06/14/2026
July 3, 2026
6:00 PM- 9:00 PM | Conversations and Pupusas
Location: Near Fernbank Forest
July 4, 2026
Location: Agnes Scott College, Decatur, Georgia
Day 1: Setting the Groundwork – Community, Context & Connection
8:30 AM- 9:00 AM | Breakfast, Music, Conversations
9:00 AM | Welcome - Dr. Lanny Smith
- Land acknowledgment, collective grounding with introduction to DGH, Liberation Medicine, and Why We Must Make “Good Trouble” fighting fascism, racism, science-denying ignorance, and genocide.
9:30 AM – 10:30 AM | Keynote Address: Immigrant Detention and Mass Incarceration, from the US to El Salvador
- Almicar Valencia, Executive Director, El Refugio, a place of refuge for those detained at Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, GA, one of the largest detention centers in the country, operated by CoreCivic.
- Samuel Ramirez, Coordinator of the Movement of Victims of the Regime in El Salvador (MOVIR)
10:45 AM – 12:15 PM | Experiences, Ideas and Inspiration on How Best to Support Silenced Communities (including immigrants, Trans/non-binary and others)
- Jonathan Peraza Campos, The Escuelitas Program and Association of Raza Educators
- Dr. Malak Rafla, Doctors Against Genocide
- Charis Books & Charis Circle “Your Independent Feminist Bookstore” (Invited)
- Freedom University “Georgia has the most discriminatory bans against undocumented students in the country” (Invited)
12:15 PM – 1:15 PM | Lunch: Getting to know each other through food
1:15 PM – 2:30 PM | TPS Alliance / The Next Dream Documentary: a film by Steve Marx, Laura Bean, and Vahdat Yeganeh) & Discussion
2:45 PM – 4:15 PM | Report-back from DGH International Partner Communities from Chiapas to the Isthmus of Oaxaca, Mexico, to Santa Marta and Estancia, El Salvador:
- Hearing how DGH Accompaniment through financial support and volunteers (on the ground and remotely) addresses the needs of the communities at a time when their government has abandoned them;
- Joining CISPES to mobilize our Representatives to challenge the role of the US government in supporting the agenda of the current regime.
- Discuss the current challenges faced in El Salvador with the new Foreign Agents Law, imposing a 30% tax on all international donations coming into the country.
Panelists:
- Peter Martinez Nataran (impact of El Salvador’s Foreign Agents Law for NGOs)
- Juan Manuel Canales Ruiz (25 years accompanying indigenous compas in Chiapas)
- Jose Ramiro Cortez Argueta (DGH accompaniment with CDH in Morazán, El Salvador)
- Hermenigilda Argueta (Psychological support of women dealing with the trauma of war and the “State of Exception” in Santa Marta, El Salvador)
4:30 PM – X | Spirit of Mandela: Convergence & Mobilization Against Genocides! National Mobilization Against Genocides and Celebration of 250+ Years of Resistance by Black, Brown, and Indigenous Peoples.
- Move via public transportation (MARTA) from Decatur Station to West End Park
Station to Malcolm X Park West End Part in Atlanta. (Dinner & Marta on your own.)
July 5, 2026
Location: Agnes Scott College, Decatur, Georgia
Day 2: Building & Defending – Strategy, Skills & Solidarity
8:30 AM - 9:00 AM | Breakfast, Music, and Conversations
9:00 AM - 9:15 AM | Welcome, announcements - DGH General Assembly Committee
9:30 AM – 10:30 AM | Keynote Address: Challenging unjust policies of the current Salvadoran Government (firing Primary Care providers, cutting access to basic medications, substituting AI for direct patient care, etc.)
- Dr. Rafael Aguirre, an internist working in the Public Health Care System in El Salvador, President of SIMETRISS, the union that represents physicians working in that system.
- A local member of the NNA (National Nurses Association) will share the crisis that the VA is experiencing, related to a lack of staffing and resources. (Invited)
10:45 AM – 12:15 PM | Cuba Under Siege: Solidarity with Cuba’s Model of People-Oriented Healthcare, Autonomy and International Accompaniment of Communities and Health Systems
Panelists: - Angelina Crowley, Representative from The Hatuey Project
- Dr. Cedric Edwards, ELAM (Latin American Medical School), first US graduate
- Salvadoran ELAM graduate (invited)
12:15 PM – 1:15 PM | Lunch
1:15 PM – 2:15 PM | Panel: Get Up/ Stand Up/ Stand Up for your (and silenced communities’) Rights! - Truth to Power, standing up to social injustice, including genocide in Palestine, kidnappings by ICE, and Union-busting—calls to action, resilience songs, inspiration, and other paths toward solidarity.
- Umaymah Mohammad, Palestinian (former) MD-PhD student at Emory University
- Lama Khouri, Palestine Global Health Network
- Professor supporting students against genocide
- Professor supporting Black Lives Matter
- Fired But Fighting (from the CDC— www.firedbutfighting.org )
2:30 PM – 4:00 PM | Action Planning Session - DGH community building
- Collective strategy-building for the year ahead
- Vision with Mutual Aid
- Building the DGH Community
- Sister organizations support toward healing communities; against fascism, racism, trans-hating, and genocide
- Deepening working groups and commitments
4:00 PM – 5:00 PM | Open: impact on community - facilitate discussion
Awards
- Sandy Kemp Scholars
- Hal and Cherry Clements Community Service Award
- Liberation Medicine Social Justice Award
Reflections, appreciations, and final thoughts - Lanny Smith & DGH GA Committee
