Please join us for “Let’s Save Friendship Park,” the next virtual panel discussion in the Zooming to the Border for Human Rights series, scheduled Aug. 11 at 3 p.m. Pacific time. The People’s Tribune and our sister publication, El Tribuno del Pueblo, are members of the Zooming to the Border for Human Rights Coalition.
Friendship Park, on the border between San Diego and Tijuana, is in danger. This panel will offer an overview of the advocacy efforts of the Friends of Friendship Park, who have worked to maintain and enhance access to this historic binational meeting place on the border. Since it was dedicated by First Lady Pat Nixon in 1971, Friendship Park has been a location where families and friends separated by the border can gather face-to-face, even if it means speaking through the heavy metal mesh that covers the 18-foot border wall that currently runs through the park. The Biden Administration recently announced plans to move forward with Trump-era plans to build 30-foot border walls that could effectively shut down Friendship Park for good.
Even though Customs and Border Patrol, responding to public pressure, recently announced a pause in construction of the new walls to hear public input, the fight is far from over.
In addition to sharing information about how viewers can join in efforts to preserve the park, this panel will offer details about long-standing initiatives, including the Binational Garden of Native Plants and Border Church. The panelists will also share the details of the upcoming 51st anniversary celebration of the park.
Please register in advance at the link below, and see below for details on speakers.
You are invited to a Zoom meeting.
When: Aug 11, 2022 03:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
Register in advance for this meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZApcOCsqT0sH9dgCo8Y9CWYSyO_miMYAaCf
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
Speakers
John Fanestil, a native of San Diego, is an ordained minister, scholar, activist, and writer who has worked for decades at the intersection of the church, the academy, and movements for social justice. Since 2006, John has convened the Friends of Friendship Park. Since 2011, he has worked with friends from Tijuana to convene El Faro: The Border Church, a weekly celebration of communion at Friendship Park. He has spoken to hundreds of groups and dozens of media outlets from around the world about the history of Friendship Park. John currently serves as Executive Director of Via International, a binational nonprofit organization with a proud, 45-year history promoting sustainable community development on both sides of the border in the San Diego/Tijuana region.
Dan Watman is the founder of the Binational Friendship Garden of Native Plants connecting through the Tijuana/San Diego border wall as a symbol of friendship and tribute to the Native Kumeyaay. Started in 2007, he hopes it will now serve as leverage for a new narrative of cross-border connection, friendship, and environmental collaboration as part of US border security policy.
María Teresa Fernandez is a “Wandering Border Photographer” who has documented the Tijuana/SanDiego border fence since 2000. She began sharing her images with the Friends of Friendship Park in 2007 and with the families who visit their loved ones there. As she explains, “I share them with all who wish to give a voice to this space that holds so much heart.” María Teresa and her work have been featured in many news outlets and in several gallery exhibitions in the U.S. and Mexico.
Pedro Rios is director of the American Friends Service Committee’s U.S./Mexico Border Program and has worked for AFSC since 2003. He oversees a program that documents abuses by law enforcement agencies, collaborates with community groups, advocates for policy change, and works with migrant communities to build collective leadership locally and throughout the border region. Pedro has a master’s degree in Ethnic Studies from San Francisco State University. Pedro is also a photographer and a writer.
Tania Mendoza is an active member of Friends of Friendship Park. After being deported in 2010 and relocating to Playas de Tijuana, she eventually found community with those who gathered for Border Church every Sunday. Since 2014, Tania has volunteered with the Friends of Friendship Park, the Border Church, and our Binational Garden, seeing them as her second family. Tania currently helps with bookkeeping for the Friends of Friendship Park, has set up live-streaming for Border Church, and provides assistance to the migrant community on the Mexican side. Tania is grateful to Friendship Park for providing her with the assistance and opportunities to develop her abilities throughout the years, and she believes that her future should be devoted to helping those who are in the same situation as she was.
Moderator: Kathryn Vomero Santos is an Assistant Professor of English and co-director of the Humanities Collective at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. Her research focuses on the ways in which playwrights and performance artists from the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands repurpose the works of William Shakespeare to tell stories of and for La Frontera.
