By Kim Lamberty, Sandra Rincon, and Chris Knestrick

Thousands of representatives of Colombia's indigenous peoples have been mobilized and marching since October 10. The mobilization, called "La Minga" began in the Cauca region of Colombia, home to many of Colombia's indigenous peoples. "La Minga" means a gathering of all the peoples, and indigenous leadership only call for it when something very important needs to be addressed.

Over the last several days, tens of thousands of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and their Supporters have taken to the streets of California to show their outrage with the passage of CA Proposition 8.  This Saturday, November 15 in front of Dallas City Hall at 12:30 PM Dallasites will do the same. Prop 8 provides for a Constitutional Amendment to prohibit same-sex marriage rights. Similar amendments and propositions have been passed in AZ and FL.

The passage of these propositions has angered the gay community and their supporters. Many feel as if they are now second-class citizens in a country that has seen that change can happen with this historical election. They do not feel that a majority should be able to vote on minorities’ rights or vote to take anyone’s rights away.

More than 4 million students across the country will challenge social and racial boundaries on Nov. 13 as part of the seventh annual Mix It Up at Lunch Day, a project designed to foster respect and understanding in schools and communities.

Sponsored by the SPLC's Teaching Tolerance program, Mix It Up encourages students to question and cross boundaries by sitting with someone new in the cafeteria for just one day. Many schools are planning activities for the whole day, and some use the event to kick off a yearlong exploration of social divisions.

"This year, Mix It Up Day has a special significance because of the historic election of Barack Obama as the first black president," said Mix It Up Director Samantha Elliott Briggs. "Students across America are very excited about doing their part to tear down the walls that divide us."

A dozen Latino workers at a Tennessee cheese factory went weeks without pay and endured an abusive work environment before demanding paychecks from an employer, who then had them arrested, jailed and threatened with deportation, according to a lawsuit filed today by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).

The federal lawsuit charges that Durrett Cheese Sales of Manchester, Tenn., its president and several members of the Coffee County Sheriff's Department conspired to violate the rights of the workers by falsely charging them with trespassing after they stopped working and demanded paychecks that had been delayed several weeks.

Dallas’s largest daily newspaper recently featured Dallas Peace Center board member Ernest McMillan.  The article appeared in the October 24th issue of the DMN and can be viewed HERE.