Written by Lauren Traugott-Campbell, Organizing Intern
My Friday morning began about 10 blocks from Detroit's JP Morgan Chase headquarters. Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC) and Moratorium NOW called for a march and rally and were met with the enthusiasm of hundreds of activists chanting "Bail out the people, not the banks!" and waving red flags that read "Hasta la Victoria!" Energized by the presence of local percussion band, Cakalak Thunder, we descended upon Chase's skyscraper.
Members of FLOC condemned Chase's investments in Reynolds American, one of the US' biggest tobacco corporations which profits from the exploitation of tobacco field workers', and threatened them with a boycott set to begin in the fall. Moratorium NOW also spoke to their demand that Chase Bank immediately stops all foreclosures, evictions and utility shutoffs in Detroit.
Looking around at the empty homes throughout the city coupled with hearing testimonies about the working conditions in the NC tobacco fields, the reality of Chase's priorities became painfully clear and the reason for the union of these two groups' seemingly different demands was evident.
I then spent my afternoon at Oakland Sister Circle's workshop entitled "Addressing Misogyny and Counter-Organizing in the Movement." This was space for activists to share and react to the ways in which patriarchy manifests in the social justice sphere, even despite men's & queers' good intentions and feminist labels. Discussion centered on the reality that the personal is political and the need for restorative justice infrastructure within organizations. I left with a copy of their powerful magazine entitled "Undefeated" and a better understanding of the way patriarchy and other forms of oppression can manifest, even in the movement.
After the workshops were over, I had the opportunity to see some of Detroit's artwork. We headed out to see the Heidelberg Project, an outdoor art project that spans across vacant lots and foreclosed homes in Detroit's East Side. Tyree Guyton started the project 24 years ago and has since filled it with discarded objects ranging from stuffed animals to shopping carts. The withstanding presence of ovens filled with shoes instead of food and the plethora of junk that inhabits these homes instead of people emphasized the priority that capitalism places on things instead of people.
Our art sightings continued as we visited the Detroit Institute of Art Museum and marveled at Diego Rivera's mural that sprawled across all four walls of the room. The piece, funded by Henry Ford, depicts the dichotomy of the auto-industry with its images of workers and bosses along with other themes that plague the city of Detroit and the US at large.
I left Detroit with new skills, new visions, new connections and a rejuvenated commitment to fighting for social justice in the South.
Written by Garrett Sumner, Organizing Intern
On Thursday, the first workshop I attended was entitled “Globalization, Criminalization, and Managed Migration: Root Causes and Immigration Rights,” presented by the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights. We talked about the different forces which drive international migration and expanded the discussion beyond the typical US and Latin American model. For example, we talked about the trade agreement between Italy and Libya, which allows Italy access to Libya’s natural resources. In turn, Italy provides foreign aid to Libya. However, the agreement stipulates that Libya must use most of this aid to enforce immigration policies to limit migration to Italy. Thus, the aid directly benefits Italy itself while, suffering Libyans are unable to migrate to the country that benefits off of their natural resources.
The second workshop I attended was titled “Israeli Apartheid, International Solidarity and Water Justice.” We discussed the detrimental water use policies in the Palestinian Occupied Territories and how Israel diverts Palestinian water as a means of collective punishment. The workshop turned into a healthy dialogue about the Palestinian/Israeli conflict and we deconstructed the “us vs. them” mentality often present in the discourse about the conflict.
Later, I walked through Detroit, witnessing at once its lost grandeur and its current deprivation. The plight of the city’s economy was apparent as businesses throughout the city were closed. While its architecture, constructed with past automobile money, seemingly displayed a titan of industry, there are now entire blocks of unoccupied or abandoned buildings. The US Social Forum is an appropriate first step for a city moving forward.
Have you wondered why the Social Forum is being held in Detroit? Many people at the forum, including much of the SCSJ delegation, have never visited Detroit and they got the chance to learn about the city's significance on Wednesday. At the evening plenary, we all learned why Detroit is known as the "City of Resistance.”
Grace Boggs, Detroit’s renowned anti-racism and civil rights community activist fervently detailed the history of political and racial struggle in Detroit, which led to the coining of the term. She explained that Detroit, in the midst of the economic crisis with its car industry, was selected to be the host because of the opportunity it presents to “create something new and something different.”
She, along with former Black Panther members, talked about the many national movements that began in Detroit, including the Shrine, the Freedom Now Party, the National Labor Relations Board, and the Nation of Islam.
In the second part of the plenary, we learned about Detroit’s role as a “border city” and how “secure” the U.S. and Canadian border has become since September 11. While the U.S.-Mexico border cities contain stories of harassment against the Latin@ community, the American Muslim community as well as the Latin@ community, are simultaneously targeted here.
The first mosque in the U.S was founded Detroit in 1921 and the Nation of Islam was founded here in 1931. Since then, the Muslim community has commuted between Windsor, Canada and Detroit, MI for worship. Panelist Malik Yakini from the Counsel of American-Islamic Relations, explained that “every international issue facing the Arab world are local issues faced by the Islamic community in Detroit.” He communicated that their right to worship freely has been greatly affected.
Further talks reflected the infringement upon human rights on a variety of issues. To learn more about the US Social Forum, click here. For more pictures, click here.
The US Social Forum 2010 has begun! SCSJ is among the 1800 organizations in Detroit, MI attending the forum titled: Another World is Possible, Another US is Necessary, Another Detroit is Happening.
The week-long forum was launched with a march attended by over 13,000 diverse people. The atmosphere is full of a collective spirit ready for change.
The protesters are concerned about the shut-offs of Detroit's city utilities against elderly, disabled, welfare, and low-income recipients who have fallen behind in paying their bills. They are seeking a moratorium to the shut-offs after at least 4 people died as a result of their effects.
The March ended at Cobo Hall with a celebration and dance from the Native Americans from Windsor, Ontario, Canada.
At the forum, every major issue concerning the US has a place to be considered. We are looking forward to an enlightening week! For more pictures, click here.
Take a stroll through Durham civil and human rights activism (past and present) on the Pauli Murray Project’s ever growing website.
Through audio interviews and text embedded in an interactive map you can see the layered stories behind the new pedestrian bridge lowered over the Durham Freeway/147. This bridge re-connects a neighborhood, home to mostly African-American working-class families, bisected when highway 147 was routed through it twenty years ago.
You might have known about the 1957 protests in front of the Royal Ice Cream Parlor on Roxboro Road, just north of downtown, long before the historical marker was erected this year, but do you know this site is a few blocks away from a central locale on W. Main St. where human rights activists fight healthcare injustices within the offices of the organization El Centro Hispano?
Durham is a city with a rich history of struggle for racial and economic justice, for human and civil rights, and this interactive map is the start of reclaiming the specific and complex histories of Durham. Take, for example, the West Village Apartment Buildings—formerly the Liggett Myers Tobacco Factory, closed in 1999. When you click on the link, you see a photo of workers walking under the covered bridge that is now a corridor from one apartment building to another. This older photo is placed between current pictures of a pristine blue swimming pool and a spacious hardwood floored apartment of West Village. An audio clip narrates a worker’s memory of work in the building when black and white women workers were segregated.
Current marketing of downtown Durham feature the famous tobacco warehouses-turned-studio-apartments/faux-revolution-restaurants that are the revamped darlings of this city. To a visitor or new resident, these buildings may hint at a story of gritty work and harder times, without really knowing the specific story of working conditions, or the multi-racial anti-segregation activist organization housed down the street from this segregated workplace.
For many downtown visitors and loft-dwellers, the ambiguous stories of harder times embodied within the structures of the high-ceiling brick-walled tobacco buildings somehow sweeten the food in the farm-to-fork restaurants. The walls that were constructed to facilitate an industry reliant upon monoculture farming, sharecropping, and racially and economically stratified industry are now filled with food from small, local farms and a ‘clean’ restaurant industry.
However, these buildings are more than testaments of the tobacco industry in Durham and the city’s re-emergence as a city fueled by research, education and pharmaceuticals. They house stories of stratification that still linger in Durham’s under-invested and segregated neighborhoods, displacing processes of gentrification, and trials of low-wage restaurant, farm-worker, service, and healthcare workers.
This map is a way to explore past struggles and triumphs of Durham as they intertwine with the present. Check it out and re-engage with the struggles of Durham as you travel to work, the farmer’s market, or settle in at home.
Mapping Civil and Human Activism—
http://paulimurrayproject.org/mapping-civil-human-activism-live-now/
Remarkable UNC Chapel Hill first year student and activist Wooten Gough will be missing finals this year. Gough has arranged with his professors to leave school early — in order to go for a very long walk.
After meeting Trail of Dreams walkers and immigration reform activists Juan Rodriguez, Carlos Roa, Felipe Matos and Gaby Pacheco during their passage through North Carolina, Gough was inspired to join them.
A member of Reform Immigration for American and the Coalition for College Access, Gough passionately believes that all students deserve access to higher education, regardless of their documentation status.
“In class, I see these empty chairs around me where my friends could be here who are undocumented,” says Gough, “Why would I stop [pushing for reform]?”
“I can no longer wait around to see what might happen, but instead stand up and fight for what is right! Each step on the Trail of Dreams is for a real person, a real face, a real life, and above all, each step is for the dreams of a student. This is not just a Latino issue, this movement is for anyone who has ever been told they cannot accomplish something, for anyone who has a dream.”
Gough will join the dreamwalkers on their journey from Miami to Washington, D.C. for the final leg of their trip starting in Richmond, Virginia. Check out his blog. He needs to raise $1000 to pay for food and accomodations along the way. To help him, donate here.
Check out the Daily Tar Heel’s video profile of Gough, or
SCSJ’s Statement of Support for Trail of Dreams for more information.
Felipe Matos is among the top 20 community college students in America, but he’s ineligible for financial aid at the top universities that have accepted him. Gaby Pacheco has three education degrees and plans to use music therapy as a teaching tool for autistic children and adults. Brought to the United States at age 2, Carlos Roa wanted to join the military but could not because of his immigration status.
Three months ago, they embarked on Trail of Dreams, a 1,500 mile walk from Miami to Washington. These students are facing much more than sore feet; several are undocumented, and they risk deportation and detention to share their stories and raise awareness about the need for just immigration reform.
These students exemplify why support is growing for the DREAM Act, federal legislation that would enable students brought to the U.S. at a young age to legally access higher education and financial aid. Every year, 65,000 students graduate U.S. high schools but are denied a college education because of our broken and unjust immigration system. These students include valedictorians, class presidents and community leaders. Yet they are refused the opportunity to further their education and give back to America — the country they see as their home.
Just graduating high school can be more challenging for undocumented students than for their peers; they often must learn English as a second language, take care of family responsibilities that their parents cannot manage without understanding English, overcome low socio-economic status and all that that entails, and cope with the psychological trauma of living in fear of deportation.
Trail of Dreams, which made its way through the Triangle last week, is a journey of hope for these students and the 12 million undocumented migrants in the United States.
For more information, check out the Southern Coalition for Social Justice’s Statement of Support.
We were sad to see the dreamwalkers go. Trail of Dreams is one of the most inspiring ongoing nonviolent action movements. When the dreamers came upon a secret detention facility for undocumented immigrants in Cary, instead of engaging in destructive or angry behavior, they continued their work putting a human face to the 65,000 undocumented students who graduate high school every year but are denied college access because of their immigration status.
In this video, the dreamers spoke with the head of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement at the facility and gave him a poster with a picture of the Statue of Liberty and the words "No Human Being is Illegal."
On January 1, 2010, Juan, Carlos, Felipe and Gaby embarked on a 1,500 mile walk from Miami to Washington, D.C. These students are facing much more than sore feet; three of them are undocumented, and they risk deportation and detention in order to share their story and raise awareness about the need for just immigration reform.
Trail of Dreams is a journey of hope for the 12 million undocumented migrants in the United States who live in constant fear, and especially for the students who dream of higher education but are barred from attending college or accessing financial aid because of their citizenship status.
Felipe is among the top 20 community college students in America. He wants to be a teacher and has been accepted to top universities but cannot enroll because he is ineligible for financial aid. Gaby has three education degrees and plans to use music therapy as a teaching tool for autistic children and adults. Brought to the U.S. at age 2, Carlos wanted to join the military but could not because of his immigration status. He is now studying architecture at Miami Dade College. Juan became a U.S. resident last year with the help of his stepmother and wants to earn a sociology degree from the University of Chicago.
These four stellar students exemplify why we must pass the DREAM Act.
65,000 students graduate high school every year, but are denied college access because of our broken and unjust immigration system. These students include Valedictorians, class presidents, and community leaders. Yet they are refused the opportunity to further their education and give back to America — the country they see as their home.
Juan, Carlos, Felipe and Gaby are walking from Chapel Hill to Durham today. We applaud their courage and conviction. They are more than a symbol of hope — they are leaders in a movement for change. Join them.
For more information, check out our Statement of Support, our Press Release, and this column in the Daily Tar Heel.
The North Carolina organizations supporting the Trail of Dreams are inspired by the Dream Walkers' courageous commitment to their vision and to their journey from Miami to Washington, DC, to demand justice for all immigrants.
We welcome the walkers into North Carolina as activists challenging multiple oppressions and look to connect their stories and struggles with organizing work of all oppressed communities in the South.
We support their demands for fair and humane immigration reform, access to college education, workers' rights, and an end to unjust immigration enforcement policies. As organizations engaged in immigrants' rights work, we support the leadership and self-determination of those most directly affected by unjust policies. We also honor their place in a long history of social justice movements in our state in which young people have played a leading role.
As each walker shares his or her story, it touches everyone - even to those who do not agree with their demands. We believe that storytelling humanizes policies and is a powerful tool for transformation. The courage of the walkers as they challenge injustice, in spite of the risks they face as undocumented youth, has brought energy and inspiration to our work in North Carolina. We honor them by continuing our work building and strengthening local and statewide movements for immigrant justice, human and civil rights, and progressive social change.
Adelante Education Coalition of North Carolina
North Carolina Justice Center
Reform Immigration FOR America
Southern Coalition for Social Justice
Student Action with Farmworkers
Contact:
Erin Krauss, UNC Graduate Student intern with Reform Immigration for America; (828) 273-0927 or
Rebecca Fontaine, Southern Coalition for Social Justice, (781) 277-1314, Rebecca@SCSJ.org
Durham, N.C. - Four immigrant students walking 1,500 miles from Miami, FL to Washington, D.C. will arrive in the Triangle this weekend as part of their "Trail of Dreams" to demand just immigration reform. Peers at UNC-Chapel Hill are hosting the group and immigration reform supporters will be walking with the students for parts of their journey.Several organizations are also hosting events and dinners to support the effort and the message.
North Carolina, like other southern states, has seen a significant increase in deportations, workplace raids, and barriers to higher education for immigrant students.
"We hope to share our own experiences as immigrant students with the larger community, and to explain the fear and pain that detentions and deportations cause within families," said Gaby Pacheco, one of the walkers. "We seek real solutions to fix our broken immigration system and to stop the deportation of students just like us who know the United States as their only home and want to make it prosperous for all."
Pacheco and the other students: Felipe Matos, 23; Carlos Roa, 22; and Juan Rodriguez, 20, started their walk on January 1 to raise awareness about the need to reform the U.S. immigration system; they are expected to arrive in Washington, DC on May 1.
The Triangle community will welcome the walkers by hosting a number of events to promote dialogue on the issue of immigration reform and access to education for all immigrant students.
Saturday, April 3: Walk begins at 7:30am at the McDonald's at 105 E South St, Raleigh; lunch will be held at the Fruit of Labor World Cultural Center at 4200 Lake Ridge Dr.
Monday, April 5: A 12:00 noon rally at the Wilson Library at UNC, then the walk kicks off at 1pm at the Franklin Street Post Office and ends at 5:30pm with a community dinner at CAARE, 214 Broadway St., in Durham.
Ron Bilbao, chair of the North Carolina Coalition for College Access said, "The Dreamers are an inspiration. Their presence at UNC, the nation's first public university, shows their commitment to achieving educational access for all students. We welcome them with open arms."
To follow and support the Trail of DREAMS' campaign, send a text message to: 3-0-6-4-4 with the word TRAIL.
For more information and biographies on the Dream Walkers visit www.trail2010.org
For Edwin Aly Ramirez of Greensboro, his first thought after being arrested on immigration charges was that he would never see his wife and three children again. Mr. Ramirez was asked about his status and arrested after he had gone to court to help translate for a friend. ”I thought I would never get to meet my newborn,” he said.
That is the fear — and the daily reality — of 12 million people living in this country. They work in your office, clean your house, go to your school, and tomorrow, they might be gone.
Undocumented immigrants do not have the same right to due process and a fair trial afforded U.S. citizens. If immigrants cannot post bond immediately after entering Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody, it can dramatically affect their case. Detainees are often accelerated into deportation proceedings, which are difficult to contest because they do not have the right to an attorney if they cannot afford one, face language barriers, and lack access to the documents they need to build their case while in custody.
The Southern Coalition for Social Justice partnered with the National Immigrant Bond Fund to combat this injustice and pursue dignity and due process for immigrants.
Since September, SCSJ has used the Bond Fund to help seven families, including Edwin’s, by providing zero interest matching loans to immigrants who cannot afford to pay full bond. The Fund may play only a small role in the overall fight for human rights, but it has a dramatic and tangible impact on immigrant families.
“When immigrants are detained without being able to pay their bond, they are denied the ability to fully defend their right to stay in this country, which often unjustly results in their being deported without being able to see their families or tie up outstanding obligations,” said SCSJ staff attorney Marty Rosenbluth.
Edwin chokes up when he recalls his relief at seeing his three children after being released on bond. “I just want them to have a good life; a good education.”
For more information check out SCSJ’swebsite.
Written by Lauren Traugott-Campbell, Organizing Intern
My Friday morning began about 10 blocks from Detroit's JP Morgan Chase headquarters. Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC) and Moratorium NOW called for a march and rally and were met with the enthusiasm of hundreds of activists chanting "Bail out the people, not the banks!" and waving red flags that read "Hasta la Victoria!" Energized by the presence of local percussion band, Cakalak Thunder, we descended upon Chase's skyscraper.
Members of FLOC condemned Chase's investments in Reynolds American, one of the US' biggest tobacco corporations which profits from the exploitation of tobacco field workers', and threatened them with a boycott set to begin in the fall. Moratorium NOW also spoke to their demand that Chase Bank immediately stops all foreclosures, evictions and utility shutoffs in Detroit.
Looking around at the empty homes throughout the city coupled with hearing testimonies about the working conditions in the NC tobacco fields, the reality of Chase's priorities became painfully clear and the reason for the union of these two groups' seemingly different demands was evident.
I then spent my afternoon at Oakland Sister Circle's workshop entitled "Addressing Misogyny and Counter-Organizing in the Movement." This was space for activists to share and react to the ways in which patriarchy manifests in the social justice sphere, even despite men's & queers' good intentions and feminist labels. Discussion centered on the reality that the personal is political and the need for restorative justice infrastructure within organizations. I left with a copy of their powerful magazine entitled "Undefeated" and a better understanding of the way patriarchy and other forms of oppression can manifest, even in the movement.
After the workshops were over, I had the opportunity to see some of Detroit's artwork. We headed out to see the Heidelberg Project, an outdoor art project that spans across vacant lots and foreclosed homes in Detroit's East Side. Tyree Guyton started the project 24 years ago and has since filled it with discarded objects ranging from stuffed animals to shopping carts. The withstanding presence of ovens filled with shoes instead of food and the plethora of junk that inhabits these homes instead of people emphasized the priority that capitalism places on things instead of people.
Our art sightings continued as we visited the Detroit Institute of Art Museum and marveled at Diego Rivera's mural that sprawled across all four walls of the room. The piece, funded by Henry Ford, depicts the dichotomy of the auto-industry with its images of workers and bosses along with other themes that plague the city of Detroit and the US at large.
I left Detroit with new skills, new visions, new connections and a rejuvenated commitment to fighting for social justice in the South.
Written by Garrett Sumner, Organizing Intern
On Thursday, the first workshop I attended was entitled “Globalization, Criminalization, and Managed Migration: Root Causes and Immigration Rights,” presented by the 
Take a stroll through Durham civil and human rights activism (past and present) on the 
Remarkable UNC Chapel Hill first year student and activist Wooten Gough will be missing finals this year. Gough has arranged with his professors to leave school early — in order to go for a very long walk.
After meeting 
On January 1, 2010, Juan, Carlos, Felipe and Gaby embarked on a 1,500 mile walk from Miami to Washington, D.C. These students are facing much more than sore feet; three of them are undocumented, and they risk deportation and detention in order to share their story and raise awareness about the need for just immigration reform.