31st Annual Vigil - Sunday, November 21st 2021

2:30 PM - 4:00 PM EST | 1:30 PM - 3:00PM CST | 11:30 AM - 1:00PM PST

REGISTER FOR THE SOA WATCH 31st VIGIL HERE

This Sunday, join members of the SOA Watch Musicians Collective for an online community gathering as we remember and uplift our martyrs and recommit ourselves to the continued struggle to dismantle US imperialism and defend our communities and environment around the globe! We invite you to bring something of symbolic importance to you for the presentes -- photos, flowers, names, candles, etc. -- to accompany us during the gathering.

Sunday is an opportunity for us to join together with the power of music and memory to nourish and strengthen our collective organizing to demand accountability and ongoing resistance to dismantle US imperialism, and fight for the collective liberation of our communities! 

We recognize that recent months have been incredibly challenging for most and that many people are facing emotional, physical, and financial hardships. If you have the means, please consider making a tax-deductible donation to specifically support the work of the SOA Watch Musicians Collective. The Musicians Collective have always volunteered, and with the incredible toll that COVID has had on artists around the world, we are committed to providing an honorarium for our incredible musicians. If you are able, please make a tax-deductible donation to support now! 

Also, be certain to check out the bios, website, and social media handles of the members of the SOA Watch Musicians Collective below! 

Charlie King is a musical storyteller and political satirist. He has been at the heart of American folk music for over half a century. Pete Seeger hailed him as “One of the finest singers and songwriters of our time.” He is the 2018 recipient of the Phil Ochs Award, recognizing his music and activism for social and political justice in the spirit of Phil Ochs. Other honors include: the War Resisters League’s Peacemaker Award given to Charlie and Odetta; the Sacco-Vanzetti Social Justice Award nominated by Pete Seeger and the Joe Hill Award. His songs have been recorded and sung by Pete & Peggy Seeger, Holly Near, Ronnie Gilbert, John McCutcheon, Arlo Guthrie, and Chad Mitchell. Folk legend Peggy Seeger says, "If we had more Charlie Kings in the world I'd be less worried," and Tom Paxton adds, "Luckily, we have him!" Charlieking.org

Colleen Kattau is a bilingual vocalist songwriter who stirs listeners with her clear voice, collective spirit and rhythmic sensibility. A NERFA showcase artist Colleen’s music has been featured on Democracy Now, and she performs at Phil Ochs nights and with her band Dos XX. Her compositions are full of nature, social movements, and Latin American nueva canción. In 2019 she was invited to tour Italy to perform at the International Ritmi y danze dal mondo Festival and at the European Ecovillages Conference. Besos/Kisses is her 2020 collection. @ColleenKattau.

Emma's Revolution, “Fervent and heartfelt” ~ The New York Times. Known for fearless, truth-telling lyrics and melodies you can’t resist singing, Emma's Revolution is the dynamic, award-winning activist duo of Pat Humphries & Sandy O, now in their 20th year performing together. Emma’s Revolution's songs have travelled around the world and have been sung for the Dalai Lama, praised by Pete Seeger and covered by Holly Near. 

With one eye on the news, Emma’s Revolution consistently writes songs about critical issues and lends their voices to the movements those issues inspire.The duo are winners of the John Lennon Songwriting Contest Grand Prize and the Phil Ochs Award. As independent artists and queer and non-conforming women, Emma’s Revolution has a national presence among communities, organizations and venues that share the duo's vision of valuing people over profit, choosing compassion over violence, demanding accountability, and building a more just and sustainable world. Emmasrevolution.com

Francisco Herrera Whether it is singing with your children or as a community at a rally,  action for social justice, picket line, or a celebration of our sheroes and heroes, the music of Francisco is music of liberation. Use it in your activities, Give it as a present to a friend, buy the CD's and grant them to a friend for donating to your organization to inspire their own actions for liberation.  The stories and games, memories, heroism of our people in MUSIC. Franciscoherreramusic.com

The Peace Poets are family born of Hip Hop, heart, and hope in New York City.  Some have been friends since as early as three years old and over time they have built an artist collective of poets, Hip Hop performers, and educators founded on this friendship and their common love for community and creative expression. Grounded in the power of personal narratives and community, The Peace Poets create and have shared Spoken Word poetry, rap, and Movement Music that responds to social and political crisis in over 40 countries.
They have made an indelible mark on the social movements of our times by supporting the re-emergence of the art of collective singing in action. These poets and emcees turn stages and streets into profoundly human gatherings, where all are invited to become the creators of a world worthy of all future generations. They invite you to join them in the joy of celebration. They hope that someday soon, they can connect and create with you. Peacepoets.com

Oona Valle is a queer, Honduran-American luchadorx currently based in Huchiun (Oakland, CA) where they are creating sanctuary for LGBTQ Central American asylum seekers with their intentional community, Canticle Farm. They’ve also lived and worked in Tijuana, MX, where they support several migrant-run mutual aid projects with Central American caravaners. As a gardener and herbalist, Oona looks to the migration stories of the plants that heal and nourish us for inspiration, as well as liberation from the human-made divisions that disconnect us from each other.

**The Events below have passed. You can watch videos of the panel series here. 

We are pleased to announce the speakers for the 2021 SOA Watch Virtual Conference "Flowers of Resistance" on Saturday, November 6th. Don't forget to register for the conference here. The virtual events are free, bilingual (Spanish and English, interpretation will be provided), and all are welcome to attend. You will receive an email confirmation with all the conference Zoom links after registration.

Panel 1

Border Imperialism: Confronting Legalized Violence at and Beyond the U.S./Mexico Line

11:00 AM - 12:00 PM PST | 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM CST | 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM EST 

Taide Zojo de Elena (Doña Taide) has led a 9-year struggle for justice following the cross-border shooting death of her 16-year old grandson José Antonio Elena Rodríguez. In 2018, an Arizona court acquitted the shooter––U.S.Border Patrol agent Lonnie Swartz––of involuntary manslaughter and last year, the Supreme Court ruled that Border Patrol agents who shoot foreign nationals cannot be sued. Today, alongside the Border Patrol Victims Network, Doña Taide continues the struggle for justice and prepares to take her fight to a new level. 

Jenn Budd is a former Senior U.S. Border Patrol agent and a whistleblower who speaks out about racism, violence, and corruption in the most unaccountable agency in the federal government. Today, Jenn is a Border Patrol Accountability Activist confronting her own actions as a former agent and telling the truth about the brutality of her former agency. Jenn will speak about Border Patrol's internal investigations following the killings/shooting deaths of migrants as well her advocacy work to make the agency accountable to the victims of Border Patrol violence. 

Guerline Jozef is the Executive Director and Co-founder of the Haitian Bridge Alliance and was one of the first responders to the Del Rio human rights crisis in Texas. The Haitian Bridge Alliance is a leader in the immigration movement and the only Black and Haitian woman-led organization providing crucial services and advocacy at the U.S.-Mexico border. In October, Guerline accepted the 2021 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award outside the gates of Otay Mesa ICE Detention Center in San Diego, California. 

This panel will be moderated by the Coordinator of Stop U.S. Arms to Mexico, John Lindsay-Poland. Register Here.

Panel 2

Tangled Roots: Mass Migration and the Biden Administration's Coopting of the Narrative of Change

12:15 PM - 1:15 PM PST | 2:15 PM - 3:15 PM CST | 3:15 PM - 4:15 PM EST 

Yesenia Portillo from CISPES (the Committee In Solidarity with the People of El Salvador), Xochitl Sanchez of CARECEN-LA (Central American Resource Center-Los Angeles), Brigitte Gynther and Lulu Matute of SOA Watch, will discuss the Biden Administration's strategy for addressing the 'root causes' of migration from Central America and why it is destined to do the exact opposite: exacerbate displacement, human rights abuses, and migration. Panelists will discuss opportunities for advocacy to address U.S. policies and financing that are actual root causes of forced displacement, state violence, and repression. Register here.

Panel 3

Territorial Defense and the U.S.-promoted Neoliberal Extractivist Model

1:30 PM - 2:30 PM PST | 3:30 PM - 4:30 PM CST | 4:30 PM - 5:30 PM EST 

Miriam Miranda is the General Coordinator of the Black Fraternal Organization of Honduras, OFRANEH. OFRANEH is the leading voice for the self-determination and dignity of the Garifuna people, whose ancestral territory in Honduras is under constant threat from African palm plantations, Canadian and U.S. tourist operations, mining, energy projects, and drug trafficking. In the last two years, more than 40 Garifuna have been murdered and many more have fled their communities due to threats, criminalization, and persecution. In 2020, an OFRANEH community leader and other young Garifuna men were forcibly disappeared from their community in Triunfo de la Cruz. The organization launched the Garifuna Research and Search Committee for the Disappeared of Triunfo de la Cruz (SUNLA) in response to the forced disappearances in their communities. In October, OFRANEH received the Letelier-Moffitt Human Rights Award in Washington D.C. 

Karen J. Tafur Pérez is a lawyer, human and ethnic/territorial rights defender, and CONPAZ-COL (Communities Building Peace in Colombia) board member, dedicated to vindicating the rights of those who have been affected by the tragedy of armed and environmental conflict in Colombia. She is also the delegate for the accompaniment of the Black communities in Boqueron, Cesar, who face the environmental, cultural, economic and social devastation caused by the open-pit coal mining activities of Drummond, Prodecco (Glencore), and Colombian Natural Resources (CNR). From  2021 to 2024, she was elected to serve on Cali's municipal committee of women representing victims of the armed conflict. CONPAZCOL is a network of more than 140 Black, Indigenous, small-scale farming, and LGBTQI frontline organizations and communities working to safeguard life and dignity by defending their territories and rights from the devastation and destruction by large-scale economic projects and the country’s ongoing armed conflict. According to Frontline Defenders, Colombia is the world’s deadliest country for environmental and human rights defenders with 177 murdered in 2020 -- more than half of the 331 murders documented globally.

Register Here.

Panels - Saturday, November 6th 2021