[NYTr] Augusto Boal Nominated for Nobel Peace Prize Date: Mon, 26 Nov 2007 15:47:50 -0600 (CST) Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit The Theater of the Oppressed Laboratory (TOPLAB) 451 West Street New York, New York 10014 (212) 924-1858 toplab@toplab.org http://www.toplab.org Dear Friends and Associates of the Theater of the Oppressed Laboratory- We have received the following message from Geo Britto at the Center for the Theater of the Oppressed in Rio de Janeiro. Please take a moment to read it, act on it if you're so inclined, and pass it on to others. Augusto Boal has been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. We do feel that he is a most worthy candidate and we will work to try to make his candidacy bear fruit. Note that Augusto will present two workshops for TOPLAB from May 12 through May 17, 2008. For more information please contact us at toplab@toplab.org In Solidarity- The Theater of the Oppressed Laboratory New York, New York November 26, 2008 *** A Message from Geo Britto, Center for the Theater of the Oppressed, Rio de Janeiro Dear Friends- As you might already know, Augusto Boal has been nominated to be a candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize for 2008. This wonderful news brought all of us at the CTO-Rio much joy and happiness because we think that the work that Augusto Boal has done throughout the world, for so many decades, truly merits receipt of that prestigious prize. This candidacy not only honors Boal personally but also acknowledges all Theater of the Oppressed practitioners, working throughout five continents, and it will be a stimulus to for them continue their splendid work. Augusto Boal's most important artistic creation, Theater of the Oppressed, is now being used in more than seventy countries by hundreds of groups, in such fields as education and pedagogy, social work and mental health, and political and cultural activism, as well as numerous other areas where people are deprived of their right to fully be themselves and exist freely. Deprived of their identity and their right to dialog, Theater of the Oppressed becomes the Theater of Dialog. Those practicing TO groups have helped thousands of people around the world to demand their rights and have been fully engaged in the ongoing struggles against racism, sexism, slavery and all other forms of exploitation. To learn more about the Theater of the Oppressed go to http://www.theatreoftheoppresed.org [Also see TOPLAB's website at http://www.toplab.org] Between now and January 31, 2008 the Norwegian Nobel Committee will be receiving nominations for Peace Prize candidates, and between February and October the Committee will evaluate those nominations. According to its rules, the Committee will submit nominating invitations to people of its choice (typically, Nobel laureates and others specifically designated in accordance with its rules) but will also accept and consider proposals and nominations from other people and institutions. The mere fact that Augusto Boal has already been nominated as a candidate calls attention to the importance of his work and will considerably help expand the use and practice of Theater of the Oppressed techniques to benefit more and more oppressed people and communities. If you support Augusto Boal's nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize we request that you write to: The Norwegian Nobel Committee Henrik Ibsens gate 51 NO-0255 OSLO Norway tel. - +47 22 129300 fax - + 4722 12 93 10 In writing to the Committee, you must give solid and substantial reasons why you think Augusto Boal would be a worthy recipient of the Peace Prize. Cite some personal experiences you have had with Theater of the Oppressed, and note how you or your community or constituency has benefitted from the use of those techniques. If possible, we ask you also to contact influential people that you might know and who might be willing to join this campaign, such as: --members of governments, national assemblies, congresses, etc. - Members of International Courts of Laws; --university chancellors, deans or professors, especially in the fields of social science, history, philosophy, law, and theology; --leaders and active members of peace and social justice organizations and research institutes, human rights groups, and organizations dealing with international affairs; --former Nobel Prize laureates. People making formal nominations are asked NOT to publish their proposals--that request comes from the Norwegian Nobel Committe. We at the Centro do Teatro do Oprimido in Rio de Janeiro will keep all nominating declarations confidential. We would love to know your reaction to Augusto Boal's candidacy. Please write to us at geobritto@ctorio.org.br Sincerely, Geo Britto for the Centro do Teatro do Oprimido Ave. Mem de SC!, 31 - Lapa - Centro Rio de Janeiro 20230-150 - RJ B Brasil 55 21 2232 5826 / 2215 0503 === The Theater of the Oppressed Laboratory (TOPLAB) toplab@toplab.org http://www.toplab.org "My fellow Americans, major combat operations in Iraq have ended. In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed." --George W. Bush, May 1, 2003 "...I told the American people that the road ahead would be difficult, and that we would prevail. Well, it has been difficult--and we are prevailing." --George W. Bush, June 28, 2005 "Our cause in Iraq is noble and necessary....America is engaged in a new struggle that will set the course for a new century. We can and we will prevail." --George W. Bush, January 10, 2007 "Prevailing in Iraq is not going to be easy." --George W. Bush, March 19, 2007 +U.S. military fatalities through May 1, 2003: 140 +U.S. military fatalities through June 28, 2005: 1743 +U.S. military fatalities through January 10, 2007: 3017 +U.S. military fatalities through March 19, 2007: 3217 +U.S. military fatalities as of November 26, 2007: 3876 (this figure exceeds the number of people killed in all of the incidents that occurred on September 11, 2001) +Iraqi deaths due to the US invasion, as of September 2004 (estimated by The Lancet): 100,000+ +Iraqi deaths due to the US invasion, as of July 2006 (estimated by The Lancet): 654,965 +Iraqi deaths due to the US invasion, as of November 26, 2007 (estimated by Just Foreign Policy): 1,118,846* *These figures are based on the number of deaths estimated in The Lancet (the British medical journal) study through July 2006, and then updated based "on how quickly deaths are mounting in Iraq". To do that, Just Foreign Policy multiplies The Lancet figure as of July 2006 by the ratio of current deaths reported by Iraq Body Count (IBC), divided by IBC deaths as of July 1, 2006. The IBC numbers, considerably lower than those cited by The Lancet, Opinion Research Business (a British polling firm which estimated 1.2 million Iraqi deaths as of September 2007), and even the Iraq Ministry of Health, are based on the number of fatalities cited in various news reports and have been criticized, with much justification, for not giving an accurate assessment of the real Iraqi death count. The much more rigorous and statistically-reliable study, conducted by teams from Johns Hopkins University, Columbia University and Al-Mustansiriya University, and published in The Lancet in September 2004, put the figure at around 100,000 civilians dead. However, that data had been based on "conservative assumptions", according to research team leader Les Roberts, and the actual count at that time was credibly assumed to be significantly higher. For example, The Lancet study's data greatly underestimated fatalities in Fallujah due to the surveying problems encountered there at that time. The second Lancet study, released on October 10, 2006, indicated that 654,965 "excess" deaths of Iraqis have occurred since the outbreak of the aggression and genocide committed by the United States against the people of Iraq. The current figures provided by Just Foreign Policy seem to be logically consistent with the increasing rates of death from 2003 to 2004, and 2004 to 2006. Sources: http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/iraq/iraqdeaths.html http://icasualties.org/oif/ http://www.iraqbodycount.org/ http://www.zmag.org/lancet.pdf http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1338749,00.html http://www.agoracosmopolitan.com/Iraq_war.html http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/article.php4?article_id=6271 http://olm.blythe-systems.com/pipermail/nytr/Week-of-Mon-20041025/008279.html http://www.thelancet.com/webfiles/images/journals/lancet/s0140673606694919.pdf _______________________________________________ TOPLAB-ANNOUNCE mailing list TOPLAB-ANNOUNCE@blythe-systems.com http://blythe-systems.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/toplab-announce * ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us Our main website: http://www.blythe.org List Archives: http://blythe-systems.com/pipermail/nytr/ Subscribe: http://blythe-systems.com/mailman/listinfo/nytr =================================================================