CALL TO ACTION FROM SYLVIA LEDESMA
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From: Jean Shinoda B.
Date: Friday, December 12, 2008, 11:04 AM
Subject: Call to Action from Sylvia Ledesma
Reply to: 266137
ID: 266153

Dear Sylvia; You wrote -- "Amber Archibeque, was released from a five month period in jail. She was released in a very vulnerable situation, in the middle of the night, alone, with no transportation available, and out in the cold darkness of downtown Albuquerque" -- this is standard -- Women are put out on the street where and when no woman would feel safe or be safe? Four hours later, she is dead -- you didn't say how. I'll add my prayers (one hour earlier) to the vigil tonight. Blessings, Jean

--- On Thu, Dec 11, 2008, in msg266137, Sylvia Ledesma wrote ---

There is Hope is Women coming together in circle. My experience at the circle in CA was powerfully awakening. Although it was a little caotic at first, I realized that it was our first step - Order is born from Caos! Below is an invitation to join our community in prayer and a call to action to stop the violence against young women in our community and of the world.

PRAYER VIGIL AND CALL TO ACTION

DECEMBER 12, 2008, 5:00-7:00pm Robinson Park (at downtown round-about)

On this day, Dia de La Virgen de Guadalupe, Nuestra Madrecita Tonantzin…and in the light of the full moon we honor and draw from her feminine energy… and honor our beloved Amber A. Archibeque.

We mourn the death of our Hermana Chicanita Amber, 22 years old. Amber had a soft and gentle soul. She shared her loving nature and beautiful disposition with all of us and specifically with our children. Amber's eyes would pull you in and her smile warm your heart. ALL children would always cling to her because they knew they would have fun with her and that they would be treated as equals in her care. Amber loved music, dancing, and was known for her beauty and fabulous sense of humor. “I believed in protest and making a difference in the world,” Amber would say.

We come together in circle and community today to celebrate her life and acknowledge the circumstances that brought her precious life and the lives of so many of our people, to an abrupt end. We stand together to oppose the silence of violence against women, silence of sexual abuse, and the silence of addiction that feeds our pain and tears at our communities.

We come together in circle and community to restore hope, to amplify the voices of women, our struggles, and take action to heal the current systems that perpetuate the cycles of addiction, sexual abuse, poverty and violence. Hear our voice, see our work, join in our vision toward a better world for our children, families and communities.

On December 4th Amber Archibeque, was released from a five month period in jail. She was released in a very vulnerable situation, in the middle of the night, alone, with no transportation available, and out in the cold darkness of downtown Albuquerque. Upon entering the system women are given meek choices and options for treatment and rehabilitation for their dis-ease. Amber passed away less than four hours from being released. Her loss is a perpetuation of the inattention and continued violence against women that will not go unvoiced! • 65% of New Mexicans believe that we should treat drug users medically and increase drug prevention programs, rather than incarcerate them [Research & Polling, Inc., March 2001]. • From 1986 to 1996, the number of women sentenced to state prison for drug crimes increased from 2,370 to 23,700. (Bureau of Justice Statistics, Washington DC Prisoners in 1997). • 88% of women inmates experienced sexual or physical abuse before coming to prison • Every dollar invested in substance abuse treatment saves taxpayers more than $7 in incarceration costs. Additional law enforcement costs 15 times as much as treatment to achieve the same reduction in drug abuse and related social costs [Rydell, C.P. & Everingham, S.S., Controlling Cocaine, Prepared for Office of National Drug Control Policy, RAND, 1994]. How to take action: ? Join us in circle and community to celebrate Ambers life and call attention to these injustices ? Call the County Manager’s Office and/or your County Commissioner at 468-7000 and demand that: ? Good treatment and rehabilitation be made affordable & accessible and a priority for drug offenders while incarcerated; ? Exposure to help and resources be increased and a support network be made available for incarcerated women and men. ? Incarcerated women and men not be left in increased situations of harm & danger upon release; ? Increase support of exiting drug offenders and incarcerated people. For more info call: Family @ 831-8930 . Young Women United @ 831-8930 . Kalpulli Izkalli @ 452-9208

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