YES! Magazine: We Saw Another World in Atlanta

by Sarah van Gelder

Since 2001, tens of thousands have been gathering at World Social Forums.
The United States has been slow to catch on, but on June 27, it finally happened.
Poor people, young people, people of color, gays and lesbians, and all manner of people who believe “another world is possible, another U.S. is necessary” joined together by the thousands in Atlanta for the first U.S. Social Forum.

It was a moment organizers in the United States and in many parts of the world had been waiting for. After years in the planning, the United States joined a global movement of movements that comes together under the banner: Another world is possible.

The United States Social Forum (USSF) was led by people of color and representatives of grassroots organizations, some of whom count their members in the thousands. Instead of drawing crowds with superstar speakers and performers, the participants were the stars. Those who are accustomed to being excluded were at the center, and those who were used to being silenced were heard.

... ... ...

... Organizers of the USSF drew on their experiences attending the World Social Forums to prepare for Atlanta. “We saw the power that comes from opening up a space in which all the issues and all the different movements can converge,” said Genaro Rendon, co-director of the San Antonio, Texas, based Southwest Workers Union.

To get people to Atlanta, organizers from many parts of the country organized caravans of cars, vans, and buses. The People’s Freedom Caravan was among the largest. Each stop of the Caravan’s six-day journey from Albuquerque to Atlanta was hosted by a different local group. In Albuquerque, the attention centered on Native American sacred sites and immigrant rights. In Houston and San Antonio, it was pollution from oil refineries and an Air Force base that was harming the health of those living nearby. In New Orleans, Freedom Caravan riders helped clean up a public housing project and learned of the struggle of Katrina survivors to return home. In Jackson and Selma, it was the movement for living wages and efforts to find and prosecute those involved in the murders of civil rights workers decades ago.

Local activists from each stop joined the Caravan; by the time it reached Atlanta, this Social Forum on wheels was 500 people strong.

... read whole article

Residents join in social activism

San Antonio Express-News
Michelle Mondo

George Valdez often has wondered what it takes to be a social activist. The first U.S. Social Forum this month gave him a close-up look.

Valdez had bought a house near the former Kelly AFB that sits on land he now believes is contaminated.

"I didn't believe (other neighbors) when they first told me, but then they showed me tests," he said, referring to long-term environmental studies of soil and underground water samples at the former air logistics center.

Valdez, 49, said that once he became influenced by the Kelly AFB environmental testing, it changed his way of thinking. He joined the ranks of the socially active on the South Side.
That's why he also joined 50 other San Antonians who recently took part in the People's Freedom Caravan that traveled to Atlanta to participate in the inaugural U.S. Social Forum. The Southwest Workers' Union — a local grass-roots, membership-based group — helped to organize the trip.

The Caravan left San Antonio on June 24 and traveled five days, visiting several cities along the way until it joined approximately 10,000 other social activists in Atlanta for the Forum on June 28-30.

The event brought together political activists from across the nation and around the world to discuss immigration, climate change, poverty, trade agreements and social inequality, according to its Web site.

It was the first Forum of that size that Valdez and several others on the trip had attended.
"Everyone had their struggles," Valdez said. "It was eye-opening; it was mind-boggling; it was a lot of things."

The Forum was a first-time trip for Marsha Womack, 18, who never had been outside of Texas. Womack said she decided to get involved because she thinks young people need to make their voices heard. The immigration debate is one of the topics she wanted to learn about on the trip.
But Womack said she learned much more.

"The caravan was awesome — I loved it," Womack said. "Going to all those places and helping all those people, it's really cool."

But it also left her feeling that much more needs to be done.

"When we went to New Orleans to clean up the projects, I couldn't believe that place was still like that after two years. It's like the government hasn't done anything to move people back in there."

Another surprise for Womack was the support the volunteers got when they arrived in the various cities, including Jackson, Miss. While in Jackson, the group protested at a local Wal-Mart.

"In Mississippi, there were 400 of us there, and I didn't know that there were so many protesting around the world or in the United States," she said.

For Eulogio Contreras Jr., social activism has been a passion since he was young. His father fought for Chicano rights while Contreras was growing up. Contreras said he feels it's his duty to continue that fight, especially now that immigration is being debated.

"When we were having a discussion on (immigration) in Atlanta, we found out the reform bill had been turned down and there were mixed emotions," Contreras said. "There are two points of views, and it's kind of sad because now you have a division between the same race saying some wanted it but others did not. Now it's dividing people instead of uniting them."

He said, on one hand, the trip to Atlanta reinvigorated his passion for social activism. But on the other, it saddened him.

"It was exhausting," he said. "We visited the (Lower Ninth Ward) in the aftermath of Katrina and that really had an impact on me personally. What really got to me was a little girl stating she had no home, and her tears.

"It was more of a sad trip to realize what has happened to a lot of people in this nation. Poverty-wise, it was everywhere."

More news from the People's Freedom Caravan

"We can change the world, we can we can. We're the People's Freedom Caravan."

• Democracy Now! with Monique Harden, Nearly Two Years After Katrina, Gulf Coast Residents Fighting Environmental Neglect, Privatization
• Gulf Watch: Grassroots Activists to Visit NOLA on way to U.S. Social Forum
• Houston IndyMedia: Change the World
• New Mexico Blog Radio: Freedom Caravan works to bridge Democracy Gap
• YES! Magazine
• MySA blog: postcards home - a youth perspective
  
• SWOP
  
• Picture gallery
  
• Video blog: traveling with caravan

see previous posts for lots more

News from Walmart Action

Living Wage Protest at Clinton Wal-Mart

by Kate Royals
Photo by Kate Royals
July 3, 2007

Several grass-roots organizations joined together on Tuesday in front of the Clinton Wal-Mart on Highway 80 to rally in support of a living wage. The group, comprised of members of the People’s Freedom Caravan, protested against low wages and a lack of health coverage for Wal-Mart employees.

The People’s Freedom Caravan, according to member Jill Johnston, is comprised of “75 plus organizations from the South and Southwest fighting to bridge what we call the ‘democracy divide.’”

The 75 organizations range from immigrant rights groups to workers’ rights groups. Additionally, film crews from Spain, Germany and Japan were present at the rally shooting footage to include in documentaries.

The caravan will stop in 11 cities to highlight various issues of social justice. The buses, which began their trip in New Mexico, stopped in Clinton on their way to Atlanta, where the first ever United States Social Forum was held last weekend.

Caravan converges in Bayou Liberty

Social reform groups gather for crab boil on Bayou Liberty

Jerome Troullier, left, Bill Pierre, and Malcolm Pichon prepare crabs Monday afternoon for a big crab boil at the site of St. Genevieve Church on Bayou Liberty. The crab boil was to welcome the People's Freedom Caravan, which will join Moving Forward Gulf Coast Inc. in attending a conference on social justice in Atlanta. (Staff Photos by Erik Sanzenbach)

By Erik Sanzenbach

St. Tammany News

Members of Moving Forward Gulf Coast Inc., St. Vincent de Paul Society of St. Genevieve Church and the Creoles Sans Limites welcomed about 200 people from California recently with a real Louisiana tradition - a crab boil.

The Californians are traveling in a series of buses called the People's Freedom Caravan and are on their way to the U.S. Social Forum in Atlanta.

The crab boil was held on the grounds of St. Genevieve Church on the banks of Bayou Liberty.

Besides friendship and a good time, the crab boil was a way for people working for social justice around the country to get together, network and map out plans on how to improve the lives of Americans.

Residents of the area will join the People's Freedom Caravan to attend the forum, which will focus on plans to reform governments and leadership in the country. The U.S. Social Forum is a large gathering of progressive, grassroots organizations and faith-based ministries that network to help improve the quality of lives of Americans.

Moving Forward Gulf Coast Inc. is a non-profit organization based in Louisiana that was founded to help local families rebuild lives and homes on the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina.

Caravan marches on Atlanta

Riding 8 buses deep with over 13 vans, the People's Freedom Caravan touched down in Atlanta. Greeted by a New Orleans brass band, the massive convergence joined the Opening March with 10,000 other people seeking a better world. Sandra and Chavel of SWU carried the lead banners while the Glasseyes jammed out under the hot sun for over 2 hours as we weaved through downtown. After 5 days on the road, the march reenergized the crew, ready to take on the USSF.

Caravan converges will struggles in Jackson

Freedom Caravan connects & continues struggles of the Civil Rights Movement

Taking on oppression in Jackson, from Jim Crow to Walmart

We woke up this morning with freedom on our minds….Received with warmth and songs by civil rights veteran Hollis Watkins of Southern Echo, the People’s Freedom Caravan departed Tuesday morning on a civil rights tour of the struggles in his home town of Jackson, MS. The Caravan witnessed the harsh oppression of Blacks here, passing by the State Fairgrounds where hundreds of civil rights protestors including children were locked up in animal stalls, churches where parishioners and the pastor beat African Americans for coming to worship, and the former home of assassinated civil rights leader, Medgar Evans.

Humbled and inspired by the courage and conviction of the freedom fighters of Mississippi, the Caravan descended on Walmart to unite with local organizers in their campaign for a workplace with dignity and justice. Chanting “What do we want? Living wage! When do we want it? Now!”, spirited demonstrators showed WalMart that the struggle continues in Mississippi today.

“ 25% of my people here in Mississippi are living in poverty and without health insurance,” explained State Representative Erik Fleming. Walmart, none of whose U.S. operations are unionized, denies most employees any health insurance or wages sufficient to sustain a family.

“Walmart is eating the flesh off the bones of the workers, stealing benefits from workers and families,” said State Representative Jim Evans who came to support the demonstrators. “To unionize Walmart, we need a spark. Today, you are that spark.”

“Those working inside this store right now are the ones making the buck, creating the enormous profit, for the Walmart Corporation,” Latoya Davis of Mississippi Workers Center for Human Rights told hundreds. “Meanwhile they are only given crumbs to live off of.”

“I can really relate to the Walmart workers struggles for a living wage because, as a server at Chili’s, I only earn $2.13 an hour,” said Dominic Reyes, 22, from San Antonio.

Chavel Lopez of the Southwest Workers Union, also in San Antonio, highlighted the link between WalMarts actions here and abroad. “WalMart succeeds in exploiting workers, paying poverty wages, all around the world. We need to repeal the free trade agreements like NAFTA and CAFTA that allow this globalization to happen.”

Joined by yet another bus in Jackson, the Caravan also created a strong showing of Black-Brown unity, as immigrant, Latino, indigenous, and African American youth and organizers came together around common objectives. “It doesn’t matter if you came off the Mayflower or crossed the border last night. You still have human rights,” said Evans.

Reconstructing Democracy in the Bayou

Reconstructing Democracy in the Bayou

People’s Freedom Caravan joins spirit and struggle of New Orleans area

The People’s Freedom Caravan joined with the community and survivors of New Orleans to reveal the truth of what is happening and work in solidarity with the people’s efforts for return and reconstruction. The spirit and resilience of the poor and working survivors invigorated and inspired the caravan with their hospitality, their stories, their spirit and their honesty.

Rooted deep in history and struggle, hundreds of freedom riders witnessed the power of people to recreate their lives, rebuild their city, and keep their culture vibrant. From community-run health clinics to organizing immigrant workers to the reoccupation of housing units to celebration with food and music, the caravan continues to build power of numbers to bridge the democracy divide.

A bus load of over 40 members of the caravan, joined with the CJ Peete public housing community in their struggle to return to houses that the government has shut down to keep the poor and African-American community from coming home. In support of their efforts, members cleaned mounds of trash that have been ripped from homes and used as an excuse for preventing residents from returning.

“We want everyone to come back home, fix up our houses, the same ones the they [the government] tore up,” Rosemary, a lifelong resident of this community told the group.

“You never hear about the reality. I saw the power of the community here and I am excited that we could help in some small way,” said Jessie Weahkee, 13, from New Mexico who spent 3 hours hauling furniture, clothes and possessions. Two years ago, it would have been full of families. The work brigade composed of young and old left the housing complex drenched in sweat and dirt but filled with hope and satisfaction.

Others met with migrant day laborers, walked the oldest African-American neighborhood in the country (Treme) and went on a witnessing tour of the lower 9^th Ward. In the spirit of Congo Square, hundreds converged with a refreshing rain, to share stories, lunch and a brass band. It is apparent that the community has reached deep into the profound well of their culture in order to survive.

“Let us come together to overcome the barriers set up to keep us divided. As hurricane season is upon us, we must join together to a just rebuilding and reconstruction of our city. The other U.S. possible, it starts here and it starts with us,” shared Kimberly Richards of the People’s Institute.

The afternoon was spent with families of Liberty Bayou, in Slidell, at a church destroyed by the hurricanes to share in a crab boil. Surrounding the sacred grounds, the group wrapped around an ancient oak several times to join in unity with the community and offer hope and smiles in the face of hardship. As the sun set, the Caravan buses left the bayou towards Jackson to continue building the movement for dignity and justice.

Busloads of Protestors Gather at Wal-Mart

Video

By Julie Straw
Julie@wlbt.net

A better working environment, higher wages, and health benefits. That's what protestors are asking Wal-Mart to start delivering to its employees. They came by the busloads. Men and Women from several states gathered outside the Wal-Mart Supercenter in Clinton, protesting the company's treatment of its employees.

"Everyone asks me if this is a union issue and this isn't a union issue, to us it is a human issue," said Teri Caben.

Teri Craben with the United Food and Commercial Workers joined up with the Mississippi Workers Center for Human Rights and the People's Freedom Caravan with members from several states including Texas and New Mexico. The groups claim that Wal-Mart does not provide a livable wage for their employees. They also say the health care package the company offers to their employees is just too expensive.

"The wages they make now they are not able to pay for their health care package for themselves let alone members of their families," said Latoya Davis with the Mississippi Workers Center for Human Rights.

State Represenative Erik Fleming joined in the fight. He said when the Wal-Mart employees are not given health benefits, it's the taxpayers who end up paying. "My main issue as a State Legislator is Wal-Mart is the biggest employer in the world and they don't provide health insurance. That means from a state standpoint, from a taxpayer standpoint, we have to pick up the slack from the medicaid program," said Rep. Fleming.

Craben says the United Food and Commercial Workers have been fighting for Wal-Mart employees for the last two years. They said the protest won't end until every employee is treated fairly.

A spokesperson for Wal-Mart released this statement to WLBT:

"Wal-Mart creates thousands of jobs, offers competitive wages to our 1.3 million associates, reduces costs through $4 generic medicines and in-store clinics..."

Special Report: Live from the People's Freedom Caravan

See the People's Freedom Caravan picture gallery here.

YES! Magazine's Sarah van Gelder is blogging live from the vans.

SouthWest Organizing Project will also have updates from this historic "social forum on wheels".

Go to MySA.com, the website of the San Antonio Express News, for live blogging from one of the young women on the caravan.

Go here to see some video...

Experiencing Treme

Today I joined the group that went on the walking tour of the Treme Community. To begin our tour we met at Louis Armstrong in Congo Square. We learned that the African and the Indigenous people were allowed to gather at Congo Square to barter and trade the different things that the produced. Not only were they allowed to barter, but that is where they were allowed to celebrate and dance all of their native dances. Just standing in that scared spaces I could feel the spirits of the people who had danced there long ago. Meeting on that scared good and hearing the story of why that place is scared set the tone for the rest of the tour.

After Congo Square we walked down N Rampart St. which was once a wooden fence that divided the indigenous people and the slaves from “Civilization”. Our first stop on the tour was Hula Mae’s Laundromat and Café which use to be J & M Music Shop where many Jazz and Blues greats went to record their music.

Next we proceeded to the African American Museum of Art, Culture, and History. The building that houses the museum use to be a “Big House” where wealthy Europeans housed their concubines and their children. Behind the “Big House” the slave quarters still stand. At this time inside of the museum there is a Charles Hooper exhibit. In each of the rooms inside of the museum you can find beautiful paintings depicting the struggles and the emotions of the people of New Orleans dating back as far as the early 1980’s done by local artist Charles Hooper.

After we visited the African American Museum of Art, Culture, and History we walked down to St. Augustine Catholic Church. St Augustine is the only Catholic Church of its kind. St Augustine was the only church in the South where Whites, Free Blacks, Slaves, and Indigenous all worshipped together. During the 1800’s members of the Parrish had what was known as the war of the pews. Members of the Parrish were required to buy pews as a part of membership, and the white members and the free black members were at a war to purchase the most pews. In the end the free blacks purchased the most pews and this is what allowed the slaves and the indigenous people to have a place to worship. St. Augustine was the official place that first allowed integration way before slavery was abolished.

The last stop on our tour was the Back Street Museum. The Back Street Museum is a museum dedicated to the Mardi Gras Indians, and a culture known to New Orleans as Second Line. When Slaves escaped in New Orleans they ran to the reservation of the Mardi Gras Indians. In the museum you can find pictures of the Indians as well as costumes and head dresses that are still used in parades and dances today. The other half of the museum is dedicated to Second Line. Second Line is the name given to what was once known as benefit clubs. During and after slavery blacks didn’t have life insurance, so when someone passed away there was no money to bury them. To help with this black people in the community joined clubs and paid dues so that when someone passed away they were able to be buried. This also gave birth to what is known as jazz funerals. People in New Orleans don’t like to say birth and death they say sunrise and sunset. And on a persons sunrise the clubs they celebrate they do not mourn. They have a huge parade to commemorate the person’s home going.

I enjoyed the walking tour of Treme. New Orleans is a city full of culture, and Treme is a community full of its own culture. It’s is known to locals as the birth place of blues and jazz. Just walking around you can still feel all of the love and joy and soul that the area was built upon. It was an absolutely a beautiful experience.

-Laurita Abner, 23.

"how could this happen?": from the lower 9th witnessing tour

When I first saw the news coverage 2 years ago of hurricane Katrina when it hit, I was at complete shock. It seemed like a complete failure by the government to protect their own people. Since then, I have been deeply interested in how the people of New Orleans would recover from this massive amount of devastation. I felt the only way to understand what they’re going through was to experience it first-hand and take a tour of the lower 9^th ward, an area in New Orleans that was hit particularly hard by the storm. We’ve all seen the pictures of this devastation in the news, however, actually seeing it in person was an unreal experience.

When we first came upon the area I was filled with so many emotions- sadness, anger, frustration, and confusion. I just could not believe the amount of devastation and the lack of restoration nearly 2 years after the storm hit. Why was it taking so long to get the people back into their homes? Why was the government discouraging people from returning to the only home they know and an area they have lived in for generations? The government is clearly ignoring the people and it is not right. 14,000 people used to live in this area and more than 1,700 died as a result of the storm. Currently only about 20 families live in the area.

I learned many things about Katrina that the media does not tell you. I’ve always heard from the media that the levees failed, but with little explanation. The residents there said that during the night of the storm, they heard explosions, which eyewitnesses say was the government blowing up the levees in order to re-direct the water away from the wealthy and tourist areas and directly into the lower 9^th ward. Since it was the middle of the night, all the families were sleeping and had little to no time to evacuate. The water rushed into to their houses and rose to 20 feet within minutes.

I was also shocked to hear that it took one year for this area to get FEMA trailers for the residents that wanted to remain in their community because FEMA and the city were arguing over whether or not the water was okay. Also, after 2 years, these people still do not have land lines for their homes. This is just inexcusable and a completely racist act by the government.

This whole experience left me even more inspired to help communities like the lower 9^th ward to fight the system and demand that they be treated fairly. I am currently majoring in environmental justice & policy and hope to use all of my knowledge from school as well as my experience on the People’s Freedom Caravan to put all my energy and effort into helping people that our government chooses to ignore.

- Debbie Moschak, 21

Sweatin for Justice: helping residents return to New Orleans

Public Housing Units in New Orleans, even the ones that were not damaged by the flood, have been boarded up and residents have been banned from returning to their homes. The insides of their homes have been dumped in the courtyard, full of washed away memories.

So a crew of 40 folks from the People's Freedom Caravan went to help clean up.


From the GlassEyes of SWU's Youth Leadership Organization

We did not know what to expect when we signed up for the debris clean up. For some odd reason we had the idea that we were going to be out with nails in our mouths building homes for the displaced Katrina victims. We loaded the bus at about 7:30 AM and headed to Congo Square to we pick up a representative who explained to us what exactly we would be doing for the day. He also told us the controversy behind what happened to the 9^th ward. It was very shocking to hear that the 80% of the people whose homes were damaged were African American. He also explained to us that the government wanted to pave over all of the housing projects and sell it to big companies like Home Depot or Wal-Mart. At roughly 8:30 we arrived at the Magnolia projects [CJ Peete Housing]. Before we started to clean up the debris we took a mini tour of the complex. It was very disturbing to see what once was a family’s home now resembles a war zone. Upon entering the first unit we noticed that broken glass covered the floors.

We went into what looked like a room that once belonged to a teenage boy. There were sneakers and deflated basketballs all over the floors. When we saw the amount of trash that there was it seemed very overwhelming and nearly impossible but everyone that went to help worked as a team and the task grew easier by the minute. We were throwing away beds, sofas, clothes, dressers, microwaves, TVs’, and other random personal belongings. The thing that got us the most was when we went into the rooms and saw the destruction that had happened because of Katrina. The rooms were full of debris and we saw personal belongings that were left behind such as photo albums with pictures dating back to 1977. In that same room also there was a letter that had a check from FEMA in it for $188.

Residents that had lived at the complex before Katrina hit were telling us what happened that day and how they had to be rescued by helicopters because they couldn’t leave on their own. They tried to go back about a month after the hurricane and they were forced out because the government had taken over and said they were trespassing onto their property.

Our results...

Caravan lands in Lake Charles, Louisiana

Unified, Freedom Caravan Reaches Louisiana

Amplifying Voices of the Grassroots for clean water, alternatives to incarceration

Four buses strong, with the addition of folks from Houston, the People’s Freedom Caravan heard powerful testimony of struggles and victories from the community in Southwestern Louisiana. Hosted by the Families & Friends of Louisiana’s Incarcerated Children (FFLIC) and Mossville Environmental Action Now (MEAN), participants shared their vision for ‘another’ world and how the grassroots is creating alternatives now.

One Mossville resident explained how “we’ve been waiting a long time” for this type of convergence that overcomes the barriers that divide us. “This is about making our voices heard, bringing together our power and constructing a better future for our children based on human rights and justice.” Young voices filled the auditorium as folks shared their experiences, hopes and realities.

The stories focused on recuperating democracy for the working-class and people of color communities in this country

In the heart of the petrochemical industry and the parish with the highest juvenile incarceration rate in the country, residents spoke of shutting down prisons for children, dedicating resources into education and services, and reducing the amount of poisons in the air. A line filled the hall of people waiting to sign a petition for justice for the Mossville community engulfed with power plants and toxic water.

“I felt the suffering of the community here, dealing with health problems from contaminations just like in my neighborhood in San Antonio,” explained George Valdez of Southwest Workers Union. “We must unite our struggles to ensure that everyone in this country has a safe, clean environment for their families.”

“We know what a better world would look like,” said Grace Bauerof FFLIC. “It has air and water that nourishes rather than poisons, it has a schools and parks not prisons, it prioritizes social programs and health care instead of corporate welfare. Let’s go to Atlanta and build that better world.

Special Report: Live from the People's Freedom Caravan

• See pictures from this 'social forum on wheels'
  
• YES! Magazine: blog from Sarah van Gelder's insight from the buses
• SWOPblogger: even more updates from the journey to the USSF
  

People’s Freedom Caravan rolls through Houston

Bringing energy and innovation to the struggle for clean air and healthy neighborhoods

Houston, TX – Hundreds of “freedom riders”” made their way to Houston today, visiting East Houston’s Manchester neighborhood to show solidarity with the community living adjacent to a massive petrochemical complex. In the shadow of the Valero Refinery spewing a toxic cloud overhead, residents welcomed the caravan to Hartman Park with lunch and a rally.

“Thanks for being here,” said one mother of Manchester, standing with her children. “We’re trying to clean our air.”

Port Arthur residents spoke of their recent victory stopping trucks of nerve gas from Indiana from being incinerated near families in Port Arthur, already home to 3 refineries.

The rally concluded with a short march to the fenceline of the refinery where marchers placed 300 white crosses on the fence, representing cancer victims in the community.

"The people in Houston filled me inspiration, says Victoria Rodriguez, who rode the People’s Freedom Caravan from New Mexico. "I don't know how they live next to those refineries, you can smell it. Truly an environmental injustice."

"We heard about children having heart surgery, families dealing with high instances of cancer, yet the community is still filled with hope,” added Rodriguez.

Houston is the hub of the global oil industry, home to hundreds of toxic petro-chemical industries and polluting refineries.

“We need to make change happen in the world, and stand together with the people in this community in East Houston to make [Valero] clean the air, “ says Sandra Garcia, from Southwest Workers’ Union in San Antonio Texas.

“The foundation laid by the environmental justice movement is a critical component of what brought about the US Social Forum,” says Ruben Solis, from San Antonio currently in Atlanta preparing for the Caravan’s arrival. “The caravan is about bringing the stories of folks unable to attend the Forum to Atlanta.”

2007 marks the 20^th anniversary of the eye opening report ‘Race & Waste’ that documented the disproportionate siting of toxic facilities in people of color communities. Despite the effort by countless communities, 20 years later the situation has grown worse.

“Environmental Justice is a human right just like housing, health care and education,” explained Solis.

Standing Up for Immigrant Rights

Nancy Martinez
Express-News
What do we want?

Justice!

Where do we want it?
Texas!

When do we want it?
Now!

Si se puede! Si Se puede! Si se puede!

The chants were as constant as the flag waving.

Tourists visiting the Alamo got an eye and ear full Saturday, witnessing a rally of more than 150 immigration advocates demanding equal rights for immigrants, especially children.

The rally, organized by the Southwest Workers Union and several other local advocacy groups, focused mainly on what they allege are prison-like conditions at a family residential facility in Taylor, about 35 miles northeast of Austin.

KENS video Immigration rally stops in S.A.

The T. Don Hutto Family Residential Facility, which opened a year ago, is the nation's largest detention center for immigrant families. The 512-bed center — detractors call it a prison, the government calls it a shelter — has been a constant target for immigrant advocates.

A 72-page report from the Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children and Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service recommended that the center be closed because the conditions are too much like a prison. The two advocacy groups were allowed inside Hutto and a similar detention center in Pennsylvania.

(Photos by Bahram Mark Sobhani/E-N) People hold signs and chant slogans at the Freedom Caravan rally sponsored by the Southwest Workers at the Alamo. Dee Villarrubia joins more than 150 immigrant advocates.

Officials with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement have denied those claims, saying the Hutto center provides safe and secure conditions for detained undocumented immigrants. In February, reporters were given a quick tour of Hutto's classrooms, playgrounds and cafeteria but were not allowed to talk to detainees.

The rally was the first stop of the day for the local groups of advocates that call their caravan "The Freedom Bus." After the 30-minute protest, people packed into a bus for a trip to the Taylor facility, where they planned to meet hundreds of others from throughout Texas and Washington, D.C., in protest.

Tourists Clyde McCormick and his wife, Terri, of Cincinnati watched the rally from a wall across the street from the Alamo. "We didn't know why they were protesting," Terri McCormick said.

That is until Madeleine Dewar, a member of the San Antonio Area Progressive Action Coalition and a State Democratic Party committee woman, stopped to tell them.

Dewar buttonholed several tourists about the group's cause — hurriedly giving some facts about the facility, including the cost to taxpayers, and encouraging them to learn more about it. Some tourists stood and listened. Others walked away.

Rosa Rosales, president of the national League of United Latin American Citizens, said she has had meetings with Homeland Security officials about the facility but has not been granted a tour. She said out of 400 people detained in Hutto, 286 are children.

"No child should be in a jail because their parents don't have papers," Rosales said.

Lydia Williams, 41, of Carlsbad, N.M., said she was part of a Southwest Organizing Project group of about 100 who stopped for the protest on their way to a forum in Atlanta.

"We are really trying to make positive changes in the world today," she said.

---

nmartinez@express-news.net

Launch from San Anto

Special Report: Live from the People's Freedom Caravan

• See pictures from this 'social forum on wheels'
  
• YES! Magazine: blog from Sarah van Gelder's insight from the buses
• SWOPblogger: even more updates from the journey to the USSF
  

Bright and early this Sunday morning, an energetic crew of 50 folks from San Antonio, including delegates from Mexico and Japan joined with the People's Freedom Caravan. Yesterday, after marching, swimming and tour, the day went late into the tonight with live conjunto music, aztec danzantes, spoken word and a home-cooked meal by Fuerza Unida.





3 buses and 3 vans are cruising I-10 East towards Houston, anxiously awaiting a brisket bbq and connecting with the Manchester community. Onward!

People's Freedom Caravan Demands Migrant Rights

A delegation of 100 from across the state of New Mexico rolled with energy and excitement into the first stop of the Caravan, San Antonio Texas. After a tour of the community fighting against the toxics and sickness caused by the former Kelly Air Force Base and hearing first hand from community leaders, the folks arrived chanting at the Alamo demanding human rights for all migrants, the reunification of families and an end to the militarization of the border.




Marching united to the office of the racist Senator John Cornyn, the youth led the way to tear down the 'wall of death', which Cornyn wants to build, chalk outlines of bodies left to represents the hundreds that die every year because of the border. People offered testimony on the human face of these anti-immigrant policies.






Afterwards SWU members prepared a bbq of chicken, sausage, corn & calabaza and all the trimmings at a local park. Tonight we await an evening of cultural sharing and celebration of people power.

The Caravan is On the Road...

Rolling out with painted buses, this stylish crew of 100 from across the state of New Mexico (including folks from California) launches the People's Freedom Caravan. With a new vision of democracy, the buses head across 7 states over 6 days through the southwest and hurricane alley to land at the 1st US Social Forum in Atlanta. Along the way over 75 community-based organizations and thousands of people in each city will converge to share cultures and work towards grassroots solutions to issues of poverty, globalization and pollution.

The New Mexico Delegation consists of residents from Pajarito Mesa fighting for basic services, Immigrants fighting for a just immigration reform, Indigenous people protecting sacred sites, African Americans preserving historical traditions and culture, policy organizations fighting for working families and other allies from around the state.

“The caravan will unite across racial, cultural, geographic and language barriers to advocate for people-based solutions and to create a democracy that works for everyone not just a selected few,” says Bineshi Albert, Board President of SouthWest Organizing Project.

The caravan is scheduled to arrive in San Antonio Friday evening.

*************************************

From ABQ journal

Activists Join People’s Caravan

Bus tour to focus on social, economic disparities on way to forum in Atlanta

BY DEBRA DOMINGUEZ-LUND
Journal Staff Writer

They are seeking another form of U.S. democracy — one they say is based on “equality, living wages, sustainability and human rights.”

About 100 community members and civil rights activists will gather as the sun comes up Friday morning at Washington Park near Downtown Albuquerque to launch a “People’s Caravan” across the nation.

The bus caravan, a grassroots effort by participating groups such as the League of United Latin American Citizens and the Southwest Organizing Project, was created in remembrance of the first Freedom Ride that was met with violence in Jackson, Miss., in 1961.

New Mexicans from civil rights advocacy groups like SWOP, Enlace Comunitario, the Martin Luther King Dream Team and Somos un Pueblo Unido, will launch the bus tour from Albuquerque and visit at least six other U.S. cities until reaching their destination: the U.S. Social Forum, which is expected to draw some 1,000 attendees in Atlanta on Wednesday.

“During the tour, we’ll be meeting up with allies in other cities for rallies, press conferences, meetings with legislators and to even do community work,” SWOP communications organizer Jo Ann Gutierrez-Bejar said.

The caravan will make stops in San Antonio, Texas; Houston; Lake Charles, La.; New Orleans; Jackson, Miss.; Selma, Ala., and finally, Atlanta.

“Our primary mission is to bridge the nation’s democratic divide,” Gutierrez-Bejar said. “We live in a country with structural inequities. Lowincome people of color are divided amongst each other.

“We need to bridge the gap between us with this tour and realize we’re all fighting the same struggles and seeking the same opportunities,” she said.

“We want to look at how certain policies in this nation are tailored for the rich by the rich. We want to get the poor involved so policies are tailored to help get them out of poverty.”

Organizers say that as the freedom riders of the 1960s brought a new vision for the South based on desegregation, this year’s “People’s Caravan” will demonstrate that another United States is possible — one that bridges racial, geographic and cultural divides and moves beyond the status quo “pay to play” politics.

“We are going to Atlanta to build a unified voice of the people,” said Agnes Rivera, New York’s Community Voices Heard leader and a caravan participant.

“We want to make connections across the country to create a domino effect of action and organizing.

“On the caravan and at the forum, we will discuss our social safety net, jobs and public housing,” she said. “We’ll learn from each other and strengthen our work for another world.”

Sandra Ortsman, a member of Albuquerque’s immigrantrights group Enlace Comunitario, said costs, harsh working conditions and distance typically keep the poor apart and away from organizing opportunities.

“This caravan will allow us to unite,” she said. “It will give us a chance to form a partnership and come up with strategies and solutions to do away with injustice and inequities in the United States.”

People's Freedom Caravan: Actions

For Immediate Release: Contact: Genaro Rendon 210.286.6271 (SWU)
JoAnn Gutierrez Bejar 505.247.8832(SWOP)
Brenda Hyde 601.982.6400 (S Echo)
Kimberly Richards 504.722.3213 (NOLA)
People’s Freedom Caravan

Bringing a new grassroots vision and innovations to overcome the democracy divide

The People's Freedom Caravan is a social forum on wheels coming to your community and in the spirit of the Freedom Rides, aiming to serve at a catalyst for positive change. In the current reality that keep low-income families out of the dominant politics, this movement recognizes that real change will come from the grassroots, and will speak to the issues of those most affected by the changing economy and globalization.


Albuquerque, NM – Friday June 22nd – SWOP office (211 10th St NW) – 7am

100 people will launch the People’s Freedom Caravan. Indigenous, immigrant and youth participants will share the vision and intent of this traveling forum for social change.

San Antonio, TX – Saturday June 23rd – The Alamo (300 Alamo Plaza) – 11:20am

In this low-wage, NAFTA city hundreds of people will call for just immigration policy that respects the human rights of all workers. The caravan will bring ideas for fair trade, a living wage and a non-militarized cooperative border region. The march will visit the office of Senator John Cornyn.

Houston, TX – Sunday June 24th – Hartman Park (9311 East Avenue P) – 1pm

Activists from New Mexico, San Antonio and El Paso will be stopping in the Manchester Community to highlight their struggle for a clean environment, situated in the hub of the dirty oil industry. Residents will join in one of the largest environmental action in Houston history to discuss ways to participate in the political process to achieve clean air, environmental justice and decent housing. The Mayor will be in attendance.

Lake Charles, LA – Sunday June 24th – MLK Center (2009 N. Simmons) – 5:45 pm

4 buses will converge with local communities to rally for education instead of incarceration in an region with one of the highest juvenile imprisonment rates. Overlooking nearby refineries, communities will call for just energy policy that bring renewable clean energy to poor communities.

New Orleans, LA – Monday June 25th – Congo Square (718 N Rampart St) – 1pm

The caravan will unite with another 200 local people to show that New