[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
=================================================================