Tucson May 1st Coalition

By Teresa Gutierrez
Washington, D.C.
Mar 24, 2010

On March 21 a multitude of immigrants and their supporters amassed in the largest demonstration for immigrant rights in Washington, D.C., in decades, if not ever.

There were at least 200,000 people at the biggest immigrant-rights rally in this country since 2006. The crowd was overwhelmingly Latino/a, but pockets of Koreans, Filipinos, Africans and Muslim immigrants and families were also there in proud attendance.

Photo: Heather Cottin

People traveled from as far away as Colorado, Texas and California. Homemade signs called on President Barack Obama to keep his promises for immigration reform and urged the government to stop dividing families.

The intentions of the main organizers of this historic demonstration for immigrant rights may have been complex and varied. But the world should make no mistake about it: Every single person who came to the demonstration was there to demand legalization.

Furthermore, they were confident that immigrants have earned legalization over and over — and are not asking but are demanding it.

It was reported that the huge size of the crowd was in large part due to the money that poured in from unions tied to the Democratic Party as well as from the Democratic Party itself. In fact one of the rally speakers was a representative of MoveOn.org.

Washington, D.C., March 21

Nonetheless, it was an encouraging day that especially made Latinos/as proud as the crowd over and over again chanted, “Si se puede!” (Yes, we can!)

When it was announced that President Obama would be addressing the rally, the crowd roared in approval.

Obama’s intervention indeed made it one of the most interesting developments in this country since his election. In fact, this writer has never been to a progressive protest rally where a U.S. president has spoken.

While immigrants and their advocates may be buoyed by the huge turnout, it was also a day of concern and apprehension for anyone who is looking deeper into this issue.

photo: Dante Strobino

Unfortunately, most of the speakers at the rally, including President Obama, repeated the demand for “comprehensive immigration reform.” This formulation has regrettably become a cover for a policy that is fraught with danger.

Obama endorsed the reform bill being proposed by Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer of New York and Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.

Although the most progressive wing of the immigrant-rights movement has not made a full analysis of the Schumer bill since it was just recently introduced, preliminary assessments are that it may be like the thoroughly reactionary Sensenbrenner bill called by another name.

For example it calls for a biometric ID system for all U.S. workers. This will be ominous for the entire working class and it may push the undocumented further underground.

In the next few weeks, the most progressive wing of the movement will be addressing these bills. It will be figuring out the next steps of the movement in light of the historic March 21 demonstration.

But one thing is for sure. The March 21 demonstration confirms that May Day 2010 is more important than ever.

Immigrants and supporters are being told by many that “comprehensive immigration reform” — which means legalization for few and more militarization of society — is the best they are going to get. But history shows that militant action that represents the interests of the working class can win genuine gains.

The voices saying that legalization with no militarization is not realistic are the same voices who told women and Black people that they would never win the right to vote.

A mighty May Day 2010 that brings in not only immigrants but workers who want to fight for jobs, students who demand high-quality public education, youths who want education not jails or military recruitment, progressives fighting the wars abroad and all sectors is the kind of movement that can win the demands of the people, including legalization.

By Raúl Alcaraz, from Tohono O’odham lands

Southern Arizona

26 February 2010

www.antifronteras.com

With Arizona state-sponsored anti-Raza, anti-migrant bills being seriously proposed left and right, increasing militarization and genocide at the U.S./Mexico border-murderlands, kidnappings, disappearances and separations of families through the form of raids, detentions and deportations, times are proving that “government is best which governs not at all.”

We are living under siege in “low-intensity” warfare that has the potential to escalate. Modern-day government sponsored legal segregation terrorism is at its finest. Despite the differences, countless folks have already compared the current migrant struggle to that of U.S.-based African folks during the Civil Rights and Black Liberation movements of the 1960’s and 70’s. There are many parallels in the oppression we face but not in resistance tactics. (Let me save that point for another “message”!)

But today, the Right Wing is right, very right! This is NOT our country, this is not our government, and these are not our institutions. I know it’s a slippery slope so don’t get it twisted, I am NOT proposing that we all get deported! But let’s take a look back at herstory. This country, this government, these institutions were not built by “immigrants” alone (as many signs declare in street marches), they were built on the bloodshed of our Native, African and migrant ancestors combined. Our blood still stains capitol and Wall Street towers, our sweat, blood and tears can be found in southwestern railroads, modern highways and endless agricultural fields across the land; bloodshed is splattered on concrete, on asphalt, on land, on dirt, on the very earth that sustains the riches of this country called the United States of America. So the Right is right: the KKK, the Minutemen, the politicians, la Migra, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Joe Arpaio—they’re all right, none of this is ours; it was never meant for people like you or me to begin with. So why are we begging to get our share of the American apple pie? Why are we trying to reform colonization/slavery/capitalism? As W.E.B. Du Bois would ask us, do we really believe we can reform the same systems that were created to oppress us?

What is ours is ancient and thousands of years old. Our indigenous ancestors migrated throughout these lands WITHOUT BORDERS thousands of years before any Niña, Pinta, Santa Maria or Mayflower ever dreamt of crossing the Atlantic Ocean. Colonization crossed us, the border crossed us and now we are living on occupied lands. The occupation is their dream; it’s a colonial dream. European settlers landed, invaded, took over lands and set up their own systems. Occupation is a bloody thing as it imposes a foreign system on Native people. This is why today in 2010 Native land is still filled with their systems of oppression: their school system, their universities, their history books, their city councils, their supervisors, their mayors, their governors, their president, their congress, their senate, their constitution, their electoral system, their Democrat and Republican parties, their stores, their malls, their corporations, their CEO’s, their jobs, their money, their economic system, their hospitals, their religion, their churches, their marriage institutions, their real estate, their media, their police, their courts, their jails, their migra, their detention centers, their checkpoints, their immigration system, their citizenship papers, their borders, their army, their weapons, their tanks, their wars. The list can go on of things THEIRS NOT OURS. This country was/is built by us but NOT for us. That’s why hundreds of years later, poor people and people of color are still segregated, still discriminated, still terrorized, still left on the margins of great white wealth.

Yes, we still live here and participate in this system, mostly because there is no other alternative, right? So what do we do? The question is overwhelming with over 500 years of political, economic and social context. Malcolm X and Zapatista principles come to mind: self-respect, self-defense and self-determination… But a proposal more specific and concrete than that? That is our responsibility to figure out as a community. We need to get creative, innovative and consult with community and seek guidance from elders and other liberation social movements that have used different methods of struggle. For now, all I propose is that we recognize the historical and current context of occupation and that we not become trapped or limited within colonial frameworks when developing visions and strategies for social change. Their system should not be the “end all/be all” of our visions for a better world. If we limit ourselves to the confines of their system, we have already lost from the very beginning and we ourselves will continue upholding the very same colonial structures we proclaim to defy. Like Audre Lord once declared: “We cannot take down the Master’s house with the Master’s tools.” We must stop defining ourselves and the Migrant Rights Movement on foreign ways of being, on their system, on the continuing occupation of our minds, bodies, hearts and souls.

We must reclaim/transform language and our points of view. The current debate on “borders” and “immigration reform” even from the so-called pro-migrant camp comes from a colonial framework that lacks a social justice vision and never challenges borders or citizenship. Instead, the migrant rights movement Hispanic/White liberal establishment negotiates and collaborates with colonization and occupation.

With U.S. government-sponsored immigration raids, detentions, deportations, and genocide of our people and corporate interests increasing unemployment, poverty, imperialist wars and inaccessible health care at global levels, times are proving that “government [and corporations are] best which govern not at all.”

Let’s take it all back! ¡YA BASTA!

¡Un abrazo fuerte a tod@s mis compañer@s en la lucha!
Raúl Alcaraz, from Tohono O’odham lands
Southern Arizona
26 February 2010