Donaldo is in Chicago to discuss social movements, economic solidarity, food sovereignty and human rights.

Donaldo Zuniga is the director of the COMAL network, an organization comprised of rural communities in

Honduras

that work to promote fair and sustainable agriculture and marketing. For twenty years, COMAL has defended the rights of small-scale farmers to continue indigenous practices and to protect the environment in a country negatively impacted by unfair globalization and escalating violence. Committed to principles of economic solidarity and practices that contribute to food sovereignty, COMAL advances local food initiatives that contribute to economic well-being. One such initiative is the development of locally produced and marketed natural cane sugar, using agro-ecological methods of production.

As a founding member of COMAL, Donaldo has led extensive training with local promoters on organization, marketing and credit in COMAL’s School for Economic Solidarity, that now serves a broad range of groups as a training center for social organization, workshops and retreats. Committed to methods of popular education, Donaldo worked as an advisor with the Danish agency, Mellemfolkeligt Samvirke (now Action Aid) in Nicaragua, led training on community marketing in Venezuela, and advanced networking on economic solidarity throughout Latin America.

Time: 3pm

RSVP to Sharon Hunter-Smith,

shunter-smith@crln.org

or 773-293-2964, for location. Space is limited.

15:00

to

17:00

Melissa Cardoza

’s book,

13 Colors  of the Honduran Resistance,

tells thirteen stories of women who joined the resistance to the U.S.-backed 2009

coup d’etat

. It has just been made available in a bilingual English/Spanish edition, translated by Matt Ginsberg-Jaeckle. Melissa, an afro-indigenous fearless journalist, poet, writer and feminist organizer from Honduras, poetically relates some of the most compelling moments she has witnessed amidst the brutal repression and unyielding hope and struggle that have characterized post-

coup

Honduras today. She will be touring along with her fellow member of the Honduran “Red de Defensoras,” or network of women rights defenders, beloved Honduran jazz/folk protest singer

Karla Lara,

who appears in one of the book’s stories and has been an icon and sharp voice in the resistance. Both were amongst the closest friends to *Berta Cáceres*, the Honduran indigenous leader and organizer of COPINH who was assassinated for her work in defense of the Lenca people and against patriarchy, capitalism, and racism. This book and this tour are dedicated to Berta.

Time:

4:00pm

Place:

Official book launch with El BeiSMan – La Catrina, 1011 W 18th St

Join us for the

2017 Luncheon

to learn about the intersectional organizing work of the

Feminist Antimilitarist Network in Colombia

from

Carol Rojas

. The Colombia Peace Accords, while a step toward peace, face many challenges.  There is an urgent need to rebuild the community and collective ties broken by war. Seeking to build historical memory is also a necessary step in constructing a political project to make the transition as a country to a plural, broad, and diverse democracy, where women can be political protagonists and not victims. To construct peace in Colombia in this difficult time, the Network uses popular education to promote demilitarization and the eradication of systems of oppression based on sex, class, and race.

Click

here

for a brief autobiography of Carol Rojas


.

Date: October 24

Time: 12 noon – 2:00pm

Place: Old St. Patrick’s Catholic Parish Hall, 700 W. Adams, Chicago  60661

Cost: $60 ($54 for members), $25 student/low income, free for Luncheon volunteers (please email

mmckenna@crln.org

to volunteer).

Tickets: Order tickets at

http://bit.ly/crln1024

or by contacting Sharon Hunter-Smith at

shunter-smith@crln.org

and mailing in a check (CRLN, 4750 N. Sheridan Rd., #429, Chicago, IL  60640-5078.

Sponsored by the Chicago Religious Leadership Network on Latin America in partnership with the Feminist Antimilitarist Network and Witness for Peace.