I had an awesome weekend last weekend in Atlanta and Fort Benning Georgia, this article (here is a clip) by James Roberts sums up the weekend:
"This is, I feel, one of the most interesting aspects of the weekend: How can an event, which began as an effort to never forget the acts of violence and atrocity carried out on 6 Jesuit priests, their housekeeper, her teenage daughter and tens of thousands more who perished as a result of the S.O.A.'s teaching, now seem to offer...well, so much hope and excitement? I asked several people I met.
"I'm here because I see this as my chance to play a role in taking action not just against the School of the Americas and its practices, but in support of so many issues," said Cathryn Mulhvihill, a Sophomore at Valley Christian High School in San Jose, California. "I think it's awesome, that this started with a group of old people, and now, we've joined them - it's us, students and kids."
Others saw the excitement present in the room as little more than the manifestation of the social justice tradition.
"Everything can't be doom and gloom," said Jim Keady, "we have to be aware that it does exist, but recognize the power to change. That's the challenge of trying to live the Gospel, it sometimes offers us a paradoxical moment in which we have to celebrate suffering, in the struggle for justice." Keady, a former collegiate soccer player, is the Director of 'Educating for Justice', a non-profit based out of Asbury Park, New Jersey. He also organizes the campaign "Team Sweat", which works to educate investors, businesses and consumers about the injustice of sweatshops across the globe and is working to force sports apparel giant Nike to discontinue its use of sweatshop labor.
The same sentiment echoed from others who worked for organizations fighting for social justice. "We're here. We're not talking about it anymore," said Devon Davey of 'Not for Sale', an organization working to stop human trafficking and forced slavery. Davey, a student at San Francisco University continued, "I see our generation as a real force for change.""
Check out the article here:
http://ncronline3.org/drupal/?q=comment/reply/2680