New York Rally, March 2016. Credit: Natalie Jeffers, Matters of the Earth.
One year ago, Honduras became headline news with the assassination of Berta Caceres. A distinguished indigenous leader, feminist, environmental defender and recipient of the 2015 Goldman Environmental Prize, Berta was killed for organizing opposition to a hydroelectric dam on the Agua Zarca River in Lenca territory. In the days following her murder, hundreds of organizations and thousands of people worldwide mobilized a sustained outcry for justice in support for her organization, COPINH, and her family. My organization (JASS) and I were involved from the beginning and I can honestly say that in three decades of activism, I’ve never witnessed an instantaneous mobilization of that scale, diversity and impact.
Berta touched many people through her smart, openhearted political work, including her adversaries in the US State Department and World Bank. She worked with dozens of organizations, social movements and activists across the globe.
