Immigrant and Refugee Workers Share Health Concerns
by Axel Fuentes
En español y ingles
A momentous event occurred this past weekend. Sixteen Latino immigrants and Somali refugees, all workers coming from different communities around the nation, got together to discuss common issues that are affecting and limiting access to health care in their communities, including the meat processing plants where they work.
At this meeting both groups agreed that there were common issues affecting their health. Issues such as a lack of interpreters at health care facilities, the high speeds of work lines, and supervisors who ignored their needs by denying bathroom breaks and penalizing workers who need time off to attend to medical appointments. Arrogant and degrading treatment from some of the supervisors was a common experience, as well as a lack of proper training to operate equipment.
These and other common issues are being addressed by health action councils made up of the workers themselves. Their goals are to reduce worker heath deterioration, prevent work-related accidents and improve access to health care. Read more
Americans Fed Up with Broken Immigration Policies
Current U.S. detention and immigration enforcement policies pose a grave threat to civil and human rights. The recent expansion of flawed enforcement programs is bad for America, and Department of Homeland Security head, Janet Napolitano, is not upholding the Obama administration’s promise to find workable solutions. The abuses carried out under 287g agreements, which relinquish authority to enforce federal immigration laws to local law enforcement, are causing an outcry from immigrant and civil rights organizations across the country.
This video and petition by America’s Voice highlight the dangerous and expensive operations by DHS.
According to Reform Immigration FOR America, organizations are coordinating efforts to condemn DHS’s illegal raids on homes and unconstitutional practices. They are also protesting the expansion of flawed programs that undermine labor protections and unfairly target workers. Read more
Increased Dangers for Afghan Girls Attending School
On February 18, 2009, the president of Pakistan, Asif Ali Zardari signed a deal with the Taliban to implement Shariah law (Islamic religious law) in some parts of Pakistan banning all girls from school.
With more than 28,000 US troops still fighting “Operation Enduring Freedom” this is a startling piece of information. As our brave military men and women endure what is to be the 8th year of war the re-emergence of the Taliban is threatening some of Afghanistan’s greatest achievements in the post-Taliban era.
These achievements, education of female students and the opening of over 200 schools, are at grave risk. More than 90 schools have been forced to close because of both threats and actual attacks including torched classrooms and the kidnapping and murdering of teachers. Last November men on motorcycles sprayed acid on 11 female students and four teachers as they headed to school. Read more
Chicago Ready for Action on Green Food
Chicago is poised to be the first city in the nation to pass a resolution for a healthier, more sustainable food system. Last week Chicago’s Energy, Environmental Protection and Public Utilities Committee presented a proposal to the city council called the “green food resolution”. It is a nonbinding initiative that encourages the city to help make fresh, locally grown food available to Chicagoans.
“BE lT RESOLVED, that the Chicago City Council encourages individuals, civic associations, and community based organizations to grow local, organic gardens, and institutions and businesses to offer more plant based foods; and
BE lT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Chicago City Council promotes the expansion of the number of Farmers’ Markets, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs, community gardens, and other venues which provide healthful plant based foods.”
Although this uplifting rhetoric is making no promises, I believe it has the potency and the ability to motivate politicians to support the necessary task of building a sustainable food infrastructure. Read more
The Minutemen Want to Talk about Bigotry
The Chicago and Illinois minutemen showed up to protest the National Council of La Raza’s (NCLR) Annual Conference yesterday. When I spoke to the 10 or so minutemen members gathered outside the first thing one of them said to me was “La Raza is a racist organization, in my opinion.” When I pressed several members to explain why NCLR was racist, I received responses ranging from “they don’t support English” to “we have to protect our borders” to they promote “ethnicity over nationality”.
Just for the record I am including an excerpt of NCLR’s mission statement from its website: “The National Council of La Raza (NCLR) – the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States – works to improve opportunities for Hispanic Americans. To achieve its mission, NCLR conducts applied research, policy analysis, and advocacy, providing a Latino perspective in five key areas – assets/investments, civil rights/immigration, education, employment and economic status, and health. In addition, it provides capacity-building assistance to its Affiliates who work at the state and local level to advance opportunities for individuals and families.”
As I’ve covered the conference I’ve spoken to attendees of all ethnic backgrounds that support and applaud NCLR’s work. In fact, NCLR launched a campaign specifically to address and counter hate and violence in the immigration debate called We Can Stop the Hate. Read more
Social Media Reflects Social Divisions
Today I participated in a new media panel at the National Council of La Raza’s (NCLR) annual conference with esteemed experts Edmundo Rocha, Kety Esquivel, and Murray Mann. While we tried to cover a wide range of topics from the basic to the advanced, I found the topic of social divisions continued to come up.
As we seek to navigate rapidly changing technologies and social formations online, there are a few things to consider. Just because we are all communicating from behind computer screens doesn’t mean we are suddenly color blind. In fact, bigotry can flourish and spread online in a way that it never could before. Social networking has not become the great unifying force that some predicted. Studies and frankly a little bit of common sense have shown that between the two major social networking sites, Myspace and Facebook, there are deep cultural, class, and color divides.
Orphaned Father
A man of brilliant intellect and sparkling humor, tata went through life largely unrecognized and unrewarded for the depth of his observations and quickness of his wit. Abandoned and neglected at the age of four, after his mother’s tragic death of a botched abortion, tata and his brothers spent most of their childhood being shuffled from homes of relatives and orphanages in between my grandfather’s eight unsuccessful marriages. In his possession, he held only two pictures, a reminder of a family that he once had. First, a sepia tone photograph, ripped and torn at the edges, showing three dirty- faced boys with shaven heads, ripped clothes and no shoes on their feet. Read more
Arpaio Sued for Detainee Mistreatment and Death
Sheriff Arpaio of Maricopa County is facing two more lawsuits due to the mistreatment and death of inmates at his prisons. The details of the death of David McClurg are especially tragic. A diabetic, McClurg developed gangrene within six weeks after being detained. He was a pretrial detainee, which means he had not been convicted of a crime
His family maintains that he was housed in overcrowded conditions and not provided a diet necessary for a diabetic. Apparently McClurg’s diet changed so radically for the worse upon entering the Maricopa County jail system that it was the first time he experienced symptoms. Read more
Hate Activity Increasing, it’s a Fact
Last month, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights released their brand new report on hate crimes in America entitled, Confronting the New Faces of Hate: Hate Crimes in America. The report was co-authored by Wade Henderson and Michael Lieberman. Earlier this week I listened in as both men hosted a phone press conference to promote their report. Both Wade and Michael introduced the report and its findings before opening up the floor for questions. Before describing the reports disturbing findings, Henderson described two high profile hate crimes that have gained national attention. He first talked about last week’s murder at the Holocaust Museum in Washington DC before moving on to the story of Luis Ramirez who was beaten to death by teens in Pennsylvania in 2008. After introducing the report, Henderson and Lieberman went on to discuss the reports main themes and some of the more shocking findings in their research. Here are some of the main themes and facts:
In 2007, 7,624 hate crimes were reported in the United States. From 2003-2007 hate crimes against Hispanic’s increased nearly 40%. Read more
The Tanton Network’s Victory on 287g, with Kobach of Kansas
Kris Kobach
This week’s New York Times profile of Kris Kobach, the John Tanton Network lawyer from Kansas, is a reminder that even an outspoken, anti-immigrant, restrictionist, Obama-joke-cracking attorney/professor with Ivy League credentials and a stint in the Ashcroft Justice Department can land favorable press, make extremists look mainstream, and erase any party distinctions on 287g and other Homeland Security enforcement tactics.
It was just last week that Kobach—a candidate for Secretary of State in Kansas—publicly repeated the “joke version” of the growing attack line on the President for his alleged lack of a U.S. birth certificate, a mantra picking up steam in otherwise desperate right-wing circles. The line was no surprise coming from Kobach, who has, indeed, taken anti-immigrant law and policy initiatives to new levels, and whose support of hardcore restrictionist policies has earned him exposure on all sides. Repetition of the birth certificate story about the President makes perfect sense for one who is building a political career challenging the validity of U.S. citizenship and the rights of U.S. residents. Read more
Harvard Professor’s Arrest Demonstrates Deep Racism
Last week one of our country’s most respected African-American scholars was arrested by Cambridge police. Unsurprisingly, this isn’t the first time a Harvard professor has fallen victim to racial profiling by police. Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. was arrested Thursday afternoon at his home by Cambridge police investigating a possible break-in. Gates was simply attempting to repair a damaged door at his own home. By the time police arrived he was already inside and produced identification to prove his residence. They arrested him anyway.
Racism at our nation’s highest academic institutions isn’t new. But is this because it occurs more often in white affluent environments or because we pay more attention when someone of distinction is the victim? While the answer may not be clear, this particular situation debunks many recent assumptions about race in America.
Neo-Nazis Welcomed to America While Immigrants Persecuted
Homeland Security chief Janet Napolitano attacks immigrants yet welcomes a convicted anti-Semite to the US. In the aftermath of the Holocaust Memorial Museum shooting in DC, as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) continues to focus on rounding up immigrants with no criminal background, David Irving, notorious Holocaust denier, neo-Nazi sympathizer, and convicted criminal is allowed to hold more than 15 speaking engagements. Irving has already made more than half of those stops. Holocaust deniers like David Irving are the “intellectual elite” of modem neo-Nazism. The re-writing of Third Reich history is a major preoccupation for modern neo-Nazis and neo-fascists, who correctly believe that memory of the Holocaust is a significant barrier to the mainstreaming of their beliefs.
In neo-Nazi minds, Jews control the media, movies, the music industry; they control banking and the money supply; they manipulate other minorities to attack whites. According to neo-Nazi ideology they undermine the “white race” by encouraging and facilitating the abortion of white children and interracial marriage. Jews, in short, are the deadly enemy of the white race. Read more
Polako, nigdje ne gori
According to our family’s lore, I was born on a coldest day of the winter, 1976. On that second to the last day of January a snow and ice storm raged all over the Sarajevo valley, turning the quaint city of the valley into a battlefield. Howling winds carried even more snow from the surrounding mountains dumping it haphazardly all over the streets, draping it across tree branches, and burying houses and buildings. It was as if the nature’s dam broke, and all its power and energy were recklessly unleashed on the city, already drowning in heavy snow from earlier storms.
That storm, like all others past, was nothing that Sarajevans were not equipped to deal with. Centuries of living in the valley meant taking in stride the unpredictability and cruelty of mountain weather. Mama was not an exception. Feeling her water break, she put on her warmest coat and fur-lined ski boots. The boots had soles that offered just enough traction to prevent her from falling over in knee-deep snow. Making a path from their apartment building to the somewhat passable main boulevard in Cengic Villa, mama and tata took a tram to my grandmother’s apartment, a few miles down the road. Read more
Imagine 2050 Video Contest is Here!
The winner will receive a $500 cash prize, and will be prominently featured on imagine2050.net. Two runners-up will win Flip Cam Ultras. The five videos that receive the the highest votes will be featured on the Imagine 2050 blog and at a future Imagine 2050 event.
What does it mean to be an American? In the year 2050, America will be a nation of minorities. How will America adjust to the cultural changes that will occur over the next 40 years? American identity and imagery are shifting. 40 years ago images of astronauts walking on the moon and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s March on Washington helped define American culture. What kinds of images will define America over the next 40 years?
Tell us about your America through your images, your words, your art.
Click here for contest details. Read more
Organic Food Cheaper than Conventional
Actually, it always has been. Bear with me long enough to glance at the big picture I’m going to paint. First think about the differences between organic and conventional. Take into consideration all of the chemical pesticide related health problems that come with the package of conventionally grown food, for the consumer and the farm worker. Acknowledge the hundreds of billions of dollars spent on medical bills to treat obesity, diabetes, heart-attacks, and countless other food-related illnesses that are consistently encouraged by (dare I say due to) the highly processed crap we’re fed by food giants conglomerates and the fast food industry.
Think about the billions of dollars coming out of taxpayer’s wallets to subsidize an energy intensive, fossil-fuel dependent and straight up out-dated method of conventional farming. How long can we continue to abuse ourselves, our farmers, and our planet with this dangerous and costly food system that big agri-business has force-fed us? Read more
Center for Immigration Studies Collaborates with Border Vigilantes
Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), founded by John Tanton in 1985, describes itself as a “think tank” and “pro-immigrant”. However, today CIS released a press statement and videos showing that it collaborates with controversial border vigilantes. The press release linked readers to a website called Borderinvasionpics.com. This site operates in conjunction with American Patrol, Glenn Spencer’s anti-immigrant hate group.
Glenn Spencer has a checkered past. Just last month he met with child-killer Shawna Forde shortly before her arrest. She was apprehended by the FBI less than a mile from his home. He downplayed his relationship with her, but the fact remains that when Forde was on the run for the murder of a nine-year-old and her father she went to Spencer for help.
According to Long Island Wins, “Glenn Spencer is a long-time anti-immigrant leader with a large national following. He helped organize some of the first “border watch” activities that led to the creation of Minuteman nationally.”
Glenn Spencer is also involved with American Renaissance, a white supremacist monthly journal and website run by Jared Taylor. The Anti-Defamation League reports, “The journal, which Taylor edits, promotes pseudoscientific studies that attempt to demonstrate the intellectual and cultural superiority of whites and publishes articles on the supposed decline of American society because of integrationist social policies.” Read more
Media Mavens in the Making
Embarking on a journey too grand to be considered a simple tour, my friends in Karma, along with fellow local musician Kim Cotton of the band Verity, and community organizer/ artist Stef Cmielewski of 
SACraftMafia make a triumphant trek northward to Detroit, Michigan. The group will convene with myself and leader of Texas Media Empowerment Project Deanne Cuellar to represent our Local 782 at the 2009 Allied Media Conference this weekend.
The immense implication of these individuals uniting to raise funds in hopes of spreading awareness of our coalition, our city’s music scene, and the depth of our movement beyond state borders and across the Midwest only strengthens my spirits as I continue to defend that San Antonio is bursting at the seams with creative class ambition. Read more
ICEing the White House
Let’s face it. With the expansion of the 287(g) program, the new employer audit initiative, the growth of the Border Patrol, and the relentless, unconscionable construction of the border fence, the Obama Administration has completely succumbed to the ICE (and Democratic Party) enforcement agenda.
The new and expanded agreements that enable local and state law enforcement agencies to act as ICE surrogates build on a program (287(g))that has wreaked havoc across the country. In those jurisdictions where the agreements prevail, no immigrant has been safe from zealous law officers who turn a minor traffic stop, for example, into a wider deportation roundup. Instead of curbing the practice, the White House is expanding it into even more jurisdictions. Read more
A Regrettable Misunderstanding
Man goes to his therapist and says, “Doc, I had dinner with my in-laws last night and made a terrible Freudian slip and now I feel just awful.” Therapist says, “Oh dear, I’m so sorry. What did you say?” Man says, “Well, I meant to say, ‘could someone please pass the bread,’ but instead I said, ‘you’re ruining our lives, you ugly old cows.’”
Pretty funny, right? Here’s an even better one you may have heard recently.
A camp in Northeastern Philadelphia contracts with a private swim club in a Philly suburb to have its elementary school-age kids swim in the pool. One day, 65 young black and Latino campers show up to do just that. A number of white parents pull their own kids from the pool, club staffers tell the campers to leave, and the club president, one John Duesler, revokes the camps contract shortly thereafter. Read more
Sotomayor, White Nationalism and the Future of the Republican Party
The Latino online community has had enough of Republicans who turn a blind eye to bigotry. Presente Action — a Latino online advocacy organization has launched new ads in Florida condemning Rush Limbaugh‘s continued racist attacks on Judge Sonia Sotomayor. To learn how you can help keep the ads on the air visit www.DenunciaRush.com. The website includes a YouTube version of the ad in English.
Gabriel Rey-Goodlatte, a spokesperson for Presente Action, told Imagine2050 that the “The ad campaign is a warning to national Republican politicians. This week, if they pile attacks on Sotomayor and refuse to denounce the hateful, offensive rhetoric from Republican leaders like Rush Limbaugh, Latino voters will hear about it.”
Read more
Categories
Authors
- Amy Mehta
- Amy Spicer
- Ana Turck
- Andrew Grant-Thomas
- Axel Fuentes
- Carlos Rich
- Chris Bober
- Cloee Cooper
- Eric Ward
- Garat Ibrahim
- George Garza
- Guest Blogger
- Imagine 2050 Editors
- James E. Johnson
- Jessica Acee
- Jill Garvey
- Joan Flanagan
- Katie Bezrouch
- Katie Irwin
- Ken Brown
- Noah Chandler
- Rev. David L. Ostendorf
- Sarah Viets
- Stephen Piggott
- Tom Dunmore
- Amy Mehta