South Minneapolis youth to lead community peace-building effort on April 24

Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Rigoberta Menchú Tum of Guatemala to visit South Minneapolis

A peace-building initiative led by youth in South Minneapolis is getting the support of Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Rigoberta Menchú Tum of Guatemala. Menchú Tum will be in the Twin Cities for nonprofit youthrive’s PeaceJam conference for youth on April 24 and 25 at the University of Minnesota in partnership with the University YMCA. She will visit South Minneapolis as youth attending the youthrive PeaceJam conference participate in community service projects working alongside South Minneapolis residents. Community members are invited to participate in the service project, which will run from Noon to 4 p.m. on Sat., April 24, and will include developing a mural near Chicago and 25th Street about the importance of participating in the U.S. Census, a community fair including a food drive, an art sale with half of the proceeds going to the local community food shelves and half to Haitian earthquake relief efforts, and art supplies for youth in Haiti.

“What we are doing with youthrive’s PeaceJam in South Minneapolis is a positive way for youth to highly impact the community in a very powerful way,” said Rodrigo Juarez, an 18-year-old South Minneapolis resident and youth co-chair of the planning team.

youthrive and a planning team of 20 youth and eight adults from South Minneapolis have been meeting weekly since October 2009 at Hope Community Inc. to shape plans for an ongoing peace effort, including the April 24, service project, using Menchú Tum’s theme of “Healing Communities Torn by Racism and Violence.”

“Each year, youthrive, the Upper Midwest affiliate of the international PeaceJam Found-ation, invites a Nobel Peace Prize Laureate to work with area youth at our PeaceJam conference—and youth participate in service learning projects as part of the conference,” said Donna Gillen, youth-rive’s executive director. “This year, we decided to approach the youth in South Minneapolis to ask if they would like to develop and lead a peace movement in their community that could be supported by the youth attending PeaceJam.”

Menchú Tum, a Mayan Indian from Guatemala, received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1992 for her work in social justice and the rights of indigenous peoples. In 1996, all of Menchú Tum’s nonviolent work helped lead to a peace accord in Guatemala, ending the country’s 36-year civil war and giving many rights back to the Mayan people. Menchú Tum continues to work for justice and peace for her people and all indigenous people worldwide. She is the youngest woman and the only indigenous person to ever win the prize. In addition to talking about her experiences in Guatemala, she will also provide insight into the true Mayan prophecy about the year 2012, centered around a message of hope for the future.

youthrive, the Upper Midwest affiliate of PeaceJam Foundation in Denver, provides young people with leadership and service learning opportunities related to peacebuilding, social justice, anti-racism, human and environmental rights and ethical leadership.

During the two-day Peace-Jam conference, young people will present an overview of service projects they are undertaking in their own communities. Youth also will attend workshops focused on PeaceJam’s Ten Global Calls to Action, developed by Nobel Laureates working with the PeaceJam Foundation. The Call to Action encourages young people to carry out one billion acts of peace in the next 10 years.

For information on how youth may participate in the PeaceJam conference or how community members can participate in the service project in South Minneapolis, contact youthrive at 651-224-3066.

For more information on youthrive go to www.youthrive.net.