Participate in the 2009 NISGUA Speakers Tour!

Collective Memory, Collective Resistance
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NISGUA is hosting a tour this spring to amplify voices from the Guatemalan grassroots while providing spaces for exchange with U.S. community activists, religious communities, universities, and individuals.  Click here to see the 2009 Speaking Tour Schedule.

Our 2009 tour considers the links between struggles of past and present, addressing the relation between wartime crimes and ongoing exploitation in rural indigenous communities. Click here to learn more about "Collective Memory, Collective Resistance" in Guatemala.

THE WORK: Linking Crimes of the Past to Ongoing Struggles Against Militarization and Globalization

This year NISGUA is hosting a leader from the group Historical Memory ("Memoria Histórica"), a grassroots organization from Nebaj, Quiché in Guatemala's central highlands.

The Historical Memory group works to achieve justice for crimes committed during Guatemala's 36-year internal conflict, while emphasizing how the past influences current community struggles in the region.  Through information-sharing and community organizing, group members reconstruct collective memory as a tool to address current issues, such as mega-projects and the militarization of security.  They recognize that the same motives that fueled military offensives of the 1980s – the push to control communities, their lands and resources – are propelling the economic and political powers of today to impose mega-development projects on indigenous peoples’ lands.

The group's unique work linking historical memory with current resistance to neo-colonial projects is of extreme importance in the movement for justice in Guatemala today.

THE SPEAKER: Domingo Tum Mejía
Domingo Tum Mejía was born in a small village near Sacapulas, Quiché in the northwestern highlands of Guatemala. The Quiché area was particularly hard-hit by the civil war that ravaged Guatemala for 36 years; over half of the 629 wartime massacres committed by the Army took place in that one region.

Today, at the age of 35, he has reconstructed his memories as a child, as well as the history of his family, his community, his region, and his country. He is currently fighting nationally and internationally to achieve justice for the genocide that took the lives of his parents and wiped out entire Maya communities.

During the NISGUA tour, Domingo is addressing the importance of historical memory in informing our understanding of  ongoing repression against marginalized peoples.

TOUR SCHEDULE

The speaking tour is planned for April 17th- May 5th. You can access the schedule here. 

ABOUT NISGUA'S TOURS

Our speaking tours have three primary aims: to energize a U.S. base of activists in  solidarity with particular struggles for truth and justice in Guatemala; to provide an international space for the concerns of Guatemalan social movements to be heard; and to raise financial and moral support for Guatemalan grassroots organizations. As Guatemalan organizers continue to struggle for justice in the face of the repression and criminalization of their work, creating spaces for international exchange is more important than ever.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

To express your interest, ask further questions, or receive more information, please email Willy Barreno at willy@nisgua.org.