Join MISN and Franklin Valenzuela, a youth leader visiting Toronto from Guatemala, for a picnic! We’re excited to wrap up Spring into Action with a casual social in the park alongside all of the amazing people who support different types of radical activism across the city (like you!), and to also share conversation with Franklin Valenzuela (bio below) and Lisa Rankin (awesome organizer with Breaking the Silence, based in Guatemala), who will be accompanying him.
We’re hoping to have folks there from all types of groups and projects – this way we can make new links and share what inspires us across different movements/issues! Really hope you can come out!
****Note about location: There may be a bunch of other events at Christie Pits that evening, but we will have a big banner that says “Global Resistance to Canadian Mining”, which should make us easy to find. If you have any trouble locating us, call 647-769-2472.
****What should you bring?****
– Your friends and family! Kids and pets are very much welcome!
– We will be providing food, but feel free to bring any favorite snacks and drinks!
– Frisbees, musical instruments, and other favorite park games
– If possible, please bring reusable containers, plates, and utensils to eat and drink with so that we can keep waste to a minimum 🙂
– Stories to share about the organizing work you’re involved in/that inspires you!
– In support of a MISN campaign that will be launched soon, we would also like to ask folks to bring a photo of a loved one who has passed away. Canadian mining company Aura Minerals has been attempting to expand its mining project in Azacualpa, Honduras, which would involve exhuming and relocating a treasured community cemetery. This community needs our help to put pressure on Aura Minerals here at home. Help us tell this Canadian company: hands off the cemetery! At the picnic, we will be taking portraits of people holding photos of their loved ones in the spirit of solidarity, because all of our communities should have the right to rest in peace.
****More info on Franklin Valenzuela****
Franklin is an 18-year-old land defender from Mataquescuintla, Jalapa, Guatemala. Franklin and his friends founded Jodvid (Youth Organized in the Defence of Life) after their friend, Topacio Reynoso, a 16-year-old activist and poet, was murdered in 2014 in an attack that many believed was linked to her activism against the Canadian company Tahoe Resources’ Escobal gold mining project. Jodvid is the first receipient of the new Topacio Reynoso Youth award, which MISN is thrilled to be supporting. More info on that here: http://mininginjustice.org/topacio-reynoso-youth-award/
Franklin’s family has also been part of the resistance to the Escobal mine. Both his father and uncle have been criminalized for their involvement; Franklin’s uncle spent over 8 months in jail in 2013- 2014 and was never charged with a crime. Franklin, who is studying to be a mechanic, has emerged as a leader in his community.
Franklin will be passing through Toronto on his way to his Maritime speaking tour. Let’s give him a warm welcome and celebrate the inspiring activism happening across Turtle Island as well as right here in Toronto!