An all-day conference celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Resource Center of the Americas will be held Saturday, Oct. 18. The theme is "New Activism For The Americas (the NAFTA afta? NAFTA)."

The conference will run from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at Holy Trinity Church, 2730 E. 31st St., Minneapolis, just around the corner from the Resource Center of the Americas. Tickets are $30 ($15 for students, seniors and those on limited income). Cost includes continental breakfast, snacks, lunch ? all furnished by the Caf? of the Americas. No one will be turned away for lack of funds. Space is limited, however, so advance registration is required.

Noted activists Teresa Ortiz and David Dyson will speak, addressing the question, ?How do we become the change we seek?? The conference will focus on 20 years of human rights activism and inspiring an agenda for the future.

Interactive morning workshops will focus on globalization, Colombia, immigrant worker rights, youth organizing, and low-intensity warfare in the Americas. Afternoon discussions will explore strategies and goals for future organizing. Cultural activities, including music, poetry, and theater, will take place throughout the day, and attendees are invited to a great big party at the end of day with music by Sabor Tropical.

Dyson, a labor, religious, and human rights activist, is the pastor of Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York City. His work through the church revolves around civil rights, human rights, labor rights, women?s rights, affordable housing and community service. Dyson worked with Cesar Chavez on the United Farm Worker boycotts of the 1970s, later worked with the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers and co-founded the National Labor Committee in Support of Democracy and HumanRights in Central America. He is the founder of the ?People of Faith? network of activists.

Ortiz, a human rights, wormen?s rights and labor activist, is the director of Centro de Derechos Laborales (Workers Rights Center) at the Resource Center of the Americas and a native of Mexico. Founder and former executive director of the fair trade and development non-profit organization Cloudforest Initiatives, Teresa lived in Chiapas from 1995 to 2000, where she also wrote the book Never Again a World Without Us: Voices of Mayan Women in Chiapas, Mexico. Prior to that she was Guatemala program director for Augsburg College?s Center for Global Education and a teacher at the Resource Center.

The dance will take place from 8 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. Oct. 18 at the Minneapolis Convention Center, 1301 S. Second Avenue. Dance instruction will run from 8 to 9 p.m. Cost is $15, with a $5 discount for conference registrants. Featuring the music of Sabor Tropical, the dance benefits the Resource Center and the San Lucas Mission?s medical clinic in Guatemala.

For more information
Visit the Resource Center of the Americas website, www.americas.org