November Coalition's Local Activities
to End Drug War Injustice

The 7th Annual Isidro Aviles Memorial Picnic July 16, 2006, FDR Park, NY

I was honored to be a part of this years Isidro Aviles Memorial Picnic, an experience I won't soon forget. I would like to thank Teresa Aviles (Mama T) and her friends and family: Peanut, George, Steven, Beverly, Ricky, Melanie, my new pal, young Isidro, Paul Morgan Sr. and Jr., and all the good folks who made me feel welcome, and who made this year's picnic a success. Special thanks go to Paul Bennett of The Mertz-Gilmore Foundation for helping make this event possible. -- Tom Murlowski, November Coalition

Teresa Aviles and Tom Murlowski of the November Coalition

Teresa Aviles welcomes her friend Reggie, home from a stint in prison

The members of The November Coalition extend their thanks and love to Mama T, who vowed on her son's deathbed that she would devote her life to ending the injustice of the War on Drugs. She fights tirelessly still. Teresa has been a steadfast volunteer with the November Coalition since that dreadful day in 1998. Every year she organizes demonstrations, sponsors a Summer Picnic and hosts a Christmas Party for local children of incarcerated parents, all in honor of her fallen son, Isidro Lamont Aviles.

Two published authors; cousins Melanie Scott and Teresa Aviles

Paul Bennet of the Mertz Gilmore Foundation

A truly heated Scrabble game -- temperatures that day approached 100 degrees