Solitary confinement: Torture in your backyard: This 20-minute video produced by the National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT) is a resource for churches/communities to learn about the destructive use of solitary confinement in U.S. prisons and to engage people of faith in calling for its end in their state. The film could also work well in a college group setting, prayer group, prison ministry or social justice committee, and interfaith groups. NRCAT has prepared discussion guides and promotional materials to use to facilitate a group discussion. Visit NRCAT's website for details.
The high price of materialism: This five and a half minute film, produced by the Center for a New American Dream and available on YouTube, is a quick and effective tool that explains the downside of excess materialism and points toward solutions that promise a healthier, more just, and more sustainable life.
Iraq Veterans Against the War: The first part of this four part series, produced by Voice of Art, was released on June 29. The episode features the historic march and returning of service medals by members of Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) in Chicago during the May 2012 NATO summit. The Voice of Art team spent the month of May following members of the Chicago IVAW chapter as they planned and carried out their action, which echoed the throwing back of medals by anti-war Vietnam veterans in Washington, D.C. in 1971. Find the videos at the Voice of Art YouTube channel.
Planting a future/Sembrando un futuro: The agroecological alternatives of the Nuu Saavi people to desertification in the Mixteca Alta -- This 22 minute video, produced by several organizations, including the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns, explains the work of CEDICAM, indigenous farmers in Mexico who are adapting their methods to the effects of climate change. In English and en espanol.
Controlling our food: The world according to Monsanto. This 109 minute documentary, directed by French filmmaker Marie-Monique Robin and shown in Europe in 2008, briefly explores Monsanto’s long history of producing toxic chemicals, such as PCBs and dioxin-laced Agent Orange, and interviews victims of the company’s chemical operations. But the film devotes more attention to Monsanto’s 20-year old genetically engineered seed empire.
Dying to Live, a video produced the Center for Latino Spirituality and Culture at the University of Notre Dame, is a profound look at the human face of the immigrant. It explores who these people are, why they leave their homes and what they face in their journey, and exposes the places of conflict, pain and hope along the U.S.-Mexico border. It is a reflection on the human struggle for a more dignified life and the search to find God in the midst of that struggle.
Video: A Gathering Storm: IRIN, in partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), shares these eight short videos on the human cost of climate change in Africa, specifically in Kenya, Lesotho, Mauritania, Mozambique and Senegal.
Reality in Nairobi's Kibera: Slum Survivors:This 40-minute web-based film from IRIN News, produced in October 2007, shows footage depicting the lives of people who struggle just to exist on a day-to-day basis in Nairobi’s largest slum.
Holy Land, Common Ground: This documentary by Ed Gaffney and Alicia Dwyer focuses on peacemakers in Israel and Palestine. The film includes three stories of Israelis and Palestinians who show the importance of family life in both societies, the terrible impact on families when their homes are lost or destroyed, and the deep yearning of both communities for a safe, secure homeland they can call their own. Commentators include former Sen. George Mitchell and South Africa’s Archbishop Desmond Tutu. 90 minutes. For more information, contact Ed Gaffney.
An Inconvenient Truth. This film traces the work of former Vice President Al Gore to promote understanding and awareness of climate change.
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Praying for peace around the globe: A resource for prayer and action: Published by the Institute for Peace and Justice. 128 pages. This book invites us to pray and act for peace in 40 different countries and around 13 different issues of peace and justice on a daily and weekly basis. Each prayer page includes a short description of the situation on the country or issue; a longer prayer for peace from that country or issue; suggestions for action (with the action websites in the website supplement); and a shorter prayer of petition that can be used in worship services.
Breaking Faith with Nuclear Weapons, a publication from Faithful Security: The National Religious Partnership on the Nuclear Weapons Danger
Ready, Aim, Foreign Policy: A report from the Latin America Working Group Education Fund, Center for International Policy and the Washington Office on Latin America
Tarnished Image: Latin America Perceives the United States, a report from the Latin America Working Group Education Fund.
To Walk Humbly: Stories and activities for teaching compassion and justice: This resource from Anne E. Neuberger is for ages 10-13 (grades 5-8). Published by 23rd Publications, this book offers 55 stories from around the world to help young Catholics connect with the social, environmental, and economic problems of children around the globe. It encourages them to accept and think of these children as family. Story topics include school life, child labor, cultural and religious celebrations, hunger, racism, poverty, sharing, generosity and lifestyles. It is also a primer on Catholic social teaching and how its principles can be lived out in daily life in simple and doable ways. 96 pages; $14.95. For more information, contact 23rd Publications, P.O. Box 6015, New London CT, 06320.
Voices of our world/Voces de nuestro mundo: These weekly public affairs radio programs are sponsored by Maryknoll. They feature shows on social justice, peace projects, environmental concerns, and other critical issues. Check the websites to learn if they are broadcast in your area, or listen to podcasts online: Voices of our World.org or Voces de nuestro Mundo.
The Scale of the Universe 1 and the Scale of the Universe 2: These web tools take viewers from the smallest elements to the largest to understand the scale of creation, and opens the possibility to deepen the knowledge of the elements by clicking on each of them. In its simplicity, it is a beautiful experience that makes us realize how large (and small) the world is in which we live.
Land Matrix: The Land Matrix is an online public database of large-scale land deals around the world. At this point, it provides a visualization of half of the available land deal records since 2000. The remaining deals are being crosschecked and added, together with new data, on an on-going basis. The site's producers have documented 1,006 deals since the year 2000, amounting to 70,217,083 hectares of land, which equals the size of half of Western Europe. The site answers questions such as: Who are the top investing countries? Who are the top 10 investors? Which countries have the highest or the lowest score in making land acquisition data available? Data can be searched by region or country.
Overpriced and underwritten: The hidden cost of public-private-partnerships: An online tool from the CEE Bankwatch Network, this website provides critical information about public-private partnerships to those who might be curious to dig deeper: activists, NGOs, researchers, journalists, and anyone else. Bankwatch s a non-governmental organization with member groups from around Europe. It monitors the activities of international financial institutions (IFIs) and promotes environmentally, socially and economically sustainable alternatives to their policies and projects.
Global Footprint Network is an international think tank working to advance sustainability through use of the Ecological Footprint, a resource accounting tool that measures how much nature we have, how much we use and who uses what. By making ecological limits central to decision-making, we are working to end overshoot and create a society where all people can live well, within the means of one planet. Go to www.footprintnetwork.org to read more and to try some of the interactive tools and resources.
Economic justice resources: The New Economics Institute offers a variety of online resources on topics including banking and finance, responsive government, production and consumption, measuring well-being, sharing the commons, among several others.