However, our Queer community has now demonstrated a singular goal to assimilate to the very same set of social and political benefits that until recently have been so effectively turned against us. In this case, dismantling the master’s house with the master’s tools is not the answer. A marriage contract is nothing more than an artificial set of rights and privileges that everyone regardless of marital status should have.
Has anyone considered the irony of this victory in light of the deleterious “marriage promotion” policies structured into federal assistance programs based on racist stereotypes? Or the futility of being married when you can’t afford healthcare for either you or your spouse? Is this what we really want to prove — that the Queer community is so single-minded we’ve lost sight of genuine social justice?
I sincerely hope that all of California’s Queers can now come together and re-focus on a broader and more inclusive social justice agenda — joining with many other communities in equity movement activities such as enacting universal healthcare, eliminating racism, and strengthening our schools. Because true justice is not just about getting what we think is ours for ourselves alone, it’s about bringing everyone to the table.
California Supreme Court Overturns Ban on Gay Marriage
The California Supreme Court, in 4-3 decision, overturned a ban on gay marriage Thursday, paving the way for California to become the second state where gay and lesbian residents can marry. Associated Press.
In other news, an HIV positive man receives 35 years in prison for spitting on a Dallas police officer because a jury found that Willie Campbell used his saliva as a deadly weapon. Associated Press.
The xenophobic paranoia that demonizes undocumented immigrants as sub-human criminals and alien invaders who are somehow fulfilling a lifelong dream to flaunt American border laws out of disrespect, or as part of some strategic re-conquest of the west, so dominates U.S. media, it defies belief.
The benefit — to what passes for immigration discourse in the States — of listening to the voices at this historic Mexico City conference of transnational migrant remitters, their families, and their advocates, will be profound when the American public opens its heart to the idea of sharing a common humanity with people of other cultures and nations, desperate with no other options to survive.
During a participatory session entitled “Transnational Realities: A Critical Review of Impacts of Remittances on Families,” I was struck by the personal stories from various migrants and their family members that highlighted the human themes of love, fear, guilt, hope, courage, sacrifice, cultural identity, generational conflict, and the difficulties of living up to sometimes unrealistic expectations and pressures from those left behind. There was an honest complexity that participants agreed needed more airing even in migrants’ home countries.
The psychological trauma of leaving your family behind in order to have any hope of providing them with a better life. The obliviousness of some pre-teen migrants to the hardships and exploitation that await them in the United States. A desire to shield family members during brief phone conversations from the harsh reality of irregular meals and mounting expenses. The parental desire to make up for lost time spent with children by purchasing material gifts. The emotional devastation of losing a child to the deadly border.
The truth is — as Artemio Guerra of New York’s Fifth Avenue Committee put it so succinctly at the opening plenary – for so many who experience it, migration is not an easy, flippant decision and life. Rather, it is traumatically difficult
“When you leave.
When you cross.
When you get there.”
Immigrants are not callous, selfish criminals, America. Ironically enough, when you open your ears and minds to their voices and stories, it won’t be traumatically difficult for you to understand.
Inglewood Police Kill Unarmed Black Teen; New Jersey Jail Pays for Renovations With Imported Inmates
Imported Inmates from Philly to Pay for New Jersey Jail Renovations
Despite deplorable conditions, the Passaic County Jail in Paterson, New Jersey is negotiating to house 300 federal inmates from Philadelphia. The prison, known for its controversial record that includes losing a contract to house detained immigrants because of abuse allegations, would get $5 million in revenues for the inmates. Newsday.
Italian Police Increase Immigrant Raids
Immigrants suspected of living in Italy illegally are being arrested during raids across the country. Targeting immigrant housing camps, mmigrants from Romania, Albania, Greece, China and Morocco, were among those arrested. BBC.
Another Sean Bell in Inglewood?
Another unarmed Black man, 19 year-old Michael Byoune, was shot and killed by an Inglewood Police Department (IPD) officer in the early morning hours this week for what appears to be his innocent attempt to flee from gunfire. New America Media. Human Rights Group Delays Madonna’s Malawian Adoption
A Malawian human rights group presented arguments on “shortcomings” in the southern African nation’s adoption laws, so Madonna won’t know until next week whether David Banda iwill become a permanent member of her family. MSNBC.
After scaring parents and students, alike, in Oakland after word spread of raids on schools, Mary Ann Zehr of Education Week looks at the recent Postville, Iowa raids and asks about the role that educators should play in immigration enforcement.
I was curious if there was a connection between the subpoena and the immigration raid. In other words, did any information provided by school district officials, when they complied with the subpoena, get into the hands of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents? And is this another incident where educators have been dragged into an area of federal law that is murky? What steps should school officials take in such situations to ensure that undocumented students get the free public education in this country guaranteed by the 1982 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Plyler v. Doe? (I’ve written about this issue in a Sept. 12, 2007, article for Education Week, “With Immigrants, Districts Balance Safety, Legalities.”)
This week, Racewire contributors will be blogging from the Transnational Assembly of Remitters and their Families, a global gathering of more than 200 people from more than 22 countries and 22 U.S. states being held in Mexico City.
We’ll be blogging more on the workshops and sharing the stories that we are so lucky to be able to hear first hand, but I wanted to share two things to give you a flavor of the tone and sentiment behind the gathering and the people that are here. The first is a short video clip of Francis Calpotura from the Press Conference held to open the convening and the second (below) are the opening paragraphs of the Declaration of Principles, drafted by Kim Fellner and read out loud at the opening Assembly of the gathering by Javaid Tariq of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance. Delegates at the Assembly will be giving feedback for changes to the declaration this week. The full text of the final declaration will be posted on the TIGRA website next week.
Declaration of Principles: Global Assembly of Remitters and their Families, Mexico City, May 13, 2008
We are an assembly of united migrant remitters who sustain our families, communities, and countries with the proceeds of our labor and the power of our love.
Our story is written in our bodies, in the words of the poet, “a condition of our age.” It is a chronicle of separation, driven by need, and fueled by the yearning to make a better life for our loved ones. It is about the places we left behind and those where we now live, the cultures we bring with us—and the ones we have learned to embrace. It is a story we whisper to ourselves in the lonely nights, shout out in frustration at hateful ignorance, share with each other to heal our spirits, and pass on to our children as a testimony of endurance and hope.
We are among the millions in motion across the globe who provide desperately needed sustenance for many millions who remain behind. But our conditions make us vulnerable to the unscrupulous practices of companies and governments that feed off our modest harvest, snatching the fruits of our labor to garner their wealth by the billions, which we have purchased with our sacrifices. And that is a blow against our humanity and a transgression against our children.
Today, we form the first–ever assembly of remitters to build a better future for our families and communities everywhere. As the assembly of La Liga de Sustentadores de la Communidad Mundial/The Global League of Community Sustainers, we believe that a new vison of globalization is necessary and possible……
I don’t envy campaign staffers and door-knockers and other invaders-of-quietness who descend upon the towns of Indiana and Pennsylvania to shill for their respective candidates. I myself was once a lowly, bright-eyed volunteer one frigid weekend in New Hampshire, back when Howard Dean was a candidate, or something. Never mind the grueling task of talking to strangers tete-a-tete, there was the even unhappier job of harassing them via telephone in between bites of cold pizza.
As yesterday’s Washington Post article, “Racist Incidents Give Some Obama Campaigners Pause” perturbed strangers will often say exactly what they think in a mean way. I see how people treat those whale-lovers on the street, and it’s definitely no fun. Such resilient idealism they must have!
So it’s no surprise that campaigning for Obama in exurbia also means experiencing through proxy, “a common racial slur for African Americans.” [Oh Post such clever sidestepping!] Of course, the black staffers get it worse, because it’s like, double the black.
Obama’s response to such racism, is measured and expected: “‘Will there be some folks who probably won’t vote for me because I am black? Of course,’ Obama said, ‘just like there may be somebody who won’t vote for Hillary because she’s a woman or wouldn’t vote for John Edwards because they don’t like his accent.’” You’re right Barack! Accent? Structural racism? Same difference!
Some Immigrants Sedated for Deportation; Karen Bass to Lead California Assembly
Families Prepare for the Worst After Iowa Raids
“Iowa workers without legal documentation went into hiding Monday and rushed to fill out paperwork for the care of their children and property in anticipation of being arrested, lawyers and immigration rights workers said.” Des Moines Register.
Karen Bass Sworn in to Lead California Assembly
“Democrat Karen Bass has been sworn in as speaker of the California Assembly, the first African American woman to hold that position since the Legislature was created 159 years ago.” USA Today.
Surge in Violence on California Reservation
“A man and woman opened fire on guards at an entrance to an American Indian reservation and fled into its hilly interior, where they were killed in a gun battle with sheriff’s deputies and a police commando team, authorities said Tuesday. It was the second deadly gunfight involving deputies on the reservation in five days.” MSNBC.
Study: Today’s Immigrants Adapt Faster
“Immigrants of the past quarter-century have been assimilating in the United States at a notably faster rate than did previous generations, according to a study released Tuesday.” Chicago Tribune.
Careless Detention: Some Immigrants are Drugged During Deportation
“The U.S. government has injected hundreds of foreigners it has deported with dangerous psychotropic drugs against their will to keep them sedated during the trip back to their home country, according to medical records, internal documents and interviews with people who have been drugged.” Washington Post.
I read about towns like Piaxtla, Mexico when I was in graduate school.
These are towns that have been mostly emptied of people, whose young
and able-bodied have been forced north looking for work. In Piaxtla’s
case, the town has about 2,000 people and according to one resident,
last year, there were about four births…and17 deaths.
Its people are struggling with globalization.
You have to see these places for yourself to actually get it. There’s
only so much a book, even a well-written one, can convey about the
impact that so called free trade agreements are having on communities.
I’m in Mexico City at a conference on immigrant families and
remittances called the Transnational Assembly of Remitters and
Families. The event kicked off Monday night with community organizers
and migrants who have come here from more than a hundred countries to
talk about how globalization is impacting families and what we can do
to build stronger communities.
300 Arrested in Raid on Immigrant Workers; China’s Worst Earthquake in Three Decades
ICE Raids Iowa Meat Plant, Arrests More Than 300 Workers
On Monday, immigration agents raided the country’s largest kosher meat plant in its largest sweep to date. Planned for months, the raid on Postville, Iowa workers led to more than 300 arrests. New York Times.
Black Smokers At More Risk Without Menthol Regulation
Because menthol cigarettes, a more common choice for Black smokers, account for a quarter of the $70 billion cigarette market, any legislation to regulate the tobacco will not included metholated brands in order to receive support from tobacco lobby group Phillip Morris USA. New York Times.
Earthquake in China Kills Thousands
“Rescue workers were digging through flattened homes and schools Tuesday in a desperate search for victims of China’s worst earthquake in three decades. Authorities said nearly 12,000 people were killed and more than 18,000 are missing.” MSNBC.
Careless Detention
Day 3 of a special Washington Post multimedia feature tells the story of Amina Mudey, a mentally ill detainee. There are also reports that some neglected immigrants have committed suicide because of substandard care. Washington Post.
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