Easter Sunday

On Easter Sunday morning I went to the Macon Sunrise Service. About 200-300 people were there, including clergy and the press. Before the service started, I did some tai chi. After enjoying the service, I stayed around for a while and talked briefly to the press.

Indian Mounds

I went to the Indian Mounds in Macon, Georgia. This is the Ocmulgee National Monument maintained by the US National Park Service. This site preserves and displays a collection of archeological artifacts dating back more than 12,000 years (nps.gov/ocmu/index.htm). While I was there, a school class came through; the teacher and the kids signed the prayer book. There were 5-6 college students who came along and also signed the book. The flag now has 130 pink crosses sewn on with 130 prayers.

Beginning the Journey

I began this journey on March 9 in Atlanta, and it will end on the 4th of July, 2008, near El Paso and Juarez. I am collecting prayers in a book that are prayed and made in America for these women and children, and I have a flag which will have 400 or more crosses sewn on it, each sewn with a prayer.

ATLANTA TO JUAREZ 2008

ATLANTA TO JUAREZ

FAIR WAGES AND SECURITY FOR WOMEN
TO, DURING, AND AFTER WORK

Women are being killed at alarming rates in Mexico and other countries, but the perpetrators are overwhelmingly never brought to justice. This problem has been termed "femicide," the most extreme expression of gender-based violence accepted culturally and by the State when its laws don't criminalize violence against women and/or the lack of political will results in almost total impunity for the perpetrators of such brutality. Approximately 400 young women have been murdered or abducted in the cities of Juárez and Chihuahua, Mexico since 1993. In Guatemala, over 2,500 women and girls have been murdered since 2001. The brutality with which the assailants abduct and murder the women goes further than the act of killing—many of the victims are tortured, raped, mutilated, beaten, shot or stabbed to death. In all cases the victim’s gender is a significant factor, in the kind of violence perpetrated and the level of response by authorities.

The authorities need help to solve these murders. Government agencies need us to ask “how can we help?”

YOU ARE WELCOME TO JOIN ME ON MY JOURNEY ACROSS AMERICA TO CALL ATTENTION TO THE PLIGHT OF THE WOMEN OF JUAREZ AND OTHER CITIES WORLDWIDE AND TO GET SIGNATURES AND ENDORSEMENTS IN SUPPORT OF THIS CAUSE.
JOIN PART-TIME, FULL-TIME, OR FROM HOME VIA THE WEB.

THE JOURNEY STARTS AT MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.’S CHURCH IN ATLANTA ON MARCH 9, 2008, AT NOON AND ENDS ON JULY 4 AT NOON NEAR JUAREZ ON THE US-MEXICO BORDER TO PRAY.

For more information contact atlantatojuarez@live.com
For background info see www.amnestyusa.org/bordertown