Join Courageous Women of Resistance on Sunday, Oct. 29, at the First Congregational Church of Old Lyme to hear from women, who are speaking out and, in doing so, helping to bring enlightenment and engagement in the struggle to build a better and more peaceful future.  The event begins at 1:30 p.m. with a Palestinian Bazaar until 2 p.m.  The program follows from 2 to 3:30 p.m. and the event wraps up with refreshments and another opportunity to explore the Bazaar.  All are welcome.

Govan Mbeke, a co-leader with Nelson Mandela in the ANC resistance movement, said,“When the book is written on the end of Apartheid in South Africa, a most important chapter will be on the role of women in that struggle.” 

The same can be said of women throughout the world, who with courage and unflagging determination, work for justice and human rights in their communities. Women helped to bring clean water to the Cheyenne River Reservation in South Dakota, and women were at the forefront of the encampment at Standing Rock, helping to build an international community of resistance.

Likewise in Israel and Palestine; in the refugee camps in Jordan, Lebanon, Gaza and the West Bank; in organizations such as “Bedouin Women for Themselves” and “Grassroots Jerusalem,” women are helping to build a non-violent resistance movement. By refusing to be silenced or compromised by the militarism of settler colonialism, these women are speaking truth to power and, in doing so, they are helping to bring enlightenment and engagement in the struggle to build a better and more peaceful future for their children.

“Courageous Women” speakers on Sunday include:

Madonna Thunder Hawk

Madonna Thunder Hawk, a member of the Oohenumpa band of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe.  She has a long history of grassroots activism prior to her formative work for Lakota People’s Law Project (LPLP) as a Tribal Liaison. She is co-founder of Women of All Red Nations (WARN), as well as the Black Hills Alliance—which prevented corporate uranium mining in the Black Hills and proved the high level of radiation in Pine Ridge reservation’s water supply.

She was a member of the American Indian Movement (AIM) and occupied Alcatraz and Wounded Knee in protest of the federal government’s genocidal policies against Native Americans. She spent months camped in Standing Rock to oppose the Dakota Access pipeline, and to protect clean water and treaty rights. Her work with LPLP builds alliances and support for Indian child welfare among South Dakota’s tribal leaders and communities. She is a grandmother to a generation of Native American activists.

Fayrouz Sharqawi

Fayrouz Sharqawi works as the Advocacy Coordinator at Grassroots Jerusalem, a platform for Palestinian community-based mobilization, leadership and advocacy in Occupied Jerusalem. The group believes that the challenges and responses of Palestinian communities must be articulated and led by them. They map and network in order for the Palestinian communities in Jerusalem to sustainably resist the Israeli policies of displacement, dispossession and dis-empowerment, by creating their own long term strategy, based on their defined priorities and needs.

Fayrouz has been the Advocacy coordinator at Grassroots Jerusalem since 2012. Within this capacity she has led campaigns and supported community events and activities. She provides political analysis, and has a broad and experienced understanding of development and resistance to oppressive policies under the Israeli occupation. She has a BA in Journalism and English Linguistics, and a Masters in Conflict Resolution.