Petra Falcon Says Dream Act On!

Dear Tim,
The pressure is on.
Congress is debating passage of the DREAM Act, a bipartisan proposal that would create a pathway to citizenship for thousands of young people who were brought to the United States years ago as children. Promise Arizona benefited greatly from volunteer activities of DREAM Activists in Arizona like Michael Nazario, Erika Andiola and Celso Mireles. We urge you to support them and the thousands of other DREAMers in Arizona and across the nation.


Petra Falcon

Will you call your representative and urge them to vote YES on the DREAM Act?
Click here to let us know you will be calling.

Tell the staffer who answers that you're counting on them to stand up for our young men and woman by voting for the DREAM Act which will give our young people a chance to fulfill their dreams and serve their country.

Call your Senators: English: 866-996-5161 | Spanish: 866-961-4293
Call your Representative: English: 866-967-6018
Call a targeted Senator: English: 866-587-6101 | Spanish: 866-956-3902
If Congress fails to move forward with the DREAM Act, many will continue to be left in the dark unable to plan for the future, some will be deported to countries they don't even know, and our country will lose a critical group of leaders who strongly desire to contribute to our success as a nation.

Let us stand by our youth in the struggle for immigrant rights. Call your representatives today.
In Solidarity,
Petra Falcon
Executive Director
Promise Arizona
P.S. Please forward this message widely!
 
 
Promise Arizona (PAZ) {www.promiseaz.org} is a new membership organization whose mission is to recruit, train and support a new generation of leaders from across the state to build a new Arizona, one that will allow all residents to achieve their full potential.

Response:
Petra, I would do anything for you and for the cause!  Thanks! 

Tim

We Train For Immigration Reform, Come Have Fun!

Our leaders have a lot of fun!

Promise Arizona Leadership Training

     Working as an activist for immigration reform is a lot of fun!  You get to meet a lot of new people and there are always a few moments just to kick back!
     There are many ways to participate, but the important point is your voice is heard!  Every one of us has something to add to the battle for basic human rights!

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Keeping time with Tomas Karmelo at Promise Arizona Leadership Training!

The couple in the middle was hugging.  They were surrounded by people singing, young and old together, arms in the air, waving to the music.  We were all keeping time with Tomas Karmelo as he sang the song he penned with Deandra Gamez at the state capitol in the early days of the Vigil against Arizona SB 1070.  Michele was there, and Jeff, and Myra, and Sue, and Pedro, and Jessica and Erika, and Brittany and Nicole and so many others. 

I was wiping the tears as they tumbled down my cheeks, hoping no one would see.  Leadership training does funny things sometimes. 
We were sitting in a packed room in Arizona State University.  Promise Arizona, led by a long time organizer, Petra Falcon, had brought national trainers and civil rights leaders to teach us what to do when our community is under attack:  Stand up, fight back!
Promise Arizona has a unique way of fighting back.  Their message of peace and love from civil rights movements of the past is spoken in a new motto:  Faith, Hope: Vote! 

Team Promise wants to register 50,000 new Latino voters and change the political landscape of the nation!  Electing leadership which keeps in mind all people who live in Arizona, instead of just the elite, will send a message to those who wish to legislate exclusion.  Pass hate laws and get a pink slip from the (new) voting public!
This great country faces some mighty challenges.  How to treat everyone fairly under America’s skies is one of the biggest.  We are a nation of immigrants.  The newest souls to arrive are seeking their chance to make a difference, to work hard, to give back, to nurture and to be nurtured. 
I trust, as these courageous people fight for their chance at the American Dream, the Dream changes a little bit.  It is time we begin to dream in terms of “all of  Us” instead of in terms of “us and them”.  Or did we dream it once and then forget? 
I am grateful the Promise Arizona community thinks in “we” terms.  If their message of inclusiveness is successful then there will be plenty of room in America for Tiny Tim.  Considering Latinos will consist of the single largest voting base in the U.S. within 15 years, inclusiveness is a generous message to preach.  Maybe the ones who need to go to leadership training are the conservative class who heretofore have been advocating division of families and limiting access to schools and opportunities to those in America who need our help the most.

Heck, I am not going to hide the tears any more.  This is my family.  These are my brothers and sisters.  These are the values I hold dearest to my heart.  My country is under attack.  I am ready to stand up.  I am ready to fight back.  Does anyone have an extra voter registration form they can lend me?
Michele is here, and Jeff, and Myra, and Sue, and Pedro, and Jessica and Erika, and Bridgett, and Nicole and so many others.  Come meet us and come meet my inspiration, Petra Falcon.  Come live the Promise with us!

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Latino call to take up arms against sb 1070

We are living in historic times when fear and hate from a hostile society cloaks us like the ink of the darkest night.  We call through the blanket of black, our voices echoing into the consciences of people in America, this is oppression, can’t you see the evil of injustice?  It must be stopped, please listen!  So far, the majority have remained deaf and mute. 

It is time to change our tactics.  We must bear arms against the oppressors.  We must rise up and defend ourselves.  We must let wealthy people know, the cost of crushing the poor as if they were cockroaches beneath their feet, will be higher than the satisfaction gained.

How do the oppressed rise up against powers much greater than themselves?  How do we keep lovely America lovely?  How does justice prevail over soldiers with guns bent on keeping us down? 

No one wins in War.  Conflict with rifles and grenades and guerilla tactics brings tragedy to our families.  It fills us with our own evil, until we choke and vomit under hates’ toxic influence.  

Our weapon is peaceful resistance. 

We use the experiences of Gandhi, Martin Luther King and Mandela, as a model for our battle plan.  We recognize the power of violence is a veil for weakness.  We use time and patience and attrition.  We hit them in their wallets through boycotts and work stoppages.  We mass, we protest, we participate in civil actions.  We refuse lawful orders in our civil disobedience. 

We block the streets, we surround ICE headquarters, we stand in front of patrol cars when they raid our barrios, we hold hands through-out, and we sing.  When they come for us, we go to jail, we jam the courts, we shut the government down again and again, until a fearful people crushing the poor under their boots, finally listen.

A few of us pay the ultimate price when the desperate use force against us.  We must bear their blows, We must never raise a hand in defense, we never carry weapons, we must remain calm, passive and non-violent.  Ye, Some have walked into the valley of the shadow of death while fearing no evil.  Anastacio Hernandez Rojas, for example, was swarmed and beaten till brain dead by 20 border guards, after he made one last desperate break for freedom. 

You are needed in Arizona on July 28th and 29th, 2010.  Help Alto Arizona and the Puente Movement derail the attack on human dignity, or forever hold your peace, as you watch future generations crushed.  Help Promise Arizona and the Paz Fellowship remove irresponsible politicians  who trade the wellfare of the people for national headlines.  When we prevail, we will return to the discussion of solving immigration reform and end this tragic state of affairs.

John Lennon said, and we agree, “All we are saying, is give peace a chance.”  Now our battle cry changes, “All we are saying, is give us a chance!  All we are saying, is give paz a chance!”

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