My experience this past weekend at the National Latino Congreso in Austin, TX, was truly inspiring, as many of us convened together with Latino leaders and grassroots organizers from across the country to raise and explore issues of education, migration, and other important topics that are impacting immigrant communities in the US.
Since it was my first time attending, I really did not know what to expect. Immediately, though, I was encouraged to engage with other Latino colleagues who are at the front line of supporting immigrants and are invested in fostering participation in open dialogues on behalf of and with immigrant populations.
I don’t think I’ve ever experienced a greater sense of belonging than I did at the Congreso. The Congress, as it’s also known, was created in 2006 by nine national organizations, including the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), the William C. Velasquez Institute and Southwest Voter.
While there, I was able to learn the process of proposing a “resolution” to the Cogreso. Understanding the guidelines of making and presenting such a resolution is important for our work, if we are to manifest and propel change in the mainstream political arena. I just was one of the fifty plus delegates who was allowed the opportunity to propose such a resolution to the Congress’s panel. Personally speaking, it was an enriching experience.
“…we tried to emphasize how motions that are repeated almost endlessly at such furious paces will erode away the body over time, just like rushing water eats into sandstone.”
Since I personally fight to represent workers, my resolution focused on those who work in meat processing plants. One of the biggest issues in this industry is that processing line speeds are simply too fast.
Line speed refers to the particular velocity that a conveyor belt whisks along chucks of meat that are to be cut into smaller pieces. Lines generally run at intense speeds, and workers often can barely keep up with the work; therefore, they experience a higher incident rate of injury. Symptoms of carpal tunnel, lower back injuries, and countless other long term cycles of wear and tear on their bodies are all common.
For such issues of worker safety, it has proven quite difficult for us to uncover exactly which government office, entity, agency and/or agent, etc actually regulates line speeds. So it made sense for us to lay bare the gravitas of these unknowns for the Congreso.
With our resolution, therefore, we tried to emphasize how motions that are repeated almost endlessly at such furious paces will erode away the body over time, just like rushing water eats into sandstone.
As we learned, if our Floor Resolution was to succeed, we needed endorsers to sign on, and to my surprise, people were really supportive. Though we weren’t familiar with most of the organizations present, we were able to lean on one group with which we’d maintained a working relationship with in the past. Through our connection with them, we were quickly able to garner sponsorships from ten other Delegates.
And once folks began to hear about our resolution, it was so heartening: one after the other, people approached me just to ask, “do you need me to sign your resolution?”
The sense of belonging that I mentioned earlier took verbal shape in their queries, and, for me, such a sense also represents the culture of inclusion that we – those of us who care about social justice issues – are trying to inject into our communities and the societies that surround us.
No doubt will I be carrying this overwhelming and inspiring sense of inclusion back to my own community, hoping to uplift others just as I have been, hoping that we can encourage more folks to join our struggle for workers’ rights.
There is always value to be gained when we allow ourselves to learn from others; most importantly, we so often walk away from such gatherings with new allies and friends. To learn more about the National Latino Congreso, contact them here.