Honduran journalist to speak in Bellingham on threats to freedom of the press

Jennifer Ávila, Honduran journalist, artist, and documentary filmmaker, will speak in Bellingham, Washington, on Tuesday, October 16, 2018, at Christ the Servant Lutheran Church (2600 Lakeway Drive). Ávila is the co-founder of Contra Corriente, a multimedia, youth and women-led media platform.
 
Everyone is invited to a "not-luck" meal (you are NOT expected to bring any food, but you may if you wish) served from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., to be followed by Jennifer Ávila’s presentation, “The Silencing of Dissent: How Freedom of the Press is Threatened in Honduras.”
 
Ávila is the featured speaker in Witness for Peace Northwest’s 2018 tour and is hosted locally by the Whatcom Peace & Justice Center and the Justice Seekers of Christ the Servant Lutheran Church.
 
Ávila’s award-winning work has been shown in international film festivals, and has represented a crucial documentation of the ways U.S. and Honduran policy from deportations to mega-projects have affected the most vulnerable Hondurans.
 
Ávila spent six years at Radio Progreso, an essential bulwark of freedom of expression in an increasingly hostile environment for journalism, before co-founding Contra Corriente in 2017. While at Radio Progreso, she directed “Guardiana de los Ríos” (about the defense of rivers incarnated by Berta Cáceres), “No Se Van” (about the whys and hows of migration), and “Libertad Tiene Nombre de Mujer” (about women organizing to protect community territory).
 
The week prior to her visit, the Whatcom Peace & Justice Center will host a screening of “Guardiana de los Ríos” on Wednesday, October 10, 2018 at the Alternative Library (519 E. Maple) at 8 p.m.