In Depth in Denver
August 02, 2012
Wednesday August 1st of 2012 was our second and last day of activities in Denver Colorado, starting off with a delicious breakfast provided by local members of the Unitarian Universalists church, then we headed to El Centro Humanitario were we met with community members and local organizers to have a workshop where we shared our stories in depth, also talked about strategies and future actions to be taken.
Once we all were done sharing our stories and answering questions from the community, we broke into smaller groups to talk about specific topics like “Women and Families”, ‘’LGBT Rights’’, “Labor”, ‘’Students and Youth’’ and “Barrio Defense Committees in Depth” where each one of us participated and talked about the Arizona’s legislation targeting the migrant communities and the resistance of those that have been affected by laws like 287G and ‘’Secure Communities’’
Maricruz participated with the group of Women and Families, Gerardo with LGBT Rights, Jose with Labor, Daniela with Students and Youth and Marichu and I with Barrio Defense Committees in Depth.
People in Colorado were really interested in our testimonies and also the way how the people from Arizona have been resisting the attacks and how we have worked through the past few years organizing and empowering ourselves, becoming more active, fearless and self-determinated.
We also learned a lot about the Lucha in Colorado, their Day Laborers Centers, the LGBT struggle and how they are also promoting and grassroots organizing of the Barrio Defense Committees.
Once we finished talking about this topics lunch came, once again provided by the UUs, we all gathered together to offer a prayer for the food that we were about to eat, and once we were done eating we had some ‘’spare time’’ which we used to keep working on press releases, logistics, videos and pictures, then we headed to the pace of one of the local organizers who offered his home to us to go take a shower and get some rest.
Then, like around 6:00 pm we had dinner at a park, once again provided by community members who showed us infinite love and support, once the sun went down we came back to the house to get ready for our departure to Albuquerque.
In behalf of this delegation of riders for Justice we would like to thank the People from Colorado, for sharing their struggle with us, for showing us what kind of generous people they are, thanks for sharing their homes, their food and their amazing good vibes with us, all of you and your powerful testimonies now are carried in our hearts, even though they are heartbreaking is the first step to come out of the shadows and expose the abuses that migrant communities are victims of. With no doubt we leave Colorado more empowered and determined to continue this journey for justice.
The second group of riders have left Phoenix already and we will be joining them and Priscilla the bus in New Mexico.
This is just the beginning of this journey, there is a long way to go still, but I truly believe that with every stop, in each city, every action, protest, rally and each testimony heard we are getting stronger and more unified to keep fighting for our Dignity because that’s why we ride.