Pilgrimage of Resistance

SOA PILGRIMAGE: NOVEMBER 19-23, 2009!
(new starting date!)

Every year, a caravan sets out from Canada on a journey to the gates of a notorious base at Fort Benning, Georgia – joining over 25,000 others.

We call it a ‘pilgrimage’: we visit communities of resistance & faith in Canada & the USA, learn about issues of justice, oppression and nonviolence, and form friendships and networks to help transform our world.

The School of the Americas (renamed WHINSEC) was founded during the Cold War to battle communism in Latin America. In half a century, graduates from its base in the U.S. have been accused of grave human rights abuses, massacres, torture and assassination against church people, students, unionists and indigenous people.

	Application form (DOC PDF ). Bursary application (DOC ). Space limited. Please register by November 10.
View photos from the Pilgrimage of Resistance!
Highlights of 2009 Pilgrimage: Starting from Zacchaeus House Catholic Worker (Toronto ON) Jubilee Partners community (Comer GA) Shalom House (Philadelphia PA) Activists at Berea College, Kentucky Several days of School of Americas Watch events in Columbus GA, with teachins, a massive social justice worship, leading up to the vigil at the gates Workshops with leadership of the SCM – Anti-Oppression, Nonviolent Resistance & Indigenous Solidarity in Canada
View SCM’s pamphlet for more info about the SOA Pilgrimage (PDF)
Download our poster (PDF)
	School of the Americas Pilgrimage on the radio SCM Movement Radio podcast (October 14, 2008) Interview on CKUW radio (November 17, 2008)
	See photos from past Pilgrimages to the SOA
	Watch videos about the SOA!
	Frequently Asked Questions

In 2008, we had students depart from both Winnipeg and Toronto, meeting up at a Catholic Worker community house in Chicago.

Since 2004, we have sent many carloads on a caravan to the gates of the base, calling for its closure and visiting Christian communities of resistance on the way – our band of pilgrims is growing year by year since we began the pilgrimage.

Will you join us this year? Or, can you take part in local vigils, film screenings and actions?

It is a transformative and inspiring annual event, where faith and justice go hand in hand – you can go on the caravan, or be part of local solidarity actions! Our caravan welcomes people of all faiths (or no faith) who are willing to explore and live justice.

The students of this school have been instrumental in almost every dictatorship and violent regime in Latin America in the last 30 years, including Pinochet, the Contras in Nicaragua, paramilitary groups in Colombia, the murderers of Archbishop Romero in El Salvador….and on and on and on.

The protest dates commemorate the 1989 assassinations of 6 Jesuit priests, their housekeeper and her 14-year old daughter, who were massacred in El Salvador by graduates of the SOA/WHINSEC. The weekend will be a place of peaceful protest – a record 22,000 turned out in 2006, with 11 arrests for nonviolent civil disobedience. The atmosphere is peaceful and spiritual and fiercely resistant!

National conference is generously supported by the following organizations:

Menno Simons College is a pioneer in International Development Studies and Conflict Resolution Studies, and a generous sponsor of Pilgrimage.

SCM Senior Friends (alumni)

United Church of Canada Mission & Service Fund

Winnipeg local units hold a prayer vigil on a busy downtown corner, in solidarity with SCMers on pilgrimage to the SOA gates.

Pilgrimage of Resistance

“The annual convergence on Fort Benning has become not only a protest, but also a time for networking and organizing community, solidarity, spiritual reflection, and a time to remember those killed. It is a space where we can begin to envision alternatives.”