2011 Corazón de Justicia Award Recipients

This Friday evening, progressive grassroots groups will gather at Apollo Middle School to honor leaders in several categories for their work across southern Arizona. The annual Corazón de Justicia Awards gathering is sponsored by the Coalición de Derechos Humanos (Coalition for Human Rights). Here are the 2011 Recipients:

African-American Issues
Billie Laurie
Selected by: NAACP

Art
Raices Taller
Selected by: Coalición de Derechos Humanos

Community Empowerment
Jason Aragon
Selected by: Coalición de Derechos Humanos

Environmental
Nancy Zierenberg
Selected by: Coalition for Sonoran Desert Protection

Faith-based
Mary Ellen Kennon
Selected by: Southside Presbyterian Church

Human Rights
Ethnic Studies 11
Selected by: Coalción de Derechos Humanos

Immigrant Rights
Steve Johnston
Selected by: Coalición de Derechos Humanos

Indigenous Issues
Ernest Moristo
Selected by: Alianza Indígena Sin Fronteras

Labor
Vikki Marshall
Selected by: AFSCME Local 449

LGBT
Noel de Tierra
Selected by: Wingspan

Women's Issues
Alison Hughes
Tucson Women's Commission

Youth
Elisa Meza
Selected by: Social Justice Education Project

The evening will include dinner and a keynote address by David Bacon, who is an associate editor at Pacific News Service, and writes for TruthOut, The Nation, The American Prospect, The Progressive, and the San Francisco Chronicle. If you're interested in attending, please check out the Derechos Humanos website for RSVP info. There's a tax-deductible donation of $35 to attend.

I attended last year and was energized by the networking and words shared by the recipients and speaker. Connecting on-the-ground work to blogging has helped me over the years to stay motivated & optimistic (especially with all the madness in AZ, right?). While it's not community organizing on the political/partisan level, I thought I'd share in case anyone in Baja Arizona is interested in attending.

paz