check to: Rev. Mike Mulberry; P.O. Box 927; Byron, IL 61010
Join CRLN and our partners at Federal Plaza to display the faces and stories of some of Colombia's 5 million Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). Help raise awareness as we call on our Members of Congress and our President to start a new chapter in US-Colombia Policy.
Federal Plaza is located at Dearborn and Washington, in the Loop.
Last year almost 400,000 immigrants were detained and forcibly removed from the US by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Students, Faith and Community will join together for an overnight vigil calling on President Obama and Congress to stop the deportations that are destroying our families and our communities.
Last year almost 400,000 immigrants were detained and forcibly removed from the US by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Students, Faith and Community will join together for an overnight vigil calling on President Obama and Congress to stop the deportations that are destroying our families and our communities.
Come Join the Annual Immigrant Rights March
You are all invited to join with us in a family-friendly, peaceful and faithful Immigrant Rights March this Saturday, May 1, 2010 at 1:00 pm beginning at Union Park in Chicago (Lake and Ashland) and then the march will step off at 3pm to Daley Plaza in downtown Chicago.
We are marching because:
Our immigrant neighbors are under increasing attacks.
- Deportations increased during President Obama's first year in office, compared to the previous year.
- Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer signed on April 23 what is now the most punitive and sweeping anti-immigrant state law in the nation, making it a crime to be undocumented, and even to solicit work on a street corner.
- Nationwide, the number of hate crimes committed against Hispanics and those perceived to be immigrants has increased each of the past years for which FBI data is available since 1990, according to a 2009 report by the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Education Fund.
We can fix our broken immigration system this year if we stand together in unity. - The momentum is there for Comprehensive Immigration Reform legislation to be passed in the coming months, before the mid-term elections. Proposals include a tough but fair path to citizenship for non-criminal undocumented immigrants, paired with increased security at the border and enforcement of employment law. But we need to call on our elected officials to take courageous action!
As people of faith, we are called to welcome the stranger, to support family unity, and to build communities where all people are respected.
Please join us!
Look for the banners of the Chicago New Sanctuary Coalition (CNSC) and Wellington Avenue UCC; or call the cell phone for Jenny Dale, Coordinator of CNSC at 773-551-1057.
The march steps off at 3:00 pm and ends at Daley Plaza in downtown Chicago
We hope you can join us! For more information, call Jenny Dale at 773-551-1057.
Rice and Beans Dinner on Saturday May 22nd at 5:30 pm
Come see and hear about the recent delegation of the Guatemala Partnership Group, one of the groups that receives funds from CRLN's Pedal for Peace event every year. The evening will include updates on:
- women's micro-credit groups formed in the highlands of Guatemala by Accion Cultural Guatemalteca (Guatemalan Cultural Action, or ACG), a Mayan community organizing association working in over 50 communities in the Guatemalan highlands;
- Gloria Vicente, a Guatemalan Mayan who came to Chicago in 1985 with her family to be in sanctuary at University Church. Now she is working with ACG in a position funded by the UCC-Disciples Board of Global Ministries;
- developments in Saq Ja', a rural community in the department of El Quiche that was the boyhood home of Gloria's father. It was destroyed in the 1980's by the army during the Guatemalan civil conflict, and was resettled in the mid to late 1990's by the community members who survived the attack.
The dinner and presentation will be at University Church, 5655 S. University Ave.,in Chicago. Email shunter-smith@crln.org for more information.
Gary Cozette will speak at a luncheon hosted by the Methodist Federation for Social Action (MFSA) at the Northern Illinois Conference of the United Methodist Church's 2010 Annual Conference. At the luncheon, the MFSA will recognize CRLN with its 2010 Justice award.
For more information,download the attached flier (below) or contact the Reverend Lisl Heymans Paul at revlisl@uic.edu or 847-345-0169.
National Gathering in Detroit
The US Social Forum (USSF) is a movement building process. It is not a conference but it is a space to come up with the peoples’ solutions to the economic and ecological crisis. The USSF is the next most important step in our struggle to build a powerful multi-racial, multi-sectoral, inter-generational, diverse, inclusive, internationalist movement that transforms this country and changes history.
We must declare what we want our world to look like and we
must start planning the path to get there. The USSF provides spaces to learn
from each other’s experiences and struggles, share our analysis of the problems
our communities face, build relationships, and align with our international
brothers and sisters to strategize how to reclaim our world.
Join CRLN staff Gary Cozette, Marilyn McKenna and Jenny Dale at the gathering. For more info, go to http://www.ussf2010.org/ or contact Jenny at jdale@crln.org
National Gathering in Detroit
The US Social Forum (USSF) is a movement building process. It is not a conference but it is a space to come up with the peoples’ solutions to the economic and ecological crisis. The USSF is the next most important step in our struggle to build a powerful multi-racial, multi-sectoral, inter-generational, diverse, inclusive, internationalist movement that transforms this country and changes history.
We must declare what we want our world to look like and we
must start planning the path to get there. The USSF provides spaces to learn
from each other’s experiences and struggles, share our analysis of the problems
our communities face, build relationships, and align with our international
brothers and sisters to strategize how to reclaim our world.
Join CRLN staff Gary Cozette, Marilyn McKenna and Jenny Dale at the gathering. For more info, go to http://www.ussf2010.org/ or contact Jenny at jdale@crln.org
National Gathering in Detroit
The US Social Forum (USSF) is a movement building process. It is not a conference but it is a space to come up with the peoples’ solutions to the economic and ecological crisis. The USSF is the next most important step in our struggle to build a powerful multi-racial, multi-sectoral, inter-generational, diverse, inclusive, internationalist movement that transforms this country and changes history.
We must declare what we want our world to look like and we
must start planning the path to get there. The USSF provides spaces to learn
from each other’s experiences and struggles, share our analysis of the problems
our communities face, build relationships, and align with our international
brothers and sisters to strategize how to reclaim our world.
Join CRLN staff Gary Cozette, Marilyn McKenna and Jenny Dale at the gathering. For more info, go to http://www.ussf2010.org/ or contact Jenny at jdale@crln.org
National Gathering in Detroit
The US Social Forum (USSF) is a movement building process. It is not a conference but it is a space to come up with the peoples’ solutions to the economic and ecological crisis. The USSF is the next most important step in our struggle to build a powerful multi-racial, multi-sectoral, inter-generational, diverse, inclusive, internationalist movement that transforms this country and changes history.
We must declare what we want our world to look like and we
must start planning the path to get there. The USSF provides spaces to learn
from each other’s experiences and struggles, share our analysis of the problems
our communities face, build relationships, and align with our international
brothers and sisters to strategize how to reclaim our world.
Join CRLN staff Gary Cozette, Marilyn McKenna and Jenny Dale at the gathering. For more info, go to http://www.ussf2010.org/ or contact Jenny at jdale@crln.org
National Gathering in Detroit
The US Social Forum (USSF) is a movement building process. It is not a conference but it is a space to come up with the peoples’ solutions to the economic and ecological crisis. The USSF is the next most important step in our struggle to build a powerful multi-racial, multi-sectoral, inter-generational, diverse, inclusive, internationalist movement that transforms this country and changes history.
We must declare what we want our world to look like and we
must start planning the path to get there. The USSF provides spaces to learn
from each other’s experiences and struggles, share our analysis of the problems
our communities face, build relationships, and align with our international
brothers and sisters to strategize how to reclaim our world.
Join CRLN staff Gary Cozette, Marilyn McKenna and Jenny Dale at the gathering. For more info, go to http://www.ussf2010.org/ or contact Jenny at jdale@crln.org
AmericaSpeaks: Our Budget, Our Economy is a national discussion to find common ground on tough choices about our federal budget. Americans from across the country will come together to weigh-in on strategies to ensure a sustainable fiscal future and a strong economic recovery. As a part of this national discussion, on June 26, 2010, thousands of Americans across the country will participate simultaneously in an unprecedented National Town Meeting. The Chicago Meeting will take place at Navy Pier.
Go to http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5874/p/salsa/event/common/public/index.sjs?event_KEY=19959 to register and for more information.
River Forest, IL 60305
Search
Upcoming events
- Delegation to Colombia - Presbyterian Peace Fellowshipon Friday, 03 Feb 2012
- Travel to Cubaon Monday, 06 Feb 2012
- Pedro Pulido's Work Featured at Gallery Swarmon Friday, 17 Feb 2012
- HOME LAND - Albany Park Theater Projecton Friday, 17 Feb 2012
- Bowling to support scholarships in El Salvador!on Saturday, 03 Mar 2012
- Be an Election Observer in El Salvador!on Monday, 05 Mar 2012
- Detained: Immigration and the Prison Industrial Complexon Monday, 19 Mar 2012
- Detained: Immigration and the Prison Industrial Complexon Wednesday, 21 Mar 2012
- Ecumenical Advocacy Days Conference on Friday, 23 Mar 2012
- Detained: Immigration and the Prison Industrial Complexon Saturday, 24 Mar 2012
