9.28.2011"No More Deaths" Video on Culture of Cruelty Exposes Questionnable Border Patrol Practices
Border Patrol destroying water jugs left by aid organizations, taunting humanitarians and exposing hateful views on camera. Watch this video on the "Culture of Cruelty" that exists within the US Border Patrol.
9.6.2011- Manu Chao, Announces Free "Alto Arizona" Concert in Phoenix At End of Rare U.S. Tour
The legendary winner of Best World Music (1999) and Billboard's Latin Music Awards (2008), Manu Chao, announced he will perform a free "Alto Arizona" concert in collaboration with the National Day Laborer Organizing Network and local immigrant rights organizations. The multi-lingual, multi-cultural, and globe-spanning musician will bring his chart-topping music to Phoenix in a rare free community performance.
Through his music, Manu has originated and elevated global protest pop with a style of music that could be at home anywhere in the world. "We are pleased Manu Chao will join the struggle of humble and persecuted migrants in Arizona. His music is universal and constitutes a direct repudiation of intolerance and the systematic persecution of migrants not just in Arizona but beyond invented borders." explains Pablo Alvarado, Director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network. "We're honored to partner on an Alto Arizona concert to help the tide on hatred. And Manu Chao's music is a valuable reminder that the struggle for human dignity is not just fought for, it's also celebrated."
The Free Concert will take place on Wednesday, September 21, at a downtown Phoenix, AZ location to be announced.
The Art of Chuck D (Public Enemy) - 'By the Time I Got to Arizona' Poster Release
Chuck D and SceneFour discuss the details of the release of the poster "By the Time I Got to Arizona." Focused on ill-conceived policies in Arizona that perpetuate racial profiling, the artwork is Chuck D's foray into the medium of fine art.
Click on the image to go see Chuck D's video that discusses the origin and details of the poster release.
Chiquis & Raq-C: Jenni Rivera and Daughter Chiquis Protest Controversial Arizona Law, Video Diary
Jenni Rivera and daughter Chiquis travel to Arizona to join immigration activists in a march against the state's recently-passed anti-immigration law.
"First and foremost on behalf of the Alto Arizona/ NDLON/ Puente Arizona family I would like to greatly thank all of the hundreds of artists who donated imagery to the Alto Arizona Art Campaign launched this past April. We appreciate your generosity, self determination and commitment to the struggle we face in Arizona battling SB1070, 287G, Joe Arpaio, Russel Pearce, Jan Brewer and HATE. As of now we are working on the next chapter of this campaign which will include a new website and productions of more limited edition prints to be up for sale in the future. The funds generated from the sales of this print (Alto Arizona Girl) will go directly to hire a campaign manager to further organize and take this campaign to the next chapter. We would also like to give a BIG thanks to our friend Shepard Fairey and his crew (Dan, Tina, Kyle, Mike, Olivia, Jen, Jaspr, Debbie) who have been very helpful in the sales and facilitating of this campaign, your help and dedication has been a great help in our efforts for dignity in Arizona. Thanks- Ernesto
In the last year, Arizona's immigrant and Latino community organized to defend themselves and to uphold cherished national values. They have marched, they have held sit-in's, they have been arrested, and their efforts have captivated the attention of the nation. Critical to the effort in Arizona has been the voice of the artistic community. Our colleague, Ernesto Yerena inspired literally hundreds of artists- musicians, graphic designers, street artists, and others to donate artwork to the cause. The body of work is an expression of liberation and was designed to lift the voices of a community that was supposed to be silenced by SB1070. Shepard has teamed up with Ernesto once again with the releasing of the Alto Arizona print. The print uses a remixed image from the original collaboration for Immigration Reform campaign of last year. A collection of other art is also available at, AltoArizona.com.
Edition of 300 Signed by both Shepard Fairey and Ernesto Yerena Releasing 10/07/010 on OBEYGIANT.com The next print release on ObeyGiant.com will be a portrait of civil rights activist Dr. Cornel West. Check out this video of him speaking about Art and Culture in a Social Movement with the Alto Arizona print. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=783fMZeG8Ac
10/7/2010 at a random time. Signed by both Shepard Fairey and Ernesto Yerena. Limit 1 per person.
$50@OBEYGIANT.com
8.13.2010- Support the National Women's Caucus Against ICE & Local Police Collaboration
Recently, a delegation of children from Arizona and throughout the country testified before Congress about the suffering they've experienced under this inhumane immigration system. Mothers, aunts and other women's advocates visited members of Congress on the matter.
President Obama himself stated, "When communities are terrorized by ICE immigration raids – when nursing mothers are torn from their babies, when children come home from school to find their parents missing… When all that's happening, the system just isn't working." Let's hold President Obama accountable to his words and tell him to stop programs that allow ICE and local police collaborations and that pave the way for harsh legislation like SB1070.
The National Women's Caucus Against ICE and Local Police Collaboration is comprised of the following organizations:
9to5 National Association of Working Women
9to5 Atlanta Working Women
9to5 Bay Area, CA
9to5 Colorado
9to5 Los Angeles
9to5 Milwaukee
Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights (COLOR)
Family Values at Work Consortium
Grassroots Global Justice
Jobs with Justice
MomsRising
National Domestic Workers Alliance
National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON)
New Moon Productions, Milwaukee, WI
Puente Movement, Arizona
Right to the City Alliance
Pushback Network
Virgina Coalition of Latino Organizations (VACOLAO)
Voces de la Frontera, Wisconsin
Download the July 15, Women and Children's Advocacy Day Report, "Turning the Tide on Immigration Enforcement," here: PDF (373 KB)
For more information about ICE and Local Police enforcement programs, go to www.UncoverTheTruth.org
7.30.2010 - "We are Human" - Diane Sawyer Interview Puts Human Face to Victims of SB 1070
In a television segment titled "The Conversation: My Undocumented Life," ABC's Diane Sawyer interviewed a young woman named Erika, an undocumented woman and student in Arizona who has lived in the U.S. since age 11.
In the midst of the raging rhetoric around the immigration debate, it becomes all too easy for anti-immigrant supporters to forget that those who are being affected by SB1070 are human beings who want to be productive members of this society and to live with dignity. This is the face of the struggle against SB1070. Sawyer's interview puts a human face to combat the dehumanization and criminalization of immigrants and people of color who are the targets of hateful legislation in effect today in Arizona. (via Colorlines)
7.30.2010 - International Day of Non-Compliance Raises Questions of Broader Humanitarian Crisis in Arizona and the Country's Immigration Policy
Civil Disobedience and Protests in Cities Across the Country as well as Spain, Ecuador, and Mexico Signal a Partial and Temporary injunction is only a Small Step Toward Real Solutions for the Country's Immigration Policy & Arizona's Humanitarian Crisis
Phoenix, AZ - The day after Judge Bolton's partial injunction of Arizona SB 1070, communities across the globe participated in an International Day of Non-Compliance. The escalation of activities and the expansion of their reach demonstrate a turning point in the movement for human rights in Arizona.
The events signaled that the partial injunction would not solve the humanitarian crisis in Arizona. Carlos Garcia of the Puente Movement stated, "There is no partial solution to hatred. We reject unconstitutional laws and racist immigration practices that profile U.S citizens, separate families, terrorize communities, and rob us of our basic humanity."
Organizers drew the root cause of the issue to President Obama's federal enforcement ICE access programs that empower local law enforcement to enforce federal immigration laws. Protestors called on the President to end the criminalization of migrant communities with "the stroke of a pen."
Beginning with a banner that was unfurled from a 230 ft. tall construction crane in Phoenix the night before, organizers linked the Arizona racial profiling law with 287g and Secure Communities, federal ICE access programs.
In Phoenix, more than 80 protesters were arrested in acts of civil disobedience. More than 30 blocked streets outside the Wells Fargo building that houses Sheriff Arpaio's office while others physically locked themselves to the entrance of Sheriff Arpaio's jail. Peter Morales, the president of the Unitarian Universalist Church, as well as Salvador Reza of the Puente Movement were among those who were arrested for blocking the jail's entrance.
Organizers in other cities also took more dramatic measures to highlight the need for Presidential action. In New York, a march shut down the Brooklyn Bridge for several hours. A dozen protestors blocked Wilshire blvd. in Los Angeles while people in Tucson, AZ shut down the highway.
"Solving this crisis means not just stopping SB 1070 and Sheriff Arpaio in Arizona but stopping all the Arpaios that the president's ICE access program is creating all across the country," explains Pablo Alvarado, Director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network.
A Conversation with Cornel West - How We Got Here: Historical Roots of SB1070
Saturday, October 2, 2010 at 3pm, North High School Auditorium, 1101 E Thomas Rd, Phoenix, AZ 85014
Join the Puente Movement & NDLON as they host a Panel Discussion and Lecture by the distinguished Dr. Cornel West, Professor at Princeton University. Dr. West is an African American philosopher, author, critic, actor, and civil rights activist. He is known for his combination of political and moral insight and criticism, and his contribution to the post-60s civil rights movement.
Sal Reza & almost all the "blockade 11" released - Judge & Prosecutor agree, "no evidence of probable cause" for this arrest
In the first ten minutes of the announcement more than 500 people signed the "I Stand with Sal. Free Him Now" petition. Supporters of the brave individuals who stood in the path of Sheriff Arpaio's raid and Salvador Reza rallied outside the jail of Phoenix with a cumbia dance party as the arrested were arraigned throughout the night.
Reza had his initial appearance around 3:00am. His lawyer raised the questionable reason for his arrest at which point the judge asked the prosecutor for his assessment of the probably cause. The prosecutor and judged agreed, there is "no evidence of probably cause" for this arrest.
Reza and the others arrested still have pending court dates while at least one of those who blocked Arpaio's convoy is still in jail. Fox News credited the actions with forcing the Sheriff to move his usually public command post to a secret location.
Free Sal Reza: Local Human rights leader held as political prisoner by sheriff
Salvador Reza, a local leader of human rights was wrongfully arrested today. Sal is being held by Maricopa County Sheriff Arpaio as a political prisoner in Arizona.
Today, Sheriff Arpaio targeted and arrested human rights organizer and leader of the Phoenix-based Puente Movement, Salvador Reza in retaliation for recent peaceful protests.
Reza was getting in his car outside a rally across the street from the Sheriff's jail when several Sheriff deputies surrounded him and placed him in handcuffs without cause.
Previous and unrelated to Reza's arrest, 10+ people of conscience placed themselves in front of a caravan of Sheriff vans to block them from carrying out another raid in the community. Protestors chanted "Arrest Arpaio, Not the People" and "Not One More."
With the Sheriff overstepping bounds to the point that Human Rights organizers are becoming political prisoners, what more will it take for the Obama administration to actually intervene?
Non-Compliance Action takes place in downtown Phoenix: "STOP THE HATE"
This afternoon in downtown Phoenix, Arizona, four brave protestors took unannounced action to send a message against hate. The protestors climbed a 20-story construction crane, walked out on its arm and dangled hundreds of feet above the ground to reveal a huge banner denouncing 287(g) and SB 1070.
Crowds gathered below on the street corners, chanting slogans of solidarity and the protestors responded with raised fists (see above right photo). Police, fire department and metro transportation workers secured the area, stopping traffic for at least 2.5 hours. Media was present and documented the action as well as interviewed by-standers. Protestors eventually climbed back up, removed the banner and proceeded to descend from the crane while Phoenix PD waited to apprehend the four individuals on the ground. This action was part of non-complance, non-violent non-participation strategies...actions like this will continue until SB1070 is eliminated and local/federal immigration enforcement agreements like 287(g) and S-Comm are rescinded.
Puente Movement and National Day Laborer Organizing Network Denounce Partial Injunction of SB 1070.
Pledge Non-Compliance on July 29th.
“A split decision only serves to split our communities. There is no partial solution to denials of our humanity. There is no partial solution to hatred. If this is a step, it is another step toward increased encroachments on the human rights of the people of Arizona and a dangerous precedent for the country."
Phoenix, AZ. Jul 28, 2010 - Pablo Alvarado of the National Day Laborer Organizing Networks states, “The partial and temporary blocking of a law that should’ve never existed is welcome but in no way a victory. The conditions that created SB 1070 remain and are only worsened by the decision today.
After today, this decision converts the Reverend driving a church van of his congregants into a criminal. It renders the day laborer repairing your neighborhood a criminal under 1070. The mother driving her daughter to the hospital could be considered a criminal under this decision. Cities who seek to protect the residents that make them function will be punished.
The sections that go into effect tomorrow are intolerable insults to our humanity and dangerous precedents for law enforcement. We will not stop until real justice comes to Arizona.”
Carlos Garcia of the Puente Movement continues, “In Maricopa County, we’ve been living under 1070 conditions with Sheriff Arpaio for years. Many are celebrating today because some sections are being blocked. While they can breathe a sigh of relief for the minimal injunction, our breath catches with the added boots on our communities’ necks.
Deciding to use an open hand instead of a closed fist makes this no less of a blow to the people of Arizona. If President Obama wanted to intervene in this humanitarian crisis he can end 1070 and his ice access programs with the stroke of a pen.”
"STOP SB1070 - We will not comply" Civil Disobedience Outside Courthouse
Yesterday hundreds gathered outside the Sandra Day O’Connor Federal Courthouse in Phoenix, Arizona to seek an injunction of SB1070, which is set to be implemented on July 29th. Braving the heat for nine hours, we sang, drummed, chanted while inside the court house two lawsuits, one from civil rights groups and the other from the United States Department of Justice, argued that the law be temporarily stopped. After the first hearing with civil rights groups, six brave individuals blocked a main intersection in front of the courthouse carrying a banner that read "Stop SB1070: We Will Not Comply." This act of peaceful non-cooperation signals our decision to escalate our resistance because laws that do not serve humanity must not be followed.
Six days remain until July 29th, which marks the implementation of SB1070 in the state of Arizona. Governor Jan Brewer has dug her heels in, continuing to defend the law, hitching her political hopes to hate legislation. She has ignored the family separation of families; she has publicly called most immigrants in Arizona "drug mules." Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio has already declared that regardless of the legal challenges, his department will conduct aggressive sweeps across the city after midnight on July 29th. Senator Russell Pearce, sponsor of the legislation, is hosting a national event to strategize how to spread 1070 to other states across the country. All the while a judge deliberates the fate of SB1070, and has indicated that she will not stop this law in its entirety.
The story does not end there. We are protagonists and our actions are shaping the outcome and ultimately the future of Arizona and beyond. We sent a message yesterday that while we applaud the action of the Obama Administration, we do not place our hopes on the ruling of Judge Susan Bolton and demand full justice for the state. Our hopes are in the movement we are building here in Arizona and where you are.
For our friends in Arizona or those who are coming to Arizona, we have kicked off our Week of Action against Criminalization, and on July 29th we ask all Arizonans – Don’t Work, Don’t Buy, Don’t Comply! Please text 30644 with the message, “Arizona” for up to the minute information about actions this week.
For our sisters and brothers standing with us outside of Arizona, we are asking for:
1) Actions Anywhere, Actions Everywhere! We ask you to take action in your community on July 29th. We know our fate is linked; we know that our people are being criminalized and harassed across the country. Let this be a day where we collectively assert our human rights and send the message that we will not permit more violence and harassment of our communities.
Areas of Interest for Actions on July 29th:
-- Immigration and Customs Enforcement offices
-- Local and Municipal Law Enforcement agencies that are currently participating in ICE Access programs.
-- Institutions in your community that collaborate with ICE
-- Elected officials who have taken positions supporting SB1070
-- Protest Boycott targets (see boycott info below)
2) Donate to the organizing efforts in Arizona. Text 50555, subject line: “ARIZONA to donate $5.
You can also contribute at: http://bit.ly/azdonate ($5 will be added to your mobile phone bill/deducted from your prepaid account. Message and Data Rates May Apply. Full Terms: mGive.org/T.)
Lady GaGa JOIN THE ARIZONA BOYCOTT! CANCEL YOUR CONCERT IN PHOENIX...
Lady GaGa, your fans ask you to join the Arizona boycott and cancel your concert in Phoenix on July 31.
There has been a boycott called for all Arizona business until hateful laws such as SB1070 are repealed. Governor Brewer recently passed a law making it legal for police enforcement to racially profile individuals based on the assumption that he/she/they are "illegal." She has also signed a bill, dropping all ethnic studies programs, and teachers with accents can no longer teach english classes.
Several musicians have pulled their events out of Arizona, in support of the Boycott, and we, your fans from diverse backgrounds...the LGBT community, Women, Minorities, etc. have called on Lady Gaga to follow suit and respect this boycott.
Statement from Zack de la Rocha on Soundstrike Artist call to Boycott Arizona
Click below to hear audio of Zack's Press Statement
July 21, 2010
Good morning, my name is Zack de la Rocha I’m the lead singer of Rage Against the Machine. Welcome to everyone here.
Friday July 23rd is a very important day for us, for a couple of reasons. One because it will be the first concert that Rage has played in Los Angeles in 10 years. It will be held here at the Palladium in a venue that will capture the spirit and the intent of our music and we are very proud to share the stage with Conor Oberst and The Mystic Valley Band, as well as the Jornaleros del Norte.
All three bands on the bill also reflect a spirit of solidarity and the fight for social and economic justice. Which brings up the second reason we have come together. This, during the week of national action in protest of the implementation of SB 1070 on July 29th.
Just minutes from my home I can quickly get to the 10 Freeway. A freeway that connects the communities that I have called home my whole life to the State of Arizona where decades ago my grandfather first crossed the US/Mexico border.
Several years ago I was asked by friends and activists to learn more about and join a battle brewing in Arizona.
Over the last few years I have learned to more fully grasp the conditions that hundreds of thousands of immigrants face in Arizona. In my visits to Arizona I was repeatedly in awe of the stories I heard that all centered around one man: Maricopa County Sheriff Apraio.
A Sheriff that does not want to merely detain immigrants, he wants to humiliate them and cause them pain and suffering and then parade them in prison chain gangs for a photo opp.
A Sheriff who proactively sought out and got an agreement with the Bush Administration for local immigration authority.
A Sheriff, who under the guise of saving money has housed detainees in tents in the extreme dessert heat of Arizona.
A Sheriff, who in his endless attempt to try to humiliate male immigrant detainees, has mandated that they wear pink underwear.
And then we heard the story of Alma Minerva Chacon who during what should have been one the most precious moment of her life was forced to give birth to her daughter handcuffed and chained to a gurney in a scene from periods of history I thought had been long gone. This is everyday life under the reign of Sheriff Arpaio, A man that picks at the economic wounds of the pains that everyday people are experiencing in this deep economic crisis and infects it with hatred. This is the Sheriff that would enforce SB 1070.
The fight in Arizona has been conveniently defined by the media and politicians as a battle for and against SB 1070. But that fails to capture the alarming climate that runs deep into the fabric of the State that once refused to honor the birthday of the late, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
But Sheriff Arpaio is not the only culprit. There are many Sheriff Arpaios. People who have taken to local city, county, and state governments across the county the idea that immigrants are the problem. That immigrants are to blame.
SB 1070
287(g)
Illegal Alien
Criminal
Detainee
These words have become concepts that explain only a sliver of the reality and do not reveal the inhumane reality that they conceal.
No facts or stories that I could possible share with you today could illustrate the situation in Arizona as well as ONE LETTER that I was handed during a March in Arizona. I want to read to you excerpts from that letter.
To whom it may concern,
We attest that we are a group of desperate and frustrated women that are asking for someone to help us. We find ourselves detained in the Estrella prison of Maricopa County. There are lots of women that are unjustly being accused for crimes that we have not committed. We are all mothers of families -- wives and daughters. And for this reason, we are asking for your help. Please have mercy on us. What you know outside of what's taken place in here is nothing. We are treated like the worst delinquents, the worst criminals, only because we are Hispanic or undocumented. They treat us worse than anything that exists in this world. There are plenty of injustices and plenty of humiliations that we are experiencing. Some of us for wanting to work and make a better life for our children. . . .
Please help us. We find ourselves here in a tunnel without an exit, being treated like dogs that are not deserving of anything. We need help for our cases. Someone to listen to us and do something for the injustices that are being committed against us. Our children and our parents suffer our sentences the most. And we find ourselves with our hearts broken without knowing what's going to happen tomorrow. We ask that you have the valor to take this document to a news agency or a radio or to any agency that can help Hispanics that are undocumented. Or to any place that can help us.
We are human beings, not animals. We are women, not criminals. Help us please. Listen to our pleas, so that our cases can come to light. So we have hope of coming out and being reunited with our families. Please, we ask for you. We beg you. We plead for your help. Gracias.
This letter had an impact on me I could never explain.
Once shaken by this letter how could we take the bond between our fans and our band into a State that causes the pain that comes out in this letter?
How could we not approach artists of conscious who share our feelings and concerns?
How could we not unite with artists like Coner Oberst, Juanes, MIA, Calle 13, Maroon 5, Kanye West, Tigres del Norte and others to form the Sound Strike?
How could we not stand up for our fans in Arizona, many of whom come from immigrant families?
How Could Rage Against the Machine not do a show to help the brave leaders on the ground to get the needed resources to take on this fight?
How could Rage Against the Machine work with SoundStrike to spread the word, to get other artists involved, to take this issue to our fans and to tell Arizona that artists of conscious, professional athletes, cities and governments, students and universities will not be a part of these injustices?
Toxic ideas have led to a chain of events culminating in the passage of a law that says that we are not all equal. That it is ok to racially profile.
Yet still, this is not a Latino issue or an immigrant issue. This is a battle of basic human dignity. A battle that Rage Against the Machine, and the artists of SoundStrike are fully committed to win. We thank our fans, especially those in Arizona, who understand that we are also fighting for them.
Call to Action for Human Rights! Join us in Arizona July 23-30, 2010!
National Week Against Criminalization! (part of Alto Arizona's Summer of Human Rights) STOP SB 1070! STOP 287(g)! STOP Arpaio!
From Selma to Phoenix, From
Civil Rights to Human Rights, and the Rights of Mother Earth!
Resistance has sparked across the state of Arizona and the
country to defeat SB1070 and all racist policies that further
criminalize our people and separate families. We know that if SB1070 is
not stopped in Arizona now, similar laws will spread throughout the
country.
We demand that the Obama
Administration take decisive action and not comply with Arizona’s
SB1070. This law can only terrorize our communities if the federal
government cooperates with it.
We demand that all ICE ACCESS
programs such as 287(g), "Secure Communities," and the CAP programs be
suspended.
We demand Arizona
institutions such as Cities, Towns, Police Jurisdictions, Universities,
Colleges, K-12 Schools, School Districts and Businesses to publically
state that they will not comply and will not cooperate with SB1070.
We call on people from around
the country to come to Phoenix and stand in solidarity with the
communities of Arizona to stop the implementation of SB1070!
We call that all those in
that cannot come to Arizona have solidarity actions in their home
communities.
In an
effort to raise funds for the organizing and litigation effort in
Arizona against SB 1070, Los
Jornaleros del Norte have released a 10-track CD titled, "Que No Pare la
Lucha." Because the organizing efforts do require lots of resources,
personnel, and legal fees, Los Jornaleros have decided to donate all
of the proceeds of their album to the AltoArizona campaign.
On Monday, June 7th, 14-year-old Sergio Adrian
Hernandez Huereca was shot and killed by a Border Patrol Officer at an
international bridge near downtown El Paso, Texas. The boy was unarmed,
but theofficer claims he used deadly force in self-defense. Meanwhile,
witnesses claim that Sergio was running from the agent when lethal
bullet struck his head..
Currently, the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) in
El Paso, Texas, is investigating the incident, and you can view their
press release here.
However, we are calling on the White House to
conduct an independent investigation of the killing.
We demand an investigation that doesn’t start
by equating the issue of immigration with border violence and drug
trafficking.
We demand the Obama administration to
understand that there is a human rights crisis on the border and the
overwhelming majority of immigrants crossing into the U.S. are victims,
not perpetrators, of that crisis.