Over 100 Attend NYC Panel discussion and book-signing

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Panel discussion and book-signing on Between Torture and Resistance, a compilation of letters by Oscar López Rivera, with an introduction by Nobel Peace Prize winner Bishop Desmond Tutu.

The panel took place last Thursday, January 10, 2013 at the Martin Luther King Labor Center (1199 SEIU).

The panel began with Maria Kercado, vice-president of 1199 introduced Daniel Febo, who spoke on the Puerto Rican Diaspora, followed by Luis Rosa, former Puerto Rican political prisoner, who spoke on the urgency of freeing Oscar Lopez Rivera, relating it to his own experiences in serving 20 years after being convicted of seditious conspiracy.

 Professor Ana López spoke next on her experiences in working with youth as part of the campaign to free Puerto Rican political prisoners for the last 25 years and then Matt Meyer, co-convenor of the Human Rights Summit last December in Puerto Rico, spoke about the conference and introduced three videos by Nobel Laureates Desmond Tutu, from South Africa, Mairead Corrigan Maguire, Northern Ireland Peace People and Jose Ramos-Horta, former President of East Timor, and Nobel Peace Prize recipient. All videos spoke about the their struggles and how they related to freeing Oscar Lopez Rivera. The keynote speaker, José López, Executive Director of the Puerto Rican Cultural Center and Oscar’s brother then spoke extemporaneously about Oscar’s vision of community building and how the over 30 year struggle in Chicago that has resulted in the community known as Paseo Boricua has been the fruit of that collective vision.