Freedom Fast and Mass at La Ermita on September 20th

A complete fast is a complete and literal denial of self. It is the truest prayer. - Mohandas Gandhi


The Cuban exile community's spiritual battle for a free Cuba is carried out with prayer and fasting. Join us in fasting and prayer for the nonviolent democratic resistance in Cuba, that their demand for a general amnesty for all political prisoners be granted, that the systematic violation of human rights be ended, that a democratic transition and an authentic national reconciliation take place.

People in Need: Ladies in White repeatedly repressed

(**Leer Versión En Español Abajo**)

How would you feel if you were innocent but still thrown in jail each Sunday?

As a result of the Ladies in White movement continuing to be a target of Cuban state authorities, the Czech NGO People in Need would like to bring greater  public attention to two cases of Ladies in White members who have been forced to contend with constant repression over the last two years.

Keila Ramos Suarez is 28 years old. She has been detained and assaulted 15 times between March 2013 and April 2014.

Due to the fact that her family doesn’t agree with the political opinions she holds, she has been repressed to an even greater extent. She has been thrown out of her house and left to live on the street. Furthermore, her son has been taken away from her by state authorities on account of her dissident activities. She has regularly been arrested before the weekly Ladies in White marches held on Sundays or been given orders that prevent her from participating in the Mass.

Maria Teresa Gracias Rojas is 48 years old. She has been detained and assaulted 39 times between January 2013 and March 2014.

The state police organized a so called search of her house during which all of her belongings were destroyed; she was assaulted, and subjected to acts of repudiation and intimidation. She has been under constant surveillance, including having a police patrol car permanently parked in front of her house. She has been prevented from participating in the Ladies in White marches almost every Sunday during this time span. The police usually arrest her either just outside of her residence or in front of the local church. We would like to stress the gravity of the fact that she happened to be assaulted directly by the priest as well. Her situation has been made all the more difficult due to her daughter’s health problems for which she hasn’t been receiving any help.

The scripts and tactics the authorities use are almost always the same:

One of them is to detain members of the Ladies in White before the Sunday Mass, so that they cannot participate in their weekly protest by taking part in their common walk to the church. They are brought to the local police station for several hours where they are placed under constant psychological and physical distress: the police agents have been beating, humiliating and threatening to jail them for years, while also openly threatening to harm their families if they don’t stop their dissident activities. The Ladies in White protest every Sunday dressed in white, as a symbol of peace, in order to demand freedom for the their relatives who are jailed dissidents, as well as on behalf of all other political prisoners.

The other tactic is to organize public acts of repudiation against them in order to cause them distress, while also intimidating and frightening them.  Usually small groups of people are brought to the dissidents’ residence who then shout insults at them, throw stones at their houses and threaten them.

Why have these brave women kept on fighting their battle despite the pressure they find themselves under? Their answer is simple and clear: they want change and freedom for their loved ones and the people of Cuba.

The NGO People in Need condemns the repression that the Cuban authorities have directed towards Keila and Maria Teresa, as well as towards all the Ladies in White, and ask for them to comply with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to which Cuba is a signatory.

The regular weekly march was harshly repressed in Havana, as well as in the provinces, following the announcement of celebrations in memory of the victims of “13th of March” Tugboat that was sunk in 1994. A total of 89 Ladies in White, among which the leader of the movement, Berta Soler, and 9 men who participated in the march were arrested.

The Ladies in White Movement was initiated in the aftermath of the Black Spring in 2003, when the Cuban government arrested and summarily tried and sentenced 75 human rights defenders, independent journalists, and independent librarians to terms of up to 28 years in prison. The initiator was Laura Pollan, the wife of one of the jailed activists, Hector Maseda. Each member of the march carries a picture of her jailed relative and the number of years to which he has been sentenced.

Sincerely,

Cuban Team / Equipo de Cuba

People in Need - Human Rights and Democracy

Facebook.com/peopleCuba | @PeopleCuba

Cubalog.eu - rewriting Cuba, EyeOnCuba.org

Sign up for our free newsletter about Cuba!

==================================================

¿Cómo te sentirias de ser inocente, pero encarcelado cada domingo? 

Como las Damas de Blanco siguen estando en el punto de mira de las autoridades estatales cubanas la ONG Checa People in Need, desearía señalar a la atención del público dos casos de Damas de Blanco que han estado bajo la represión constante en los últimos dos años. 

Keila Ramos Suárez tiene 28 años. Desde marzo 2013 hasta abril de 2014 ha sido detenida y asaltada por 15 veces. 

Como su familia no está de acuerdo con las opiniones políticas que ella tiene, ella ha sido reprimida ademas, ha sido expulsada de su casa, encontrandose en la calle. Su hijo le ha sido quitado por las autoridades estatales, debido a sus actividades disidentes. Ella esta detenida constantemente antes de la marcha dominical semanal  que hacen las Damas de Blanco , para evitar que participara en la misa.

Maria Teresa Gracias Rojas tiene 48 años. Ella ha sido detenida y asaltada 39 veces desde enero 2013 hasta marzo 2014. 

La policía del estado le ha organizado un registro en su casa: todas sus pertenencias fueron destruidas;fue asaltada, y sometida a actos de repudio y intimidación. Ella esta bajo vigilancia constante, con una patrulla de la policía permanentemente estacionada frente a su casa. Casi todos los domingos se le impida participar en la marcha de las Damas de Blanco. La policía le arresta o a las afueras de su residencia o en frente de la iglesia local. Nos gustaría hacer hincapié en la gravedad del hecho de que le pasó ser asaltada por el mismo sacerdote también. Su situación se hace aún más difícil por su hija que tiene problemas de salud por los que no recibe ningún tipo de ayuda. 

 Los guiones que las autoridades utilizan son casi siempre los mismos: 

Uno de ellos es detenerlas antes de la misa de domingo, por lo que no pueden continuar su protesta semanal en su paseo común a la iglesia. Son llevadas a la comisaría de policía local por varias horas donde están constantemente bajo estrés psicológico y físico: los agentes de policía las golpean, humillan y amenazan  a la cárcel durante años o amenazan con dañar a sus familias si no se cesan sus actividades disidentes. Las Damas de Blanco protestan todos los domingos vestida de blanco, como símbolo de la paz, con el fin de exigir la libertad de los de sus parientes que son disidentes encarcelados y de todos los demás presos políticos. 

La otra es la de organizar actos públicos de repudio en contra de ellas con el fin de causar angustia,  intimidación y asustarlas: Pequeños grupos de personas son llevados a la residencia de los disidentes y gritan insultos contra ellas, lanzan piedras contra sus casas y las amenazan. 

¿Por qué continuan estas valientes mujeres a librar la batalla, a pesar de la presión a la que se encuentran bajo? Su respuesta es simple y clara: quieren un cambio y la libertad para ellas y su pueblo. 

Las ONG People in Need condena la represión de las autoridades cubanas hacia Keila y María Teresa, así como hacia todos las Damas de Blanco y pregunta por el cumplimiento de la Declaración Universal de los Derechos Humanos de los cuales Cuba es signataria. 

La marcha semanal habitual fue duramente reprimida en La Habana, sino también en las provincias, tras el anuncio de las celebraciones en memoria de las víctimas del Remolcador 13 de marzo que hundieron en 1994. 89 Damas de Blanco, entre cuales Berta Soler, lider del movimiento,  y 9 hombres que participaron en la marcha fueron arrestados.

El movimiento  Damas de Blanco se inició sobre las secuelas de la primavera Negro en 2003, cuando el gobierno cubano arrestó y sumariamente juzgo y condeno 75 defensores de los derechos humanos, periodistas independientes y bibliotecarios independientes a penas de hasta 28 años de prisión. El iniciador fue Laura Pollán, esposa de uno de los activistas encarcelados, Héctor Maseda. Cada manifestante lleva una foto de su pariente encarcelado y el número de años para los que ha sido condenado.

Atentamente,

Cuban Team / Equipo de Cuba

People in Need - Human Rights and Democracy

Facebook.com/peopleCuba | @PeopleCuba

Cubalog.eu - rewriting Cuba, EyeOnCuba.org

Sign up for our free newsletter about Cuba!

A White Gladioli for Laura Pollan: Lets honor her nonviolent victory

May Havana be filled with white gladioli in memory of Laura Pollan and in tribute to Ladies in White who struggle for freedom. - Gina Montaner, October 15, 2011

Years ago reading Living in Truth by Vaclav Havel came across the concept of "anti-political politics" formulated by the future president of the Czech Republic while he was still a persecuted dissident in 1986. It came to mind once again when reading the following words by Laura Pollan quoted in an article in Reuters announcing her untimely death on October 14, 2011: "We continue being defenders of human rights. We are not politicians, we want freedom for the country, democracy."


Laura Pollan in her own words.

An additional level of irony arises. Havel auto-defined himself a dissident but he came from a family that was never in support of the communist regime forced on the people of Czechoslovakia while Laura Pollan had been a school teacher who avoided politics until her husband, Hector Maseda, who had been a nuclear physicist who, like Andrei Sakharov,  was demoted for his "ideological errors" and ended up an independent journalist, was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2003 for his dissident activities. Defending her husband, someone she loved, was the spark that led Laura Pollan into the realm of "anti-politics" and the defense of human rights.

In the same month that her husband and the rest of the group of the 75 were locked up and through sham show trials sentenced up to 28 years in prison the Ladies in White came into existence. Dressed in White on Sunday mornings carrying white gladioli in their hands they would nonviolently march to attend Mass at Santa Rita Church and pray and petition for their loved ones to be freed. Over the next 8 years they would suffer harassment, threats, acts of repudiation, beatings, detentions, injections and their homes searched by state security agents. At one point when the beatings from state security agents and their recruits got especially bad in the Spring of 2010 and the Ladies were beginning to suffer fractures and other more serious injuries Laura Pollan, herself with a cast and sling for her arm, challenged the regime while marching in the street: "They can either kills us, put us in jail or release them. We will never stop marching no matter what happens."

Laura Pollan

Less than a year later she was reunited with her husband and the remainder of the group of the 75 were released from prison. No doubt the dictatorship thought the Ladies in White would disappear. They counted wrong. The women had pledged to continue in their struggle until all political prisoners were free not just the group of the 75.  Also Laura Pollan recognized that as long as the current system existed new political prisoners would be a reality.

Last night her husband who stood by her side and accompanied her over the past week in the hospital carried out an honor guard at her wake following her untimely death at the age of 63. The Free Cuba Foundation remembers and honors this courageous Cuban woman and will seek to follow her example.

Amnesty International denounces: Women denied right to protest in Cuba

 

Document - Cuba: Further information: Women denied right to protest

Further information on UA: 256/11 Index: AMR 25/004/2011 Cuba Date: 1 September 2011

URGENT ACTION

WOMEN DENIED RIGHT TO PROTEST

A group of female relatives of prisoners of conscience in Cuba and their supporters were again prevented from organizing a peaceful protest on 28 August . They have been harassed and intimidated by state officials since mid-July for their peaceful activities.

The Ladies in White (Damas de Blanco), a group of female relatives of former prisoners of conscience and current political prisoners, and the Ladies in Support (Damas de Apoyo), have since mid-July faced arbitrary arrest and physical assault from members of the security forces and government supporters in the south-eastern city of Santiago de Cuba and surrounding towns.

On 28 August, 13 Damas gathered at the home of Aimée Garcés Leyva with the plan to go to the cathedral of Santiago de Cuba in order to attend mass, and afterward organize a peaceful protest around the cathedral. However, according to testimonies from some of the women, the house was surrounded early in the morning by police cars and female police officers. Testimonies say the Damas were ill-treated by the officers and forced into buses. As on previous Sundays, they were driven near to their hometowns in the province of Santiago de Cuba and released. The Damas also claims that police officers took computers, cell phones, photo cameras, memory flash drives, book notes and other external hard drives from the home of Aimée Garcés Leyva.

Two other Damas who were driving from Holguín to Santiago de Cuba on 27 August, complained to have been violently arrested in the municipality of Bayamo. They were brought back to Holguín where they spent a night in jail.

The Damas are planning to try to organize a silent protest on 4 September, and every subsequent Sunday, to call for the release of prisoners they believe to have been jailed for their dissident activities.

Please write immediately in Spanish or your own language:

calling on the authorities to permit the Ladies in White and Ladies in Support to march peacefully on Sundays and attend religious services without unreasonable restrictions;
urging them to cease immediately the harassment and intimidation of the Ladies in White, Ladies in Support and any other citizens who seek to exercise peacefully their rights to freedom of expression and association.
asking them to thoroughly and independently investigate the accusations of ill-treatment by police officers on the Ladies in White and Ladies in Support and bring those responsible to justice respecting international standards.

P LEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 13 OCTOBER 2011 TO :

Head of State and Government

Raúl Castro Ruz

Presidente

La Habana, Cuba

Fax: +53 7 8333085 (via Foreign Ministry); +1 2127791697 (via Cuban Mission to UN)

Email: cuba@un.int (c/o Cuban Mission to UN)

Salutation: Su Excelencia/

Your Excellency

Interior Minister

General Abelardo Coloma Ibarra

Ministro del Interior y Prisiones

Ministerio del Interior, Plaza de la Revolución, La Habana, Cuba

Fax: +537 8556621, +1 2127791697 (via Cuban Mission to UN)

Email: correominint@mn.mn.co.cu

Salutation: Su Excelencia/

Your Excellency

And copies to

First Secretary, Cuban Communist Party of Santiago de Cuba

Lázaro Espósito

Primer Secretario del Partido Comunista de Santiago de Cuba

Avenida Garzón 51

Plaza de Martes

Santiago de Cuba

Provincia de Santiago de Cuba

Cuba

Also send copies to diplomatic representatives accredited to your country.

Please check with your section office if sending appeals after the above date. This is the first update of UA 256/11. Further information: http://amnesty.org/en/library/info/AMR25/003/2011/en

URGENT ACTION

WOMEN DENIED RIGHT TO PROTEST

Additional Information

In 2003, over several days, the Cuban authorities arrested 75 men and women for their peaceful expression of critical opinions of the government. They were subjected to summary trials and were sentenced to prison terms of up to 28 years. Amnesty International declared the 75 convicted dissidents to be prisoners of conscience, and the last of them was released in April 2011.


The Damas de Blanco organizes peaceful marches where they distribute flowers and call for the release of their relatives and friends. In 2005, the Damas de Blanco were awarded The Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought by the European Parliament.

The Damas de Apoyo emerged as a solidarity group who support and participate in activities organized by the Damas de Blanco.


There are now 35 Damas de Blanco and Apoyo from the eastern provinces of Santiago de Cuba, Holguín, Las Tunas, Granma and Guantánamo.


The Damas de Blanco and Damas de Apoyo have repeatedly suffered harassment and intimidation during their peaceful activities. In central Havana on 18 August 2011, 49 Damas were prevented from carrying out a protest in support of their members in Santiago de Cuba and other eastern provinces. Government supporters physically forced them to return to their homes. On 14 August only three of 22 Damas who travelled to Santiago de Cuba managed to enter the Cathedral for mass. Five of them were arrested before mass began, and taken to various police stations in the city and held for several hours. The 14 other Damas were stopped at a police checkpoint 11 km outside the city and forced off the bus they were travelling in by women police officers. Nine of them, including Belkis Cantillo Ramírez, the wife of former prisoner of conscience José Daniel Ferrer García, were kicked and slapped as they were pushed into police cars and returned to their homes.

On 21 August, 11 Damas gathered at the home of Aimée Garcés Leyva in the town of Palma Soriano. Some 100 people, including police and government supporters, surrounded the house for several hours. When the women tried to leave, police pushed them and pulled their hair before forcing them into buses. They were driven a few kilometres, then taken in police cars and dropped near their hometowns in the provinces of Santiago de Cuba and Holguín. 

Name: Damas de Blanco and Damas de Apoyo
Gender m/f: f

Further information on UA: 256/11 Index: AMR 25/004/2011 Issue Date: 1 September 2011

http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/AMR25/004/2011/en/2559286a-0a6d-43d8-b38d-23bf0fb81ab4/amr250042011en.html

CUBA: Amnesty International calls for an end to intimidation against the Ladies in White

Cuba’s ‘Ladies in White’ targeted with arbitrary arrest and intimidation

22 August 2011

The Cuban authorities must end their intimidation of a group of women campaigning for the release of political prisoners, Amnesty International said after 19 of the group’s members were re-arrested yesterday.

The latest detentions took place yesterday in and near the south-eastern city of Santiago de Cuba, where the women were due to march silently and pray for the end of political imprisonment.

Over the last month, the “Ladies in White” (Damas de Blanco) and their supporters have repeatedly faced arbitrary arrest and physical attacks as they staged protests in several towns in the region.

“The ongoing harassment of these courageous women has to stop. The Cuban authorities must allow them to march peacefully and to attend religious services as they wish,” said Javier Zuñiga, Special Advisor at Amnesty International.

The latest arrests took place as “Ladies in White” gathered in several locations to make their way to a planned march at the Cathedral in Santiago de Cuba.

Eleven of the “Ladies in White” gathered yesterday morning at the home of a supporter in the town of Palma Soriano. A crowd of some 100 people, including police, officials and government supporters, surrounded the house for several hours.

When the women attempted to leave, police pushed them and pulled their hair before forcing them into buses. They were driven a few kilometres away where they were transferred to police cars and dropped near their hometowns in the provinces of Santiago de Cuba and Holguín.

Police also surrounded the house of Tania Montoya Vázquez, another “Lady in White” from Palma Soriano for several hours yesterday, preventing her and two fellow protesters from leaving.

Five other “Ladies in White” who live in the city of Santiago were arrested before they could reach the Cathedral and were held in police stations for several hours. It is believed that they have all been released.

Beginning on 17 July, groups of the “Ladies in White” have gathered on Sundays to stage silent protests and attend mass in Santiago de Cuba and several nearby towns.

The “Ladies in White” and the “Ladies in Support” (Damas de Apoyo) are a nationwide network of activists in Cuba that have recently escalated their peaceful protests in eastern provinces. In Havana and elsewhere, they have repeatedly suffered harassment from Cuban authorities for their peaceful protests.

In central Havana on 18 August 2011, 49 “Ladies in White” and their supporters were prevented from carrying out a protest in support of their members in Santiago de Cuba and other eastern provinces.

In 2003, Cuban authorities rounded up 75 of the group’s relatives for their involvement in peaceful criticism of the government.

The 75 dissidents were subjected to summary trials and sentenced to prison terms of up to 28 years. Amnesty International considered them all to be prisoners of conscience, and the last of them were finally released in May 2011.

The “Ladies in White” and “Ladies in Support” continue to peacefully protest for the release of others who they believe have been imprisoned due to their dissident activities.

“It is unacceptable for the government under Raúl Castro’s leadership to perpetuate a climate of fear and repression to silence ordinary Cubans when they dare to speak out,” said Javier Zuñiga.

http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/cuba%E2%80%99s-%E2%80%98ladies-white%E2%80%99-targeted-arbitrary-arrest-and-intimidation-2011-08-22

Global Voices on Defending The Ladies in White who were recently brutally attacked

The Ladies in White shout slogans. Image by Flickr user Globovisión (CC BY-NC 2.0).

Cuba: Defending “Las Damas” 

Cuban bloggers continue to update their posts about the most recent attack on Las Damas de Blanco (The Ladies in White), in which members of the group were reportedly “attacked and brutally beaten…by agents of Castro State Security upon exiting a church sanctuary.”

The Coalition of Cuban-American Women has issued a press release denouncing the attack, which even includes an audio clip [es] of one of the Ladies, Tania Montoya Vázquez, relating her experience. El Cafe Cubano has republished the Coalition's statement in a show of solidarity.

Babalu comments on the “recording by opposition leader Tania Montoya Vazquez, who called in to Hablalo Sin Miedo while a violent attack against the Ladies in White was taking place yesterday”, saying:

You can hear the desperation and fear in her voice. Even if you do not speak or understand Spanish, the tone of her voice and the screams in the background give a chilling account of the brutality of the Castro dictatorship.

The incident has caused an outcry from other factions as well; see The International Federation of Liberal Youth's statement, here:

Belkis Cantillo Ramirez was shot in the arm, while others were brutally beaten with batons, stones and other objects. In the midst of the violence, Tania Montoya and Rodaisa Corrioso were arrested by the authorities. Aside from these two brave women, thirteen members of this organization, including Belkis Cantillo Ramirez, are receiving medical care at a local hospital.
The International Federation of Liberal Youth (IFLRY) condemns these attacks in the strongest terms. Las Damas de Blanco is a strictly peaceful movement. To respond to such non-violent resistance with such brutal repression colours the Castro regime as tyrannical at best. If these attacks were not sanctioned by the authorities, then an investigation must be immediately initiated and given far-reaching jurisdiction.

The statement goes on to demand that “Tania Montoya and Rodaisa Corrioso must be immediately and unconditionally released”, while Babalu writes another post with “more graphic details” (including photos), saying:

A quick review this morning of the websites run by some prominent ‘Cuba Experts' finds no mention whatsoever of this brutal and violent attack on these defenseless yet courageous women. The narrative put forth by these ‘experts' mirrors the narrative put forth by the Castro regime…they are not about to shine the light of truth on the atrocities…

Uncommon Sense also weighs in, making the point that:

To its credit, a spokesman for the Catholic Church in Santiago de Cuba confirmed the report, and denounced the attack.

This has proven to be an interesting observation, considering Babalu's take on a USA Today editorial suggesting that:

Post-Castro Cuba will need someone trusted by all segments of society to help shepherd this nation into a new era, without bloodshed or upheaval. Cardinal Jaime Lucas Ortega y Alamino, archbishop of Havana, is that man. The son of a sugar mill worker, Ortega is uniquely equipped to fill any power vacuum.

Babalu strongly disagrees:

In a colossal display of sheer ignorance and contemptuous arrogance, Pinsky nominates for president one of the most corrupted and compromised individuals in Cuba today while ignoring venerable leaders such as Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet, who unlike Ortega, has not compromised his principles or allowed himself to be used as a political tool by the dictatorship.

El Cafe Cubano supports this view, saying:

This past Sunday in ‘Santiago de Cuba, a city in the Eastern province of Cuba, women pro democracy activists were savagely beaten and verbally attacked in the streets by Cuban State Security agents after they attended mass in the Basilica of El Cobre, a Catholic shrine dedicated to Our Lady of Charity, where they prayed for the freedom of all Cuban political prisoners and for the freedom of Cuba.'

The Catholic Church silent and looking the other way…

No doubt, the Cuban diaspora will continue to follow developments and provide cyber support for The Ladies in White.

The thumbnail image used in this post, “Las Damas de Blanco gritan consignas”, is by Globovisión, used under an Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC 2.0) Creative Commons License. Visit Globovisión's flickr photostream.

Written by Janine Mendes-Franco


However Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia about 10 hours ago on twitter said @jdanielferrer Ladies in White in Santiago de  #Cuba grateful for Archbishop Dionisio Garcia words calling aggression against women unworthy.

Learn why the Ladies in White March in Cuba: The Black Cuban Spring

Video, Discussion and 7 minute Vigil in Remembrance of Cuban Black Spring

Why take part?

Demonstrate with action that we remember these activists and demand their freedom & to understand how Ladies in White started .

What Happened?
On March 18, 2003, a brutal crackdown against Cuban dissidents began when over 72 hours, ninety govt. opponents were arrested most were tried under "Law 88" (the gag law) & were sentenced between 14 to 27 years in prison by early April. All were recognized by Amnesty International as prisoners of conscience. On February 23, 2010 Orlando Zapata Tamayo died after 83 days on hunger strike with two weeks denied water by his jailers.



Video: The Cuban Spring (2003) Czech production


Speakers: Invited Former Cuban Prisoners of Conscience Miguel Sigler Amaya, Pedro Pablo Alvares, and Manuel Vasquez Portal James Cason of US Interests Section


When: Today, Wednesday, March 24 @ 8:30pm
Where: Graham Center 140 Florida International University 11200 S.W. 8th St. Miami, FL



Then join Gloria Estefan in...

March in Support of Ladies in White and Freedom and Human Rights for Cuba

LET'S WALK TOGETHER LIKE THE "DAMAS DE BLANCO"; with dignity, in silence, with a flower of hope in our hands and dressed in white to represent purity of thought, actions and new beginnings!
In the words of our illustrious poet, Jose Marti, "The campaigns of a people are only weak when in them is not enlisted the heart of a woman; but when a woman is shaken and helps, when a woman, timid and quiet in her nature, cheers and applauds, when a woman cultured and virtuous anoints a deed with the honey of her love, the deed is invincible".

Thursday, March 25, 2010 at 5pm we will gather on Beacom Blvd. between S.W. 7th and 8th Street. We will walk on 8th Street, in Little Havana, from 27th Avenue to 22nd Avenue beginning at 6pm sharp.

We will walk for the love of freedom. 

- Gloria Estefan

“The test of truth lies in action” -Mohandas Gandhi