Investing in Sanctuary

Investing in Sanctuary:
Freedom to Stay, Freedom to Move, Freedom to Return

In a post-9/11 world, more than 70 border walls have been erected across the globe. The rights of migration, mobility, and movement are under attack and we must defend the freedom to stay, freedom to move, and freedom to return. Come learn about border walls, those who are profiting from them, and celebrate international resistance taking place around the world to defend human dignity and resistance to walls in their many forms. The event will include speakers live music and photo exhibitions..

Speakers:
PJ Podesta and Alex Mensing, Pueblo Sin Fronteras. P.J. is an organizer with Pueblo Sin Fronteras, one of the lead organizations accompanying the current migrant caravan traveling from Honduras to the United States. Alex is an advocacy coordinator at Innovation Law Lab and works on accompaniment and legal support for members of migrant caravans and others fighting incarceration and deportation. PJ will be joined on by Alex Mensing, a fellow organizer with Pueblo Sin Fronteras, who will livestream from the caravan in Mexico.

Nellie Jo David organizes for indigenous human rights and autonomy on the imposed U.S./Mexico borderlands intersecting the Tohono O’odham Nation. Nellie is from Ajo, Arizona, traditionally Hia-Ced O’odham territory. Nellie was inspired to raise awareness on border issues upon witnessing the increased militarization of her community. She dedicates her work to migrant justice issues and protecting the rights of indigenous peoples and wildlife along the border. Nellie obtained her J.D. with a certificate in indigenous law and policy from Michigan State University in 2014.

Lara Kiswani is the executive director of the Arab Resource and Organizing Center (AROC), a grassroots organization working to address economic, social, and political impacts of anti-Arab racism by organizing Arab and Muslim communities around principles of justice and self-determination for all. A Palestinian born in the Bay Area, Lara completed her undergraduate studies at UC Davis, where she helped establish the Middle East/South Asia minor. She earned an MA in Education at San Francisco State University where she is a lecturer in the department of Ethnic Studies.

And more…

Moderator: 
Rev. Deborah Lee: Deborah Lee serves as the Executive Director of the Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity, an organization that connects people of faith to the work of social justice. IM4Human Integrity builds faith-rooted solidarity, direct actions and advocacy in partnership with frontline communities dedicated to immigrant justice and ending the criminalization of people of color. They currently support and foster a Northern California Sanctuary Network of over 50 congregations who are responding to the wave of migrant youth and families and the detention and deportation crisis.

This event is one of several hundred international events promoting a World Without Walls this November. Co-sponsors include:
Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity
Oakland Community Organizations
Bay Area Sanctuary Network
California Immigrant Youth Justice Alliance
Faith In Action
East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy
Skyline Community Church – United Church of Christ
Lakeshore Avenue Baptist Church
Ecumenical Peace Institute
First Congregational Church of Oakland Prophetic Public Witness Team
O’odham Anti-Border Collective
Friends of Sabeel North America (FOSNA)
NorCal Friends of Sabeel
American Friends Service Committee
CAIR – San Francisco Bay Area,
Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM),
AROC: Arab Resource & Organizing Center
Jewish Voice for Peace – Bay Area
Middle East Children’s Alliance

You can also support this event and donate at:
www.im4humanintegrity.org/worldwithoutwalls-donations