Proaction - not reaction.

If you are reading this blog you probably get messages like this one all the time. 

"ATTENTION ALL LATINAS!

FRIDAY, AUGUST 22ND

4 PM 

JOIN US IN PROTEST AT I.C.E. OFFICES ACROSS THE NATION!

It is imperative that we send a message to I.C.E., President Bush and the upcoming Democratic Party Convention that there must be AN IMMEDIATE MORATORIUM ON ALL RAIDS, DEPORTATIONS, INCARCERATIONS AND SEPARATION OF FAMILIES!" 

The press release goes on to urge all to make some type of response about this very situation. It is a legitimate, important and ultimately futile appeal. 

This is why. 

As long as we continue to react to the structures that surrounds us we will forever be one, two, three steps behind those in power planning our future. Organization means planning. Planning not based on reactions to someone else's laws, attitudes or conception of the world. Organization and planning are initial counter hegemonic steps that allow us as RAZA or simply a community to begin and shape the world around us according to our own vision. 

Take the idea of a political party for Xicanos/Mexicanos and other Latinos in the United States. Most elected positions available on a local level across this country are non partisan. Which means you do not have declare a party affiliation to run. However, since our entire political system is dominated by two parties the reality of each situation is Democrats are running against Republicans. 

So how do we get started?

1. Picking your issues shouldn't be that hard. Our community is faced with a multitude of different problems people want to address. Keep it simple. Build a platform around addressable issues in the community. It is important to have direct conversation with people about their problems and what can be done to change our situation as people.

2. Decide the non partisan position you or your slate wants to run for. I suggest something local and kind of small.

3. Every incorporated entity be it a village, town, city, county has someone that acts as a clerk. This person's job is to keep records. (1) Lists of voters that have names, phone numbers and address, sometimes if you ask a record of when (not how) the person has voted. These lists are public record and fairly easy to obtain. (2) At this office will also be a map of the area you are campaigning in which will show you how the area you live in is divided up politically. This map is also easy to obtain.

This first exercise is about coming to an understanding of the politics around us and how they are physically carried out. Seeing how your city or town is already be subdivided and mapped to make the process of representational democracy easier to facilitate will help you be creative in figuring out how to take advantage of this in your own organizing. 

Finally, whether you whole heartedly agree with someone or not find a candidate who needs some help and volunteer for their campaign. This is a good way of getting a least a ground level introduction into how to get something like this done. 

Getting Organized

In Portland, OR., there is a controversy brewing around the renaming a portion of a highway and some street in the city after Cesar Chavez. While, public monuments are good and certainly a part of who we are as a civilization, maybe even the human race, they are almost always an attempt to capture the sentiment of a time that has pasted. 

In Lansing, MI., in 1993, we too had a community wide controversy over the renaming of a street as a way to honor Cesar. By decree of the City Council Grand Avenue, a street running through the downtown of Lansing was renamed Cesar Chavez Avenue after a very aggressive one man petitioning drive by life long Lansing resident Paulo Gordillo. To make a long story short, a local attorney, Fred Stackable and a local shock jock wannabe named Tim Barron teamed up for a petition drive to put the renaming of the street up to a vote among the citizens of Lansing. As a result the bid to keep the name Cesar Chavez Avenue was overwhelmingly defeated and the street was returned to its former name. We bear the distinction of being one of two cities in the country to have this happen. The other is Fresno, CA,. 

It was my first real look at politics, organizing and why sometimes it is important to vote.

Over the years I've seen first hand that if we really want to honor Cesar or any of the others who sacrificed so much (in the case of some their very lives) we would take the time to learn the skills needed to carry on their very important work. Never before has the ability to run community campaigns through grassroots engagement or organizing, whatever you want to call it been so important and badly needed. 

I understand how important something like this street can be but I truly believe it is about us getting it right, not them. As we work to build broad based coalitions across the country that will move RAZA toward a greater realization of what social justice can mean what greater tribute to Cesar could there be than for us to get organized?

Of course, the reality of that effort is much easier said than done. The first steps toward building mass mobilization efforts in our communities across the country must begin with attainable and realistic but challenging goals on the local level. 

Grassroots broad coalition mobilization in the Xicano/Mexicano community is the only political process that is capable of bringing the community together to work on common issues facing our RAZA. This type of work is accomplished through (1) organized direct contact and (2) collective activities designed to advance a common vision and challenge prevailing beliefs.

An important step in strategic planning is to (3) set goals for building mass mobilization capacity because define goals produce results. These (4) goals should be agreed upon by the members of your group or organization.

The recent immigration march in Dallas at least in reading about it on the web is a good example of how something like this might look. This article does a good job in showing a large cross section of the Dallas community that turned out for this immigration rally.

Their does not always have to be 500,000 people present for an event to be a success. Grassroots mobilization or Low Intensity Organizing works within communities to build resistance over a period of time. This allows groups of people to become educated about the political process not just issues. It is powerful because it (5) demonstrates the strength of your position by mobilizing community support, (6) is a proven method to defeat the rich and powerful, (7) builds real community power, (8) is effective on small budgets and (9) is a foundation of authentic democracy. 

Learning how to organize is important. Understanding and believing in what we can do with organization is even more important.

SW Detroit Barrio Defends Workers

The information below is an example of how the Southeast Michigan Latino community is trying to organize and react responsibly in the face of extreme governmental pressure. Frequent raids have left many families separated and without hope of reuniting. Across the country people who have come here mainly as a result of failed trade policies enacted beginning with NAFTA in 1994 are increasingly marginalized and criminalized.

How we chose to respond to this as a community will have a profound impact on this nations politics in the immediate future.

For Immediate Release:

August 12, 2008

Detroit Latino March

Contact information:

Elena Herrada - 313-974-0501

Julio Cesar Guerrero - 517-304-2743

A coalition of Detroit Latino community members working through El Centro Obrero are making a public statement against a series of recent incidents in the southwest Detroit Barrio.

Also know as Mexican Town, southwest Detroit has historically been home for Latino families dating back to the boom of the auto industry in the early 1900's to migration waves of recent years.

Post 911 times, however, have created a climate of animosity and inherent repession against the other wise well adapted Latinos in Diaspora. Elena Herrada, a local community organizer says that this anti immigrant attitude affects all Latinos in general driving some deeper into the underground economic system where they become victims of unscrupulous employers, predatory businesses, slum landlords, insensitive bureaucrats, and targets of a variety of law enforcement units.

"As activists in spirit of the great civil rights movement we have decided to publicly protest current conditions of fear and oppression in our community," said Herrada explaining that local activists and concerned citizens will march every Friday afternoon in Clark Park to educate people about the unique conditions in el Barrio Latino.

The marches will begin this Friday August 15 at noon and last throughout the general election in the hopes of sending a message to all candidates on the need for immigration reform.