Puente Arizona and Alto Arizona pulled a rabbit out of the hat when they planned the National Day of Action for May 29th, 2010. The date was planned on the heels of the passage of SB 1070, the most vicious racial profiling law in existence.
Above, my friend Robert with two members of the Dream Team!
These two grass roots immigrant’s rights organizations rolled up their sleeves and went to work. Everything was down-hill from then on in, if you consider preparing Phoenix for 100,000 protestors down hill! You can imagine the details needed to put on an event of this size in such short amount of time.
There was organizing of the immigration base, details with the city and police, route planning, finding a place for the Festival for Human Rights, and managing all of those people, acts, food, bathrooms, accommodations, all in a city where the power base has decided to boycott spending in the state!
From what we could see, the event was beautifully planned and it went down as planned. Attendance was double what initial estimates were. The immigration community is mobilized. Now, we need to put pressure on the law makers and business community. It may take a several pronged attack to rid our country of the scourge of laws like Arizona SB 1070!
I hope that every American, regardless of where he lives, will stop and examine his conscience about this and other related incidents. This Nation was founded by men of many nations and backgrounds. It was founded on the principle that all men are created equal, and that the rights of every man are diminished when the rights of one man are threatened. All of us ought to have the right to be treated as he would wish to be treated, as one would wish his children to be treated, but this is not the case.
ReplyDeleteI know the proponents of this law say that the majority approves of this law, but the majority is not always right. Would women or non-whites have the vote if we listen to the majority of the day, would the non-whites have equal rights (and equal access to churches, housing, restaurants, hotels, retail stores, schools, colleges and yes water fountains) if we listen to the majority of the day? We all know the answer, a resounding, NO!
Today we are committed to a worldwide struggle to promote and protect the rights of all who wish to be free. In a time of domestic crisis men of good will and generosity should be able to unite regardless of party or politics and do what is right, not what is just popular with the majority. Some men comprehend discrimination by never have experiencing it in their lives, but the majority will only understand after it happens to them.