Archive for June 4th, 2009
Random Images from the Reform Immigration for America Summit
4:47 pm By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Events| Immigration| Washington DC · Comments Off
4 Jun 2009Here are just a few random pics that I’ve snapped while wrangling a toddler at the Reform Immigration for America Summit.
I’m sorry pero the pronunciation guide of the chant on this flyer cracked me the hell up.
Poroto eating inside the Victory Tent.
The Victory Tent, where the lunches and dinners happen.
Read more…
Reform Immigration for America Town Hall : Choreography and Criticisms
3:47 pm By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Immigration| Politics| Washington DC · 2 Comments
4 Jun 2009This morning at the Reform Immigration for America Summit, the attention was focused on Capital Hill and pumping up the activists for legislative visits via a National Town Hall Meeting on Immigrant Reform, held at the Lutheran Church of the Reformation.
The word that popped into my head as the packed church was lead in the “Si Se Puede” multiple language chant practice was “choreography”. While the meeting featured a few grassroots, “real” people, the majority of the speakers were people we all have heard from already, including politicians. People in the audience did not participate, beyond chanting on cue. One of the included chants was “Workable Solutions” and there was something about this chant that didn’t sit well with me. Workable meaning we stop pushing for inclusion of so-called divisive issues like detention reform, inclusion of glbt familias, and the DREAM Act?
I honestly missed alot of the first half of the Town Hall since I was entertaining a toddler. Pero here is what I was able to catch.
Activist Convicted for Leaving Water Jugs for Migrants
10:55 am By la Macha · Immigration · 1 Comment
4 Jun 2009It’s great to know that leaving water for people dying in the desert is being punished, “knowingly leaving poison in drinking water” or “knowingly slashing drinking water jugs so that dying people can not get life saving water” is not.
In Arizona, a human rights activist from the group No More Deaths has been convicted for leaving plastic jugs for undocumented immigrants crossing near the US-Mexico border. The activist, Walt Staton, says the water jugs were left to prevent migrants from dying of dehydration. On Wednesday, Staton was found guilty of ‘knowingly littering’ in the Buenos Aires Wildlife Refuge. In a move criticized by defense attorneys, the jury was ordered to reach a verdict after initial deliberations ended in a deadlock. Staton is a member of No More Deaths, which has worked for years to provide migrants with humanitarian aid. Over the past decade, nearly 2,000 men, women and children have died while trying to cross the border into Arizona. In a statement, No More Deaths said: “By penalizing life-saving work, the United States is showing callous disregard for the lives of our neighbors to the south, whose only crime is to seek a better life.”
I personally don’t care if people are coming here to burn tires, for fucks sake, you don’t imprison somebody for trying to save lives. I mean, weren’t we all just subjected to weeks and weeks of news coverage about the mother that supposedly tried to keep her son from getting cancer treatment? And weren’t we all supposed to be mad at her because she was denying the opportunity of life to her son?
What’s the difference here? Why are we punishing somebody for bringing others the opportunity of life?
Is it because the people being given the opportunity for life are *brown*? Or “illegal?”
Does being “illegal” make you “not human” anymore?
Latino Gang Suspected in California Hate Crime
10:50 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Los Angeles| crime| race| society · Comments Off
4 Jun 2009
A family in Pasadena, California thought they were moving into the home of their dreams. African-Americans who had no qualms about moving into an all-Latino neighborhood called Duarte, the Davy family they thought both the home and the area had everything they were looking for. That is, until their house was destroyed from top to bottom in an allegedly racially-motivated attack. The Los Angeles Times reports:
Davy never thought about the fact that they would be the only black family on the mostly Latino block — until someone reminded her in a way that still makes her eyes tear and her stomach twist.On May 8, Davy opened the door to her home and was greeted by a barrage of spray-painted racial epithets. The hardwood floors, the mirrors, the televisions, the dressers — the vandals had turned the entire place into a canvas for that six-letter word used for decades to scare and scar African Americans.
Shaken, she immediately left and called police. And aside from one trip back to pick up some clothes, Davy has refused to return to a scene authorities believe was created by members of a local Latino gang.
“As far as hate crimes go, it’s probably one of the worst ones I’ve seen in my career,” said Sgt. Tony Haynes of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Duarte station. “They trashed the furniture and tossed drawers — there was pretty much no room left untouched.”
Chanisse discovered this terrifying scene upon coming home from picking up her daughter from day care. Since then, the Davys have been living in a hotel and are afraid to return to their home.
The LA Times reports that interracial shootings have happened in the past in Duarte, but no one in the community seems to have been prepared for something of this magnitude.
Earlier this week, Latino and Black victims of hate crimes in Pasadena, including Chanisse Davy, came together to demand an end to the violence.
Via / LA Times
As most of you probably know, Obama spoke in Cario today in an effort to reach out to Muslims and Arabs in a post 9-11 world. Haven’t watched the entire speech yet, but so far it’s a good one. Entire text of speech is at this link.
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
Dia Dos of Reform Immigration For America Summit Jumps Off
6:00 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Immigration| Politics| Washington DC · 2 Comments
4 Jun 2009
This is how we roll at the Reform Immigration for America Summit. These Summits are often exhausting, especially when there are so many people to speak to (some that you only see in person once a year) and so much work to be done and stories and angles to cover. Add to the mix that I’m running with a two year old and it makes it even more exhausting. Pero as amigo Kyle said to me yesterday, you run on adrenaline.
Today should be a really interesting day. There is a Town Hall Meeting on Immigration Reform that will feature some of the top legislative supporters of immigration reform. It will be interesting to see what the set up is at the Town Hall as sometimes these events aren’t very “towny” in that participation is limited. And as Kyle pointed out in a post yesterday from the Summit, there remain many questions that need to be asked.
For instance, why is it that traditional notions of comprehensive immigration reform include reuniting heterosexual married couples, while same-sex binational couples are left out in the cold. Another important issue is the way Reform Immigration For America will treat migrant youth. Will migrant youth be treated as leaders in the push for the DREAM Act? Or, will they be coopted or ostracized for pushing the DREAM Act independent of the migration reform?
Hola!
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- Transgender Day of Remembrance and Latin@s
- Dear Troll(s):
- Puerto Rican, Latino Clergy, Theology Professors, Community Members To Condemn Brutal Hate Killing of Gay Puerto Rican Man
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- Russell Athletic rehires fired union organizers
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