Provocative Interview

Democracy Now - A daily TV/radio news program, hosted by Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez, airing on over 800 stations, pioneering the largest community media collaboration in the U.S

Charles Bowden on Murder City: Ciudad Juárez and the Global Economy’s New Killing Fields

Take a look at this provocative interview to hear a long-time international news reporter discuss his most recent publication.

Why I am going to Juarez

Hello, my name is Nina and I am preparing to be part of the Michigan Peace Team in Juarez this fall. I was a missionary in South Amirica and learned so much from the poor. Their deepest hunger was to live in peace and that has become my deepest desire. I wish to be in solidarity with the people in Juarez knowing the suffering that is being lived there.

Megan: What Calls me to Ciudad Juárez

I will be traveling to Ciudad Juárez, Mexico this fall as a member of Michigan Peace Teams to partake in non-violent human rights work.

Previous to Mexico, I have traveled throughout Latin America witnessing and accompanying everyday people in their struggle to maintain or regain sustainable, peaceful livelihoods. From what I have learned both abroad and at home in the United States of our government's 'standard operating procedure', I feel very responsible for the violent atrocities and corporate takeover throughout the Americas, and in this case, in neighboring Mexico. I believe that the roots of the drug trade, violence, poverty and mass migration in the borderlands are economic insecurity much ensured by the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) of 1994.

I want to work in Mexico because I believe that Mexican citizens hold the solutions to their decades old obstacles, and that they deserve solidarity from U.S. citizens.

If we are silent now in this phase of their struggle, when Mexicans are making courageous acts of nonviolence, then we are complicit in the oppression. I believe that our presence of non-violent solidarity has the power to create the space for organizing toward peaceful alternatives, denouncing the current violence and oppression, and healing and forgiveness.

Please support the Fall 2010 Juárez Michigan Peace Team and our Mexican partners by following this blog, responding to urgent actions, and donating to Michigan Peace Teams.

From Sandra - Why I am going to Juarez

Hola, soy Sandra!

This fallI will be serving as part of the Michigan Peace Team in Juarez, Mexico because I feel called to respond to an invitation from the city's residents to help create awareness of the possibility and potency of non-violence.

I invite those who read this blog to consider what it must feel like to raise a family in a city referred to by the international press as the Murder Capital of the World. For my part, I plan to provide some insight by using my skills as a narrator of life histories to communicate the stories of women and families who live under the daily threat of violence.

Firmly believing that meeting violence with violence is NOT the answer, this summer I am training with my team mates from across the U.S.A. to learn to foster a non-violent response that will be stronger than the code of silence that now reigns in neighborhoods controlled by drug cartels. As international witnesses we will stand in solidarity so that our nearest neighbors to the south will know that they are not alone.

The experiences and skills we learn while in Juarez will inform the work that each of us does in our home communities. In my case, this means continuing to work with a communal garden recently started in my neighborhood with the goal of nourishing a culture of cooperation so that we feel safe and connected.

Juárez Team Intro- Angela

Hello everyone,

My name is Angela and I am training to be a participant in the 2010 Fall Juárez team. As a group I hope that we can help initiate and place a peaceful presence within the city of Juárez. My biggest challenge will be learning to deal with the serious situations that are currently taking place in Juárez. I feel that I can bring strengths to the team through my past experiences and as a team we can develop a unified presence. I am a recent graduate and hope that my experiences will help me in Juárez. I plan on using the experiences that I gain while participating in the team to help me in my future career work.

Check back for more from us soon!!

Angie