Minutemen Protest Aftermath and Updates (fwd)

[EFerrari]

(from Karina Garcia)
Subject: Minutemen Protest Aftermath & Updates


Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone!

For those of you who I have not spoken to since the Minutemen Protest, here is an update on what we've been up to.



Shortly after the debate with Gilchrist on Democracy Now, I decided to take the rest of the semester off to make sure that my grades were not an additional excuse for Columbia to try to kick me out of school. (For those of you who aren't aware of it, I have an outstanding financial aid package and I'm the only person in my entire family to go to college. After all the hard work it took for me to get to college, I'm not letting some racists vigilantes take away my education.)



Anyway, we (student protestors and ANSWER organizers) went all out to set the record straight. Considering the backlash we faced, it was necessary to patiently explain our actions and our motives. The student movement for social justice and immigrant rights had been attacked and defamed by right wing clowns like Bill O'Reilly, Lou Dobbs, Sean Hannity, or the New York City mayor Mike Bloomberg. But we couldn't let that deter us.



We began with a series of radio interviews, press conferences, and public forums. We also distributed thousands of flyers on Columbia's campus that revealed the racism and violence behind the Minuteman Project and ultra-right conservatives like Senator Tom Tancredo. We attempted to educate and inform others on the historical links between the Minutemen militias and other far-right racist vigilante organizations. It was, after all, the Ku Klux Klan that initiated the first civilian border patrols in the 1970s.



We went out with a simple message: immigrants don't lower wages, employers do. Immigrants don't shut down hospitals, governments do (New York is set to close a dozen hospitals in the next few weeks). If people want better public schools, then they need to take that up with the people in power. They are the ones diverting our tax money to foreign wars and subsidies for the very rich. They are the ones that should be held accountable, not undocumented immigrants who are coming to this country to work.



To help spread this message far and wide, the ANSWER Coalition proposed that I go on a Speaking Tour on the West Coast. I took advantage of this opportunity to speak to hundreds of high school students, college students and young activists.



Overall I spoke to nearly 700 people on my trip and appeared on nearly a dozen radio shows including Flashpoints, one of San Francisco's most popular radio shows (which airs on the local Pacifica station, KPFA).



In Northern California, I spoke at five different high schools (to numerous classes in each), and five universities including the University of California – Berkeley, and the School of Law at New College. I also presented at local activist meetings, including an ANSWER forum on immigrant rights and a meeting with the Watsonville Brown Berets.



In Nevada, I spoke at an ANSWER forum at the University of Nevada - Reno. In Southern California, I met with students at Cal State - Long Beach and presented at the University of Southern California in a meeting hosted by MEChA. I was also a keynote speaker at the Socialism Conference in Los Angeles hosted by the Party for Socialism and Liberation. (The audio from that speech is on pslweb.org).



All in all, it was an amazing experience. We met great people and got a lot done. Our goal was to help create a network of young immigrant rights activists, and we certainly are making progress towards that goal. Now I am back in New York City, and continuing to do work here.



Support the Columbia protesters: Send a(nother) letter!

The University has received an enormous amount of pressure from the far right, and even some liberals. Ignoring the nature of the Minuteman outfit, Normal Siegel, former executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, made a patronizing call in the New York Times for us to be "told in no uncertain terms" that our protest was unacceptable. Again, we were not protesting Gilchrist's ideas or language, as reprehensible as they are. We were protesting the presence of the head of an armed vigilante hate group.

In our communities, Gilchrist's hate speech comes with a very big price. It threatens our safety, our person, and our loved ones. Mr. Siegel may have certain legal expertise, but it's unlikely he's ever personally faced the full brunt of the speech he so vehemently defends.



Anyway, I wanted to thank you again for your letters. It seems that in the next month, the Columbia administration may try to take disciplinary action against the student protesters—the battle is not yet over. I want to encourage you to continue sending letters to the President of our university and demand that no action be taken against us. Those letters make a big difference, so keep them coming!.



You can send a letter by going to www.pephost.org/minutemen



Also, please continue mobilizing for all the important upcoming demonstrations: for immigrants rights, against police brutality, and against the war. On March 17, the fourth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, there will be a national antiwar demonstration at the Pentagon. Buses will be going down from New York City, so please come out!

The war on Iraq costs $279 million dollars each day. We need that money here at home for housing, jobs and education. We can't allow the people in power to blame immigrants for their lack of funding in all of these areas. Thanks again for all of your support and if you have a school or social justice group that would like to bring one of us in as a speaker. Please let me know. We are trying to reach out to as many people as we can.

Saludos a todos!
Karina

[Cleita]

1. Great letter and great kid.

Do I see her in the future as the first Latina woman President of the USA?

[EFerrari]

2. She may be too smart to go into politics,lol.

It's heartening to see students using the network they have at school for social justice.

In fact, it's awesome.

:)