EL ENCUENTRO: "Primera" Film Screening + Workshops

3105 Shattuck Avenue,Berkeley CA 94705

18 June, 2022

Description

*LEE LA DESCRIPCIÓN EN ESPAÑOL AQUÍ* Whether you are Chilean, an ally, an activist, or you're interested in socio political transformation (both in the US and abroad): THIS EVENT IS FOR YOU! SCHEDULE: 11:00am-1:00pm: Film Screening of "PRIMERA" a documentary directed by New York based activist, educator and filmmaker Vee Bravo (who will be joining us!). The film chronicles the social uprising that evolved into a nationwide movement in Chile, beginning with the student takeover of Santiago’s metro system and ending with the historic plebiscite that paved the way for the writing of a new constitution. More info here: https://primerafilm.com1:00pm-2:30pm: Lunch by Chile Lindo Empanadas2:30pm-4:00pm: Workshops (descriptions below | live interpretation available)4:00pm-5:00pm: Community GatheringTHIS EVENT IS: FREE and BILINGUALCo-presented by La Peña Cultural Center and a Chilean-Mapuche-US Delegation of 11 activists, community leaders, artists, filmmakers, and producers: Vee Bravo, Tarin Gonzalez, Rodrigo Venegas, Jaime Huenchullan, Jakelin Curaqueo, Mery Cortez, Nicole Kramm, Karen Concha, Walter Fritz, Coutney Morris, Martin Perna.Come to this exchange of ideas, tactics, experiences, and collaborative projects between frontline leaders behind Chile’s revolution and their counterparts in the US. Everyone is welcome to participate! WORKSHOPS (2:30pm-4:00pm): 1. "Inspiring millions of people to become the architects behind a new constitution" Description: Within 30 days of the student uprising, organizers galvanized the nation to end systemic inequity by focusing on the root cause: The constitution written during the military dictatorship which centered political and economic power in the hands of the nation’s elite class. This workshop will feature a conversation with frontline activists who organized the campaign and coordinated the mobilization of people and resources from the streets to court houses, to the popular consciousness of the entire nation. 2. "Centering the lives of Chile’s Mapuche and Black communities in a new constitution" Description: As Chile prepares to draft a new constitution, it must come to terms with its own history of racism and exclusion. For nearly two centuries the state has struggled to recognize the territorial lands of the Mapuche, a pre-Columbian native population that lives in what is now Southern Chile and Argentina. Similarly, Afro-Chileans and a growing population of black immigrants from Haiti, Dominican Republic, Colombia and Ecuador have experienced systemic racism. The constitution writing process, which identified dignity and equity as guiding principles, must now figure out how to be inclusive of their experiences through direct participation. How will this process center black and brown women in a way that is meaningful and just? HISTORICAL CONTEXT (CHILE'S UPRISING): On October 18, 2019 hundreds of high school students in Santiago gathered to protest a proposed public metro fare hike of $30 pesos ($0.036 US dollars). Within hours, President Sebastian Piñera deployed the military to quell student demonstrators. Reports of torture, sexual abuse and death at the hands of the armed forces began to surface the next day. The government’s response was eerily reminiscent of the deadly tactics used by General Pinochet during the dictatorship period of the 70s and 80s. Within three days, approximately two million Chileans staged nationwide protests in support of students. For everyday Chileans, the $30 pesos came to symbolize 30 years of an unsuccessful neoliberal model designed by US economists that promised economic prosperity with the country’s pivot to democracy in 1990. Instead, income inequality has widened steadily between the rich and the poor. The nation’s wealth has largely remained in the hands of six powerful families, including that of now ex-president Piñera. Over the course of 2020, discontent among Chileans evolved into a nation-wide uprising that calls for an end to income and social inequity. This massive people’s movement demanded that a new constitution—driven by principles of equity, inclusion and justice—be written by everyday people. In the face of continued police repression, millions of Chileans took to the streets for nearly a year, never once letting go of their demands for a new constitution. Under relentless public pressure, the government agreed to schedule a historic plebiscite to determine the fate of the existing social contract. On October 25, 2020, Chileans overwhelmingly voted [78%] to rewrite their constitution with a plurality of women and indigenous people as its authors. That new constitution is now fully drafted and the plebiscite to approve it (or reject it) will be held on September 4th of this year (2022). COVID-19 POLICY: We will require ID & Proof of Full Vaccination at the door. Booster shots and the use of masks inside will be encouraged but NOT mandatory. See our most updated Covid-19 Policy here.