US Exceptionalism: Its Story in Nicaragua and Beyond
Sunday, March 14
12 PM Pacific / 1 PM Nicaragua / 3 PM Eastern / 7 PM United Kingdom / 8 PM W. Europe
UPDATES:
Here is the link to the full webinar recording: https://youtu.be/JYztXGAiaIo
Here is the link just to Brian Wilson’s interview: https://youtu.be/0mUCFecRJek
Please join us for a webinar on Sunday, March 14, with three stimulating speakers: Brian Willson, Kathy Hoyt, and Sofia Clark.
“US American Exceptionalism” is a concept promoting the United States as the Shining City on the Hill. The first among nations. The example all other states should follow. This webinar will address the notion of US exceptionalism, with special but not exclusive focus on Nicaragua.
Brian Willson will describe the history and origins of the dogma of US American exceptionalism – the fear and trickster psychology behind it, the adolescent culture which produced it, and its origins in Nicaragua and Central America in the 1800s and 1900s.
Kathy Hoyt will focus on American exceptionalism as an ideology to justify punitive sanctions on other nations. She will discuss sanctions in general, with emphasis on the illegality and harm caused by US unilateral sanctions, and she will review current US sanctions on Nicaragua.
Sofia Clark will examine American exceptionalism in the global context – how it is used to justify US foreign policy around the world.
About the speakers:
Brian Willson is an author, activist, lawyer, and sociologist/ criminologist. His experience in Viet Nam transformed his view of his country. Afterward he became a lawyer and has traveled to two dozen countries examining US policies of human rights violations, visiting Nicaragua’a war zones extensively 1986-1990. He is known by many for his blockade of a train in 1987 at the Concord, California, Naval Weapons Station, to prevent the transport of weapons headed for Central America. When the train didn’t stop, Brian was badly injured, including double leg amputations below the knee. But Brian didn’t stop either – he has continued his activism for 50 years, and he has lived in Nicaragua since 2017.
Katherine Hoyt lived eighteen years in Latin America – two years in Chile and sixteen in Nicaragua, including a tumultuous period under the Somoza dictatorship. After returning to the US, she served for many years as National Co-Coordinator, first of the Nicaragua Network, then of the Alliance for Global Justice (AfGJ). She worked on campaigns to support Nicaragua’s garment workers and against IMF mandated privatization and user fees. In the 2000s, she actively represented the Nicaragua Network in the Stop CAFTA Coalition and led Nicanet delegations to Nicaragua. In 2016 she retired and now serves on the AfGJ board. She holds a Ph.D. in political science from Rutgers University and has authored numerous academic and activist publications.
Sofia Clark is a political scientist and former Nicaraguan diplomat with deep ties to Nicaragua, with a Master’s degree in International Law. She was Deputy Chief of Staff for her uncle, Fr. Miguel d’Escoto, when he presided over the 63rd session of the United Nations General Assembly. She is currently at the Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann Center for Development Studies at the National Autonomous University of Nicaragua (UNAN) in Managua.
This is the March event in a monthly webinar series on Nicaragua. Additional organizational sponsors are welcome. Contact [email protected] to sign on.
REGISTER HERE
Current sponsors:
Alliance for Global Justice
Casa Baltimore/Limay
Chicago ALBA Solidarity
Council on Hemispheric Affairs
IRTF Cleveland
Friends of Sandinista Nicaragua
Friends of Latin America
Friends of the ATC
Nicaragua Solidarity Campaign
Task Force on the Americas
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