By Magdaleno ‘leno’ Rose-Avila, speaker for Naropa’s 2016 Bayard and John Cobb Peace Lecture
I was a Muslim for a Month …
but that is not the end of the story… but it is the beginning of Journey of hope that took me on a rollercoaster ride down the roads of Civil and Human Rights.
So, what is the connection between the peace movement, Immigrant rights, Student rights, the GMO movement, workers rights, and the death penalty?
And why should we care … ???
And who is Eleanor Roosevelt to tell us all that we have human rights and why we must protect each other.???
And who is Fannie Lou Hamer to tell us that SHE IS SICK AND TIRED OF BEING SICK AND TIRED ??
And when you stand up for justice can you hate more than you love ???
And why should we execute people knowing all that we know ??
And why do we sometimes believe that we have no power??
And how can we help each other to DREAM THE IMPOSSIBLE
And by working hard make it a reality …
Join me
Stand with me
Lets make history..
Leno
Magdaleno leno Rose-Avila is a dreamer, a poet, a human rights activist who believes that we can change the world. He now serves as Executive Director of Witness to Innocence which is a national organization comprised of exonerated death row Inmates and their families. Together they work to end the death penalty. In this regard Leno has worked for 30 years to abolish the death penalty working all those years with a team that included Sister Helen Prejean, author of Dead Man Walking, and Dr. Michael Radelet, the world expert on the death penalty and innocence.