Veteran singer, Andy Palacio of Belieze has dedicated his career to keeping the sound of the Garifuna culture alive. The story of Central America’s Garifuna people is told in a new DER release called Play, Jankunú Play www.der.org/films/play-jankunu-play.html that features the music and unique Garifuna songs that will be played and sung by Andy Palacio and the Garifuna Collective at Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts, 465 Huntington Ave, Boston on Wednesday night, August 1st at 7:30.

For tickets to this event please call 617-369-3306

We are pleased that the wonderful short film on the life and work of John Marshall by David Tamés and Alice Apley was chosen to screen at the festval last friday evening.

Here’s link to Cara Long’s article in the Patriot Ledger:

ledger.southofboston.com/articles/2007/07/19/life/life02.txt

The Open Society Justice Initiative, UNESCO, and Vital Voices Global Partnership
Cordially invite you to:

The Highland People of Thailand:
Statelessness as a Source of Exclusion, Rights Violations, and
Vulnerability to Human Trafficking

With a showing of the film

A Right to Belong

Tuesday, July 31
12:30 – 2:00 p.m.
Open Society Institute
400 West 59th Street
3rd Floor (Conference Room 3AB)
New York, NY

The highland people of Thailand are ethnic minorities denied citizenship in the country of their birth. Without legal status, highland people are considered “illegal aliens” in their own country, subject to arrest, deportation, and abuse, and are denied basic rights such as education, health services, land ownership, political participation, and the right to travel freely. This panel discusses their plight. The 10-minute film, A Right to Belong, portrays how the highland people experience statelessness and the importance of citizenship in their own words.

Presenters:

Dr. David A. Feingold, International Coordinator for Trafficking Programs, UNESCO, Bangkok
Amanda Flaim, Statistical Consultant, UNESCO, Bangkok
Dr. Feingold’s research has shown that lack of citizenship is the single greatest risk factor for a highland girl or woman in Thailand to be trafficked or otherwise exploited. Dr. Feingold and Ms. Flaim will present the results of UNESCO’s Highland Birth and Citizenship Registration Promotion Project. Funded by the U.K. Foreign and Commonwealth Office Sustainable Development Program Fund, this project includes the most extensive study of the relationship between the highland people’s lack of legal status and their inability to access social services.

Kathleen Kerr, Vital Voices Global Partnership
Ms. Kerr will discuss the findings of Vital Voices’ recently-published report examining the legal and practical obstacles highland people of Thailand face in accessing citizenship and the consequent vulnerability to human trafficking. Ms. Kerr, an associate at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP, worked with Vital Voices to identify and analyze the barriers to citizenship that render the highland people stateless and susceptible to exploitation.

James A. Goldston, Executive Director, Open Society Justice Initiative, will serve as moderator and commentator for the panel presentation. Mr. Goldston will draw parallels between statelessness among the highland people of Thailand and other ethnic and racial minorities around the world and describe the Justice Initiative’s global advocacy efforts to combat statelessness.

There is a limited amount of space available. Accordingly, we ask you to please RSVP to the Justice Initiative by email (info@justiceinitiative.org) by Friday, July 27, 2007. A light lunch will be served.

David A. Feingold, Ph.D.
Director,
Ophidian Research Institute
and
International Coordinator for HIV/AIDS and Trafficking, Office of the Regional Advisor for Culture,
United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization,UNESCO Bangkok Office
5th Floor Darakarn Building, 920 Sukhumvit Road, Bangkok 10110 Thailand
Tel: (662) 391-0577 (ext.504)
Fax: (662) 391-0866
Home (Bangkok): 258-8796
Visit: www.unescobkk.org/culture/trafficking

Challenger Films is accepting recommendations for high school and
college age Native American athletes to be featured on The Real Winning Edge television series for teens.

The Winning Edge is a reality show that features three real life high
school and college students each week who have triumphed over hardships and challenges. Each of these young people is introduced by a celebrity, such as Jeff Gordon, John Smoltz, Matt Hasselbeck, Gail Devers, Evander Holyfield and Dwight Howard. The purpose of the program is to provide good role models for teens through the latest high quality entertainment.

The series is in syndication and is airing this year on the Midwest Sports Network, the Southeast Sports Network, the New England Sports Network, and Fox affiliates in such cities as Phoenix and San Francisco. We are currently filming our 2008 season.

More information may be found at www.challengerfilms.org and
www.realwinningedge.com

***In order for a candidate to be selected for The Real Winning Edge, he or she must:

1. Be articulate and able to express himself (herself) well
2. Be enrolled in high school or college.
3. Be actively competing in a sport (not football, basketball, swimming or mens track).
4. Have good moral character, including faith.
5. Have a story of dealing with adversity.

Please email Kathleen Watson at Challenger Films,
kwatson@challengerfilms.org if you have a recommendation for the series.