2020 has been an incredibly challenging year – confronting authoritarianism and state violence while navigating a global health pandemic in a neoliberal system that values profit over people is not easy. While we’ve faced seemingly insurmountable levels of oppression, grief, pain, and righteous rage, we have also witnessed the power of people and communities to organize, resist, care for one another, and to build. From the Mapuche people of Chile defending their territories, to the Tohono O’odham protesting the construction of the border wall on their sacred sites; to the peoples of Bolivia who defeated a racist, right-wing, US-supported coup; to the peoples of Guatemala protesting and saying “Ya Basta” to corruption and neoliberal policies; and to the movement for Black lives fighting to dismantle white supremacy, we remember that even in moments of great uncertainty and fear, our ongoing struggle for collective liberation continues.
Thank you for being part of our organizing community today and over the last 30 years. Our work to end all forms of US-led and supported violence against our communities continues together. When we organize and are in solidarity with each other, we know we will win.
With gratitude,
Brigitte, Candice, Dévora, Pablo, and Roy
SOA Watch
PS We will be hosting an end-of-the-year virtual tea on Saturday, December 12, 2020 from 2pm – 3:30pm Eastern / 11am – 12:30pm Pacific. The tea will be a more informal space for us to connect with one another, reflect on our organizing over the last three decades and to talk about the work ahead. We will send the link in the coming days!
Recordings of the first two SOA Watch Rooted in Resistance 30th Anniversary Series:
Event 1: Fundraising & Community Gathering Event
Rooted in Resistance: Defending our Communities & Ending State Violence in the Americas
Event 2: Virtual Concert
Rooted in Resistance Concert