How Policies and Actions of the Global North Negatively Impact Communities in Central America

Host Kathleen Stephenson speaks with Grahame Russell of Rights Action, a U.S. and Canadian based human rights organization, (www.rightsaction.org), that provides direct funds to and does solidarity work with grassroots indigenous and non-indigenous community organizations in Central America and Mexico. Grahame Russell is touring the Pacific Northwest to promote an awareness of policies and actions of the global north that negatively impact local communities in Central America, often forcing migration into the United States, and to explore and inspire ways that students and community members from the global north can be more involved in these and other struggles in order to be in solidarity and work toward a more just global community.

Grahame Russell is the founder and co-director of Rights Action since 1995. He is a non-practicing lawyer, author, and Adjunct Professor at the University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC). For over 10 years Grahame lived in Mexico and Central America working with grassroots organizations and NGOs on environment, development, and human rights issues.

Further, Grahame has been featured in documentary films such as Gold Fever (goldfevermovie.com) and Defensora (defensorathefilm.com); he has published articles in various venues such as Al Jazeera, Telesur, UpsideDownWorld, and Third World Resurgence; and is the author of The Never Ending, There Is Only One People Here.