Solidarity Connections
The Latin American Solidarity Committee (LASC) is a Western New York community-based group Center committed to promoting human rights and social and economic justice in Latin America. Weaving for Justice has been collaborating with this Committee for many years. The committee sells textiles from the co-ops we assist at their 4th Monday of the month coffee house at Canisius College’s Science Hall in Buffalo, New York. Website: http://www.lascwny.org/
Centro Santa Catalina is a ministry with economically poor women in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico. The ministry has created a sewing co-op that is now owned and managed by the women members. All prices for the various items are set by the co-op members and all income from the sales is divided equally among the 27 women. Without the income from the co-op, most of the women and their families would be unable to meet their expenses with the result of being unable to send their children to school and/or unable to provide three meals a day. Contact: www.centrosantacatalina.org or santacatalina1@gmail.com
Chiapas Photography Project Since 1992, the project has provided indigenous Maya peoples of Chiapas, Mexico, with opportunities for cultural and artistic self-expression through photography. In 2016 the project began working with the weavers of Tsobol Antzetik in Chenalho to help them create photographic books about their weaving tools and processes and their traditional clothing. To purchase their books, see our online store.
Guerrilla Prayer Flags in Cuidad Juárez, Mexico, enables women to support their families in the time of social upheaval and economic devastation resulting from the drug wars. The Tibetan-style prayer flags are hand-dyed and block printed and represent a variety of themes such as the Virgin of Guadalupe and Egyptian Sacred Geometry. According to the Tibetan tradition, every time a flag moves in the wind, the prayers printed on the flag resonate throughout the universe. etsy.com/shop/GuerillaPrayerFlags
Junt@s Vamos is a cancer support group in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico. To see images of the group and their activities go to www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-aDT8keZn0&feature=youtu.be To learn about their fundraising activities contact Cristina Coronado at krusovich@hotmail.com
Maya Educational Foundation (MEF) has been sponsoring scholarships and programs for growth and advancement for Mayan-speaking people since 1992. Visit their website at www.mayaedufound.org. Weaving for Justice holds special sales of Mesoamerican textiles donated by MEF supporters in order to raise money for scholarships administered through MEF. To donate textiles, please contact MEF Director Elisabeth Nicholson at mayaedufound@aol.com or Christine Eber at ceber@nmsu.edu.
Mountain View Market Co+op has been a staple of the Las Cruces community for 40 years. It is now owned by over 4,000 community members. The co-op offers natural, organic, and local food as well as artisan work hand-made by local cooperatives. For several years the co-op has been selling textiles from the weaver groups with which we work in Chiapas.
Nopalito’s Galería is located at 326 S. Mesquite Street, on “Camino Real” a designated US National Historical Trail. Nopalito’s Galeria opened in May 2010 with the mission of “bringing art to the community and the community to art.” The house is traced back to the mid-1800s when it was occupied by numerous pioneer settlers of Las Cruces with traces of Piro-Manso-Tiwa native culture. From 2015-2017, Weaving for Justice collaborated with several groups of Mexican women artisans to sell their work each summer through La Frontera, a fair trade store in the gallery. We are grateful to the Gallegos family for donating this space for our store and to our border community for their outpouring of support. www.nopalitosgaleria.org
Weave a Real Peace (WARP) is an organization dedicated to creating a world-wide connected textile community. Its purpose is to exchange information, mobilize textile enthusiasts, raise awareness of the importance of textile traditions to grassroots economies, and create conversations that result in action. WARP recently awarded scholarships to two weavers from Tsobol Antsetik to attend their annual meeting in Oaxaca in June 2017. www.weavearealpeace.org
