Happy Birthday Cesar Chavez

A contemporary of Martin Luther King, Jr., he was no less active in promoting justice and fairness.  Today is his birthday.  He mobilized farmers, laborers, and the poor working class to fight for justice and human dignity.  He was called by Robert Kennedy one of the “heroic figures of our time.”  

Happy Birthday, Senor Chavez.  Thank you for your legacy.

Florida Gov. Crist met with Immokalee Workers

In an attempt to fight modern day slavery, the Immokalee Workers finally had the chance to meet with Gov. Crist.

http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2009/mar/25/crist-first-florida-governor-meet-farmworkers-grou/

Good Samaritans and Undocumented Workers: Models of Mercy and Compassion

With my current job, I get the chance to speak to groups about immigration, namely trying to provide a perspective to help people think about the issues surrounding immigration.  At Justice For Our Neighbors, we often refer to the Parable of the Good Samaritan.  This past weekend, I decided to spend some time reading it and thinking about it.  Here’s what I came up with.

First of all, the parable is spurred on by the questioning of a man who wants to know how to get eternal life.  Jesus replies in the affirmative that it is to love God and love one’s neighbor as her/himself.  The curious (and seemingly justification-seeking) man asks, Who is my neighbor?  (Perhaps suggesting that there are those whom he might not have to love.)

Voices from the Detention Center

I’m sure by now you’re heard about the four Oakland police officers who died at the hands of a gunman (if not, you can read it here).

I found an article put out by The Beat Within (via New American Media’s website), which is a weekly magazine that conducts writing workshops in juvenile detention facilities in San Francisco.   Young writers shared their thoughts on the shootings in a letter written to the grieving families of the fallen police officers.  

The full article with all the writing samples can be read here.  I will highlight some of them.

It’s Very Hard
Man, it’s very hard losing somebody! I remember when I lost three people back to back to back. First, I lost my favorite auntie, Charlene, in a car accident. It hurts me still to this day. Then I lost my brother, Dejohn to gun violence. He was 17. I loved my brother.

After my brother, I lost a very close friend I knew since I was six years old. His name was Anthony. But I feel like he still here ‘cause we rep his name to the fullest.

All I can say to the people who lost their brothers and loved ones is that I’m sorry that it happened and I know how you feel. Keep your head up and hang in there. -Lady-Will 

Words Can’t Explain
I am disgusted. Period. The shooter has given all young people a bad name. Sure we young people need better schools, more jobs, more opportunities. So many of us find ourselves on the streets, and when we are on the streets drama unfolds. What I want to say is I am angry and sad too. I know what it is like to lose a family member by the gun. I hate guns. I hate idiots, and this shooter was an idiot. Peace and love to all families in mourning. I feel your pain. I hope someone feels mine too.
-Yung Gee

Don’t Treat Us All Bad
I know people look at juveniles in a bad way, but it is a mistake. It takes a process for us to change ourselves and be positive. The Oakland parolee filled me with anger. Thanks to him, it makes people like me look bad, and we are not! It’s going to affect all young people in the criminal justice system. To me the outcome of this is going be more violence and poverty and it’s going to make the city of Oakland look bad. I’m sorry for the families. I understand both sides of the police officers and the criminal.

I hope that the families can stand strong. YOU all are not alone. You have people in the community to support you. The feelings you feel, I feel. I feel your pain. I lost someone special in my life. I’m sorry. I hope other families and people won’t suffer our pain. Stay strong! 
-Gor

—————————-

As far as commentary on the shootings goes,  I think these young men and women have a perspective on the issue that highlights that there is more to a story than “Man Kills Cops .”  Those who live in the midst of this violence hate it.  They want safe streets and safe families.  But as one writer put it above, when there are few opportunities, poor schools, and no jobs, it can be a cauldron for violence.   These young men and women, who could be on a similar path as a young Lovelle Mixon (the shooter), are reflecting on their situation, on life, death, poverty, and pain.  They see complexity in the situation.  They see pain on the sides of both the police officers and the shooter.  They know that this event will cause others to look at them as if they were Lovelle Mixon.  They are also able to see that while there is another way to live, it is a long, tough road for inner city kids whose lives are always on the verge of drama.

 

Out of Many (uh…Most?), One.

Not many will deny that immigration reform is needed.  Hopefully it comes soon.  But with the economy in the state it’s in and with the new administration focusing on other things (renewable energy, education, and health care), your guess is as good as mine as to when immigration will be a priority.

But while we wait for immigration reform to come to the table, we continue to find stories of the mistreatment of immigrants, both those who have proper paperwork and those who have none.

Here is an article about how citizens and permanent residents are not given the due process that the law requires.  As I have read hundreds of articles and blog postings and blog comments, I have continued to find those who read a story like this say (in varying tones and with a variety of words) something like, “Well, it sure does stink that citizens and permanent residents have to go through this kind of thing, but I guess if it is going to keep this country safe in the long run, it’s better to be safe than sorry.”  Or they say, “Yes, this is tragic, but this only happens to a few people.  Well over the majority of immigrant citizens aren’t treated like this.”  

Let’s be clear.  The mistreatment of any human being, whether one or two or hundreds, is wrong.  On a practical level, if we tolerate a one instance or overlook a couple, then it becomes that much easier to overlook a few more.  On a philosophical level, the mistreatment of even one is inexcusable.

What worries me is this:  not only is the system broken, but stories like this show that many — from US citizens to ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) to the current administration who appears to be “reviewing” things — are living with a fear of others.  Now, I understand that in a post 9/11 world, we need to be concerned about legitimate threats.  But when citizens and permanent residents cannot get due process, when they are detained based on some kind of unfounded suspicion, when they are held as criminals in detention centers with sub-human conditions, it should cause us worry.  If citizens and permanent residents are looked at with fear and suspicion, how can anyone live in safety and security?  Out of many, we are supposed to be one (E pluribus unum, reads our coins).  But how can we be one when citizens are carved up into different groups — those who can be trusted and those we cannot be, those who are safe and those who are not?

Such treatment of a citizen of the United States, who prides itself on humane treatment, due process, freedom, and civil liberties, causes me great concern.  Particularly in an economic time where we are looking for scapegoats, looking for someone to blame, facing systemic fears and uncertainties not seen in generations, we must be able to hold on to the principles that are believed to make this country great.  And we must be diligent to maintain morality in the midst of difficult times.  If we are unable to do this, what do we have left?

E pluribus unum?

[To read about just how broken the system is, check out this article by Amnesty International.  There is little oversight to the detaining process and ICE directors rather then immigration judges determine the length and conditions of detention.  It's a long article, but at least read the content in the boxes through the article -- they are true stories.]

The Visitor

Check out the trailor for THE VISITOR, with Oscar-nominated Richard Jenkins.  Recently watched the movie.  It’s worth the view.

There are those who sleep like dogs…

On my recent trip to Uganda, we visited a village called Waka Waka (insert Fozzy Bear joke here).  Waka Waka lies on the shore of a large lake.  There’s not much in Waka Waka.  Actually, there’s nothing in Waka Waka.  Just the locals who live there.  I didn’t even see anything that resembled a store or market.  Everyone grows their own food (from what I saw), catches fish in the lake, and lives in huts made of mud and straw.  It was the most remote place I’ve ever been to (though I’m there are much more remote places with much more severe poverty).  Most children had no shoes.  A good number had torn and shabby clothes literally hanging off them.  

A local pastor met us there and showed us around the church/orphanage area.  It consisted of a few mud and straw huts with a church/school building.  The pastor took me into a hut.  It was circular, perhaps a diameter of 10-12 feet.  There were some clothes lines strung across the inside and a matress on the dirt floor.  ”You see this?” the pastor asked.  ”We sleep like dogs.  No human should have to sleep like this.”

Yet they do.  All over the world, people sleep like dogs.  Even in this country, a land known for freedom and opportunity, people sleep like dogs.  As we walked out of the hut, I could not help but think about the power of options.  For the families in Waka Waka, there are no other options.  Only a small minority of the world has options — the ability to choose different careers, the ability to choose to get an education or where to get an education, the ability to choose where they want to live (based on climate, relationships, opportunity, etc.), the ability to leave one situation for another, the ability to give their children a vision for the future.  Having options puts you in a position of privilege.  If you have options, you are a part of the privileged minority in the world.

And this should not to promote guilt.  But it should promote reflection and action.  There are those in the world who have no options and they need, in some capacity, those of us who have the power and privilege the comes with having options to get involved, to listen to them, and to explore what it means to create a more humane life for them.

Because no human should have to sleep like a dog.

Get a name, hear a story, welcome someone in.

I recently returned from Uganda with doma interational (www.domaconnection.org), an orphan care organization that my wife and I are involved with. Before leaving, I purchased a book that was referred to me called WHAT IS THE WHAT. It’s about one of the Lost Boys of Sudan who lived in refugee camps as a young boy before eventually coming to the United States as a refugee. I read this book on the plane to and from Uganda, on the bus during our travels, and in the hotel when I managed to keep my eyes opened.

Between my experience in Uganda and my reflections after finishing WHAT IS THE WHAT, I thought about the millions in the world who are on the move because of hunger, draught, famine, disease, war, and political, religious, and/or ethnic/racial oppression. I also thought of the millions who are unable to leave their situation in hopes of finding a better situation. Then I thought about the anger, fear, distrust, suspicion, and rancor that those who cross borders (political, cultural, etc.) face as they look for a better life.  It happens here in the US. It happens in Europe. It happens all over the world. People resist that which is different. Even more, those who are different often become scapegoats for other issues. This has happened through the history of this country, from the time of the early settlers (who, ironically enough were, according to some accounts, welcomed by the those native to this land) to now. The Catholic Germans faced it in the mid 1800s. The Italians, Hungarians, Poles, and others experienced in in the early 1900s. People from Asia experienced it throughout the 1800s and 1900s. Those from Latin America have experienced it throughout the 1800s, 1900s, and into the new millenium. It’s the same old story, just a different skin color, different country, different religion, etc.

What troubles me is that some who look at immigrants with suspicion or fear or anger have never had a conversation with or sought to understand the situation of someone who has crossed borders. (And no, talking to a clerk, sales attendant, or laborer in some kind of purchase or business transaction doesn’t count.)  There is often little/no attempt at friendship, little/no attempt at understanding why they came here, little/no attempt to get more information. Even more, there is often even less effort to understand how domestic and international policy affects the lives others beyond the borders of the US (for example, see NAFTA and US agricultural subsidies as an example).

At Justice For Our Neighbors (JFON), we see individuals from all over the world at our monthly immigration clinic. We have the chance to hear bits of their stories as they go through the process of trying to get immigration legal services. Learning a name, hearing a story, and understanding their situations goes a long way. Names and stories humanize.  If you’ve never done it, you should try it.