Poet & Human Rights Leader Homero Aridjis and “Los MacArturos” Head Public Forum on Mexico’s Violence and Human Rights Crisis

Radio Bilingüe to Convene and Broadcast S.F. Event
Tuesday Jan. 27, 2015

*Press Conference with Homero Aridjis
and “Los MacArturos” MacArthur Foundation Fellows

11 a.m. Tuesday Jan. 27
Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts,
2868 Mission Street, San Francisco
*Public Forum & National Broadcast
7 p.m. Tuesday Jan. 27
Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts

Renowned Mexican poet and human rights leader Homero Aridjis will be the featured speaker along with U.S.-based Latino recipients of MacArthur Foundation Fellowships (self-named “Los MacArturos”) in a public forum and dialogue on violence and the human rights crisis in Mexico this Tuesday Jan. 27 from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts, 2868 Mission Street, San Francisco.

Leaders of Mexican and human rights organizations in Northern California will also be present and the public is invited to participate in the dialogue to be conducted in Spanish and English. Doors open at 6:30 and admission is free.

The Radio Bilingüe Latino Public Radio Network is convening and broadcasting the forum live, including simulcast by partner public radio station KBBF FM 89.1 in the North Bay and live stream at radiobilingue.org. Other Bay Area media partners include public radio stations KPOO-FM and KPFA-FM, Spanish-language radio station KIQI-AM, community newspaper El Tecolote, and the Hispanic Information and Telecommunications Network (HITN) national TV Channel. KIQI, KPOO and HITN will broadcast the forum in whole or part on a tape delayed basis.

Mexico is in the grip of a spiraling wave of violence, corruption and impunity. According to human rights watchdogs, the nation faces its worst human rights crisis since 1968, with some 100,000 murdered and more than 25,000 disappeared since 2006. The recent disappearance of 43 rural students in the state of Guerrero at the hands of Mexican police has detonated months of unprecedented and massive protests in and out of Mexico. The San Francisco Bay Area is home to thousands of families directly impacted and has been the scene of many rallies including calls for change in U.S. Mexican policy connected to Mexico’s violence and asylum for unaccompanied minors fleeing the dangers.

Aridjis, long time environmental and social justice activist on the international stage, recently released his latest novel: Ciudad de Zombis, an indictment of Mexico’s current reality of violence, corruption and terror. He will be joined by members of “Los MacArturos” – Latino and ally recipients of the MacArthur Foundation’s prestigious fellowships – in the dialogue about Mexico’s crisis, future and impact across many borders.

The event is being convened by Radio Bilingüe in partnership with Centro Binacional para el Desarrollo Indígena Oaxaqueño and is funded in part by The California Endowment.


Homero Aridjis Bio

Homero Aridjis is a renowned poet, author, and one of the leading environmentalists of Latin America. He has been elected twice president of International PEN, of which he is now President Emeritus. In 1985, he co-founded and has chaired Grupo de los Cien, a group of writers, artists and scientists, which included Gabriel García Márquez and Octavio Paz. The group has called for the protection of the environment in Mexico, Latin America and the world. He served as Mexico’s ambassador to UNESCO. His most recent novel, Ciudad de Zombis, pictures Mexico’s current reality of violence, corruption, impunity and indifference.


“Los MacArturos” – Latino (and ally) Recipients of MacArthur Foundation Fellowships Expected to Participate in Press Conference and Forum

  • Hugo Morales (Class of 1994, Public Media and Community Affairs, Fresno, CA)
  • Amalia Mesa-Bains, PhD (Class of 1992, Visual Arts, San Juan Bautista, CA)
  • Baldemar Velasquez (Class of 1989, Labor, Toledo, OH)
  • Camilo J. Vergara, PhD (Class of 2002, Photography, Filmmaking, and Television, New York, NY)
  • Ruth Behar, PhD (Class of 1988, Cultural Anthropology, Ann Arbor, MI)
  • Eva Harris, PhD (Class of 1997, Public Health & Medicine, Berkeley, CA)
  • Joan Abrahamson, PhD, JD (Class of 1985, Public Policy, Los Angeles, CA)
  • Mauricio Miller (Class of 2012, Family Independence Initiative, Oakland, CA)
  • Rueben Martinez, PhD (Class of 2004, Education, Santa Ana, CA)
  • Maria Varela (Class of 1990, Economic Development, Albuquerque, NM)
  • Natalia Almada (Class of 2012, Documentary Filmmaking, San Francisco, CA)