Forum on Survival, Resistance & Empowerment for Oppressed Communities Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE The Irish Famine/Genocide Committee Tel: 917-469-2619 Fax: 212-571-7124 Email: info@ifgc.org On May 1 - 2, 1999, the Irish Famine/Genocide Committee, the Brehon Law Society and the Riverside Church will sponsor an international public forum: Sharing Strategies for Survival, Resistance and Empowerment of Oppressed Communities: From Belfast to Cape Town to New York and Beyond. The forum, held at the Riverside Church (490 Riverside Drive at 120th Street) in New York, is dedicated to the memory of solicitor Rosemary Nelson, civil rights attorney and mother of three who was brutally murdered outside her home in Lurgan, Northern Ireland last month. Sharing Strategies brings together an international body of community leaders, legal activists, educators, spiritual leaders, human rights workers and concerned citizens interested in exploring ways to bring justice and equality to our diverse communities. In the wake of the recent brutal murders of Rosemary Nelson and Robert Hamill in Northern Ireland, Amadou Diallo and Anthony Baez in New York and Stephen Lawrence in London, it has become clear that sectarian and racist violence continues to destroy the fabric of our society. Oppressed neighborhoods and communities must create a dialogue around truth, healing and the sharing of ideas for advancing civil, equal and just environments for their citizens. Originally scheduled to be the keynote speaker and workshop moderator for the forum, Rosemary Nelson had enthusiastically confirmed her attendance only the night before her assassination. In her absence, Father Michael Lapsley, SSM will act as keynote speaker and moderator for the weekend. A well known Anglican priest, Fr. Lapsley lives and ministers in South Africa where he has long participated in the struggle for equality and freedom, narrowly escaping the Lesotho massacre in 1982. In 1990, due to his outspoken stance against apartheid he was sent a letter bomb, which exploded and left him severely disabled. Despite his injuries, he continues to campaign on behalf of the rights of victims of violence and refugees. Fr. Lapsley is the founder of the Institute for the Healing of Memories, where he counsels victims of violence, and he currently chairs the Adult Education and Skills Training Programme of the Cape Town Refugee Forum. Joining Fr. Lapsley will be Mrs. Orla Moloney, a member of the Garvaghy Road Residents Coalition and mother of seven. A long time resident of the besieged Nationalist community in Portadown, Northern Ireland, and a client and friend of Rosemary Nelson, Mrs. Moloney will be speaking to the forum about equality, oppression and addiction from the perspective of a member of a community currently under extreme intimidation and isolation. The residents of the Garvaghy Road have been under violent siege for the last year from the sectarian Orange Order. There have been five murders in the last year as a result of the ongoing terrorization by the Orange Order in Portadown. Death threats received by Rosemary Nelson before her murder originated both from the Orange Order and loyalist communities and from the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), the militarized state police force in Northern Ireland. Mrs. Moloney will account for attendees the situation which led up to Mrs. Nelson's assassination and the continued struggle in Portadown. Also speaking at the forum will be James Mullin, an educator and journalist whose work has induced many state legislatures (including New York and New Jersey) to change their history curricula to accurately reflect the facts of the 1845-1852 famine in Ireland, also known as the Great Hunger; members of Stephen Lawrence's family and legal team to discuss his case and the ongoing campaign to eliminate racism from the British police force; and many other international and community activists. Workshops will include: Spirituality as a Means of Resistance and Liberation; Education--What For?, Money, Food and Environmental Justice; Legal Rights; Health, Addiction, Wellness and Oppression; Ethnic Identification, Culture and Nationalism; Steal the Media; Youth, Activism and Public Life; and Policing. Participants in the workshops will include members of the media, film entertainment, journalists, ethnic community leaders, legal experts, ministers, authors and community activists from around the United States and the world. Sponsors invite all who are interested in joining the first steps towards healing communities torn apart by war, poverty, bigotry, racism, and the emotional and physical scars wrought by acts of violence to attend this forum. Creating a dialogue around issues of brutality and violence that have kept our society divided and immobilized for too long is the goal and intention of the weekend seminar and workshops. For more information on the Sharing Strategies Forum, contact the Irish Famine/Genocide Committee. ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= nytire-04.25.99-12:55:32-19914