S-Comm is a Department of Homeland Security program that requires states to identify immigrants for deportation. While NY governor Cuomo and other governors across the country have expressed concerns regarding the difference between what how DHS says the program is implemented and what statistics show regarding the deportation of non-criminal undocumented immigrants. There have been mixed messages and allegations of a cover up regarding the mandatory nature of the program. The intense roll out of the program despite complaints and protests seems to make the mandatory nature of the program clear.

Given the latest report of racial profiling by the New York City Police Department which showed that 87 percent of those stopped were blacks and Latino, the implementation of S-Comm especially in urban areas with large immigrant populations is extremely concerning. Immigrants account for more than one-third of the city’s residents and 29% of all voters in New York.

While the federal government attempts to make an example of Arizona by challenging parts of SB1070 in the Supreme Court and by suing Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio for racial profiling, it continues to fast track a program that has contributed to racial profiling.

While its arguments in front of the Supreme Court last week against parts of Arizona’s SB1070 were more about asserting the DOJ’s power to enforce immigration laws than insuring the rights of others, especially Latinos, race and ethnicity was an unspoken subtext.
Most recently the U.S. Justice Department kept the pressure on Arizona by targeting Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Following a breakdown in negotiations pushing for his police department to be monitored because of racial profiling allegations, yesterday the department announced its intent to sue. The DOJ is seeking to federally monitor Arpaio’s practices including targeting Latinos (or those perceived as Latinos) for unjustified traffic stops and arrests and prioritizing low level immigration offenses over investigating a backlog of sexual assault cases.

While federal oversight of Arpaio’s office is long overdue (just do a search with Arpaio’s name in our own search box to see for yourself), the question that remains unanswered is how to we get the Federal Justice Department to monitor themselves?

So far the Federal Justice Department has refused to investigate the death of Anastasio Hernández-Rojas or any other death that has occurred on the U.S. Mexican border at the hands of Border Patrol. Some organizations, politicians like Senator Robert Menendez, Reps. Raul Grijalva, Xavier Becerra, Jared Polis and Lucille Roybal-Allard, and individuals are putting pressure on Attorney General Eric holder to open an investigation of all killings committed by the Border Patrol since 2010. Yesterday the American Civil Liberties Union filed a complaint with the Department of Homeland Security also demanding an investigation into border patrol related deaths.

If the Department of Justice is interested in doing more than just flexing it’s muscle to show states Federal supremacy, than it needs to take a look at how the U.S. Border Patrol treats both U.S. and Mexican citizens like Anastasio. Otherwise it’s hard to believe that Eric Holder is interested in anything resembling justice.

M: Just like the synopsis of Gabi grabbed your attention Bianca, the synopsis of Babygirl piqued my interest and brought out many conflicting emotions even before I saw the film.

For as long as she can remember, Bronx teenager Lena has watched her young man-crazy single mom Lucy waste her time on a series of less-than-perfect boyfriends. And even though she should be paying attention to the neighborhood boys’ flirtations herself, Lena has been spending most of her time being the mother Lucy forgets to be. But when Mom’s latest boy toy Victor quickly proves to be her worst suitor yet, Lena sets up a trap to expose him for the creep she thinks he is.

Set in the uneasy but rhythmic streets of the Bronx, this unassuming story of a passionate Puerto Rican family comes to life with authenticity and just the right amount of restraint and naturalism. Irish-born director Macdara Vallely captures a vivid portrait of a young mother and her daughter both coming of age while crafting a likeable yet shifty character in Victor…

M : While not a Bronx Rican, as a single Queens Rican mami to daughters, including one teen, I felt defensive watching the character of Lucy constantly having to defend herself against the slut label. Where with Gabi I questioned if mami’hood and sexuality were portrayed as opposites, here it seem clear to me that single mami’hood and sexuality = puta’hood.

B: Word. That’s how the story/film begins: with her fighting with her “baby’s father” who is abusive and who she has to call the police on to remove. We see Lena find Lucy in the bathroom fixing her make-up and it seems that this interaction is so normalized for her, she cares about her appearance and that seems to be an attempt for the viewer to make a connection to her questionable choices and lackluster parenting style. We see Lucy as a pathetic, lonely, and sad-I-don’t-have-a-man woman which impacts her ability to be a parent.

M: I think it’s useful to recognize that this film, unlike Gabi, was not written and directed by a Puerto Rican. The director and writer,Macdara Vallely, is an Irish man who has lived in the Bronx for the almost 10 years and is married to a Puerto Rican woman. In an interview I read, Vallely said he was inspired by witnessing a man hit on a woman and her daughter on a subway. How interesting that he made the behavior of mother and daughter seem almost pathological while O felt Victor was portrayed as more complex.

B: Yes the point of view is not one that is contrived and not at all authentic from our point of view as women, Puerto Ricans, and always seen as sexually available. You see the many layers of the women characters in Gabi, but not so much with the women characters in Babygirl. A man, Victor, becomes the center of their story together and what ends up creating a riff in their mother-daughter relationship. As if this is the one thing (out of the tons) that would impact a mother-daughter the most. Men are the center of all the women characters lives: the boy child Lucy has and that requires Lena to care for on a regular basis, the local boy interested in Lena, and Victor. Interesting how these two men, one who doesn’t even speak, takes up so much of their attention and lives.

M. Essentially this is a coming of age story but whose coming of age seems to be a question. Is it Lena – struggling between two women – her mother and her friend who are portrayed as not having her back when it comes to boys and men? Or is it Lucy who is portrayed as a failure as a mother for not balancing her desires with her role as a mother and provider forcing the “babygirl” – Lena into early adulthood and situations.

B. Yes! I think some may see this as a clever and thoughtful way of having us question who is coming of age. But I, as a Puerto Rican woman, find this to not be clever at all and pretty condescending and infantilizing.

M. I feel like I should talk about what I did like about the film. I did appreciate the use of Spanglish in the film. I loved the soundtrack, and I loved seeing local talent like Flaco Navaja and Sandra Rodriguez. I loved that the Bronx was actually used to film the movie especially the inclusion of mass transit since really so many stories do happen there.

B: Yes there were definitely elements that I thoroughly enjoyed. Seeing Navaja in a role that is very much a villain, one I haven’t seen him in before as the last time I saw him was in East Willy B, was nice. I liked that Lena had supportive people in her life when she needed them, although she didn’t reach out to them until later, it was nice to be reminded of that support. Plus, I liked how Lena’s resistance was presented, especially during her interactions with friends and the boy who showed interest. Her “talking back” were powerful scenes for me, yet I think some folks may see them as Lena acting out and being disrespectful versus her standing up for herself and what she believes she needs.

M. I felt like the relationships between women, specifically Latina women, were really one dimensional. You have the perceived dysfunction between Lena and her mother where the mother is too much of a friend, where we see Lena taking care of her brother as a problem, and where a mother can’t be trusted to have her daughter’s back and vice-versa. You have the betrayal and back stabbing over a man between Lena and her friend. Basically Rican women will choose their man over their mother, daughter, friend and the men – well they will be the saviors or the escape.

B: This film would not pass the Bechdel Test (as problematic as that test is) the fact that the women in the film don’t talk to one another about anything other than men is telling (and such a part of the fact that men were a part of creating this film). I’m reminded of the work of Oscar Lewis and his “culture of poverty” in La Vida. This narrative is kind of like the new/21st Century version of La Vida and that’s gross and dehumanizing.

M: Look as a woman who was a young single mother and now as a single mami to a teen, it’s hard and I think that the film tried to show that but in the worse way possible. Towards the end of the film when Lucy says she’s going to change, it’s not believable because Lena is left in the kitchen making her own food and then there’s that shot of Lena behind the window guards referencing some sort of imprisonment. Do single Rican mamis make mistakes? Yes. Does this mean there are no victories, triumphs, or that we and our daughters are doomed? No. We hear that message enough already.

B: When Lucy goes searching for Lena after kicking her out (over a man) she only goes up to other men in the street asking if they have seen Lena! Even though this film is supposed to be about Lucy and Lena, it is really about men. And, I’m ok with having stories about men, just not by having our lives be the stage for sharing those stories. It’s a reminder that we are still not valued, and that’s a narrative I can do with out because we already live and survive that on a regular basis!

Bronx, NY – A group of Bronx residents will gather on Monday, May 7th, at 3:30pm across the street from Lehman High School and march to the 45th NYPD precinct to file a lawsuit against two police officers accused of harassment against Lehman High School student Malik Ayala.

Ayala, 16, became the target of police harassment in the hallway of his school, while waiting to take an exam. Ayala was engaged in conversation with some of his fellow students, and demands were made for his ID, records, and documents, first by Peace Officers, then by his Dean and then by the NYPD. Ayala was told that the literature he planned to hand out to fellow students was illegal because it had the Black Panther logo. He was then issued a summons for disorderly conduct. As a result of the time he spent with officers, Ayala was forced to miss that very important examination.

Less than two weeks later, Ayala noticed a young man being arrested in the subway and began to record the police actions with his cell phone. Officers demanded to see the phone, slammed him against the wall, and searched him despite Ayala’s refusal to agree to let them do so, which was his legal right. Once again, Ayala was served with a summons for disorderly conduct.

This is not a unique case. Local youth, predominantly of color, often go through the same experience daily in their schools and communities. On Monday May 7th we will march with fellow students and residents of the Bronx community to file complaints against officers who are harassing youth of color.

In schools where the majority of the student body is comprised of youth of color from working backgrounds, young people are treated not as students, but as criminals. There are metal detectors, peace officers, and the NYPD is called in routinely. Apparently the aim is to condition the students to be subjects of a police state, to create an atmosphere of intimidation and to establish a pipeline from schools to prisons.

Who: People Power Movement, Lehman High School students, members of the Bronx community.
What: March to 45th Precinct in the Bronx.
Where: Meet across the street from Lehman High School, 3000 East Tremont, Bronx NY 10461.
When: Monday, May 7th, at 3:30pm.
Transportation: 6 Train to Westchester Square, or use www.hopstop.com

The music first caught my ears last week on Remezcla (who really is on the cutting edge of releasing relatively unknown but amazing artists).

A quilombo was an autonomous, fugitive settlement founded by ex-slaves and others in colonial Brazil. This album sonically manifests that history by mixing Afro-Brazilian rhythms and traditions like capoeira mixed with electronic elements and hip hop beats.

The album drops May 22nd.

Join us for a panel discussion with lawyers and organizers from THE BRONX DEFENDERS and the JUSTICE COMMITTEE.

CONFRONTING POLICE VIOLENCE IN THE COURTS:

LEGAL STRATEGIES AND LEGAL CLINIC

 May 19, 1-3pm @147 W24th Street, 3^rd floor (1, C/E, or F/M to 23^rd St.)

This workshop will include:

• Pros and cons of filing complaints with the CCRB and IAB
• Individual and class action civil suits
• Organizing for justice
• Lawyers will be present to answer legal questions

To RSVP email: JusticeCommittee@gmail.com.  RSVP highly recommended but not required.

Please note: This workshop is open to Latin@s and other people of color who are concerned about police violence in their communities.

The Justice Committee is a Latino/a-led grassroots organization dedicated to building a

movement against police violence and systemic racism in NYC.

What local undocumented youth and allies are fighting for is The New York State Dream Act. The NYS DREAM Act would have extended state- sponsored financial aid to all students, regardless of citizenship status. Through this act, all students would have been given an equal opportunity to financial assistance, specifically the Tuition Assistance Program (TAP).

For information on how you can help continue the push for equal access to state education funds for undocumented youth see after the jump.

TAKE ACTION!!
The NY Dream Act is currently being held in the Governmental Operations Committee in the Assembly. Please call the Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and ask him to put up the NY Dream Act (A6829/S4179) for a vote in the Assembly, then call the Chair of the Governmental Operations committee and ask him to move the NY DREAM Act through the committee, see the numbers below.

Sample script: “I’m calling to urge that (legislators name) support the NY DREAM Act and allow undocumentedstudents to be given an equal opportunity to the tuition assistance program, please move the NY DREAM Act to the floor for a vote ”

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver
NYC office: 212-312-1420 / Albany: 518-455-3791

Chair, Governmental Operations Committee
Steve Englebright
Albany: 518-455-4804 / District office: 631-751-3094
If you have more time please call every member of the committee, see list here.

Sources : http://www.nysylc.org/

http://www.assembly.state.ny.us/Press/20120501/

Many organizations have released statements expressing outrage that ICE ignored the recommendations of it’s own task force, but really this should come as a surprise to no one. Ever since the program’s expansion under President Obama, it has been a driving force behind the over a million deportations that have taken place under his administration. The program has been highlighted as proof of Obama’s tough boots on the ground policy that contradicts numerous promises and press releases indicating discretion.

In the coverage of last week’s hearing, organizations and media outlets tried to feel out what side the Justices were leaning towards based on the questioning. Interestingly enough there was no consensus as to what the line of questioning meant. Some organizations felt that the questioning revealed a sympathy towards Arizona State Law. Others expressed concern about the absence of a discussion of race within the questioning. Some sources predicted a mixed result, with some provisions of S.B. 1070 standing while others would not. Very few sources that I saw were able to muddle through the complicated proceedings in a way that was honest and went beyond advocacy for a specific outcome.

S.B. 1070 is a horrible law but let me be super clear, while S.B. 1070 is absolutely about race, ethnicity, and nationality the Supreme Court is not deciding on if the law violates the civil rights or human rights of individuals. It is deciding on if four specific parts of the law attempt to carry out what the federal government should be doing, enforcing immigration policy. If the case were about racial profiling, then national immigration enforcement policy and practice would also end up being scrutinized. This would include the excessive force of border patrol along the southern border, this would include the use (or not) of prosecutorial discretion, and the enforcement priorities of national programs like Secure Communities. To admit that S.B. 1070 is racist and relies on racial profiling, would mean to admit that policing priorities overall across the county are racist and rely on racial profiling. It is troubling to see liberal institutions insist that racial profiling is out of character for the United States when really it has been a hallmark.

A ruling is expected in late June.

The debut of the video comes at the same time of the announcement of Tijoux’s first U.S. tour. It also comes at a time when students in Chile are taking to the streets again to protest the educational policies of right wing President Sebastian Pinera.

I personally wanted to share the video as the mami to two ChileRicans. The cinematography reminded me of the Chile I fell in love with, a Chile whose students were taking over schools and streets before the U.S. decided to call such actions “occupations”. In many ways Chile helped me find my voice through my first tastes of tear gas and a history of resistance my daughters inherited a part of.

See below for dates for her upcoming US tour

MAY 4 – LAS CRUCES, NM
MAY 11 – SAN ANTONIO, TX – ECHALE AT PEARL AMPHITHEATRE
MAY 12 – AUSTIN, TX – PACHANGA FESTIVAL
MAY 15 – SAN FRANCISCO, CA – THE INDEPENDENT
MAY 17 – LOS ANGELES, CA – THE ECHO
MAY 18 – SALT LAKE CITY, UT – LIVING TRADITIONS FESTIVAL
MAY 19 – MIAMI, FL – PAX