tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-194977432008-05-01T19:09:23.012-07:00National Network for Immigrant & Refugee Rightshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05551016152729866428noreply@blogger.comBlogger43125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19497743.post-32125079840757877982007-09-10T15:15:00.000-07:002007-09-10T15:41:57.057-07:00

Building Coalitions and Movement This weekend, Friday, Sept 7 - 9, 2007, was the Tongue to Tongue Conference (http://www.tonguetotongue.org/) in Los Angeles, California. The conference was held at the Gay and Lesbian Center, called The Village, in West Hollywood. I went to the trans history workshop, a useful backgrounder on the elite establishments vision of tranny hirstory, a medicalized view

Diana Pei Wuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02502257744331030515noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19497743.post-6446855794242366062007-09-10T14:09:00.000-07:002007-09-10T14:59:24.124-07:00

this past labor day, i spent with generations of organizers and activists at the Highlander Research and Education Center's 75th Anniversary in New Market, TN. We celebrated 75 years of organizing with poor white folk in rural Appalachia, black folk throughout the South, and more recently, with some Latino leaders in the rural South, using tools of cultural organizing, participatory research,

Diana Pei Wuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02502257744331030515noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19497743.post-83736061373875466642007-06-28T13:47:00.001-07:002007-06-28T14:13:31.823-07:00

There is a hunger in our movement for discussing the state of the movement, and future directions. Every session that I've attended today that had part of its focus as immigrant rights also wanted to focus on national strategy, especially now given that the Senate Bill, is as far as we can see, dead. There was the first press conference this morning from 9:30 am - 10:00 am at the Immigrant

Diana Pei Wuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02502257744331030515noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19497743.post-38187913270745925182007-06-28T13:43:00.000-07:002007-06-28T14:13:10.143-07:00

what a relief to walk out of the MARTA station at 2:30 yesterday in the afternoon, in the sweltering heat, and hear and see this from the inside of the train station!

Diana Pei Wuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02502257744331030515noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19497743.post-47952324747542865672007-06-28T10:46:00.000-07:002007-06-28T14:25:21.716-07:00

how do we do the things we do? and why? I think the way we do things reflects a lot about our real beliefs and values. Not just the values in terms of words, but because the way we do things is what has been made real and visceral, made it into the body and the heart, beyond the intellect. and so that's why I appreciate the way we opened up the orientation, a chance for all of us to meet new

Diana Pei Wuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02502257744331030515noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19497743.post-48006783775731454322007-06-26T23:35:00.000-07:002007-06-28T10:46:10.513-07:00

Immigrant rights in flight and on the road from Oakland to the U.S. Social Forum in Atlanta by arnoldo garcía I asked him if he knew the name of the mountain range visible in the distance, as our jet-plane sauntered along towards the runway. He said, “No; I’m not from here.” He smiled a sheepish smile adding in self-defense, “But I do come here once a week.” Our plane turned into the headwinds,

arnoldo garciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10866611051746994618noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19497743.post-9746111508589453242007-06-19T13:47:00.000-07:002007-06-28T10:43:49.009-07:00

by Colin Rajah Its been a long time coming – more than 3 years since the April 2004 meeting in Washington DC that launched the United States Social Forum (USSF) process! NNIRR has been at the heart of that process, even before that historic meeting in DC, in consultation meetings with the World Social Forum (WSF) International Council in Miami back in November 2003. From the Central and

Colin Rajahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10316103961307493814noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19497743.post-64881924232219341912007-06-18T16:01:00.001-07:002007-06-18T16:13:45.549-07:00

Diana Pei Wuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02502257744331030515noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19497743.post-30420451944435192642007-06-13T14:38:00.001-07:002007-06-13T15:46:03.852-07:00

Tuesday, May 29 -- a long flight to RDU (Raleigh Durham International) from Oakland, leaving early morning, over packing for two weeks away. ... looking forward to NOT living my nightmares about the upcoming gathering. Chapel Hill seems so much smaller than I remember it, and less glamorous ... the 15-501 is the same highway I remember from my days in Durham, and Durham, must have grown, but

Diana Pei Wuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02502257744331030515noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19497743.post-38914948842649148502007-06-07T13:21:00.000-07:002007-06-07T13:53:58.189-07:00

Overview of the Senate Proposal Border Security and Immigration Reform Act of 2007 – S. 1348 Provisions in the Senate bill for legalization and a guestworker program would not launch until a number of conditions were met for greater enforcement mechanisms and practices – the “trigger” process demanded by legislators who believe in an “enforcement first” approach to immigration reform. Although

arnoldo garciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10866611051746994618noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19497743.post-15048160038695125812007-05-03T11:17:00.000-07:002007-05-03T11:20:41.791-07:00

Statement of the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights On May 1, 2007 - International Workers Day Fair & Just Legalization with Equality, Justice & Liberty For all immigrant and native-born workers, families and communities Stop the Raids and Deportations End Migrant Deaths at the Border Uphold Our Human, Civil, Labor and Economic Rights Millions of working class people, lead

Diana Pei Wuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02502257744331030515noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19497743.post-63508999307208044312007-05-03T11:10:00.000-07:002007-05-03T11:11:17.443-07:00

Network News On-Line! Network News is back! Long overdue, this on-line installment of Network News provides a snapshot of views and voices looking backward and forward after the unprecedented immigrant community-led mass mobilizations of 2006. We conducted a series of interviews immigrant rights movement leaders and groups to get their take on the roots of the 2006 upsurge and mobilizations;

Diana Pei Wuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02502257744331030515noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19497743.post-32868353350746467912007-05-03T11:07:00.002-07:002007-05-03T11:08:40.457-07:00

‘Our movement needs a vision and goals that address broader social and political change’ Interview with Monami Maulik of DRUM by Arnoldo García Monami Maulk: For years DRUM has understood that undocumented workers, in the U.S. and globally, are major forces for social change. 2006 was a culmination and realization of the power and ability of the immigrant community, chipping away at the

Diana Pei Wuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02502257744331030515noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19497743.post-30638001901298146152007-05-03T11:07:00.001-07:002007-05-03T11:07:30.902-07:00

Reframing the Debate: From creative strategies and alliances to human rights By Gerald Lenoir The main catalyst for the 2006 upsurge has been the increased violations of immigrants’ civil liberties and human rights and the threat posed by pending immigration legislation, especially the infamous Sennsenbrenner bill. Successive waves of marches in the winter and spring of last year inspired

Diana Pei Wuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02502257744331030515noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19497743.post-85769101335617853042007-05-03T11:06:00.001-07:002007-05-03T11:06:48.787-07:00

Organizing Documented Immigrants to Fight for the Rights of the Undocumented By Gordon Mar My comments focus on the challenges and opportunities to engage documented immigrants in this current juncture of the immigrant rights movement, which has existed in different forms since the creation of this country by brutal force and economic exploitation of immigrant labor including most extremely

Diana Pei Wuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02502257744331030515noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19497743.post-67224589840896716842007-05-03T11:04:00.000-07:002007-05-03T11:05:43.813-07:00

Demanding and Organizing for Our Rights and Our Communities An interview with Hamid Khan of the South Asian Network by Arnoldo García What do you believe were the root causes of the 2006 mobilizations? Hamid Khan: The 2006 mobilizations reflected the ongoing assault on immigrant communities, the overt racism, the enforcement issues and how people were experiencing them, with different

Diana Pei Wuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02502257744331030515noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19497743.post-60047224551914683582007-05-03T11:03:00.000-07:002007-05-03T11:04:24.123-07:00

‘We fight for what is reasonable and meaningful.’ Interview with Isabel Garcia, Coalicion de Derechos Humanos By Colin Rajah, NNIRR Movements have highs and lows – moments in history when certain energy and specific events converge and that’s what happened in 2006. Not only did marches stem from the hard work of folks working on human rights for many years, but the marches also reflect the

Diana Pei Wuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02502257744331030515noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19497743.post-84658939941633361192007-05-03T10:54:00.000-07:002007-05-03T11:02:56.526-07:00

Elvira Arellano: Resisting Deportation, The New Frontier of Civil Disobedience. By Maricela García The act of seeking refugee in a holy place in search of immunity from the law is ancient. Churches have been providing sanctuary to people escaping persecution since medieval times. What is new about Elvira Arellano’s seeking sanctuary last August is that by defying her deportation order she

Diana Pei Wuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02502257744331030515noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19497743.post-71835842740169177632007-05-03T10:52:00.000-07:002007-06-28T13:35:39.708-07:00

World Social Forum on the Road from Nairobi to Atlanta: Who Does the WSF Belong to? By Michael Leon Guerrero February 13, 2007 The 2007 World Social Forum (WSF) was probably the most challenging WSF to date. Many contradictions surfaced and became tensions in Nairobi. There are criticisms that NGOs (non-governmental organizations) and churches dominated the process, and that local Kenyan

Diana Pei Wuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02502257744331030515noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19497743.post-55682217762737508732007-05-03T10:51:00.000-07:002007-05-03T10:52:30.734-07:00

‘This Wall Must Fall’ Palestinian Delegation At the U.S. Mexico Border Joins in Call for Demilitarization of Communities By Alexis Mazón Palestinian community leaders of nonviolent resistance to the Israeli Apartheid Wall visited the U.S.-Mexico border March 2-3, 2007 as part of a “Wall-to-Wall Solidarity” delegation organized by NNIRR and the Coalición de Derechos Humanos (DH) with Middle East

Diana Pei Wuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02502257744331030515noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19497743.post-56056917579824028332007-05-03T10:48:00.000-07:002007-05-03T10:51:03.833-07:00

Keeping our communities at the center of the demand for justice Interview with Trishala Deb of the Audre Lorde Project Interviewed for Network News Online by Diana Pei Wu What are some of the lessons learned from the last year’s mobilizations? Some of the lessons from last year, and looking forward to the next year, are how important it is for some folks within the broad immigrant rights

Diana Pei Wuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02502257744331030515noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19497743.post-64941472819722863092007-05-03T10:24:00.000-07:002008-02-10T19:26:17.408-08:00

By Arnoldo Garcia Notes from the U.S.-Mexico border April-May 2007: Here you can see how ridiculous, impractical and deadly the strategy of militarizaton, resulting in wall-building and almost head-to-toe placement of Border Patrol agents along the border is. At the edge of border wall, you can can see how it artificially separates the land, harms wildlife and divides people. Every several

arnoldo garciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10866611051746994618noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19497743.post-48409604249705378252007-03-19T14:33:00.000-07:002007-03-19T14:36:17.524-07:00

Invitation to the Night of a 1,000 Conversations / Invitacion a la Noche de las 1,000 Conversaciones Dear NNIRR Members, Partners, Allies & Supporters of the Liberty & Justice for All campaign, First, we want to thank the many individuals and organizations who have for endorsed the principles of the Liberty & Justice for All Campaign. Your pledge is helping strengthen and build the movement

Diana Pei Wuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02502257744331030515noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19497743.post-89146877910234918022007-01-30T12:32:00.000-08:002007-01-30T13:50:11.647-08:00

By Colin Rajah So its been 4 days since the 7th edition of the World Social Forum (WSF) concluded in Nairobi. But some things still remain fresh on many of the minds of those in our US grassroots delegation, as well as on the minds of many of the local Nairobians, I’m sure. Since even before the opening of this year’s WSF, there have been objections from locals (primarily slum residents)

National Network for Immigrant & Refugee Rightshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05551016152729866428noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19497743.post-1169733858499106732007-01-25T06:01:00.000-08:002007-01-29T14:02:54.414-08:00

By Colin Rajah Reporting from the WSF, Nairobi Many apologies to those of you who had been waiting anxiously for my next installment of news from Nairobi – yes both of you. The bout with extreme food poisoning I encountered on Tuesday that left me writhing in pain and unable to even stand, the power-outage last night, and the hectic 16-hour days of looking for workshops, walking to workshops,

National Network for Immigrant & Refugee Rightshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05551016152729866428noreply@blogger.com