Ecumenical Advocacy Days is a movement of the ecumenical Christian community, and its recognized partners and allies. Their annual National Gathering provides participants with tools to be effective Christian witnesses to justice, peace, and integrity of creation around carefully chosen issues of national and international importance. Incorporating music, art, worship, education, and social activities, the weekend event informs and engages the participating advocates in a comprehensive way. This year, IPS Associate Fellow, Manuel Pérez-Rocha will be a featured panelist in the workshop Promoting an Anti-Racist, Creation-Friendly Vision of Trade.

While much of the narrative in the media on the impacts of trade agreement has focused on the devastating harm on white, working class industrial workers, trade has also harmed people of color in the U.S., our neighbors in the global south, and creation. As President Trump seeks a renegotiation of NAFTA, who stands to benefit and who stands to lose? Will a renegotiation be based on a foundation of xenophobia, exclusion, and corporate deals? Or will we have a future trade model that protects and benefits communities of color and low-income communities throughout North America? Join us to hear about these legacy trade impacts and hear proposals for an alternative vision that puts human dignity and creation above a racist, xenophobic, and fossil-fuel-friendly trade agenda.

Speakers:

• Ben Beachy, Sierra Club’s Responsible Trade Program;
• Manuel Perez-Rocha, Institute for Policy Studies;
• Representative of Movement for Black Lives;

Moderator: Chloe Schwabe, Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns and the Interfaith Working Group on Trade and Investment.