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26

June
2019 Pedal for Peace Beneficiaries
June 26, 2018 Claudia Lucero Events

2019 Pedal for Peace Bike-a-thon

Beneficiary groups and project descriptions

To donate to Pedal for Peace, click on the name of any group. Donations will be divided equally among the groups. 

Chicago Religious Leadership Network on Latin America (CRLN)  

Founded 30 years ago, CRLN builds partnerships among social movements and organized communities within and between the U.S. and Latin America.  We work together through popular education, grassroots organizing, public policy advocacy, and direct action to dismantle U.S. militarism, neoliberal economic and immigration policy, and other forms of state and institutional violence.  We are united by our liberating faiths and inspired by the power of people to organize and to find allies to work for sustainable economies, just relationships and human dignity. Because CRLN has dedicated restricted funds for travel scholarships and for the support of human rights defenders, Pedal for Peace donations will go for general operating support of our regular programming.

Contact person: Sharon Hunter-Smith, shunter-smith@crln.org

 

 

Chicago-Cinquera Sister Cities  

Cinquera, El Salvador, is a small community of around 3,000 people in the central part of the country.  In 1992, Cinquera, which had been abandoned during the horrific civil war, was repopulated after the peace accord.  Chicago-Cinquera Sister Cities has been working with a progressive community organization, the ARDM, for many years.  This year, the ARDM has again designated Pedal for Peace donations for scholarships for five college students who are majoring in computer science, agricultural engineering and education.  The donations will cover their enrollment fees, tuition, transportation, food and housing.  During and upon completion of their studies, the students have made a commitment to live in and work on behalf of the Cinquera community and to support the scholarship program for future students.

Contact person:  Jim Hoover, jimmyishere@hotmail.com

 chicago-cinquera.org

 

Chicago-Guatemala Partnership  

Saq Ja’, Guatemala, is a rural Mayan community of around 50 families located in the western highlands.  The community was destroyed in 1981-82 during the Guatemalan civil war, many survived in the wilderness for years and returned to resettle their lands after the Peace Accords in 1996.  After much hard work, they succeeded in building a primary and middle school to educate children through 9th grade.  The Chicago-Guatemala Partnership, which has accompanied the community since 1999, will again designate this year’s Pedal for Peace funds toward support for the middle school and scholarships for those going on to higher levels of schooling. In addition, money may be used to support a school trip to the ruins of an ancient Mayan city at Tikal to learn about their Mayan history and heritage.

Contact person:   Mary Naftzger, maryandbob.n@sbcglobal.net 

 

Concern America (C/A)

The Pedal for Peace Bike-a-thon will support C/A’s community-centered health and leadership program in rural Afro-Colombian and Indigenous communities in the isolated and war-torn Chocó region of Colombia, providing primary health care services to 20,000 people previously without access to such services. This innovative and successful model, known as Health Promoter Practitioners (HPPs), engages the most valuable resource in every village–the people themselves. With a depth of knowledge, skills, and ability to provide health care comparable to the work of nurse practitioners in the U.S, HPPs are able to meet 80% of the community’s health care needs. This year, the program will build its own HPP-run clinic training center and dormitories for course participants, a huge step! Funds received from Pedal for Peace will help equip the new program center.

Contact  person:  John Straw, jstraw@concernamerica.org

 

 

La Voz de los de Abajo   

La Voz de los de Abajo has worked in solidarity with campesino and indigenous organizations in Honduras for nearly 15 years on community radio projects, human rights accompaniment and support for initiatives by small farmers and their organizations. Since the coup in June 2009, it has also organized multiple delegations from the U.S. to Honduras to provide human rights accompaniment to the organizations and communities resisting the coup.  2019 Pedal for Peace funds will be sent to the National Center for Rural Workers (CNTC), which provides legal and organizational accompaniment to thousands of campesinos struggling for land reform. In addition, funds will be used to support Garifuna health and educational initiatives.

Contact person:  Vicki Cervantes, vickicervantes@yahoo.com

 

 

Autonomous Tenants Association  

The Autonomous Tenants Union (ATU) engages in grassroots organizing alongside tenants, leveraging the power of tenant unions to halt evictions, keep rent affordable, and preserve our community through advocacy and education. We recognize that our struggle for housing justice is deeply connected to other struggles, which is why we collaborate with organizations around the city to mutually support one another in our growth. Currently ATU is part of the Lift the ban campaign that is trying to repeal the provision at the state level that prohibits rent control to be implemented in any municipality. ATU is collaborating on this coalition and, if achieved, it will open the door for more campaign organizing around passing a rent control ordinance in the city of Chicago, which will impact tenants across the city for years to come.

Contact person: Antonio Gutiérrez, gutierrez.atu@gmail.com

 

 

 

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26

June
“Healing a Broken World: Allies in the Non-violent Struggle for Justice”: Pax Christi Illinois Annual Gathering
June 26, 2018 Claudia Lucero

How can we become allies of poor communities of color around the world in their nonviolent struggles for social justice and peace?

Join Pax Christi Illinois at their Annual Gathering. All are welcome!

PRESENTER: Marie Dennis is co-president of Pax Christi Interna-tional (the global Catholic peace movement). From 1989-2012 Marie served as the director the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns, She also served as chairperson of the Pax Christi USA National Council. She holds a masters degree in moral theology from Washington Theological Union and an honor-ary doctorate from Trinity Washington University and has authored and co-authored seven book.

Co-sponsored by CRLN.

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21

June
Families Belong Together- Chicago March
June 21, 2018 Claudia Lucero

Date: Saturday, June 30

Time: 11 AM- 1 PM

Place: Richard J. Daley Center

CRLN will meet at 10:30 AM on the sidewalk in front of the Methodist Temple (77 W. Washington St., Chicago), then walk over to Daley Plaza to join the march.

Join together to protest this administration’s cruel policy of separating kids from their parents. Families belong together, and we need to end this — NOW.

A coalition of Immigrant Rights groups and allies, along with others are helping organize the Families Belong Together – Chicago March.

If you can’t make it to Chicago, go to FamiliesBelongTogether.org for more information on local events across the country.

Note: By choosing to attend this event, you are committing to participate nonviolently, to work to de-escalate confrontations with others, and to obey the orders of authorized event marshals. You also acknowledge that you are solely responsible for any injury or damage to your person or property resulting from or occurring during this event and that you release all event sponsors and organizers (and their officers, directors, employees, and agents) from any liability for that injury or damage.

ASL interpreters will be provided. Additional accessibility information will be posted as details of the rally are finalized.

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19

June
“Memory, Truth and Justice in Guatemala”
June 19, 2018 Claudia Lucero

Maria Luisa Rosal, staff person at the School of the Americas Watch, will be in Chicago to talk about the importance of historical memory in relation to the disappearance and assassination of people during the Guatemalan civil war (1960-1996), U.S. involvement in that war, the efforts of family members to find out the truth of what happened to their loved ones, and the effort to find justice in the courts. She will update us on the progress of judicial proceedings against generals and high level officials who are accused of ordering these human rights crimes. All events open to the public.

Group Date Time Location
University Church 10/13/2018 7:00 pm Sanctuary Café, 5655 S. University Ave., Chicago
Glencoe Union Church 10/14/2018 11:00am – 12:00pm 263 Park Ave, Glencoe, IL 60022
DePaul University 10/15/2018 9:40-11:10am Arts & Letters Hall, Room 102

2315 N. Kenmore, Chicago
DePaul University 10/15 1:00-2:30pm Levan Hall, Room 100

2322 N. Kenmore,

Chicago
North Park University 10/15/2018 4:00pm Brorson Lounge, Old Main
DePaul University 10/16/2018 11:20am -12:50pm Arts and Letters, Room 204

2315 N Kenmore Ave, Chicago, IL 60614
Loyola University 10/16/2018 7:00 – 8:30pm Lake Shore Campus

6339 N Sheridan Rd, Chicago, IL 60660

Damen MPR

 

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18

June
2018 Pedal for Peace Bike-a-thon
June 18, 2018 Claudia Lucero

Pedal for Peace supports health, education, legal aid, and community organizing in Latin America and Chicago. For a list of beneficiaries, click here. Sign up to ride 12- or 24-miles and find sponsors and people to pledge to donate to your ride to support Pedal for Peace projects.

Registration:

Click here to register online and select your t-shirt size.  There is an option at this online registration site to mail a check to CRLN or bring it to the Pedal for Peace site on the day of the event rather than pay online, but you must register online. If you want to collect pledges in person, click here for an information and pledge list.

$10 student/low income; $15 after September 9, 2018

$20 adult; $25 after September 9, 2018

Children 12 and under free

If you prefer to reach out in person, keep track of checks and cash through this form (which can be turned in the afternoon of Pedal for Peace or mailed to CRLN at 4750 N. Sheridan Rd., Suite 429, Chicago, IL  60640-5078).

Location:

Main registration, starting point, fiesta and program site – Lincoln Park Grove 13 (west side of Barry Ave. underpass to Chicago Lakefront Bike Path)

Alternative registration and starting point – Dog Water Fountain (55th Street and Chicago Lakefront Bike Path)

Schedule and Route:

1:00 Gather and Ride! Choose the 12- or 24-mile loop and ride along the beautiful Chicago Lakefront Bikepath. 

3:30 Fiesta & Program! Relax, enjoy food and conversation at the main site (Grove 13) and hear about the work of the participating groups.

Riders Receive refreshments on the ride, food at the post-pedal fiesta, and a free T-shirt!

Bring with you:

Bike, helmet, cell phone, collected pledges and sponsorship checks.

Volunteer:

Email shunter-smith@crln.org with your name, email address, and phone number if you can support Pedal for Peace in any of the following ways:

  • prepare a dish of food to share at the fiesta

  • request a food donation from a restaurant for the fiesta

  • ask for a contribution to support the event from a business in your community

  • make a contribution to support another biker or to support the event in general

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18

June
Keep Families Together! Rally for Yesica!
June 18, 2018 Claudia Lucero

 

Date: Thursday, June 21

Time: Noon

Place: Federal Plaza

Come rally with CRLN’s Immigrant Welcoming Congregations and others in the wider religious community opposed to ICE and CBP’s family separation strategy to deter asylum seekers and immigrants. We will rally to ask Senators Durbin and Duckworth to call ICE in support of releasing Yesica, a young woman who was separated from her family at the border, even though they were all threatened by gang members in El Salvador and were seeking asylum. She has been detained for 2 years.

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15

June
Faith Leader Sign-On Letter to Free Yesica
June 15, 2018 Claudia Lucero Immigration

Contact SHunter-Smith@crln.org by June 20th to sign on! See copy of letter to Senator Durbin below. An identical letter will be sent to Senator Duckworth. 

 

June 21, 2018

Senator Richard J. Durbin
John C. Kluczynski Federal Building
230 S. Dearborn St., #3892
Chicago, IL 60604

Dear Senator Durbin,

We write to you as leaders of Christian, Jewish and Muslim congregations and Organizations in the Greater Chicago area to ask that you personally contact Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to request a stay of deportation and release on order of supervision for Yesica Jovel (A-208276158). Her family, who have a pending case for asylum, is sponsored by Lake Street Church in Evanston. Yesica’s situation concerns us greatly for the following reasons:

1) First and foremost, as people of faith, we are grounded in our religious practices of welcoming the immigrant and the stranger. Our scriptures enjoin us to have the same laws governing immigrants that we have governing ourselves, to treat others as we would like to be treated ourselves, to treat others as fellow children of the one God. We find ourselves living in a time and a place when immigration policy and enforcement practices are most egregiously counter to these tenets of our faith.

2) In Yesica’s case, we are alarmed that although her entire family had been threatened with death by MS-13 in El Salvador after gang members killed Yesica’s father, only Yesica’s mother and two brothers were allowed to come to Evanston to apply for asylum, while Yesica was separated from her family at the border and
coerced by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to agree to deportation. This strikes us as an unfair application of the law as it pertains to asylum seekers; ICE took advantage of Yesica’s youth and inexperience to frighten her into agreeing to deportation, which is at the root of all that happened next. Our faith, in contrast, calls us to be particularly attentive to and protective of the most vulnerable among us.

3) In El Salvador, she went to live with relatives and was sexually abused by an uncle. She moved in with other relatives, but he kept hunting her down. MS-13 also learned that she was back in El Salvador and began persecuting her again. Finally, in desperation for her life, she fled again to the U.S., hoping to be reunited with her family. She was detained after crossing the border in Texas and has remained in detention for two years, despite the best efforts of Lake Street Church members and her lawyer to have her released. We believe she had no choice but to leave her
country given the threats against her life; given the trauma she experienced, she needs the comfort and care of her family to heal. Nevertheless, ICE and the courts in Texas, so far, have only focused on the fact that she crossed the border twice, instead
of questioning ICE’s separation of the family. Her lawyer is still appealing that ruling.

4)As a survivor of sexual assault, persecution, torture and the murder of her father, and as a lesbian,Yesica is a member of several protected social groups under international asylum law. We believe that Attorney General Sessions’ announcement last week removing membership in several of these social group categories as valid considerations for asylum puts the U.S. at odds with international law, with U.S. asylum case law since the 1990’s, and certainly goes against our religious mandate to care for the welfare of all God’s children. We hope that you and others in the Senate will challenge Attorney General Sessions’ new ruling on who qualifies for asylum.

 

We strongly support Lake Street Church’s efforts to advocate for a stay of deportation and release from detention for Yesica Jovel. We appeal to you to use the power of your office to personally contact ICE officials on behalf of her release so that the suffering of this young woman can end.

Sincerely,

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5

June
Support Disaster Relief in Guatemala
June 5, 2018 Claudia Lucero Central America

On Sunday, Guatemala’s volcano Fuego erupted twice with explosive force, sending ash skyward upwards of 15 kilometers and releasing lava and 100 m.p.h. pyroclastic flows that buried communities close to it.  At present, more than 3,200 people have been evacuated, but the death toll is at 69 and expected to increase.

 

We’ve listed below links to trustworthy organizations in Guatemala that are doing direct relief work and receiving donations to help assist with buying medicine, cleaning supplies, and clothing; rebuilding homes and communities; and other aspects of disaster relief. Some of these organizations are also posting daily updates on their work.

 

Common Hope: https://www.commonhope.org – click on the “For more information” in the red bar. There is a donation link at the bottom of the information.

 

Wings:  https://wingsguate.giv.sh/6a14

 

Friends of Guatemala: https://www.facebook.com/fogrpcv/posts/1638548842927425?hc_location=ufi – earmark “Volcan de Fuego” (donation button is on the facebook page)

 

Alticultura: https://www.gofundme.com/Alticultura – earmark donations for “Volcan de Fuego”

 

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25

May
“Political Crisis and Human Rights in Honduras,” Angel Adelso Reyes
May 25, 2018 Claudia Lucero

8th Day Center for Justice Speaker Series: Angel Adelso Reyes

Meet Adelso! Ángel Adelso Reyes is a parish coordinator and president of the health committee of San Nicolas, Santa
Barbara. He serves as president of the commitee for ecclesiastical work of the San Nicolas Catholic Church and
coordinates the Multi-Sector Network of vulnerable groups inSan Nicolas. He is part of the group of Friends of Radio Progreso (ECOS), which supports the promotion of the radio in the valley zones in his area of Santa Barbara.

HONDURAS IS SUFFERING A DEEP CRISIS. THIS HAS NOT STOPPED JESUIT FATHER MELO AND HIS TEAM FROM CONTINUING THEIR VALIANT WORK AS ONE OF THE FEW INDEPENDENT MEDIA SOURCES IN THE COUNTRY THROUGH RADIO PROGRESO AND AT THE CENTER FOR REFLECTION, RESEARCH & TRAINING (ERIC) WHERE THEY IDENTIFY, RECRUIT AND TRAIN THE NEXT GENERATION OF LEADERS TO BUILD THE BELOVED COMMUNITY, AND TO AMPLIFY THE VOICES OF THOSE WHO ARE SOCIALLY, ECONOMICALLY OR POLITICALLY MARGINALIZED.

THIS MAY 2018, FATHER MELO AND A DELEGATION OF VICTIMS AND HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS FROM HONDURAS WILL TRAVEL ON A TOUR TO EL PASO, SAN FRANCISCO, BOSTON AND CHICAGO TO TESTIFY ABOUT THE RISING REPRESSION IN HONDURAS AND CALL FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE. FOLLOWING THESE VISITS, THEY WILL TRAVEL TO WASHINGTON DC FOR A NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER FOR
PEACE IN HONDURAS AND A SERIES OF MEETINGS WITH CONGRESSIONAL AND
RELIGIOUS LEADERS.

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25

May
May 25, 2018 Claudia Lucero

8th Day Center for Justice Speaker Series:  Angel Adelso Reyes

Meet Adelso! Ángel Adelso Reyes is a parish coordinator and president of the health committee of San Nicolas, Santa
Barbara. He serves as president of the commitee for ecclesiastical work of the San Nicolas Catholic Church and
coordinates the Multi-Sector Network of vulnerable groups in San Nicolas. He is part of the group of Friends of Radio
Progreso (ECOS), which supports the promotion of the radio in the valley zones in his area of Santa Barbara.

HONDURAS IS SUFFERING A DEEP CRISIS. THIS HAS NOT STOPPED JESUIT FATHER MELO AND HIS TEAM FROM CONTINUING THEIR VALIANT WORK AS ONE OF THE FEW INDEPENDENT MEDIA SOURCES IN THE COUNTRY THROUGH RADIO PROGRESO AND AT THE CENTER FOR REFLECTION, RESEARCH & TRAINING (ERIC) WHERE THEY IDENTIFY, RECRUIT AND TRAIN THE NEXT GENERATION OF LEADERS TO BUILD THE BELOVED COMMUNITY, AND “TO BE THE VOICE OF THE VOICELESS.”

THIS MAY 2018, FATHER MELO AND A DELEGATION OF VICTIMS AND HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS FROM HONDURAS WILL TRAVEL ON A TOUR TO EL PASO, SAN FRANCISCO, BOSTON AND CHICAGO TO TESTIFY ABOUT THE RISING REPRESSION IN HONDURAS AND CALL FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE. FOLLOWING THESE VISITS, THEY WILL TRAVEL TO WASHINGTON DC FOR A NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER FOR PEACE IN HONDURAS AND A SERIES OF MEETINGS WITH CONGRESSIONAL AND RELIGIOUS LEADERS.

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The Chicago Religious Leadership Network on Latin America (CRLN).

  • Tel: +773-293-2964
  • Fax: +773-293-3677
  • Email: crln@crln.org