Building Justice Through Solidarity and Direct Action
School of the Assassins
Co-Presented by: Cinema Arts Centre and
The School of the Americas Watch (LI SOA Watch)
Cinema Arts Centre, 423 Park Avenue, Huntington, NY
Friday April 3, 2009, 7:30 P.M.
Speaker: Fr. Roy Bourgeois, Founder
School of the Americas Watch
This Academy Award nominated Documentary provided the early inspiration for the Movement which has grown to thousands since its start in 1992.
For the last seventeen years, a movement inspired, founded, and directed by Fr. Roy Bourgeois, has developed, aimed at closing the School of the Americas. This institution, established by our government in 1946, originally based in Panama, now located here in our Country, has trainedCentral and South American soldiers who have participated in some of the worst atrocities committed in our hemisphere. The Movement has grown to the point of bringing together over 20,000 people each year, at it's annual vigil at Ft. Benning in Georgia, the militarybase where the School is now located. The focus of SOAW, with localchapters all over the Country, has expanded over the years, to bring light to US policy in general. Come andmeet and hear Fr. Roy as he weaves the collective School closingeffort into twenty years of experience, including, "Now", as the most hopeful time for closing to take place, the involvement with indigenous movements, the interaction with foreign governments, the role of the School in our economic order,the inspiration derived from contact with the memory of Franz Jaegerstatter, and the need for solidarity in this closing effort, with particular emphasis on the role of women. Thousands protest yearly at the SOA, and the movement has formed a nucleus of the peace and justice movement. Currently, six persons are serving federal sentences for “trespassing” onto the military base, Ft. Benning. The Catholic Church recently threatened to ex-communicate Fr. Roy for his support of women priests. In the last Congress,legislation to closeSOA/WHINSEC came within just six votes of passingin Congress
Victory is within reach this year with the new Congress!
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Sponsored by: Veterans for Peace, Chapter 138, Pax Christi,
North Country Peace (co-sponsor list is in formation)
For more information Contact: Bill McNulty (631) 751-2097
Mara Bard (516) 379-8522
Agnes Kelly (516) 795-1085