Speak! Action Alerts from Radical Women of Color

Demonstration for Southall Black Sisters

Aaminah — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 11:52:36 +0000

Southall Black Sisters

Demonstration 17^th and 18^th July 2008 from 9.30am onwards at the High Court on the Strand

Many of you are already aware that SBS has been locked in struggle against Ealing Council with regard to its decision to withdraw funding for our domestic violence services for black and minority women. On 17^th and 18^th July 2008, the High Court will hear a challenge brought by our users against Ealing Council for its failure to have proper regard to existing equality legislation, especially the Race Relations Act, in reaching its decision on our funding. The Council will seek to justify its decision on the grounds that a generic domestic violence service will be better placed to meet requirements of the equality legislation and the so called ‘cohesion’ agenda.

Equality, Cohesion and the Right to Self Organisation

This is no longer simply about the funding of SBS. The case represents a key moment for the third sector. In one of the first challenges of its kind, the Council will be required to account for the way in which the confused and contradictory ‘cohesion’ agenda is being cynically used to cut essential life saving services to black and minority women in particular. Specialist services likes ours are needed, not only for reasons to do with language difficulties and culture pressures, but also because we have considerable experience in providing advice and advocacy in complex circumstances where legal aid is no longer easily available and where immigration and asylum difficulties make some women much more vulnerable than others. In addition, we will seek to challenge the Council for its failure to take account of how and why groups like SBS, were set up in the first place: to challenge racism and gender inequality as well as religious, caste and ethnic divisions within our communities.

The Council has made much of the need to reflect the racial diversity of Ealing (meaning the white majority population) in the interests of ‘cohesion’. In the process it seeks to argue that the very existence of specialist groups like SBS is unlawful under the Race Relations Act! Ealing Council has also withdrawn funding for key refugee and race equality projects in Ealing. This approach is not unique to Ealing. Evidence from around the UK suggests that organisations in the firing line tend to be the more progressive black and minority and feminist projects. At the same time, reactionary, sometimes fundamentalist religious organisations are being given financial support to provide ‘welfare services’, even at the risk of undermining the human rights of the most vulnerable in our communities. The subcontracting of third sector services is also contributing to the decimation of groups like SBS. What this demonstrates is a political attack on the notion of positive action and on the right to self organisation underpinned by secular, anti-racist and progressive values.

Our Tradition: Struggle not Submission

These are immensely worrying developments for all those concerned about the threat to progressive notions of equality and justice. We therefore urge you to join our demonstration on the 17^th and 18^th July at the High Court on the Strand. Nearest Tube Holborn (Circle & Piccadilly Line) or Temple (District & Circle Line). Please bring musical instruments, whistles and banners.

For further details contact SBS 0208 571 9595

Email: Southallblacksisters@btconnect.com

Moratorium Now Coalition To Stop Foreclosures & Evictions

takingcareofhome — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 16:12:54 +0000

MORATORIUM NOW COALITION TO STOP FORECLOSURES & EVICTIONS

23 E. Adams, 4^th Floor, Detroit, MI 48226 – WEBSITE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Jerry Goldberg 313-319-0870

STATE-WIDE ORGANIZERS MEETING TO BUILD SUPPORT FOR MORATORIUM ON FORECLOSURES BILL

SATURDAY, JUNE 14, 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM, UAW LOCAL 7, 2600 CONNER, DETROIT, MI

A statewide organizers meeting will discuss strategy to mobilize a mass movement across Michigan to WIN passage of Senate Bill 1306 which calls for a 2-year moratorium on foreclosures.

SB 1306, the 2-Year MORATORIUM bill introduced by State Sen. Hansen Clarke, would allow a homeowner facing foreclosure to go to court for an automatic stay to delay the sheriff’s sale for two years or extend the redemption period from six months to two years. The court will set a reasonable repayment plan for the two years based in part on the borrower’s income and ability to pay. The law would be in effect for three years, meaning that anyone in foreclosure at the time the law is enacted, or is placed in foreclosure during that three year period, could take advantage of the moratorium.

The Statewide Organizers Meeting will discuss plans for outreach and demonstrations to mobilize public support for the Moratorium on Foreclosures Bill. The Statewide Organizers Meeting will be followed by an Official Town Hall Meeting, presenting testimony from the community on foreclosures, evictions and blight and Chaired by State Senator Hansen Clarke, sponsor of SB 1306.

The Schedule for the day is:

Saturday – June 14, 2008

10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. State-wide Organizers Meeting

1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. Lunch in the hall

2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Testimony at Official Town Hall Meeting

(A free legal clinic will be set up during the Town Hall Meeting)

For more information call 313-319-0870 or visit the Moratorium website

at UAW Local 7 Hall

2600 Conner Avenue, Detroit

(between Mack Ave. and Jefferson Ave.)

SPONSORED BY:

Moratorium NOW! Coalition to Stop Foreclosures and Evictions

www.moratorium-mi.org

Call (313) 964-5813 or 319-0870 or email moratorium@moratorium-mi.org

to confirm attendance at the State-wide Organizers meeting

the AMC is (almost) here!!!

nosnowhere — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 23:39:08 +0000

Hundreds of grassroots media makers and social justice organizers are on their way to Detroit. And hundreds more are getting ready to greet them, at the 10th Annual Allied Media Conference, June 20-22, held on the campus of Wayne State University.

“While there are many media conferences held throughout the year, none approach grassroots media-makers, policy organizers and media justice fellow-travelers with as much focus, intention and urgency as the Allied Media Conference.” — Siyade Gemechisa, 2007 AMC Participant

At the 2008 AMC you’ll find over 60 hands-on workshops, film screenings and focused discussions such as:

and so much more…

Over 15 youth organizations will come together to run the Youth Media Lab– a hotbed of hands-on activity in the basement of the conference center– throughout the whole weekend.

The AMC provides childcare, and for the first year, we will offer a “kids track” of media-based activities for kids in the childcare area.

For the second year, INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence collaborates with the SPEAK Women of Color Media Justice collective and the AMC to produce a track of sessions aimed at using to media to end violence against women and trans people of color.

Popular education is woven into every aspect of the conference. But the Popular Education track is especially designed for educators looking to incorporate new media-based curricula into their teaching.

When it comes to media policy work, the AMC empowers media-makers at the grassroots to understand and shape the policies that directly affect them, rather than default to the experts. This year, Peoples Production House sponsors a policy track focused on The Future of the Internet.

By day, we get our hands dirty and our minds sharp. By night, we bowl and we party. From the bowling party and the shakespeare hip hop/rock show on Friday night to the Emergence music showcase on Saturday night–the AMC is all about the afterhours…

Come early and stay late! The local youth media organization, Detroit Summer will host a pre-AMC youth hip hop show called D-TENSION on Thursday June 19th, and post-AMC tours of the city on the afternoon of Sunday June 22.

Bring your whole crew. We can’t wait to see you.

~AMC08 Organizers

====

click here to see all the sessions in the Women/Trans People of Color track ///////////////////////

Please consider donating to help alleviate travel costs of women of color media makers participating in the INCITE! track. There is no donation too big or too small, and we appreciate the support. Check the widget on the right side of this page >>>> for instructions on donating. Please repost and forward to yr networks!

SisterSong: volunteers needed in Atlanta

nosnowhere — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 23:33:56 +0000

via emi:

Greeting Friends and Supporters of SisterSong,

This summer SisterSong has an amazing volunteer opportunity available for anyone living in the Atlanta area.

This summer we are site visiting stand alone pharmacies in the city of Atlanta and requesting Emergency Contraception, an over the counter drug that prevents pregnancy up to 72 hours after unprotected sex. Through our phone surveys, particularly in communities of color, we have identified several pharmacies that are either giving out misinformation or incomplete information regarding Emergency Contraception and its availability. We need young women in the Metro Atlanta area who are willing to walk into a pharmacy and request this vital over the counter drug. We also welcome teens and parents willing to engage pharmacists as well.

By summer’s end, SisterSong will produce a report card grading the pharmacies performance on EC availability, customer service, and accurate information.
But we need your help to visit all the pharmacies in the city of Atlanta !

If you would like to participate in our EC Access Project please contact Heidi Williamson at 404-756-2680 or Heidi@sistersong.net ASAP.

Heidi Williamson

Advocacy & Membership Coordinator

SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Health Collective

1237 Ralph David Abernathy Blvd.
, SW

Atlanta, GA 30310-1731

T: 404.756.
2680

F: 404.756.
2684

Heidi@SisterSong.net

www. SisterSong. net

Canadian Parliament - War Resister Safe Haven Possible

alexis — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 16:45:34 +0000

*Note: Though the particular war resister featured here appears to be a white man, we know that the majority of the people directly put at risk by the war in iraq are poor people of color. Though the revisited underground railroad for US enlisted POC to Canada prospect seems erie…I hope folks in Canada who read this will help support and provide more options for people rejecting the occupation of Iraq.-love lex

Forwarded from Gerry Condon, Soldier Say No/Project Safe Haven

Refusing to Kill is Not a Crime www.refusingtokill.net

3 June 2008

Dear Friends of War Resisters,

Today the Canadian Parliament made a historic vote in favor of U.S. war resisters who are seeking a safe haven in Canada rather than fight in the illegal occupation of Iraq. The vote in the House of Commons was 137-110, with all the opposition parties - the Liberal Party, the New Democratic Party, the Bloc Quebecois and the Green Party - voting for the motion, and the ruling Conservative Party voting against.

The Parliament calls on the minority Conservative government to create a program that will allow war resisters to immigrate to Canada, and it also calls for a halt to all deportation proceedings.

This is a VERY BIG victory for war resisters in Canada and everywhere. It will strengthen our hand considerably.

But the struggle for sanctuary in Canada is far from over. The Conservative government, a staunch ally of the Bush administration, may choose to defy the will of the Canadian people by ignoring this advisory motion.

Corey Glass, an Iraq veteran and war resister, was recently ordered to leave Canada by June 12 or face deportation.

So even as we celebrate this victory, we must step up the pressure on Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Immigration Minister Diane Finley. [See action alert from War Resisters Support Campaign, below, along with their press release and a news article.]

Yes, it does help for the Canadian government to hear from many people in the U.S. who want them to provide sanctuary for our war resisters. Courage To Resist (www.couragetoresist.org) has generated thousands of letters from people in the U.S. to Canadian government and political leaders and these have clearly helped, as have the vigils and delegations to the Canadian Embassy in Washington and Canadian Consulates around the U.S.

Project Safe Haven, a network of Vietnam War resisters who are supporting war resisters today, is calling for people to contact Canadian representatives in the U.S. this week.

* THANK the Canadian people and their Parliament for supporting our war resisters.
* CALL on the Conservative government to follow the will of the Canadian people and implement this motion.
* DEMAND an end to deportation proceedings against Corey Glass and other war resisters

You can visit the Canadian Consulate in person. In Seattle, we will have a Celebration outside of the Canadian Consulate, 1501 4th Ave. at Pike St., on Thursday, June 5, at noon. There will also be vigils and delegations in several other cities.

And you can call them, fax them, or email them.

Canadian Consular offices are in over 20 U.S. cities. Here are their addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses. http://geo.international.gc.ca/can-am/washington/offices/default-en.asp

If you want to participate in visits to the Canadian Embassy or Consulates, please send an email to projectsafehaven@hotmail.com or call Gerry Condon at 206-499-1220.

If you are a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War or Veterans For Peace, you may want to get in touch with your local chapter or national office to let them know you want to participate, and to help organize these events.

U.S. war resisters and their wonderful Canadian supporters have won a historic victory. By acting decisively at this time, we in the U.S. can participate in this victory and help to make it an even bigger one.

Thank you for whatever you may be able to do at this time.

for peace and justice,

Gerry Condon

(206) 499-1220

Soldier Say No / Project Safe Haven
SoldierSayNo@yahoo.com, projectsafehaven@hotmail.com
www.SoldierSayNo.blogspot.com

[The following Action Alert is from the War Resisters Support Campaign in Canada, www.resisters.ca]

Canadian Parliament votes to let US war resisters stay
The Canadian Parliament passed an historic motion today, June 3, 2008, that calls on the Canadian government to make a program to allow US war resisters to apply for permanent resident status in Canada and to cease all deportation and removal proceedings against US war resisters.

The next step is to write to the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, Diane Finley, and prime minister Stephen Harper to ensure that they that the will of Parliament is implemented.

Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Diane Finley
phone 613.996.4974
fax 613.996.9749
email finley.d@parl.gc.ca and finled1@parl.gc.ca

Prime Minister Stephen Harper
phone 613.992.4211
fax 613.941.6900
email pm@pm.gc.ca

War Resister Corey Glass Faces Deportation
U.S. Iraq war resister Corey Glass was told on May 21, 2008, that his application to stay in Canada has been rejected and he now faces deportation. Glass would be the first Iraq war resister to be deported from Canada. Last December the House of Commons’ Standing Committee on Citizenship & Immigration passed a motion calling on the Canadian government to “immediately implement a program to allow conscientious objectors and their immediate family members […] to apply for permanent resident status and remain in Canada; and … the government should immediately cease any removal or deportation actions … against such individuals“.

[See news articles and War Resisters' press release below]

Canada Lawmakers Ask Harper to Let War Resisters Stay (Update1)
Bloomberg - USA
The Toronto-based War Resisters Support Campaign estimates there are as many as 200 American Iraq war resisters in Canada. According to a May 22 report in …
See all stories on this topic

War resister motion passes
Kootenay Western Star - Castlegar,BC,Canada
By Elliot Robins - Kootenay Western Star - June 03, 2008 Members of Canada’s parliament passed a motion on Tuesday that will give foreign war resisters …
See all stories on this topic

MPs vote to give asylum to US deserters, Tories say No
TheChronicleHerald.ca - Halifax,Nova Scotia,Canada
Two generations ago, as many as 50000 American draft dodgers and war resisters came to Canada to avoid the Vietnam War. They were eventually welcomed and …
See all stories on this topic

House of Commons votes to let U.S. War Resisters stay in Canada

OTTAWA, June 3 /CNW/ - The Opposition parties in the House of Commons joined together today to adopt a recommendation which, if implemented, would make it possible for U.S. Iraq War resisters to obtain Permanent Resident status in Canada

The recommendation was adopted by a majority of Members of Parliament from the Liberal, Bloc Québécois, and New Democratic Parties. The Conservatives voted against the motion.

The motion, which originated in the House of Commons Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration in December 2007, calls on the government to “immediately implement a program to allow conscientious objectors and their immediate family members…to apply for permanent resident status and remain in Canada; and…the government should immediately cease any removal or deportation actions…against such individuals.”

Corey Glass, 25, a war resister who came to Canada in 2006 and was recently told to leave Canada by June 12 or face removal to the United States, welcomed the vote. “I’m thankful that the MPs voted to let me and the other war resisters stay in Canada. I’m also thankful to all the Canadians who urged their MPs to support us.”

“This is a great victory for the courageous men and women who have come to Canada because they refuse to take part in the illegal, immoral Iraq War, and for the many organizations and individuals who have supported this campaign over the past four years,” said Lee Zaslofsky, Coordinator of the War Resisters Support Campaign and a Vietnam War deserter who came to Canada in 1970.

The War Resisters Support Campaign is calling on the Conservative government to respect the democratic decision of the Canadian Parliament and immediately implement the motion and cease deportation proceedings against Corey Glass and other war resisters.

For further information: Michelle Robidoux, (416) 856-5008; Lee Zaslofsky, (416) 598-1222 or (416) 369-0864

Call for a National Day of Action on Saturday June 21 to Stop the Racist Northern Territory Intervention

Fire Fly — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 02:42:29 +0000

Endorsed by the national conference called by the Aboriginal Rights Coalition on Sunday May 25 in Sydney attended by over 200 people.

- Repeal all “NT intervention” legislation
- Restore the Racial Discrimination Act
- Fund infrastructure and community controlled services
- Sign and implement the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
- Aboriginal Control of Aboriginal Affairs

June 21 will mark one year since the Howard Government announced the NT intervention. Far from improving child welfare, the intervention has created a new wave of dispossession and is compounding social problems.

The Racial Discrimination Act has been suspended, land taken over and business managers imposed on communities.

The universal quarantining of welfare payments, the closure of many Community Development Employment Projects (CDEP) and the compulsory acquisition of Aboriginal property has forced thousands of people from their communities into urban centres.

Bagot town camp in Darwin, for example, has increased in population from 500-1200 people since the intervention. People are facing extreme hardship without jobs, services or stable accommodation.

While the Rudd Labor government made a symbolic apology for the Stolen Generations, in practice, it has retained and expanded Howard’s explicitly racist intervention laws. The government refuses to acknowledge the social break down taking place. They continue to deny protection under the Racial Discrimination Act.

Aboriginal people are suffering stark discrimination as they are forced to stand in segregated queues in Centrelink, in supermarkets and in schools. The practice of traditional culture is becoming impossible for many, unable to travel due to welfare restrictions. As Lyle Cooper, Vice President Bagot Community has said, “I thank you Prime Minister Rudd for your apology…(but) it’s an invasion all over again. We are being told where to shop, what to eat, how to act and how to live”.

Communities continue to stand up against the intervention. Scores of representatives from “prescribed areas” traveled to join the 2000 strong Canberra Convergence at the opening of the new Parliament. Many more will come from communities around the Northern Territory to protest in Alice Springs and Darwin as part of the national protests on 21 June.

One of the strongest examples is Yuendumu, where a strategy of non-cooperation has held off repeated attempts by the government to take over local programs and implement “income management”. Jeannie Nungarrayi Egan from the community council has said, “No body likes it, we have to control our own community, we’re going to push out the quarantine”.

Social Justice Commissioner Tom Calma recently released a report which demonstrates how NT intervention legislation contravenes numerous UN charters to which Australia is signatory, including International Covenants on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR); on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR); and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD).

In July Jenny Macklin, the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs will begin a review of the Intervention. We need to bring thousands of people out onto the streets around the country to ensure grass-roots voices are no longer ignored. The new Government must break with the assimilationist policies of the Howard era. They must act on the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. A massive injection of funds and resources into communities is badly needed, but cannot come at the expense of basic human rights. Only an approach which respects self-determination will lead to improvements in community life.

Stop the intervention, Stop the Racism - Human Rights for all!

Sydney: 11am, The Block, Redfern
contact Monique Wiseman 0415410558 or Paddy Gibson 0415800586

Alice Springs - Mbantua: 2pm Court House Lawns
contact Barbara Shaw 0401291166 or Marlene Hodder 0889525032

Darwin: 10am Raintree park
contact Liv 0401955405

Perth: 11am Wesley Church, cnr Hay and William st
contact Natasha Moore 0434303248

Brisbane: 11am State Parliament, George st
contact Lauren 0413534125

Melbourne: 12pm State Library
contact Michaela 0429136935

Wollongong: 10am Lowden Square (east side of Wollongong Station)
contact Sheree Rankmore 42281585 or Tina McGhie 0415504589

Adelaide: details tba
contact John Hartley 0424943990 Sue Gilby 0431112898

Rally endorsed by the national conference called by the Aboriginal Rights Coalition on Sunday May 25 in Sydney attended by over 200 people. Support from Aboriginal leaders and activists includes: Barbara Shaw (Mt Nancy town camp, Alice Springs), Lyle Cooper (President of Bagot community, Darwin), Harry Nelson (President, Yuendumu community council), June Mills (Long-grass association, Darwin), Pat Eatock (National Secretary, National Aboriginal Alliance), Brian Butler, Shireen Malamoo, Millie Ingram, Pastor Ray Minniecon, Mitch, Peta Ridgeway, Heidi Norman, Shane Phillips

Supportive organisations include: Maritime Union of Australia (MUA NSW & NT), Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU), Railway Tram and Bus Union (RBTU NT), Australian Services Union (ASU NT), Top End Aboriginal Conservation Alliance, Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation (ANTaR NSW & NT), Indigenous Social Justice Association, Alliance for Indigenous Self Determination Melbourne, Intervention Rollback Action Group (Alice Springs), Aboriginal Rights Coalition (Darwin, Sydney, Brisbane and Perth)

Rome Summit: Stop the Food Crisis

alexis — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 11:26:32 +0000

from AVAAZ: http://www.avaaz.org/en/world_food_crisis/18.php?cl=96793896

The United Nations is convening an emergency summit of world leaders in Rome this week to address the skyrocketing world food crisis. There is a real danger that rich country leaders will push half measures and band-aid solutions – we need a huge global outcry to demand rapid, massive, coordinated action.

The head of the UN, Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon, will receive our petition at the summit at 9:30AM on Wednesday morning. This is a huge opportunity for our voice to reach our leaders directly, but we need half a million voices heard. Sign the petition below, and watch the video appeal at right from the Foreign Minister of Sierra Leone, one of the world’s worst hit nations.

Petition to Rome Summit leaders:
We call on you to take immediate action to address the world food crisis by mobilizing emergency funding to prevent starvation, removing perverse incentives to turn food into biofuels and managing financial speculation, and to tackle the underlying causes by ending harmful trade policies and investing massively in sustainable agricultural productivity in developing nations.

That’s Revolting!: Radical queer activism

MilagrosP — Sun, 25 May 2008 14:58:12 +0000

That’s Revolting!: Radical queer activism — past, present, and future.
Thursday, June 5, 6pm
San Francisco Main Library
Latino/Hispanic Meeting Room (downstairs)
100 Larkin Street
(415) 557-4566
Co-sponsored by the National Queer Arts Festival.

Join Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore to celebrate the arrival of the
expanded second edition of That’s Revolting! Queer Strategies for
Resisting Assimilation, with a dangerous and illuminating discussion
featuring Carol Queen, Bo Brown, Ralowe T. Ampu, Tommi Avicolli Mecca,
Eric Stanley and Gina de Vries.

Has the nightmare of gay marriage sandblasted the dreams of ’70s gay
liberation revolutionaries? Has the feverish potential of queer sexual
splendor been annihilated by the consumerist frenzy of assimilationist
gay culture? Is there hope for radical queer troublemaking in the
hyper-gentrified monoculture of current-day San Francisco? Bring your
questions, ideas, plots and dreams. And remember, this will be the
first opportunity to purchase the new edition of That’s Revolting!,
with five new essays covering everything from blowing up buildings in
the 1970s to stripping naked to fight global AIDS.

Drum Youth Win Immigrant Education Victory!

MilagrosP — Sun, 25 May 2008 12:23:22 +0000

DRUM YOUTH WIN
IMMIGRANT EDUCATION VICTORY!

On Thursday, May 15, 2008, DRUM- Desis Rising Up & Moving’s YOUTHPOWER!
won the signing of the FIRST IMMIGRANT SAFE ZONE in a New York City public school.

Hillcrest High School in Jamaica, Queens, with over 3,500 largely immigrant students, became the first school to create protections and needed services to immigrant students to be able to access education without fear.

DRUM YouthPower!’s Education not Deportation campaign, launched in 2006, will keep organizing to declare more schools across the city as Immigrant Safe Zones.

COME OUT & SUPPORT:

Wednesday, June 4th at 3:30 PM
PRESS & COMMUNITY SIGNING OF IMMIGRANT SAFE ZONE DECLARATION
Hillcrest High School
160-05 Highland Avenue
Jamaica Estates, New York 11432
[Take the F train to Parsons Blvd. in Queens]

Thursday, June 5th
Youth Rally against Education Budget Cuts
City Hall
(time & details TBA)
*Organized by Urban Youth Collaborative & NY Student Union

BACKGROUND:

* Since 2005, South Asian immigrant youth leaders of DRUM have been surveying hundreds of immigrant students about the fears and access barriers they face in schools, particularly for undocumented students and their families
* In 2006, DRUM released a ground-breaking report called “Education not Deportation: Impacts of New York City School Safety Policies on South Asian Immigrant Youth”
* 51% of youth reported exposure to harassment by authorities
* Nearly half of youth (45%) reported being asked about their immigration status by authorities
* Most NYC public schools, which are already underfunded and over-policed, have little to no ability to deal with undocumented students
* Undocumented students don’t get financial aid and most scholarships, so many can never afford college

The Immigrant Safe Zone at Hillcrest High School will:

1. Ensure city and DOE laws are actually being followed to protect immigration status information of students and their families- that immigration status is not being asked, compiled, or reported at all
2. Train school workers in the full rights of immigrant students to education and to better serve immigrant youth
3. Create services for immigrant youth and families within the school in partnership with community organizations- DRUM will begin regular programs for youth and parents at Hillcrest High School this year including immigration and deportation advocacy and Know Your Rights trainings

This first victory would not have been possible without the fierce organizing of our South Asian immigrant youth members of DRUM across the city and their families and:
- The Community Development Program of the Urban Justice Center
- The students and administration of Hillcrest High School
- The following endorsing organizations:

Adhikaar
CAAAV Organizing Asian Communities
Center for Immigrant Families (CIF)
Each One Teach One
FIERCE
Families United for Racial & Economic Justice (FUREE)
Independent Commission on Public Education (ICOP)
National Economic and Social Rights Initiative (NESRI)
Queens Community House
Prison Moratorium Project (PMP)
Teachers Unite
Ugnayan ng mga Anak ng Bayan
Urban Justice Center (UJC)
Urban Youth Collaborative (UYC)
VAMOS Unidos
YA-YA Network

Oaxaca in revolt again…

MilagrosP — Sun, 25 May 2008 12:20:05 +0000

via

A 21 day series of strikes and occupations by the radical Sección 22 in Oaxaca of the Mexican teachers’ union Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores en la Educación kicked off in earnest on Tuesday. As of Thursday, the strike appears to be spreading - with popular support, solidarity and an increasing volume of activity.

The teachers’ strike has various demands, although it’s mostly calling for the freedom for all political prisoners, an end to the arrest orders and ongoing intimidation by the judicial authorities against the movement, new elections within the SNTE, and the handing over of all Oaxacan schools controlled by the pro-government Sección 59.

Sección 22 was instrumental in the 2006 revolt in Oaxaca, where they saw their strike betrayed by the SNTE national leadership in alliance with the Oaxacan state governor, one Ulises Ruíz Ortíz. Sección 59 was established by the priísta SNTE leader, Elba Ester Gordillo, as a rival local to Sección 22 in Oaxaca, and its members were promptly sent back to work as a means of breaking the strike.

However this time round, there seems to be increasing evidence of the strike’s spread into a generalised movement within Oaxaca. On Tuesday, a building belonging to PEMEX (Petróleos Mexicanos - the state petrol monolopy which is on the verge of being privatised) was blockaded, while on Thursday various neighbourhood organisations within the city assisted in the occupation of a Centro de Atención Múltiple, the state institution charged with educating special needs children, which is controlled by Sección 59. MORE