Nobel Laureate Hors D'oeuvres Reception

We are honored to host Adolfo Pérez Esquivel at the annual Great Lakes PeaceJam Youth Conference weekend. As part of the weekend festivities, we are pleased to offer the greater Kalamazoo community an opportunity to interact and learn from Mr. Esquivel. An hors d'oeuvres reception is being held with our honored guest and supporters of the Great Lakes PeaceJam program. Tickets to the reception are $50 and include entrance to the public address, immediately following the reception at 7:30 pm.

Tickets may be purchased through FRIDAY, MARCH 25th by calling 269/495.7750 or at greatlakespeacejam.org. All proceeds benefit the Great Lakes PeaceJam program.

Adolfo Pérez Esquivel of Argentina is the recipient of the 1980 Nobel Peace Prize for his leadership in human rights and true democracy in Argentina and throughout Latin America.

Because of his work for human rights, Adolfo Pérez Esquivel became a target of the Argentinean military dictatorship in the mid-1970's. In 1977, he himself was “disappeared," imprisoned and tortured by the Argentinean military for 14 months. He was released after being named Amnesty International’s Political Prisoner of the Year in 1978, and continues to lead human rights efforts throughout Latin America and abroad. 

The Official Story Film Viewing

Join us for a viewing of the 1985 Academy Award Winner for best foreign film.

Sunday March 27th, 4:00-7:00pm

Location TBD

Popular Uprising NOW! Panel Discussion

Join Great Lakes PeaceJam for a panel discussion, Popular Uprising NOW! Exploring the Building Blocks for Sweeping Social Change. Panelists will discuss how popular uprisings have created social, political, and historical change. Both the film and the panel discussion are free and open to the public.

Tuesday, March 29th, 7:00-10:00pm

Arcadia Commons Campus of KVCC, Anna Whitten Hall, room 128

The Grand Revolution is Peace Public Address by Adolfo Perez Esquivel

There is a $10 suggested donation ($5 for students).

Friday, April 1st 7:30-10:30pm

South Ballroom of the Bernhard Center at Western Michigan University.

Adolfo Perez Esquivel

lfo Pérez Esquivel of Argentina is the recipient of the 1980 Nobel Peace Prize for his leadership in human rights and true democracy in Argentina and throughout Latin America. 

Because of his work for human rights, Adolfo Pérez Esquivel became a target of the Argentinean military dictatorship in the mid-1970's. In 1977, he himself was “disappeared," imprisoned and tortured by the Argentinean military for 14 months. He was released after being named Amnesty International’s Political Prisoner of the Year in 1978, and continues to lead human rights efforts throughout Latin America and abroad. 

Excerpt from From Les Prix Nobel. The Nobel Prizes 1980, Editor Wilhelm Odelberg, [Nobel Foundation], Stockholm, 1981

Adolfo Pérez Esquivel was born in Buenos Aires in 1931. After training as an architect and sculptor he was appointed Professor of Architecture. In 1974 he relinquished his teaching post in order to devote all his time and energy to the work of co-ordinating the activities of the various non-violent elements in Latin America. It was at a conference in Montevideo in 1968 that the decision was made to set up a joint organisation covering all non-violent elements throughout Latin America. At a conference in 1974 it was decided to give the organisation a more permanent form, and Pérez Esquivel was appointed its Secretary-General. In 1976 he initiated an international campaign aimed at persuading the United Nations to establish a Human Rights Commission, and in this connection a document was drawn up recording breaches of human rights in Latin America. In the Spring of 1977 Pérez Esquivel was imprisoned without cause being shown. In May 1978 he was released, but with the obligation to report to the police as well as being subject to various restrictions. These have subsequently been allowed to lapse, and in 1980 he had an opportunity of visiting Europe.

The organisation of which Pérez Esquivel is the leader, Servicio Paz y Justicia, is a well-established one. Latin America is divided into three regions, each with its own offices, and under these come the national organisations. Their activities are co-ordinated from Pérez Esquivel's office in Buenos Aires.

The organisation is based on a Christian view of life, and enjoys close contact with clergy and bishops critical of present-day conditions in Latin America. The chief task of the movement is to promote respect for human rights, a phrase that is intended to include social and economic rights. On the practical level this means that Servicio provides assistance to the rural workers in their struggle for land, and to the trade unions in their struggle to protect the rights of their workers. This is done inter alia in the form of legal aid.

Despite the opposition he has encountered, Pérez Esquivel insists that the struggle must only be waged with non-violent means.