Destinations
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Homestead Sin Papeles y Sin Miedo
August 21, 2012
"No vamos a pedirle disculpas a nadie por querer un futuro mejor y no vamos a quedarnos callad@s mientras vemos que nuestras familias están siendo separadas y nuestras comunidades atacadas y criminalizadas!Y tal como lo dijo nuestro querido miembro de WeCount! Jose Delgado, " No le debemos nada a este país...este país nos debe a nosotros!" Es hora que salgamos de las sombras y que luchemos por una vida justa y digna!
Ven a escuchar nuestras historias en la primera demostración pública para Salir de Las Sombras en Homestead! ¿Por qué “salir de las sombras”? Porque estamos cansad@s de vivir con miedo. Porque en esta sociedad se nos define por el hecho de no tener “papeles” en vez de vernos como seres humanos.
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Surviving the Tornado and Deportations in Tuscaloosa, Alabama
August 20, 2012
Trini Garcia has been living in Alabama for 15 years, she is part of the organization Somos Tuskaloosa. She is one of the people who came out of the shadows and talked about her story publicly at the rally on August 20, 2012 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. This is her story.
We are tired and we have lost fear. It has taken me years to lose it though because it is a fear that paralyzes you. I clearly remember the moment when I heard that HB 56 was going to be implemented about a year ago. It was a moment of panic, a difficult moment. We were not going to be able to get car plates, transactions with the state. Nothing.
The tornados in 2011 and the change in the law came at the same time. They both impacted our community, they both caused fear, they both separated families, they both affected the stability of our children in school. The tornado and the law caused our community to have nightmares and traumas, some visible and some invisible.
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Ganando el derecho de hablar por nosotros mismos: Winning the Right to Speak for Ourselves
August 20, 2012
The US Commission on Civil Rights held a briefing in Alabama on the impact of state-based immigration laws. They invited the author of SB1070 and the sponsor of Alabama's hate law.
Kris Kobach can't testify about the impact of immigration laws. Undocumented people can. Riders from No Papers No Fear interrupted his speech until they were escorted out. We came back stronger and demanded we be included. By not backing down, we won our inclusion for the day.
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Si No Nos Invitan, Nos Invitamos Solos: No Papers No Fear Protest in Alabama
August 20, 2012
The US Commission on Civil Rights held a briefing in Alabama on the impact of state-based immigration laws. They invited the author of SB1070 and the sponsor of Alabama's hate law.
Kris Kobach can't testify about the impact of immigration laws. Undocumented people can. Riders from No Papers No Fear interrupted his speech until they were escorted out.
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They pushed us out. We came back stronger. They let us in.
August 19, 2012
As we began the early morning drive to Alabama from Tennessee, we all felt nervous. This was our first action in Alabama, the only state to have harsher laws than Arizona. Knowing that people with power were inside, we thought that maybe we had a big chance to get arrested. When we do actions in Arizona, we have a lot of community behind us. Here, we thought it would not be the same.
As we crossed the state border into Alabama we saw the photo of Gerardo from the morning action, where he and three other of our fellow riders interrupted Kris Kobach's testimony, and it gave us energy to follow through with our plans. We got off the bus – la luna, which we had converted in to a Department of Homeland Security vehicle and began our skit:
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Fearless and Speaking for Ourselves
August 18, 2012
Yesterday was one of the most important days of my life. It gave me the opportunity to speak to the people who are directly hurting our community. I, and three of my fellow No Papers No Fear riders - Mari Cruz Jimenez, Maria Huerta, and Jose Mangandi - stood up during the testimony of Kris Kobach, the author of SB 1070, while he was addressing the United States Commission on Civil Rights, testifying on the effects of state immigration laws. He was sitting at the table like an expert, when we know there is no one who knows the effects of immigration laws in our communities better than undocumented immigrants. We had not been included as part of the group to testify, so we stood up, uninvited, and told our stories.
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In Admiration: Learning about the Civil Rights Movement
August 16, 2012
I had heard about the struggle for civil rights in the 60s but it had never mattered to me. I had not realized that I could learn from the struggle, and that it could apply to the situation that I am in. As an undocumented mother from Arizona, the more that I learn and think about organizing for my community, and what strategies we can use to fight for our rights, the more admiration that I have for the civil rights struggles of the African-American community in the United States, and the more that I want to learn from them.
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As we travel through the southern United States, especially through states that have such a rich history of racism against black communities, I have also realized that these are places also of resistance. -
Am I My Brothers' Keeper? Common sense in Charlotte
August 15, 2012
Mecklenburg County commissioner Bill James firmly placed himself on the wrong side of history by introducing a bill to mimic Alabama's law that requires investigation of students' immigration status. The bill had little chance of passing due it the fact that it is both unconstitutional. When reading the Board of Education chair's response to commissioner James, it could be summarized as asking the bill sponsor, 'what part of illegal don't you understand?' Still, the commissioner was determined to bring the bill forward for debate.
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While his co-sponsors Bentley and Pendergraph rooted their support in the benign argument that they simply were seeking information not seeking to intimidate, Pendergraph's history in bringing the 287g program that as decimated the civil rights of the migrant community to Charlotte and commissioner James' own remarks of hoping to send a bill to children's country of origin for the cost of their education revealed the undertone of the proposal. The dozens of audience members who showed up carrying bananas to protest the absurdity of the proposal watched as the discrimination and mal-intent inherent in James' effort was revealed and refuted by the rest of the commission. -
Memphis no tiene miedo. Memphis has no fear.
August 15, 2012
In Memphis, TN the No Papers No Fear Ride for Justice welcomed three new riders onto the bus and was greeted by the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition with a cultural celebration of theater, art, and poetry to raise our voices and our spirits and let the world know that in Memphis, people are losing their fear.
En Memphis recibimos tres nuevos participantes en la jornada por la justicia y participamos en una celebración cultural con TIRRC. Con arte, teatro, y poesía levantamos nuestras voces y dijimos que en Memphis la gente está perdiendo el miedo.Read More » -
Recording: We Belong Together and Women from the Undocubus
August 14, 2012
On Tuesday August 14th, the We Belong Together campaign held a phone conversation with women from the No Papers No Fear Ride for Justice to hear about their journey coming out of the shadows and challenging sheriffs promoting anti-immigrant policies on their way to North Carolina.
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