Nov
Sister Cities
Stories from the Sister Cities 25th Anniversary Midwest Tour
From October 3rd to October 19th, Sister Cities celebrated its 25th Anniversary out on the open road between the cornfields visiting our committees in the Midwest. Sister Cities staff members were accompanied by Agustin Menijivar, president of the CCR (the Chalatenango regional wing of CRIPDES), and leader of the historic community or Arcatao; Kenia Ortiz, community leader in San Sebastian, the site of the Commerce Group mine; and Estela Garcia, Salvadoran organizer and new Sister Cities staff member.
We gave several well received presentations about the Salvadoran national reality and social movement at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, Ferris University, Grand Valley State University, Northeastern Illinois University,Newman University and the Dorothy Stang Popular Education High School. We also spoke at community events, met with Congressional representatives and represented Sister Cities at four Occupy encampments.
One of the most exciting parts of the tour was the week we spent in Madison, WI, site of the historic uprising of this past winter. Agustin and Sister Cities staff participated in a city hall meeting with committee members in which the city council voted to renew the official sistering relationship between Madison and Arcatao that was passed for the first time 25 years ago. Madison also hosted this year’s National Gathering, which featured a presentation about the Commerce Group mine in La Union by Kenia Ortez, a presentation about the human rights situation in post-coup Honduras and a lively discussion of the U.S. political and social justice scene. We were also present to celebrate the Madison committee’s 25th anniversary at a community celebration with elected officials and historic committee leaders.
Since Sister Cities is committed to social justice in El Salvador and the U.S., we were eager find out more about the burgeoning Occupy movement and visit some encampments. After our first day of the National Gathering, staff and network members from around the country went down to OccupyMadison, which had just taken over a nearby park. A few days later, staff and Crystal Lake committee member Libby Papplardo participated in a lively march in downtown Chicago as part of OccupyChicago. On our way from Chicago to Kansas we stopped in Iowa City and checked out the impressive OccupyIowa City encampment where protesters were planning a march as part of the October 15th International Day of Action. And on our last day of the tour, in Lawrence, KS, we stopped by OccupyLawrence to show solidarity with shivering protesters who invited us to sit down and talk with them around the campfire.
Seeing the dedication and enthusiasm of protesters in so many cities was inspiring not only for our U.S. born staff, but also for our Salvadoran compañeros, who were glad to see more gringos joining the global movement against capitalism and corporate greed. There are even rumors that San Salvador may join the 1500 other cities worldwide in the movement with its very own Occupy protest. To see more photos from some of the Occupy encampments we visited see our Sister Cities Presente @ Occupy page.
Press coverage of the Sister Cities tour:
Article about Agustin Menjivar´s Presentation at grand Valley State University on Griid.com
Article about human rights abuses in Honduras in The Progressive Magazine
Interview with Agustin Menjivar and Sarah Bishop on the Radio Show of The Progressive Magazine
