Office of the Americas
The Office of the Americas is a non-profit organization based in Los Angeles, California and founded in April, 1983 by Theresa Bonpane, who along with her husband Blase Bonpane, continue as the Director and Founding Director, respectively, of the organization.
The OOA is dedicated to furthering the cause of justice and peace through broad-based educational programs, and is a recognized source of documentation and analysis of current international events with a focus on the foreign policy of the United States.
Blase Bonpane can be heard weekly on the program World Focus,[1] Sundays from 10:00 am to 11:00 am on Pacifica Radio's KPFK out of Los Angeles. He is also the author of many books, based on his radio commentaries, and his experiences as a former priest working in Latin America. Blase' autobiography, Imagine No Religion, was published by Red Hen Press in 2011. In 2015, he published a book of commentaries about Pope Francis' 2nd Encyclical, "Laudato Si (Praise be to you): On the Care of our Common Home." His most recent publication is "The Nicene Heresy - Christendom and War - Reverence and Critique" and is also a collection of commentaries from World Focus broadcasts and available on Amazon. Programs of the Office of the Americas include:
- Offering information and commentary to mainstream and independent media as well as to scholarly publications
- TV and radio commentaries, including World Focus, a weekly broadcast for the Pacifica network
- Press conferences and background briefings
- Assisting in documentary, feature film and TV productions
- Publishing “Blase Bonpane Reports”, a weekly e-newsletter
- Lecturing at universities and peace and justice groups nationally
- Providing information on legislative issues
- Providing services and networking with other peace and justice organizations
The OOA has the support of Executive and Advisory Boards which include Noam Chomsky, Ed Asner, Martin Sheen, the Reverend Roy Bourgeois, and many others active in the peace and justice fields. The late Howard Zinn was part of the OOA's Advisory Board.
References
- National Catholic Reporter, November 22, 2002,Peace Group Lauds Activists
- Los Angeles Times, April, 2006, Speaking Their Peace : Stoked by a Spiritual Fire That Grew Into Political Activism, Blase and Theresa Bonpane Have Dedicated Their Lives to Justice for the Poor
- Los Angeles Times, December, 1997 Vigil Held for Woman Imprisoned in Peru
- Los Angeles Times, June, 1996, Peace Day Aims at Teaching Students How to Avoid Violence
External links
- Official site
- World Focus, radio program on Pacifica Network
- Guerrillas of Peace: On the Air, Blase Bonpane, Red Hen Press, 2000
- Common Sense for the Twenty-First Century, Blase Bonpane, Red Hen Press, 2004
- Civilization is Possible, Blase Bonpane, Red Hen Press, 2008
- Blase Bonpane as featured speaker on SpeakOut!
- Imagine No Religion, Blase Bonpane, Red Hen Press, 2011
- Office of the Americas YouTube Channel
- Office of the Americas Facebook page