Archive for May, 2009
Voices of Immigration
4:42 pm By la Macha · Immigration · 1 Comment
22 May 2009I really enjoyed listening to this broadcast of The Story from American Public Media. It tells the story of two people dealing with immigration: the first, a former soldier and child of immigrants who decided to become a movie maker, the second, a former translator and single mother that escaped from a war torn country. From the website comes this blurb:
Like many of today’s veterans, Brian Iglesias came home from the war expecting to put his skills as a Marine to good use in the civilian workforce. That didn’t happen. Despite his high academic achievements and military honors, Brian struggled to find an entry-level job.
Raya Asee is an Iraqi refugee living in Sweden. Dick spoke with her last fall and all Raya could talk about was her 10-year-old son, Bashar. She’d had to leave him with extended family in Jordan when she’d gone to Europe to seek refugee status. The two had not seen one another for a year and a half.
You can listen to the stories here. I think listening to the stories one right after another really highlights the way immigration plays out for women in a way all the polls in the world can’t. There are children to think of, and endless work, and violence, and fear, and longing for home, and sadness–and joy and love too. How bad is bad enough? When is it time to leave? What happens when there isn’t any better or maybe even worse that “here?”
Unfortunately, as Mala noted, stories and voices from people who are actually experiencing are not easily quantifiable, and thus, never seem to really count to the people who could make a difference. Maybe this is where immigration rights advocates need to be doing their work? Challenging the idea that statistics can really tell a story of a community that is so diverse–so completely undefinable.
Let’s Get Free!
4:18 pm By la Macha · Word en la calle · Comments Off
22 May 2009For D.C. peeps!
The Visions to Peace Project Presents “Let’s Get Free!”
Youths’ Performance to Address the Pain of Violence and the Hope of Healing
(Washington, D.C. – May 20, 2009) On Saturday, June 13, the Visions to Peace Project will present a free performance that explores violence against youth and celebrates the power of healing. The Visions to Peace Project is an Anacostia-based organization that supports youth-led action for safety and peace, rather than dependence on policing, prisons, and punitive policies. This spring, the organization offered a series of workshops in which youth meet weekly to discuss violence in their lives and use the arts as a tool for healing. Next month, participants will share their work in a production organized for the community at large. A brief discussion and open cast party featuring free food and door prizes will be held directly after the show to support continued dialog and community-building. The entire event will be held at CentroNía, an educational and family support center located in Columbia Heights, NW.
WHAT: Let’s Get Free!
WHO: Visions to Peace Project
Various Volunteers, Collaborators and SupportersWHEN: Saturday, June 13, 2009. Doors open at 6 pm. Show begins at 6:30 p.m.
WHERE: CentroNía, 1420 Columbia Rd. NW, Washington, D.C. 20009
WHY: Youth, families and communities are harmed by multiple forms of violence – from the loss of friends to the loss of neighborhoods, from abuse by dating partners to abuse by police officers. This performance will highlight the insights of local youth and their calls for healing and justice.
For more information on the Visions to Peace Project, visit www.visionispower.org
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SUPPORT THE DECOLONIZATION OF PUERTO RICO AND THE SIX PRO-INDEPENDENCE PROTESTERS
8:32 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Activism|Events|Puerto Rico · 28 Comments
22 May 2009
This was in my inbox this morning, about how to support the Ricans that were arrested earlier this month for their civil disobedience in Congress and how their personal struggle is linked to the issue of the colonial status of Puerto Rico.
“Puerto Rico has been a colony of the United States for 111 years: a disgraceful colonial condition in the 21st century. It is time to resolve this crime against our people.” This is the demand of the six pro-independence protesters who interrupted the U.S. Congress and who hope their actions will produce more acts of civil disobedience regarding the colonial status of the island.
The protesters, who have been summoned to court on May 26, are the artists Luis Enrique Romero, María “Chabela” Rodríguez y José Rivera (Tony Mapeyé), mechanic designer Luis Suárez, nurse Eugenia Pérez-Martijo, and retired laborer Ramón Díaz.
The six interrupted a U.S. Congress session by singing “Oubao Moin” and carrying Puerto Rican flags and signs that read “111 years of colonization is a disgrace.” The protesters could face sentences of up to six months in jail and fines.
The struggle for Puerto Rican independence is the result of many battles that have not ceased. In 1954, five Puerto Rican conducted a shooting attack against member of the U.S. Congress to demand the independence of the island. The 1954 attackers have served more than 25 years in U.S. federal prisons. To date, thousands of pro-independence activists have been persecuted and incarcerated by the U.S. government for their actions. Now is time to decolonize Puerto Rico and put an end to the lies and deceit used by the U.S. government for the past 111 years.
Freedom for Puerto Rico and its political prisoners.
NYC PROTEST IN SUPPORT OF THE 6 PRO-INDEPENDENCE ACTIVISTS
Where: 26 Federal Plaza, Manhattan
When: May 26 at 5:30 pm
Directions: 4, 6, R, W to City HallSupport by making a monetary contribution for the activists at any Banco Popular and make a deposit to bank account #760060177 to María I. Rodríguez and specify that it is for a Banco Popular (BPPR) account in Puerto Rico.
GO TO WASHINGTON DC AND SUPPORT
Solidarity groups will go to Washington DC on the day of the hearing. For more information contact decolonizeprnow@gmail.com¡Free Puerto Rico! ¡Freedom for our political prisoners!
New Study from NCLR Points to Inequalities in Justice System for Latino Youth
7:29 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Justice|youth · 1 Comment
22 May 2009
“What’s wrong with young people these days?” is a question often asked. We’ve written over and over again that the problem isn’t really with the young people in our communities but rather with the messages “the system” sends to them as to the value of their lives especially when it comes to the “justice” system.
A new study recently released by NCLR reaffirms what we already knew, that Latino youth are treated unjustly. America’s Invisible Children: Latino Youth and the Failure of Justice specifically looks at how Latino youth are charged and incarcerated as adults more so than other young people in the U.S.
On any given day, close to 18,000 Latino youth are incarcerated in America. The majority of these youth are incarcerated for nonviolent offenses. Most Latino youth are held in juvenile detention facilities (41%) and juvenile long-term secure facilities (34%). However, one out of every four (24%) incarcerated Latino children is held in an adult prison or jail even though youth in adult facilities are in significant danger of suicide and rape.
Latino youth are overrepresented in the U.S. justice system and receive harsher treatment than white youth. In order of rising disparities, Latino youth are: 4% more likely than white youth to be petitioned; 16% more likely than white youth to be adjudicated delinquent; 28% more likely than white youth to be detained; 41% more likely than white youth to receive an out-of-home placement; 43% more likely than white youth to be waived to the adult system; and 40% more likely to be admitted to adult prison. States with the highest levels of disparity of Latino youth in adult prison (rates over 5 times that for white youth) were California, Minnesota, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
Nine out of ten (90%) Latino youth ages 10 to 17 live in states that permit the pre-trial detention in adult jails for youth prosecuted in the adult system. According to a study of 40 large urban jurisdictions, Latino youth prosecuted in the adult system are routinely incarcerated in adult jails. Overall, a higher proportion of white youth are released pretrial (60%) than any other racial or ethnic categories. Most (54%) of Latino youth prosecuted in the adult system were detained pretrial; of the Latino youth detained pretrial, 72% were held in adult jails.
Mexico City Tells Swine Flu ‘Adios’
4:52 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Health|Latin America|mexico|society · Comments Off
21 May 2009
While the swine flu might have claimed its latest victims stateside, Mexico City – plagued by the stigma of the disease for weeks now — is officially declaring the illness to be yesterday’s news. The city has lowered the alert level as the Mayor, Marcel Ebrard, tells citizens it to take a chill pill, since the megapolis has reached a milestone in its fight against the flu: one full week with no new cases. The AP reports:
Mayor Marcelo Ebrard said the change means the risk of contagion is low, the situation is under control and the images of countless people wearing blue surgical masks in cars, sidewalks, restaurants and theaters can be consigned to history.“There’s no longer any need” to wear masks, Ebrard said. “Now you can come to the city without any risk.”
City Health Secretary Armando Ahued said nobody has been hospitalized with respiratory infections in the last three days, and no swine flu cases have been confirmed since May 14. “We are seeing a 96.1 percent drop in cases, and that’s why we are dropping the alert level to green today,” Ahued said.
The flu has meant a sharp dip in tourism to the city and indeed to the entire country, so I assume that as small as this milestone might be, the capital is anxious to milk it for all its worth in an effort to get tourists back to the Mexican capital with a quickness.
Via / AP
Image via xaminmo on Flickr
Abuse in Irish Catholic Orphanages
9:05 am By la Macha · children|Controversia|crime|Religion|Violence · 1 Comment
21 May 2009
The following article about abuse in Irish orphanages followed all too familiar patterns: colonized nation, defenseless kids with no family or little contact with family, Catholic church, sexual and physical violence. But even as we can make generalities about the patterns that inevitably present themselves in cases like this, there is no way to escape the horrible singularity of the pain and trauma survivors deal with on a daily basis:
Buckley, the daughter of an unwed mother, said the orphanage was closed to the outside world and the children inside lived a life of slave labor manufacturing rosaries. She said there was no way to escape the ritual humiliation, beatings and rape regardless of whether the children achieved their quota of producing 60 rosaries per day.
She didn’t track down her parents, an Irish mother and Nigerian father, until her 40s, when she became one of the first to demand justice for her stolen youth.
“I didn’t have a childhood,” said Buckley, who recalled being constantly cold, hungry and thirsty as the nuns denied children water to keep them from wetting their beds. She was severely beaten by a nun for trying to smuggle out a letter detailing the abuse.
The Catholic religious orders that ran 52 workhouse-style reform schools from the late 19th century until the mid-1990s apologized after the report’s release, speaking of their shame and regret. Abuses also took place at 216 other church-run institutions for children, which included orphanages, hostels, regular schools and schools for the disabled.
Over and over stories of abuse come out–every where in the world it seems–Canada, the U.S., Australia, Europe. The only area where investigations never seem to quite follow through is Latin America. Are we to believe that violence and sexual abuse ran rampant in church run facilities throughout the entire world, with the exception of Latin America?
How is Latin@ history intertwined with church sanctioned sexual abuse?
Houston Police Chief Opposes Immigration Enforcement Policy
8:57 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Controversia|houston|Immigration|Politics|society · 2 Comments
21 May 2009
Yesterday, Maegan told us about a controversial government policy that would check the immigration status of every person currently being held in U.S. jails. While that in itself is already ruffling a lot of feathers, a similar program, 287(g), is being instated throughout the country, this one more worrisome due to the the other dimension it appears to be taking: local enforcement of immigration laws by police. The Police Chief of one of the cities participating in 287(g), my hometown of Houston, says while his force is signed up for the jail revision part, he is “worried” about the element of local law enforcement checking out the immigration status of everyone it comes in contact with:
Houston Police Chief Harold Hurtt was in Washington on Wednesday, supporting a study criticizing the controversial immigration program known as 287(g), in which his department is planning to participate.Hurtt said the department has applied for 287(g) training for Houston police to use federal immigration databases but only to check on those booked into the city’s two jails.
He said he favors that portion of the program but is opposed to the street-level phase of the federal immigration law, allowing local and state police to make immigration arrests and process offenders for deportation.
The yearlong study of 287(g) by the nonpartisan Police Foundation was critical of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement program, concluding it erodes law enforcement’s public safety mission, diverts scarce resources, increases exposure to liability to charges of racial profiling, and heightens fear in communities.
“Immigration enforcement by local police is counterproductive to community policing efforts. It undermines the trust and cooperation of immigrant communities, could lead to charges of racial profiling, and increases our response time to urgent calls for service,” Hurtt said during a Capitol Hill press event in Washington.
Yes, folks, the police chief of a city with millions of immigrants doesn’t even feel right about this. What does that tell us?
Hurtt says that Houston’s signing up with the jail revision element of 287(g) wasn’t his idea either, but rather Houston Mayor Bill White, who adopted the action after a police officer was shot by an undocumented immigrant.
Hurtt is apparently quite disturbed by the turn this is taking for Houston, and the Houston Chronicle reports he is considering job offers from other cities, including San Francisco.
Via / Chron.com
Torture Sqads in Gitmo
8:18 am By la Macha · Controversia|Cuba|military|military interventions|Myanmar|Obama|Uncategorized|Violence|Washington DC · Comments Off
21 May 2009Several things have amused me (in a horribly ironic way) in the recent discussions about “Where will the Gitmo Detainees Stay? Not in My Back Yard!“–not the least of which includes the assumption that Cubans really want a bunch of detainees that hate the U.S. in *their* backyards.
But finding out about the torture thug group, The Immediate Reaction Force, has really topped everything. Democracy Now! has an excellent report up about the IRF’s–including descriptions of how these forces have gang beaten men for infractions like having two Styrofoam cups in their cells instead of one.
And while much of the focus has been on the tactical use of torture at Guantanamo, almost no attention had been paid to a parallel force that was torturing prisoners in a variety of ways, including waterboarding them, and that is this riot squad of sorts that you referred to called the Immediate Reaction Force. The prisoners and their lawyers at Guantanamo call it the “Extreme Repression Force.” Read more…
The DREAM Goes Ivy League : Harvard Pres Supports DREAM Act
8:02 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · boston|Education|Immigration · Comments Off
21 May 2009
If Harvard supports the DREAM Act, why aren’t you?
Harvard President Drew Gilpin Faust yesterday backed federal legislation that would clear the way for illegal immigrant students to apply for legal residency, an endorsement that stunned students and drew criticism for a president who has largely steered clear of fierce debates.
Many organizers on the ground at Harvard deserve much props for their work around this issue, especially Sanctuary editor Kyle , who got his own shout out in the Boston Globe. Harvard now, Congress mañana?
Via / Citizen Orange
Cracking Down on Taco Trucks, Revisited
3:36 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · business|Controversia|Food|Health|Justice|Los Angeles|society · Comments Off
20 May 2009
Back in 2005 we told you about how our beloved taco trucks were getting smacked down by health officials in a few cities, among them Nashville, for being dirty. A taco truck? Dirty? Ha! And what difference does it make, when everybody knows a little chile can kill anything! Now it seems that taco trucks are yet again the victims of haters, but this time in on its real home turf: the Los Angeles area. Wha? Maegan first reported on this last year and The LA Times reports today:
Last summer, the City Council took action.No longer could loncheras set up for hours at parks or construction sites. Instead, they could stop only at sites where a bathroom was available to patrons, and stay just half an hour, barely enough time to set up and prepare a meal or two before having to break down and drive away again. In addition, all employees had to get background checks.
Palos Verdes Estates is hardly the only community to crack down on the trucks in recent years. Los Angeles County supervisors last year passed an ordinance making it a misdemeanor for taco trucks to park in unincorporated spots for more than an hour after restaurateurs complained they were siphoning off customers. A Superior Court judge later ruled the law unconstitutional.
Similar restrictions have been imposed nationwide in cities large and small, rural and metropolitan, from Hughson, Calif., to Houston, and in seemingly unlikely spots, including Des Moines; Charlotte, N.C.; and Hillsboro, Ore.
Some of the reasons remain the same, among them fears about food sanitation, but truck supporters are citing racism as a cause in some cities, with one Houston official justifying their demise by saying “I don’t want us to become, you know, a Third World area.” Well listen, Mr. Whomeveryouare, from one Houstonian to another, we are pretty much already there and it’s not because of taco trucks but because of people shooting each other for fun or stress relief.
What’s to become of taco truck culture in Southern California with these crackdowns? Probably the loss of a lot of great food. But I’m going to guess that this trendy new “taco truck” — all the rage on Twitter — isn’t going to get the same treatment. Nothing against Kogi (on the contrary, I love what they are doing, genuinely) but they appear to be thriving and there’s something unfair about one taco truck being somehow more acceptable when the patrons are more “high-end” and its owners are, well, less Mexican.
Via / LA Times
Image via el en houston on Flickr
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