Zulia Mena

How does U.S. policy affect the health of people in other countries?

Join a conversation with Zulia Mena, the first Afro-Colombian congresswoman in Colombia, South America, about chemical fumigations; mass human displacement; and massacres in her country -- and the funding for this violence by U.S. military and anti-drug financial aide.

When: 6 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 15

Where: At Benedict College, in Conference Room "B" of the Fine Arts Building, Room 302.

Zulia Mena

Zulia Mena was born in the northwestern Colombian province of Choco. Ninety percent of the residents are African descendants.

Zulia has been active in the struggle for Afro-Colombian and women's rights in Colombia for nearly her entire life. Trained as a social worker, Zulia came to the forefront of the Afro-Colombian community through her role in the development of new legislation regarding Afro-Colombian rights following the ratification of Colombia's new constitution in 1991. Subsequently, Zulia was elected to Congress in 1994, serving four years as Colombia's first ever Afro-Colombian congresswoman.

Today Zulia continues her work in the Choco as a community organizer and social worker. She has attended conferences in Europe, the U.S, and throughout South America, speaking about the situation of Afro-Colombians, human rights of ethnic minorities, women in Colombia, land rights, and citizen participation in democracy, among many other themes. Published in various books and magazines, and interviewed in many newspapers, including the New York Times, Zulia has received many awards for her commitment to community organizing.

Zulia Mena comes to the United States with an urgent appeal to U.S. citizens to respond to international massacres, chemical fumigations, and forced displacement of tens of thousands of Afro-Colombians from their ancestral lands in Colombia by the Colombian military and paramilitary forces. This violence is aided by over $billion in U.S. funded military aid and anti-drug monies in Colombia, displacing over 3 million Colombians. Afro-Colombians, 26 percent of Colombia's total population and the third largest African-descendant population in the Western Hemisphere (after Brazil and the United States), have been disproportionately impacted.

Benedict College's Department of International Studies and Carolina Peace Resource Center are sponsoring the event.

When: 6 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 15

Where: At Benedict College, in Conference Room "B" of the Fine Arts Building, Room 302.

Directions to Conference room "B" in the Fine Arts building:
Enter through the main gate on Harden St., make a left in front of the library, a three story glass building, and follow the road making a right at the end of the road, (you will see a Chapel on your left), continue about 300 feet, make another left and park around there. The Fine Arts building will be on your left, it has a wide cement staircase.

Students will be at the gate directing people to the conference room.

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