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Who We Are
Our Vision
The Lake Worth Global Justice Group is a collective of young people rooted
in the City of Lake Worth who believe in the power of education, art, and
action to create positive change. We focus on the connection between
corporate greed and local injustices. We strive to educate ourselves and
others by organizing workshops, hosting speaking tours, teach-ins, screening
films, distributing literature, maintaining a radical reading room and
library, speaking at public meetings, and attending/holding public
demonstrations.
More About Us
The LWGJG formed in fall of 1999 in response to Seattle’s World Trade
Organization demonstrations. We originally operated from a regional Global
Justice Group that focused on south Florida—Palm Beach, Broward and
Miami-Dade Counties— and continue to join forces with groups throughout the
south Florida region. We collaborate with organizations such as the
Organization of Mayan People in Exile, Coalition of Immokalee Workers,
Fellowship of Reconciliation, Citizens for Peace and Justice, Green Party of
Palm Beach County, and the Florida American Indian Movement.
The members of the Lake Worth Global Justice Group are all lifetime
residents of Florida with a combined twenty-six years of experience in local
and statewide grassroots organizing. As individuals we have been recognized
for our work in such publications as Future 500 Youth Organizing and
Activism in the United States, Ms. Magazine , Utne Reader, BUST, The Palm
Beach Post, the Lake Worth Neighborhood Post, and New Times Broward Palm
Beach (South Florida Weekly).
Some of our key accomplishments include:
- September 1999: Organized a lively demonstration at the Columbian embassy in
coordination with RAN’s national day of protest against drilling in the Uwa
territories.
- November 1999: Confronted Karena Gore on her family’s investment in
Occidental Oil during her speaking engagement at Palm Beach Community
College, leafleting, and eventually taking the stage to directly address the
audience. The action was televised locally and picked up nationally by
Entertainment Tonight.
- December, 1999 – April, 2000: Conducted over 20 teach-ins, trainings,
fundraising events, and meetings to raise awareness about the WTO/IMF and
World Bank.
- April, 2000: Mobilized two large, tight, affinity groups to participate in
the “Florida Block” at the DC protests; coordinated transportation for 50
other south Floridians.
- September 26, 2000: Organized the “Tainted Twilight Tour,” a protest/street
theatre & walking tour of downtown West Palm Beach’s corporate criminals,
with a strong focus on the everglades destruction and the environmental
racism of “Big Sugar.”
- April 20, 2001: Co-coordinated creative solidarity actions in Miami in
response to the Quebec City FTAA Summit.
- November, 2001: Set up south Florida speaking tour for Carlos Humberto
Moralles of Network in Solidarity with Guatemala (NISGUA), who addressed
Genetic Engineering and the impact of Plan Pueblo Panama.
- February, 2002: Coordinated south Florida speaking engagements for Sabino
Perez, who addressed human rights issues and accountability in Guatemala.
- February 2003: Performed the original “Moms for War and Violence” street
theatre and stilting brigade during Lake Worth’s Street Painting Festival
(the City’s largest annual event) and at county-wide anti-war events.
- March 2003: Participated in “It’s Our Beach Too” campaign, successfully
defeating an 18 million dollar City Referendum promoting beach development
in Lake Worth.
- May Day, 2000 - 2003: Organized community May Day events, including
solidarity protests for the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, a community
teach-in on local sustainability, and community garden harvesting.
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