Saturday, Dec 15 --- Tour Slideshow + Video

Thank you for visiting the official blog for the Journey for Justice 2007.

Please enjoy the slides and video from this year's trip:
http://blip.tv/file/543863

You can download the video at the above site. Once on site, scroll down and look to the right hand side of the screen for the "Download Windows Media (.wmv)" link. RIGHT CLICK on this link and select "Save Target As..." Next, select where you want to save the file, and click "Save". The download should then begin.

If you have time, please read this article about the housing crisis in New Orleans: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/19/arts/design/19hous.html?hp

One more thing: If you need a good gift idea, consider the latest CD from famed SOA Watch musician Francisco Herrera. Proceeds fund his project, Trabajo Cultural Caminante, which works with local Central American communities to organize for basic needs. Find the CD at www.cdbaby.com/fjherrera. You can listen to his music and find more info on the project.

Friday, Nov 23 --- Video and Updates

I hope everyone had a pleasant Thanksgiving holiday. The Journey for Justice 2007 tour officially came to a close this Wednesday. Carlos, Frankie, and I returned to the West Coast after travelling nearly 3,000 miles in four days. In all, our caravan drove over 6500 miles roundtrip! Thank you for following our journey....

This post contains linked video updates for earlier postings.

Sunday, Nov. 18th: The vigil at the gates of Ft. Benning.

---Watch caravan rider Tiel Rainelli cross the line onto Ft. Benning:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6425827196305187461&hl=en
Tiel sustained only minor scrapes from her crossing, and has healed well. She will be appearing in court in late January and will be sentenced at that time. Tiel is currently homeless and is moving to Ohio to live with her mother. Email is the best way to be in touch with her: tielrainelli@hotmail.com WE ARE PROUD OF YOU TIEL.

---Broken Crosses. Columbus police placed new regulations on crosses to be allowed into the vigil. Watch students having to break (or abandon) their crosses at the police barricade:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7788488381462683894&hl=en

---Sunday Vigil. This video was posted Sunday night, linked again here for your convenience:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7045110805722591527&hl=en

Saturday, Nov. 17th: Rally at the gates

---Watch a brief tour at the gates of Ft. Benning:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2554559286047494804&hl=en

Thursday, Nov 15th: Tour of the Lower Ninth Ward, New Orleans
---Watch a video of our drive through the lower ninth:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3978348877576407696
A special thanks to Jocelyn Sideco for our tour

Tuesday, Nov 20 --- Day 18

Tonight I report to you from Phoenix, Arizona. Thanks to all who've helped us along the way and to make the journey for justice 2007 a success!

An update on Tiel: As you know, Tiel was arrested Sunday after climbing the main gate and landing on the soil of Ft. Benning. She was taken into custody by military police, charged with trespassing, and released later Sunday evening. She was received by friends and flew back to Los Angeles on Monday. She suffered only minor scrapes and bruises after surmounting the trip-strand barb-wire fence. The video of her crossing will be up soon... As soon as I have a spare minute I'll edit and put it up.

The rest of the Caravan is in good shape, if not a bit sore (and tired) from long hours in the van. Since Sunday, Carlos, Frankie, and I have driven over 1900 miles... One thousand of them today. We logged 15 hours in the van today - From Austin to Phoenix - and I think that's enough to make anybody crazy. We've been well received by friends in Arizona, however, and are in good spirits.

Yesterday (Monday), we travelled from New Orleans to Austin. A section of the I-10 near Lafayette had been destroyed over the weekend by a natural gas explosion, so we had to take a 60-mile detour to get back on track. Once in Austin, our group was interviewed by the local community radio station about our journey, the weekend in Columbus, and the role of the SOA in US foreign policy. 91.7 KOOP fm's "Bringing Light into Darkness" program, hosted by Pedro Gatos, broadcast our discussion to the Austin region. I will try to get a copy of that conversation for the blog... I'll let you know. KOOP.org is the website for the station, though at this time it isn't possible to listen to past shows.

Tomorrow we will again visit Fr. Louie Vitale in prison at El Centro, California. For more on Fr. Louie, see http://journeyforjustice2007.blogspot.com/2007/11/remembering-fr.html and also
http://journeyforjustice2007.blogspot.com/2007/11/letter-from-fr-louie-and-fr-steve.html.

One more thing: Since we began keeping track just 7 days ago, this blog has been viewed over 300 times by more than 200 people from around the country... and the world. Thank you for being part of our journey!

Sunday, Nov 18 --- The Vigil

Welcome! Today marks the 17th anniversary of the vigil and solemn procession at the gates of Ft. Benning, Georgia to peacefully call for the closing of the US Army's School of the Americas.

A record crowd of over 25,000 peaceful demonstrators gathered today to call for an end to US training of Central and South American soldiers at the notorious SOA/WHINSEC.

The vigil is primarily composed of a solemn procession during which the names of thousands of the victims who have died by the hands of those trained at the SOA are sung aloud... followed by a resounding "Presente" from the crowd. We remember those who have perished at the hands of injustice by raising white crosses as the names are sung... each cross bears the name of a woman, man, or child who died by this violence. We will not forget!

Watch video of the event: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7045110805722591527&hl=en

11 prisoners of conscience crossed the line today. In other words, eleven wonderful people made the conscious decision to cross onto the grounds of Ft. Benning, an act deemed to be a federal crime by our government. These 11 stand in solidarity with Latin Americans who have suffered the crimes committed by those trained at the SOA, and have risked much to demonstrate their disapproval of the continued operation of the school.

Caravan rider Tiel Rainelli of Los Angeles was among those who crossed the line onto Ft. Benning. She climbed up and over a barb-wire chain-link fence before being arrested by military police. WAY TO GO TIEL!!!

Video of of Tiel's crossing will be coming soon.




SOA Watch founder Fr. Roy Bourgeois leads the procession along with presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich
Remembering those who have died at the hands of students trained at the SOA
In a first for the Sunday vigil, Columbus police placed length and girth restrictions on the size of crosses that could be carried into the vigil. Citing larger crosses as potential deadly weapons, police required that thousands of crosses bearing the names of Central and South American citizens killed by graduates of the SOA be broken down in order to conform to these new regulations
Many crosses were simply too thick to break, and had to be abandoned. Officers turned away from the camera as I took the picture above.Demonstrators were able to arrange some of these crosses along the road. Too strong to be intimidated by such tactics, participants in today's events continued stronger. Thousands of people! This view looking toward the stage, with the gates of the Fort behind it
This view facing toward the entrance to the demonstration
Three fences have been erected to "protect" the fort from those devilish protesters....
Countless thousands of crosses, each bearing the name of a victim of a student trained at the SOA, transform the fence from a symbol of separation and oppression into one of remembrance, love, and solidarity.

A special thanks to all those who participated in and have supported the movement to close the School of the Americas. The sheer size of the demonstration today is a sign that public awareness is growing... for more information, please visit: soaw.org

Saturday, Nov 17 --- Day 17

The main event today was a rally at the gates of Ft. Benning. Music, speeches, and remembrances were par for this sunny, clear day. Many veterans of the SOA protest agreed that today was the largest Saturday crowd anyone could remember. Our numbers are growing, and the majority of the crowd was composed of students and young people.

With these pictures I hope to convey a sense of the sheer size of this peaceful, dedicated group.

Friday, Nov 16 --- Day 14

Today we left New Orleans and drove up to Columbus, GA. San Francisco to Columbus, in two weeks! It was wonderful to arrive and meet with friends from around the country. We all went our own ways in Columbus, busy with various events at the convention center.

Sorry, no pictures today... after New Orleans I needed a break. More to come though...

Thursday, Nov 15 --- Day 13

Today Carlos spoke to a Latin American studies class in the morning, followed by an early afternoon presentation to law students at Loyola Law School.

Latin American studies class

At dusk we participated in a prayer vigil and sendoff event for Loyola students travelling to the SOA protest this weekend in Columbus. A powerful event. Have a safe trip, Loyola.

Earlier in the afternoon we were given a two-hour tour of the damage done in New Orleans by Katrina. I'll let the pictures say the rest. We toured Lakeview, Gentilly Woods, the Upper Ninth, and the Lower Ninth Ward. Keep in mind that Katrina hit over TWO YEARS ago. While some have remodeled and rebuilt, many have not been so fortunate. Katrina was only the beginning of the disaster for most; political and economic corruption and greed have exploited and marginalized thousands upon thousands of New Orleans residents.

Lakeview Area:

Rubble is all that remains of demolished homes

Shopping areas still sit, vacated

Residents who can rebuild, do. Many have lived in trailers since the storm. The wealthier neighborhoods have recovered faster.

Gentilly Woods:

Tour Guide Jocelyn points to the floodwater level in a now-gutted home

Lower Ninth Ward:

The city hasn't even replaced street signs in the lower ninth. The few brave remaining locals have erected their own. Grass and bushes reclaim land on which hundreds of homes once stood.

The lower ninth is on the right. A quarter-mile stretch of the levy was destroyed.

The Upper-Ninth

The Projects, still abandoned. As of today, the city has not rebuilt a single one of its projects. Thousands of units remain uninhabitable.

Today was a somber day on the Journey for Justice. While we speak about human rights in Central and South America, we cannot ignore the fight for justice on US soil. Please visit the following links for more info about the case of New Orleans...

http://www.peopleshurricane.org/news/

http://roadtola.org/

http://www.justiceforneworleans.org/

http://thinknola.com/instiki/wiki/show/Citizens'+Road+Home+Action+Team

http://abc26.trb.com/news/wgno_111407roadhome,0,3586947.story?coll=wgno-news-1)

Wednesday, Nov 14 --- Day 12

New Orleans, here we come! The caravan left Houston early this morning to get a head start on our drive to New Orleans. As the I-10 continues East the landscape becomes progressively greener and the atmosphere more humid. Long stretches of the freeway are built on stilts above miles and miles of swampland. The last stretch into the city crosses a portion of the Southwest corner of Lake Pontchartrain, with the downtown visible far in the distance. This approach makes for a gorgeous view.
Crossing the Mississippi River in Baton Rouge

Raised freeways cross miles of swampland

An oil refinery in the distance... a common sight on the gulf coast
Vestiges of Katrina were visible as we passed a crumpled blue house washed up against the shore of the lake. More on this later

We arrived at Loyola University early in the afternoon. What a school! We are guests in one of the campus dormitories and it has been nice to meet local students. After a late lunch, Carlos spoke to an advanced Spanish history class about the his torture experiences in El Salvador and the role of the SOA in US foreign policy.

Martyrs Week at Loyola U


Later in the afternoon we visited with a local representative of the nonprofit Interfaith Worker Justice. We learned much about working conditions for minorities, local economic policy, and the extensive reconstruction corruption in New Orleans post Hurricane Katrina. Please visit this page on the IWJ website to learn more:

http://iwj.org/actnow/gccre.html

Tomorrow we have several speaking engagements and will take part in a vigil for the Jesuit Martyrs and a sendoff event for the 30 Loyola students travelling to protest at Ft Benning this weekend. We also hope to squeeze in a tour of the city, so be sure to check back for pictures.

Before I go, I've got to mention one thing: This is my first trip to New Orleans, and ever since Katrina I have felt a need to see with my own eyes the damage done not only by the storm itself, but by the ensuing corruption, scandal, and outright injustices committed by those in power who have "guided" reconstruction of the city. Tonight we swallowed hard as we passed through a decadent middle class neighborhood in mid-town on our way to the IWJ. Within two blocks, we counted no less than five homes - their first floors gutted - with huge piles of debris awaiting removal in the front yard. At least two homes had trailers parked in the driveway, presumably for residence during renovation. This is over TWO years after the storm... and in a nice neighborhood. I fear we've only seen the beginning, however, and there shall be much more to report after tomorrow.

Be well!