EMERGENCY CALL TO ACTION

FRIDAY, AUGUST 22ND at 4:00 PM

JOIN US IN PROTESTS AT I.C.E. OFFICES ACROSS THE NATION !

In DETROIT: Joins us in front of the I.C.E. Office At East Jefferson Ave & Mount Elliot at 4:00PM

It is imperative that we send a message to I.C.E., President Bush and the upcoming Democratic Party Convention that there must be AN IMMEDIATE MORATORIUM ON ALL RAIDS, DEPORTATIONS, INCARCERATIONS AND SEPARATION OF FAMILIES.

On the defensive after congressional hearings that raked I.C.E. over the coals for the cruel, abusive and “Gestapo like” raids in IOWA, I.C.E. responded with a so-called “humanitarian” way to deport half a million people – AND THEIR U.S. CITIZEN FAMILIES!..

I.C.E. announced that it has OVER 100 TEAMS of agents working full time to seek out and arrest these 500,000 people who, even accord ing to I.C.E., have done nothing wrong except come to this country, accepted employment from U.S. companies, pay taxes and support their families.

Already we have witnessed I.C.E. agents waiting outside of schools and day care centers to track down parents. I.C.E. has enlisted police in some states to set up road blocks as people come to church on Sunday. I.C.E. agents are coming into our neighborhoods in the dead of night and knocking on our doors, terrorizing our children.

THIS MADNESS MUST STOP!

On Friday, August 22nd, we call on all organizations and concerned individuals, but especially LATINAS, to organize protests in front of your local I.C.E. office at 4 p.m. (at your local time) to demand an immediate moratorium

on raids, deportations, incarcerations and separations of families until comprehensive immigration reform is finally agreed on in the next Congress

Ask your delegates and especially members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus to stand with you on Friday, August 22nd, in front of I.C.E.

We call on Hillary Clinton and Barak Obama to make clear their commitment to our community by joining in this call for an immediate moratorium on the convention floor!

FOR MORE INFORMATION IN DETROIT CONTACT:

Latinos Unidos de Michigan

Hypatia (818) 427- 4223 Rosendo (313) 580 - 5474 Ignacio (313) 587- 9285

Pro-Immigration Awareness Movement
Evelyn (313) 258 - 2486

We're trying to find the location of other protests against ICE and as soon as we know where and when, we will post them.

Via / La Chola

Dear Urban Jibaro,

I work in the toy department of a major retailer in a pretty diverse part of Pennsylvania. I see a lot of Latino families and I am curious about something. Whenever a kid throw a tantrum in my department, I hear their mothers threaten them with "John Kletter" and they immediately start behaving in most cases.

I have 3 kids myself and I would love to know how John Kletter can help me when they act up.

My question is "Who is John Kletter, and why are Latino children so afraid of him?

"Gracias" (thats all the Spanish I know)

Misty (Lancaster PA)

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Ok...so being that fact that I am completely new at this, I honestly did not know what the hell Misty was talking about. I googled "John Kletter" and did not find much...and was about to move on to our next submission...that is until I mentioned the question to one of my friends (she made me swear not to reveal her name) who has a thick accent and she said "que eso de jon kleta?"and then it hit me me like a ton of bricks...we had a phonetic translation issue here....John Kletter doesn't exist...at least not in the Latino universe what Misty actually witnessed was the power of the almighty "CHANCLETA".

This whole ASK A LATINO thing is gonna be fun...

So now that we got that squared away...Click below to read my official response to the first "ASK A LATINO" question.

I pride myself on being an independent blogger with strong activist leanings. As we come into our own here at VivirLatino, it's important to align ourselves with the right bloggers and media activists and always learn new things to make us better. When I say us, I don't just mean VivirLatino, I mean you the reader, and the larger blogosphere I am privileged to be a part of.

It is with great excitement that I sat in Laguardia airport, with no internet connectivity, watching a near riot when the Starbucks opened 15 minutes passed it's scheduled time (don't fuck with people's cafe, especially at 4:30 am). Why? Because I was headed to Detroit to the Allied Media Conference. Thanks to the generosity of many internet friends, so many people with whom I have been tied to for years via the world wide web, some whom I have never met in real life but interact with on a nearly daily basis, I am able to make this trip, to be part of the Incite! Track for women and trans people of color. To learn new skills and share experiences on how not to fix the media, but how to change the media at its core and be the media.

Too many conferences, claiming to be proponents of Democratic values are inaccessible to indy bloggers like VL. Conference fees in the hundreds of dollars, make these events elite events. I mean if you have $700 to drop on a conference (not including airfare and hotel) then more power to you. But how Democratic is that really?

Stay tuned for more updates. I'm heading into the keynote speech for the event.

There are some awesome workshops that help in terms of technical skills but also critical thinking skills when it comes to making independent media a revolutionary tool for change.

Find out more by visiting the Allied Media Conference Website.

Also, there are some awesome women of color fundraising to get themselves to Detriot. I had to fundraise myself, so represent by helping these mujeres out.