This 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.

Representative Mike Honda focused on keeping families together as a priority.

Representatives from various parts of the labor movement spoke, which is significant since it wasn’t too long ago that they united behind immigration reform.
William Lucy, the International Secretary-Treasurer of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees spoke not just as immigration as a right but as human migration across borders as a right.
Arturo Rodriguez, the President of the United Farm Workers invoked the case of María Isabel Vásquez Jiménez, a young farmworker who died due to heatstroke exacerbated by inhumane conditions, like no water or shade in the vineyards where the pregnant mujer worked. Vásquez Jiménez’s story, according to Rodriguez, was proof as to why immigration reform cannot wait.

Senator Robert Menendez, introduced by NCLR’s Janet Murguia, called the gathering a pilgrimage and quoted the bible.

The speaker whose word’s struck me the most was Pastor Freddy Santiago. His words felt pretty unapologetic when referring to all the promises coming from politicians, including Representative Luis Gutierrez whom he was introducing. Santiago stressed that promises without a timeline were essentially failures waiting to happen. Santiago criticized President Obama for postponing an immigration meeting next week and called on Rep. Gutierrez to call the President out on this. Yesterday during the RI4A Opening Luncheon, Gutierrez said that he didn’t see the postponement as a negative but rather an opportunity to organize more and better. This was a sentiment Gutierrez repeated today. Pero Santiago equated Obama’s saying the tine for immigration reform is not now to a sin.

Seriously, how much more organizing do we need? Especially when what is not being called to task is the mainstreaming and co-option of so so much grassroots works and issues. And this isn’t just Mala saying this. This is coming from conversations I had with other activists today.

So yes it remains amazing to be in this space with so many other people who are passionate and I’m thrilled that 80,000 faxes were sent in the last 24 hours to support comprehension immigration reform. Pero I’m still concerned at what concessions people are feeling or being told that they need to make in order to make change happen. No amount of si se puedes is going to bring real justice or cambio.

Mas later so stay tuned. For example I will write more about the RI4A platform later and break it down a little, I have more videos and pictures to post and there are more events happening tonite and tomorrow.

On a personal note : It has been interesting being here covering the Summit with my two year old. The team behind the Summit have been absolutely wonderful, including checking in on me to make sure Poroto and I are ok and finding spaces at the venues where I can still gather information while allowing my daughter to be her active two year old self.
I’ll write a more personal narrative on my personal blog pero for me the line between the personal and the political are fluid.

Gracias for reading and following.