Speaker At MCC To Educate On El Salvador

Mchenry County College’s Student Peace Action Network and Student Life along with Crystal Lake’s “Friends of Chilama” present “U.S.-El Salvador Sister Cities” on Thursday October 10, 2013 at 7:00 p.m. in Room B-166 on the MCC campus.

Speakers from U.S.-El Salvador Sister Cities will discuss the situation in El Salvador and the Salvadoran social movement as part of the October Speaking Tour with community leader Esmeralda Villalta. They will discuss community organizing strategies and discuss how to show your solidarity with the Salvadoran people as they defend their human and environmental rights.

Libby Pappalardo started the Crystal Lake Sister City 11 years ago and some of their projects include an ongoing healthcare project, women's sewing cooperative, Youth theater and arts program, children's art class, environment education classes, and road project. In addition, they support the grass roots organization of Cripdes Sur that works directly with communities in the region.

Esmeralda Villalta has been working with The Association for the Development of El Salvador (CRIPDES), a grassroots organization made up of over 300 rural communities for the past 13 years. Esmeralda is the coordinator of the Cripdes regional team in the department of San Vicente and a member of the CRIPDES national board whose work has focused on training community leaders, natural disaster preparedness and women’s and youth organizing.

Alexandra Early, Estela Garcia and Tanya Coleare the translators of the tour and coordinators for the Sister Cities network, which links 17 cities across the U.S. with organized communities in El Salvador as part of a movement of solidarity.

Peace Activist Speaks At MCC Tomorrow

Join us tomorrow evening to welcome Kathy Kelly at MCC.
Student Peace Action Network presents:
“The Cost of War, the Price of Peace” with guest speaker Peace Activist Kathy Kelly.
Thursday November 15th 2012, 7:00 p.m. McHenry County College  Luecht Conference center.
Peace activist Kathy Kelly is returning from her 9th visit to Afghanistan. Kathy and her companions have also lived in Baghdad throughout the 2003 “Shock and Awe” bombing and alongside people during warfare in Gaza, Lebanon, Bosnia and Nicaragua. Join us as Kathy tells of her experiences in war torn countries and brings her message of peace to us.
Also learn about the duvet project. All donations go to women making duvets and they in turn give to families in refugee camps who need them to warm against the winter cold that killed 100 children last year in Afghanistan.

Help Illuminate Darkness Sourrunding Sexual Violence

Join the Student Peace Action Network and MCC Student Life in illuminating the darkness surrounding sexual violence for a presentation on April 11, 2012 starting at 5:30 pm in the MCC commons area with an information and resource fair.

Guest speakers Erin Williams (VOICE) and Sarah Payton (Turning Point) will be presenting in the Conference Center at 6:30 p.m. followed by a march to the Peace Pole for a special vigil (includes glow sticks).

All are welcome to be part of this wonderful event! For more details contact MCC Student Life at (815) 455-8772 or email us at MCCspan@gmail.com. 

Transforming Violence Through Storytelling

Storyteller, Laura Simms, Senior Fellow for the International Peace Institute, Rutgers University—UNESCO. Will present “Transforming Violence Through Storytelling”, this evening, -7-9 p.m., at “Spoken Word Café” located at Stage Left, 125 Van Buren Street, Woodstock.

Among other stories Simms will tell is “What A Beautiful Road,” a riveting Kurdish Jewish Fairytale from Iraq that offers a penetrating template for transformation, journey and the power of telling our stories interwoven with true life narrative from her work in Haiti These tales provoke conversation and unfold seamlessly. They provide for deep reflection on the need and possibility of peace.

Laura Simms is an award winning performer, writer, and educator advocating storytelling as compassionate action for personal and community transformation.

She is co-faculty with Terry Tempest Williams’ at University of Utah and is spoken word consultant for Foundations, NGOS working in post disaster and conflicts.

This presentation is being made through the Students Peace Action Network of McHenry County College. It is presented by Jim May and Spoken Word at Stage Left, sponsored by McHenry County Community Foundation and Illinois Storytelling, Inc--No Cover--Adults and young adults. For info call: 815-382-5264.

Understanding "The Dream Act" Friday At MCC

"The Dream Act" is bipartisan legislation, that if passed would allow qualified undocumented youth a path to citizenship after completion of a college degree or two years of military service.

Understanding "The Dream Act: will be considered at McHenry County College on Friday, February 11, at a 7:00 p.m. conference in the Conference Center.

The educational forum event is co-sponsored by the Student Peace Action Network (SPAN) and Latinos Unidos. Excerpts from "Papers" will be shown. This is the story of undocumented youth and the challenges they face. Two honored guest speakers for the event include Shirley Sadjadi and Tania Unzeuta.

Ms. Sadjadi is a co-founder of the immigrant Youth Justice League (IYJL) and has fought for the passage of the Dream Act for ten years. Ms. Unzeuta is a co-found of the Immigrant Youth Justice League (IYJL) and has fought for the passage of the Dream Act for ten years.

This event is free and open to the public.

American History Film Based on Howard Zinn's Books Presented Monday At MCC

"The People Speak", is a film based on author, historian, teacher and activist Howard Zinn's groundbreaking books on American history. This film, presented from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. at MCC, weaves through American history giving different perspectives and showing the people's vital role in social movements.

Musical and dramatic performances of actors and artists such as Matt Damon, Josh Brolin, Kerry Washington, Viggo Mortensen, Bruce Springsteen, Marisa Tomei, John Legend, Sandra Oh, and others provide the stories.

Howard Zinn's books are "A People's History" of the United States .The film is presented Monday evening from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. in the McHenry County College Conference Center, 8900 US Highway 14, Crystal Lake.

This free event is sponsored by the Student Peace Action Network at MCC.

"Drones on Trial" - First-hand Account from Afghanistan and Pakistan

Drones on Trial", a presentation featuring a first-hand account from Afghanistan and Pakistan by Kathy Kelly, a three-time Nobel Peace Prize nominee, will be presented at 7:00 p.m. September 1 at McHenry County College, 8900 U.S. Highway 14, Crystal Lake. The Student Peace Action Network (SPAN) at McHenry County College will host the presentation.

Kelly, co-founder of Voices for Creative Nonviolence in Chicago and three-time Nobel Peace Prize nominee, will speak about her recent visit to Pakistan and Afghanistan where she met with victims of U.S. drone (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) attacks. On Sept. 14, she will stand trial in Las Vegas with 13 other peace activists for trespassing at Creech Air Force Base in Nevada. Their nonviolent act of civil disobedience followed a 10-day peace vigil outside the gates. Creech AFB is headquarters for the U.S. Air Force drone warfare program and includes training and the actual control for drones used in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iraq that do surveillance and shoot “Hellfire” missiles that challenge the international rule of law.

The event is part of the Current American Issues Series and is also a fundraiser for the “Creech 14” trial, which will emphasize the injustice of the military’s use of drones that attack civilian homes and have killed so many innocent families while increasing the hatred and violence of war.

“Human interaction, negotiations, diplomacy and dialogue, not surveillance and bombing by robots, will ensure a more peaceful future at home and abroad,” Kelly said.

A question and answer session will follow. The lecture will take place on campus at 8900 U.S. Highway 14 in Crystal Lake.

The seminar is sponsored by MCC Student Peace Action Network, which is made up of students promoting peace nationally and locally through action and education.

Admission is free, but donations are accepted. Refreshments will be served. For more information, email lib4paz@comcast.net or call the MCC Student Life Office at (815) 455-8772.

Crystal Lake Inventor Explains Demining Work In Cambodia Wednesday At MCC

Gary Christ, a Crystal Lake inventor, is working to make a better world. In February of 2001, he began volunteering his services by installing septic systems at orphanages in Cambodia. However, in 2004 a landmine was discovered at an orphanage he was asked to excavate. This dramatically changed his focus and he has been building demining prototypes ever since.

Gary was inspired to work on this invention to help the Cambodians to return to farming without the fear of losing loved ones to landmines and tons of unexploded ordinance left over from Southeast Asia's many conflicts, wars and invasions.

This Crystal Lake inventor is the guest of the McHenry County College Student Peace Action Network (SPAN) for the last informational seminar of the semester. "When is a War Really Over?" is the feature of the event scheduled Wednesday, April 28 at 7:00 pm in Room A221 at McHenry County College, The College is located at 8900 U.S. Hwy. 14, Crystal Lake. The event is free and open to the public. For more information, contact the MCC Student Activities Office at (815) 455-8772.