ACLUdan

Passing the baton

Fri, 04 Nov 2011 21:40:33 -0500

October 29th

Saturday morning I left Foley early. I passed by Gabby’s workplace to say goodbye and to thank her for how welcomed she and her family had made me feel in their home.

The Coalition staff had asked me to give the new organizers arriving in Birmingham an overview of how to do the Know Your Rights presentation, so I planned to get their an hour before everyone else. On the way to Birmingham I had a blowout. I always thought having one would be much more frightening, but I hardly noticed except for seeing the tire fly off the car through the rear view mirror. At first I didn’t know what to do or whether to call a mechanic but I was able to figure out how to use the jack and I quickly replaced the shredded wheel with the spare. I still made it to Birmingham on time.

The new organizers were great. It was a nice feeling to feel like the one who had already seen it and done it and pass on tips and information to others. The new round included organizers from California, New York, and Arizona and organizations like CHIRLA and NDLON. After my chat about the Know Your Rights presentation, we had lunch and the rest of the organizers from round one slowly started arriving. After lunch we sat around on couches in a large room and talked about our experiences, things we noticed were different about organizing in Alabama, and answered the new organizer’s questions. We then had one-on-ones with the organizers assigned to replace us in our regions to pass on all the contacts we had collected and brief them on where we had left off. Jose from New York was going to replace me and I told him he would be focusing more on Mobile County where I had had less of an opportunity to organize. I also told him about the meeting with the Mayor of Gulf Shores I had planned for him and the Know Your Rights presentation which was already scheduled.

Around 5 pm we cleaned up the space and headed to dinner at a Mexican restaurant. It was a happy time. Afterwards a few of us got together at a bar for drinks and then we said our goodbyes.

October 30th

The next morning I drove down to Montgomery and flew back to California. I was very happy to be going home. Just boarding the flight from Dallas to San Francisco made me feel fabulous. Landing in San Francisco was beautiful. The plane descended right over the Bay with the Peninsula to the left where I could see from San Jose to San Francisco. The temperature was 69 degrees, sunny, and clear. I felt the love California was showing me and I felt welcomed home.

La Panaderia

Fri, 04 Nov 2011 21:24:00 -0500

October 27th

La panaderia (the bakery) used to be one of my favorite places to go to as a kid. You know the saying… I love whatever like a fat kid loves chocolate… well I was the fat kid who loved the gingerbread pigs and empanadas filled with pumpkin preserves. Anything else I loved was compared to how much I loved those Mexican baked goods.

I’m thinking about it now because of what a great choice it was to have the leaders meeting at La Panaderia la Mexicana in Foley. Everyone knew where it was, I didn’t even need to give people the address. Even better, a least six people who ended up forming an integral part of the conversation were only there because they had stopped to buy bread and had overheard words like civic engagement, community, leadership, unity, and dignity. Something we all could always use more of.

I started the conversation in typical organizing fashion, introducing myself and the coalition I was representing, and then asking everyone to introduce themselves and say a bit about why they had chosen to spend their evening with us and what they hoped to walk away with. At first we only occupied a table, but people continued to trickle in 15 minutes into the meeting and we had to spread out taking up the entire bakery dining space. To my surprise, the pastor whose husband had come close to kicking me out of their church for being with the ACLU showed up. I guess I was able to defend myself formidably after all and she managed to understand why I was there and why the ACLU isn’t as evil as some paint us. I worked upon the communities heart strings and desires I knew all too well myself. I talked about why we were so good at spreading information and how we weren’t exactly known for our unity amongst Latinos generally and even less as a people sharing many commonalities, but having different nationalities. I talked about why it was important for them to get involved as individuals in seeing through what they wanted to see in their community. I told told them that California, Illinois, and New York don’t have better laws just because… I reminded them that those communities have worked together and it’s been a long work in progress. I also made comparisons to the Asian, South Asian, and Anglo communities which strangely to Latinos… were always the ones who as a community created safety nets and helped others without ever asking for anything in return. I finished up saying that I was a visitor in their community and that my job was to make them have a conversation. I would leave the next day maybe never to see them again. I asked them, “What are you going to do now? What are you going to do to help yourself?” With that, I told them I was excusing myself from the rest of the meeting and I stood up to take pictures.

I had no certainty my theatrics would work, but what came next was beautiful. They sat in silence for a few moments and one by one began making suggestions, putting forth ideas, and asking questions. By the end of the night the group had decided to create a formal entity to respond to the community’s needs in Baldwin County. They even set up a steering committee to guide its inception and a president, vice president, secretary, and “vocals” whose job would be to spread the word.

My job as an organizer was done. I had accomplished what the Coalition had invited me to Alabama to do. It all happened at the panaderia and my joy was finally greater than any baked good I could have asked for.

Shrimp Basket

Fri, 04 Nov 2011 20:54:00 -0500

October 26th

I started the day with a sense of calm because the previous days had been so intense and I had made a good number of contacts. I had planned to drive down to Gulf Shores to meet with the owner of a real estate company that lost many employees both legal and undocumented after HB 56, but our meeting was cancelled at the last moment. I hadn’t driven south down to the coast so I decided to go anyway to check it out and see what kind of business establishments I could hit up for flyering. Highway 59 ends at a public beach where I stopped to take pictures. To my extreme surprise, the sand on the beach was white and the water clear blue. Had I woken up there after being unconscious I would have thought I was in Cancun. Who knew that Alabama could be so beautiful. The weather was perfect and had I been wearing shorts, I might have indulged myself and taken a dip in the water.

After snapping a few pictures I decided to grab lunch somewhere where I could write a few emails and do a bit of work. I came across the Shrimp Basket and a good choice it was. I had the best seafood étouffée I had ever tasted an a basket of all-you-can-eat fried shrimp for $9.99. The same food you can eat anywhere else definitely tastes very different in Alabama. I don’t know why, it’s just that much better.

I left the Shrimp Basket and found the nearest Starbucks, which happened to be inside Target in order to be able to sit down and watch the CHIRLA video to get ready for the Know Your Rights presentation scheduled later that evening. I ordered a large iced coffee and sat down to review my materials. This was the first time I was really sitting down to take things in rather than make phone calls or meet new people. As I started watching the video the scenes that came up including the factory workers being detained by ICE in a raid and the agents coming to a family’s home in the middle of the night filled me with intense sorrow. Everything I had heard up until then was magnified by the visual aid provided by video and it all started sinking in. I felt completely alone and I felt the pangs of the reality immigrants wake up to everyday. I felt the fear, the hurt, pain, and the loss of dignity inflicted on people who are simply doing what they can, out of necessity, to get by. I couldn’t help it; tears welled up and rolled down my cheeks. The white woman who had sat at the table next to me in front of a lap top wearing business attire became an anonymous symbol where I directed my anger and sadness out of the corner of my eye. In my mind I thought… “you don’t even know, you have no idea what people are going through as we’re sitting here, you have no idea who I am, you have no idea why I’m the only Latino in this entire store.” I wanted to turn and tell her that people were being ripped out of their homes and children being separated from their parents. That her state had passed a law targeting less than 200,000 people with the hate and vitriol of all previous historical instances of discrimination combined. I wanted her and everyone in that establishment to know why I was crying. I thought about my aunt and uncle being deported at separate times when I was 11 years old and my parents driving my new born American cousin to Mexico to reunite him with his mother. I thought about how fourteen years later my aunt and uncle had returned to the US and, still, any day my cousins could finish a school day only not to find my aunt waiting to pick them up and my mother having to explain what had happened. I thought about what it would be like for them to have to move to Mexico if my relatives were deported and how they would be strangers in that country, never having grown up there and not knowing a single person.

I calmed down and finished reading the handouts I was given through the tears blurring my vision. I gathered my things and walked outside and stood outside my rental car for a long while listening to music through my earphones.

When I had picked up the pieces I drove to La Michoacana market in Foley to meet up with two lawyers from the Southern Poverty Law Center and Gabby and Romina. We briefly talked about what the Know Your Rights presentation would look like and proceeded to talk more generally about the law and to the market’s owner who recounted the hardship Latino businesses were experiencing losing not only their employees but also their customer base.

We all drove to United Methodist Church an hour before the presentation to set up. Gabby knew I had been upset earlier and tried her best to cheer me up telling me that I needed to drink a Redbull for the presentation. I knew I needed to be animated and engaging but I couldn’t shake off the numbness I was feeling. As people started arriving I was able to move into the zone and focus on the matter at hand. I welcomed people I had met before at the congregations I visited and spoke to the service providers, leaders, and the Foley Police Department officer who had shown up. The presentation went well. I used to get nervous, but now it’s second nature. At some point the video skipped scenes and it wouldn’t rewind without skipping back to the very beginning. I simply turned the video off and improvised from my knowledge of what needed to be covered and the many times I had given the same spiel before. At the end I invited Gabby to speak so she could address her community as the leader we had been cultivating. She made a call for leaders to emerge from the audience and join us the next day to create a plan of action. All in all we were there four hours that evening. The presentation re-energized me and I felt like a million dollars.

Parents: Hispanic kids being bullied

Tue, 01 Nov 2011 20:08:17 -0500

Parents: Hispanic kids being bullied

ACIJ reaction to Napolitano

Fri, 28 Oct 2011 16:36:22 -0500

Secretary Napolitano: DHS Will Not Help Implement Alabama Law
Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice Reacts:
“Actions Speak Louder than Words.”

Montgomery, AL – Janet Napolitano, secretary of the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), told a Congressional committee this week that her agency is not helping Alabama officials enforce our state’s new discriminatory anti-immigrant law. The Secretary said that she is concerned about reports of racial profiling, and that her agency is cooperating with the US Department of Justice to investigate these and other abuses.

The Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice appreciates Secretary Napolitano’s remarks. However, given the documented cooperation between local authorities and DHS since the implementation of the law, and the experience of Alabama families with immigration authorities, the Secretary’s declaration is being met with justified skepticism. Contributing to that skepticism is the Department’s failure to implement its announced new policy directing its agencies to exercise prosecutorial discretion in deportation cases.

In Decatur, Alabama, four immigrants were arrested during traffic stops and subsequently turned over to immigration authorities, who placed them into deportation proceedings. These individuals remain in proceedings despite the Secretary’s statement.

In addition, over 3,000 calls have been made to an emergency hotline set up by national and local legal organizations since the implementation of the Alabama law. The hotline has uncovered an extensive record of civil rights abuses, as well as cases of individuals being put into deportation proceedings by federal officials—again, despite the Secretary’s statement.

Olivia Turner, Executive Director of the ACLU of Alabama and Steering Committee member of ACIJ said, “We know of at least one woman who was arrested under one of HB 56’s ‘papers please’ provisions who is currently in deportation proceedings and fighting to return to her Alabama home. We call upon ICE to release her, and stop putting those ensnared by this unconstitutional law - which the administration is challenging - through the deportation pipeline.”

Victor Palafox, Steering Committee member of the Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice and leader with Alabama Dreamers for the Future (an organization of undocumented and allied youth) said, “I am glad that Secretary Napolitano finally acknowledged that the civil rights of our families are being violated on a massive scale. Many of our friends have disappeared from school and their families have fled the state, afraid of being ripped apart by immigration authorities. I hope that Secretary Napolitano is telling our families that we have nothing to fear—but we will have to see it to believe it. Actions speak louder than words.”

Napolitano’s latest statement follows another pronouncement by DHS, made in August of this year, that many immigrants who were deemed no threat to public safety—including young people eligible for the DREAM Act—should not be deported. However, those words have not resulted in relief to immigrant communities.

Said Mary Bauer, Legal Director from the Southern Poverty Law Center, “The new guidance about prosecutorial discretion from DHS has not been implemented. Immigration lawyers in the Southeast and across the nation are waiting for direction from DHS on these memos, but thus far it has remained business as usual in the immigration offices and courts that cover Alabama.”

Zayne Smith, Coordinator of the Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice, said, “It is time for the Department of Homeland Security to take bold and public action to assure our families that they will not be ripped apart as a result of HB 56. Statements from Secretary Napolitano in Washington are welcome, but relief in Alabama is what we need. The Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice asks that DHS publicly direct immigration authorities in the field to stop cooperating with local law enforcement in Alabama, who are being forced to implement a law which even Secretary Napolitano herself acknowledges is discriminatory. We also request that DHS headquarters review every deportation case coming out of Alabama to ensure that the Secretary’s words are enforced.”

ACIJ is a network of individuals and organizations which seek to provide a united voice dedicated to ensuring the social, legal and civic rights of all immigrants in Alabama.
ACIJ’s members work to promote justice for all of Alabama’s immigrants.
www.acij.ne

Alabama farmers offered prisoners to pick produce before it rots. Now instead of having our food tainted by illegal immigrants, it will be harvested by perfectly legal criminals.

Thu, 27 Oct 2011 14:40:36 -0500

Alabama farmers offered prisoners to pick produce before it rots. Now instead of having our food tainted by illegal immigrants, it will be harvested by perfectly legal criminals.

Letter to Gov. Bentley and Judge Blackburn

Wed, 26 Oct 2011 00:59:00 -0500

From:

Patricia McGovern Armour
Foley Elementary School –
Baldwin County ESL Resource Teacher

October 9th, 2011

To: Governor Bentley, Judge Sharon Blackburn, and To Whom It May Concern,

I am a teacher. I was born to be a teacher, as my sweet mother used to tell me. I have now been teaching longer than most of my students’ parents have been alive!

It is with tears in my heart, I report that with the passing of HB 56 teaching and learning has stopped in my classroom. You see, I am an English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher for Baldwin County, in the great state of Alabama. No longer are our school hallways, buses, and classrooms filled with many of our happy, innocent American children.

Many of our American “Latino” children are now gone, others are living in fear and being terrorized as they walk to their school buses because they are being yelled at “to go back to Mexico!” People literally are saying we need to “throw them back over the fence”. Eggs are being thrown at them, their homes, and their cars as they drive to school. They now “duck” when they see a police car. They are living in fear.

The fact is and what many people don’t seem to understand, ___that these children born in the United States of America “are home”, they are “on our American (right) side of the fence”! Most of these children that are being harassed and terrorized were born right here in our small town of Foley, Alabama. Regardless of how their parents came to our country, (legal or sneaking through the fences,) these children are now LEGAL American citizens. These children are now caught between two worlds, their Latino culture and ancestry and the American Dream.

How did this happen in our country, America the Beautiful…home of the brave with liberty and justice for ALL? Are teachers now going to be asked to change the words to our nation’s “Pledge of Allegiance”? American children are taught by wonderful teachers each year to stand at attention with hands on their hearts and recite the words to the Pledge daily in our schools. Are we as citizens of this great country going to live out these words now or should we begin to say “liberty and justice for only a select few?

These ESL students know first-hand what struggles their parents have gone through to come to the United States of America so that they could become American citizens and get a good education. These are some of our best students at Foley Elementary and many schools throughout our great state of Alabama. These are honor roll students, students that stand on the stage at the end of the year and receive Presidential Awards, Good Character awards, and nationally in the top percent of all American children in test scores. These are the students we are asking to leave our state? If so, then let’s send back the Irish, the Germans, the Italians, and all immigrants. Who would be left to recite the pledge, to pay taxes, to fight for our freedom, to sit in desks at schools in America?

ONE NATION, UNDER GOD, INDIVISABLE….. INDIVISIBLE

Isn’t it time, all Americans stand up for our rights as citizens of the greatest country in our world? Instead of divisions and bigotry, we should strive for common ground and brotherhood. WE ARE BETTER THAN THIS AMERICA! The words of M.L.K. and the Civil Rights Movement were planted in my heart as a young American child….I HAVE A DREAM.” This dream is not just for a few, this dream is for ALL!

I agree with Governor Bentley, Judge Blackburn, and all those that say “illegal immigration” is a serious issue that must be dealt with, but House Bill 56 is not the answer. HB 56 is a nightmare and has hurt more people than you may realize. I cannot express in words the children, the parents, the staff at our school, and the devastating effects this law has caused in our community this past week. I cannot express in words the hurt and tears that have been shed within my classroom walls as our ESL families withdrew their children from our school this week. I cannot express to you the heartache of teachers and students at our school as their Honor Roll classmates and friends no longer feel safe to come to school. I cannot tell you how many reporters and camera men/women that have stood in my classroom to capture the tragic story of the exodus of good, hard-working, faith-filled families that have been driven away by HB 56.

Yes, illegal immigration is a serious issue that needs to be addressed, but it is our nation’s problem. Federal laws need to be enforced and/or improved upon and implemented. This is our nation’s problem that cannot be solved by implementing unfair State regulations that punish innocent American children and ___stops these children from getting an education.

I am but one teacher. An ESL teacher that served 53 K-ESL students, all but 6 of these children were born in Alabama. Our school has 14 different countries represented; these are not just Mexicans we are sending out of our state! Our school has already lost 31 students and at least 40 more families are making plans to leave unless an injunction is placed on HB 56. How could this be a solution to our already failing state’s economy?

Most of our ESL families are hard-working, productive members of our community. They receive paychecks (whether legal or not) and pay taxes, they shop at our local stores, and work in our much needed occupations of construction, tourism, farming, etc. throughout Alabama. They were here for us to help us recover from hurricanes and rebuild our communities. Now their homes sit empty, they are closing their Spanish businesses because their business have fallen 50 – 90 % this week alone, the church pews where they once sat are no longer occupied, the desks and bus seats are empty…..tell me Governor Bentley, Chief U.S. District Judge Sharon Blackburn, and all those that agree with this bill….how is this going to help our state’s economy?

As we all are aware, the Latino population is the fastest growing population in our schools, in our state, and across our nation. Let’s work together to change and improve the broken system that has made it impossible for these good hard working families to become American citizens along with their children. They came to the United States of America, as all our ancestors once did, to have a better life for their children. Let’s help them to live that dream, to find ways to become legal, and let’s keep them here so their children, our children, and grandchildren can realize the American Dream. Let’s not let our American Dream die, let’s teach all children that the American Dream is still alive and well. Let’s be better than this so that all Americans can stand and recite The Pledge of Allegiance with pride in our hearts and love for the American red, white, and blue flag.

Many Alabamians and people all across the world are outraged by the effects of this law. Much damage has already been done and yes, Governor Bentley as you so eloquently stated with a smile across your face, you have ATTACKED every area of an illegal immigrant’s life, but you have also ATTACKED areas you may not have realized. What happens when we start losing teachers, bus drivers, and staff in our schools? What happens when our Alabama schools cannot meet their AYP because of absences and withdrawals of our ESL students because HB 56? The mission of every educator is to teach all children! The National Reform Act made it a law that “NO CHILD SHOULD BE LEFT BEHIND”!

Governor Bentley and Judge Sharon Blackburn, you did not leave the children behind, you threw our innocent American children enrolled in our schools in Alabama and their families under the school bus! Plaintiffs are seeking an emergency request with the Eleventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to stop the harmful provisions of HB56. It is too late for some of our families, but it is not too late for all.

While you and powers greater than I ____battle the legislating of laws, please just let us TEACH THE CHILDREN!

Sincerely from the heart and with much respect,

Patricia M. Armour

"Open Letter to all Americans"

Wed, 26 Oct 2011 00:55:00 -0500

From:

Patricia McGovern Armour
Foley, Alabama

October 13th, 2011

An open letter to all Americans…

I believe as many Americans do, that if you have a good education, many doors of the world can be opened for you. You see, I have lived it. I grew up in a poor but proud Irish-German family. It was through the sacrifices of my parents and the education my teachers instilled in me, that I am now living the American Dream. I went into teaching many years ago to give back what was given to me. I am proud to call myself a teacher. I spend my days with young children and young minds. I plant “Alleluia’s”, dreams, and hopes into their hearts.
This is why it is with tears in my heart, I report that with the passing of the strict immigration law in Alabama, teaching and learning, virtually came to a stop in my classroom. You see, I am an English Language Learner Resource Teacher in for Baldwin County in the city of Foley, Alabama, where no longer are our school hallways, buses and classrooms filled with many of our happy, innocent American children. Many of our American “Latino” children are now gone; others are living in fear and being terrorized as they walk to their school buses… they are being yelled at “to go back to Mexico”! People literally are saying we need to “throw them back over the fence”. Eggs are being thrown at them, their homes, and their cars as they drive to school. They now “duck” when they see a police car. They are living in fear.

What many do not understand is the fact that these children, born in America, “ARE” Americans… these children ARE home; these children ARE “on the right side of the fence”! Most of the children being harassed and terrorized were born right here in our small town of Foley. Regardless of how their parents arrived in our country, these children are now Americans, American citizens… in heart, in mind, and by law. These children are now finding themselves caught between two worlds: their Latino culture and ancestry, and the American Dream.

How did this happen in our country, America the Beautiful… home of the brave with liberty and justice for ALL? Here in Foley, and across the country, dedicated teachers teach children to daily stand at attention with hands on their hearts and recite the Pledge of Allegiance: one nation… under God… with liberty and justice for all. It is time for we the people of this great country to do some soul searching: are we going to live from these virtues… or not? These Latino children know first hand what struggles their parents have gone through, what risks they have taken, to come to America so that their children could become Americans, so that their children could experience life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

One Nation… Under God… Indivisible…

Now is the time for all of us, for all Americans, to reflect on the core virtues of this country, the virtues upon which this country was conceived, founded and built… a country wishing to provide a beacon of light to the world. Now is the time to reflect on the nature of leadership that is American in the virtuous sense of its name. Now is the time to become real Americans… becoming real Americans calls for our moving away from divisions and bigotry and moving towards the oneness experienced when we love one another. We can become better than we are now; we can become Americans, a people that live out the words we speak. The words of Dr. Martin Luther King were planted in my heart as a young American child: I HAVE A DREAM! This dream is not just for a few; this dream is for ALL.

As Americans, let’s work together to help these good hard working families to have a better life for their children. Let us help them to live that dream, to find ways through which their children, our children, and grandchildren can realize the American Dream. Let us not let the Dream die; let us teach all children, by our actions sourced in the virtues of this country, that the American Dream is still alive and well. Let us become better than we are now so that all Americans can stand proudly, with hands on their hearts and recite the Pledge of Allegiance as that which we believe in, a daily reminder of the virtues we are striving to live by and from. Perhaps enabling us to someday come together as a people, to work together as a people, to cooperate as a people, in writing laws for our land, laws that move us towards wholeness, away from that which divides… in ways that work for all children, all children in the world, now and into the future…so that we the people can live from inclusivity and the compassion of equality…so that “at the end of the day” we can truthfully say no NO CHILD WAS LEFT BEHIND. This is the essence of America, this is my country, this is our country. Together we can make the shift to change hearts and open minds to a world our forefathers only envisioned. We can become better than this…

Sincerely from the heart,

Patricia M. Armour

Photo

Wed, 26 Oct 2011 00:46:00 -0500

"Seeing the faces of the children"

Wed, 26 Oct 2011 00:40:00 -0500

What follows is a letter being circulated in Mobile and Baldwin Counties. It’s from a teacher, to her colleagues and friends.

When others think of the passing of the new strict Alabama Immigration Laws they may envision an illegal sneaking over a fence, but this is not what I see. I see the faces of sweet innocent Hispanic-American children flashing through my mind and faces of their hard-working, faith-filled Latino families.

I see my Francisco’s face with his sweet smile and deep dimples that always made my day when he walked into my classroom. Full of pride, because not only was he learning a new language, but he was also being very successful in his first grade class. Now his desk sits empty.

I see my Lizbeth so timid, shy and small, crying on her first day of kindergarten. It was the first time she had to go “anywhere” without someone in her family being with her. It was her first time to survive in an “English Only” environment. I see her face frightened, with tears running down her cheeks, clinging to a Raggedy Anne doll that we gave her to comfort her…crying the first three weeks of school because she did not know how to communicate with her teacher. I see her happy, busy and learning with her kindergarten class, but now her family too is making plans to leave our state.

I see my “English Second Language” students standing on our school stage at the end of the year, receiving many awards. I see their proud parents with “throw-away” cameras, cheering for them with tears in their eyes because they are so grateful for the opportunity their children have to get a good education in America.
I see our Spanish speaking mothers on their hands and knees cleaning our school bathrooms, a job no one else was willing to do. I see them bringing in tamales for their child’s teachers. I see a single mom bringing sweet potatoes she had picked from the fields, to members of our school staff because she is so grateful that her children are loved and taken care of at our school. I see Moms learning English with their children. I see Dads working hard, praying hard, and coming up on a Saturday to help build our school playgrounds.

I see these children and families coming to school to withdraw their children so upset and inconsolable. Sad that they have to take their children from the only school they have ever known, the only home they have ever known; they no longer feel safe here. Now they feel the hurt and pain of racial profiling and bigotry. No longer do they feel welcomed in the place they used to call home.

I see teachers with hearts as big as mountains, crying as their child walks out of the classroom for the last time…not knowing where they are going, but knowing they no longer feel welcomed in our schools in Alabama. I see teachers and staff praying for our families as they make the mass exodus to leave our schools and our Foley community.

I see our principal, already overworked and under appreciated, in the news…not because of the good job he is doing or the high achievement scores at our low income school but because of our children and their families that are fleeing from our state. I see him giving a hug to a crying mother who grew up in Foley with his own daughter. I see them as sweet innocent girls laughing, playing and growing up in America together. I see the pain in her eyes now as many of her friends and family are living in fear and being harassed.

I see this small town community with businesses closing, homes sitting empty, classrooms with fewer students sitting at the desks and riding the school buses. I see teachers fearing for their jobs and the loss of their insurance and other benefits. I see families that still know how to bow their heads and pray together. I see churches losing their parishioners and pews empty where once there sat whole families praising God.

I see America, our country, home of the brave, land of opportunity. I see the Lady Liberty with the words….

“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. The wretched refuse of your teamming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

I see my students with their little hands on their hearts saying the Pledge of Allegiance to our American flag, reciting the words we taught them when they first walked into our school buildings…

“One nation, under God, with liberty and justice for all!”

I see our country, my country, once again becoming a land of opportunity for ALL. I see America, the beautiful…from sea to shining sea. I believe in our country and the virtues it was founded on.

I see American virtues rekindled and sparking action in many. After 9-11 the unity of ”We the People” was evident, and the great red, white, and blue was proudly displayed across our land. I see neighbors, helping neighbors after recent natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina, ravishing floods, oil spills, etc. It is possible; I see our country united and indivisible.

I see my ancestors of Irish-German descent, coming to the shores of America, making an X on their citizenship papers. They and many others were willing to work hard, pray hard, and make sacrifices so their children, grandchildren and future descendents could experience the benefits of freedom…so that we could get a good education, practice our religious freedoms, and thrive in healthy communities across our great land.

The United States of America has always welcomed those in need, those that are terrorized in their own countries, those that seek other shores with tranquility and the compassion of equality.

I hear words echoing within me…
We hold these truths to be self-evident…
ONE NATION, UNDER GOD, INDIVISIBLE…
Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness…
Conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal…

That this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish.

Liberty and justice for ALL…

Words that echo though our country’s history… words carved into our hearts… words that speak to ALL…words that include ALL, words that our nation was founded upon… words that reflect the virtues from which our nation was conceived… virtues many men and women have fought for and have been willing to die for…virtues that change hearts and make our world a better place to live.

Being a country of the people, for the people and by the people, this is work for us, those that still believe in the foundations of our country. This is work of “We the People”, not work for our government or institutions to do or accomplish.

This is the time for we the people of this country to change for the better, time to move away from divisiveness, away from anger, anger which leads to ever deeper divisiveness. The energies of divisiveness and bigotry are tearing our country apart, making visible our need for CHANGE. Now is the time for all of us to reach over the fences that divide and begin to speak for our children, ALL children.

It is time for each of us to change, to move towards wholeness and away from that which divides. Now is the time to take up our work for ALL children and to make our work our prayer. To become “pencils in God’s Hand” and let love enter and be part of the process… To live in harmony with our earth, our planet, to make this world a better place for ALL… A planet where “NO CHILD WILL BE LEFT BEHIND” and all children are important… A world where love lives, breathes and flourishes. Now is the time. Now is the place. Now is when we must take up this urgent work to move towards this upward shift for ALL… To become more, to be more, to do more for our neighbors. This time is our time, this time is such a time, this time is NOW.

HEART TO HEART…. We the people, speak for the children, we see the faces of ALL the children and become their voices!

In HIM and Through HIM,

Patricia McGovern Armour

Please feel free to share this letter with others who have open hearts, open minds, and with those that will speak for all children!

Platero, the Spanish donkey, lives in Mobile, Alabama.

Wed, 26 Oct 2011 00:19:00 -0500

Platero, the Spanish donkey, lives in Mobile, Alabama.

The Cherished Donkey

Wed, 26 Oct 2011 00:07:00 -0500

This morning we had a chance of meeting with the Mayor. His assistant promised us the day before that she would try to squeeze us in. Fernando and I, along with a local community member named Romina showed up at 9:00 am sharp. We waited in the lobby and talked to the assistant for a while. She told us to wait a bit and finally she came back and said we had two minutes to talk to Mayor Jones.

We followed her through several doors and finally through a chamber accessed only by entering a magic number on a key pad. The mayor came in soon after and invited us to sit down a large board room table. I quickly explained who we were, a bit about the coalition, and the feedback we wanted to receive from him. I’ll edit this part later when I have my notes in front of me, but in essence, the mayor said he was ashamed that Alabama was giving such a bad perception to the rest of the nation and the international community. He was embarrassed that Mobile, an international city, would be seen as a place unfit to do business. He mentioned that large companies from Australia, Germany, and several other countries had large operations in the city. We’ll be coming back to him to state something for the record so that his constituents can hear from their elected leader how this law is hurting, rather than helping, the economy of Mobile and the state as a whole.

After the meeting we walked over to the Chamber of Commerce. Fernando had to return to Montgomery, but we were successful in empowering Romina to feel entitled to ask questions of her community’s elected officials that she practically dragged me down the street. We didn’t have an appointment, but the “greeter desk” attendant quickly made a few phone calls and before we knew it, a woman glided down a staircase, smiled and extended her hand. She didn’t wait for us to say more than our names before she replied, “mucho gusto.” To which, I was pleasantly surprised. It’s not every day that a blond woman at the Chamber of Commerce surprises you with a beautiful Puerto Rican accent… in Alabama. We went into her office and didn’t come out for an entire hour later. To say the least, we found in her an ally who was more than eager to help us and our cause. We talked about everything from how she talks to people about the politics surrounding immigration to the contributions our people have made to the state. She talked about the crisis of honesty, made apparent by her example of the U.S. Congress granting a Canadian figure skater American citizenship so that an American skater who had been left partner-less after her mate was injured during the Winter Olympics so she could compete. She couldn’t accept that our priorities were placed there rather than helping the immigrants picking the tomatoes that grace the tops of our salads or the nannies that care for our children. We ended the conversation talking about Platero y Yo, a poem written by Juan Ramón Jimenez, a Spanish poet. She brought this up because just next door was the Spanish Plaza, which boasted a sculpture of the cherished donkey, right there in Mobile in order to make a point about the contributions of Latinos, and the Spanish before them, to Alabama and the United States.

The conversation inspired us to try out luck and put the #HB 56 to the test. Romina and I went back to the Government Plaza and walked into the Mobile County License Commission to ask for an Alabama drivers license. The courage I had to work up was futile because the officer at the entrance mistook my request for a license for a marriage license. Romina and I looked at each other and laughed. What an idiot. He told us that agency was only open on Mondays and Fridays for drivers license applications and directed us to several other locations in Mobile where we could be assisted. We drove south to Theodore where we were going to meet another community member and herbal supplement distributor and his friend a restaurant owner. There we came to a shopping mall that included a public library, a License Commission, and a Sheriffs Department. I walked in and set my Flip Cam on record. There were a few people at the front desk, maybe getting information or obtaining some kind of applications. An officer to the side looked at me and, being as nervous as I was, I told him I wanted to apply for a drivers license. He told me I had to get in line and I asked whether everyone had to. He then asked me if I had my current license and I replied that I didn’t, that I had just moved to the state. He told me I’d have to go to the State License Commission on Demetropolis Road. He then added, “I will say you’ll need your birth certificate and a Social Security number.” I thanked him and walked away happy to have it all on camera. Yeah whatever, I didn’t inform him I was recording, but I also didn’t capture his “likeness” and I have no idea what his name is. Big deal.

Romina was waiting nervously in the car where I had left her with one of my business cards and the number to one of the campaign managers in Montgomery in case I was arrested for attempting to “enter into a business contract with Alabama,” by applying for a drivers license without documentation. Who the hell knew what would happen. I just felt the need to do it. I had planned to pretend I didn’t have either a birth certificate or Social Security number, but as soon as the officer told me I had to go to a third place, I gave it up.

We met up with Carlos and Ismael and then drove back north to Mobile. I had set up a meeting with a guy named Chuck who works in real estate in the Gulf Shore and we made plans to meet at Callaghan’s Irish Social Club. Chuck also invited the daughter of a pastor who had just relocated to Italy to start a new church and the pastor whose church joined the clergy’s lawsuit against HB 56. Read Pastor Jim Flower’s blog entry after he learned the law had gone into effect.

If you’re ever in Mobile, check out the Social Club and the neighborhood. Apparently it’s a hotbed of progressive thought and Pastor Flower’s church isn’t far away. The bar is covered in memorabilia and the restroom walls are hidden behind autographed pictures of musicians I’ve never heard of. They also serve the only Alabama-brewed beer I’ve been able to find, Naked Pig IPA. The day before I was able to taste a couple of Georgia-brews, but I’ve always had a predilection for the tastier IPA.

Romina seemed to really enjoy herself. She has a natural instinct to network and you can see inquisitiveness beaming from her eyes. Her Argentine accent is confusing at first because you really have to wonder how she ended up in the armpit of Alabama. If you ever need an interpreter between Pensacola, FL and Louisiana, ask anyone for Romina and they’ll point you right to her. She’s my first leader. She’ll be attending the training by NDLON November 4th through 6th.

Success.

Tomorrow is our Know Your Rights workshop at the church. We’ve been outreaching like crazy and everyone we’ve talked to has been busy spreading the word. Store keepers, bakers, restaurant owners, and social service providers have all been calling up their friends like they’re giving away $100 bills down the street. “Have you heard? They’re gonna tell us how to tell the police to shove it up their bleep! You don’t want to miss it.”

El Chico, is a restaurant. Not a lad I met in Alabama.

Tue, 25 Oct 2011 01:20:43 -0500

El Chico, is a restaurant. Not a lad I met in Alabama.

El Chico

Tue, 25 Oct 2011 01:17:00 -0500

This morning I woke up and got on a conference call at 9 am with the rest of the organizers across the state. Everyday we get on the phone and give updates about the contacts, outreach, and progress we’ve made. I drank coffee with cinnamon that Gaby’s husband, George, made for me and smoked a cigarette.

After the call I sat down at the kitchen table to catch up on the blog entries I had neglected for the first few days of the campaign. George offered to make eggs and grits. Best breakfast ever! My second time having grits was surely better than the first. George’s grits were spicy and full of flavor. I drank a couple more cups of coffee.

After finishing up my ranting on the blog I headed off to Bayou La Batre, a real neat place. There I met with Boat People SOS, an organization that helped respond to the crisis after Katrina. I learned from them that their community (the Vietnamese) has an undetermined small undocumented immigrant population and that very few Latino immigrants live in the area. I knew this coming in but they seem to have a successful track record of providing self help workshops, community building, and mental health services that can really be applied to the Latino immigrant population. They directed me to where I could find the single Mexican restaurant and the sole Mexican store in town and I left them with flyers in Vietnamese and Korean about the law.

On the way down to BLB, Fernando, an organizer from New Jersey called me to say he was en route to meet up with me, so I drove back to Mobile to meet him at the Starbucks we had selected as a meeting point. Driving up to the Starbucks, I saw a familiar sign across the freeway, reading “El Chico.” It was the same restaurant chain my dad had worked in when I was a child, which had closed in Midland, Texas so many years ago. I had to have lunch there and I called Fernando to meet me there instead. I remember the late nights I would wait for my dad to come home from his job as a cook with anticipation for the rubber bands he would bring me from the restaurant. I don’t know why I liked that so much. They were just the rubber bands used to hold celery, carrots, or other produce together. Either way, my sister and I knew what time dad would be home and we’d wait for the front door to open and jump into his arms screaming, ‘¡papi!’. Every single night. That was until my dad became a carpenter. He would later go on to open his own business after his hard work and determination failed to get him a 25 cent raise on his hourly earnings. Immigrants are amongst the most hardworking people. Anyone willing to leave their country, home, families, friends, and lives behind simply to make ends meet and have a chance for a better life comes here with the single intention of working hard. My parents came to the United States in the mid-eighties with nothing but the clothes they could fit in their suitcase and the 80’s model baby-blue/white striped Chevy pick-up truck that would bring them here. They knew a few words of English that were common in their border town, but otherwise couldn’t even place an order over the phone for pizza. It has always been a struggle for my parents, but they know why they’ve endured the challenge. They’ve given me and my sister the best lives we could have ever asked for. Lives that would have otherwise meant poverty, little education, and few opportunities in Mexico.

Lunch wasn’t as authentic as the memory I might have recreated in my mind about El Chico. Nonetheless, it was satisfying. Afterwards, Fernando and I conjured up a plan to walk straight into the Mayor’s office and… (you’ll have to read a future blog post for this). We GPS’ed the location and raced downtown as fast as we could with only about half an hour before 5. Not being completely imprudent, we called the Mayor’s office on the way and tried to verbally request a meeting with him or someone in his office. Of course it was too late to do any such thing, but we received a commitment to try to be squeezed in Tuesday morning, for which we’ve invited a couple of constituents to join us. We also tried to set up meetings with one of the county commissioners that showed up at the Diwali celebration on Saturday. If they talked so favorably about the Indian community’s contribution to Mobile, perhaps he’d be willing to say something about the positive impact of Latino immigrants to the economy of the County as well. If not… well we’d like to know why not.

After our unsuccessful attempt to barge into the Mayor’s office (we actually didn’t even try, just drove by) we sat down at the town square across from the Basilica and started making calls to everyone I had met the first couple of days. In the middle of our calls the clock struck 6:00 and the Basilica emitted an obnoxiously long bell count followed by musical chime arrangement that seemed to never end. The mosquitoes started biting so we decided to pack our bags, we took a few pictures and headed for the nearest pub for a refreshment.

Gaby had dinner waiting for us at her house. She served us Coke and Brandy and we talked for a good while. We talked about the ugly and the good. We talked about all the contacts we have made, how she met George, what potential the community had to form strong coalitions, and our favorite salsas. Gaby’s a great leader. She’s motivated and the community is really blessed to have her. She prefers Valentina, Fernando prefers Tabasco, and I prefer Tapatio. No one likes Cholula.

Status of HB 56

Tue, 25 Oct 2011 00:31:10 -0500

Each day I talk to community members, the story of the mass exodus of immigrants out of Alabama is corroborated. Many misunderstand the status of the law. Some pastors have even been said to have told their congregants that it would be impossible to win in the courts and that people ought to just leave. Many don’t understand that the case against HB 56 hasn’t even been heard in the courts and that all that people have heard has simply been the results of a petition to block the law from taking effect until the constitutionality of the law can be determined. People believe that the current status of the law is the new reality and I have done my best to remind people that the information I am giving them could change at any moment and that it’s important they stay connected to the organizers and community leaders to stay up to date as it moves through the courts.

Even though parts of it have been blocked, the parts that haven’t have already played out their impact. The question of whether or not an immigrant hiring a lawyer to represent them or advise them as they make preparations constitutes as, “entering into a contract,” has yet to be clarified. This presents one of the gravest constitutional issues related to due process if people can’t even access legal counsel. Or take the fact that utilities companies may no longer service immigrant household with running water or electricity unless their immigration status is verified, which presents not only a civil rights issue but a human rights one. How do you not racially profile an entire community in complying with this part of the law? At the training I asked whether utility companies were proactively requiring households update them with their immigration status or doing so beginning with new request for services or upon then end of billing cycles to anyone with last names Sanchez, Garcia, and Lopez.

Below is a simplified timeline and outline of the law as it stands at the time this blog entry was written.

June 2, 2011- Alabama passes HB 56, groups announce plans to file suit shortly thereafter.

September 28, 2011- Civil rights organizations, including the ACLU, churches, and the Department of Justice file a law suit, District Court blocks part of it while the case is heard. Groups suing appeal decision to block only parts, seek to block more of the law.

October 14th, 2011- 11th Circuit Court of Appeals blocks several other clauses of the bill from going into effect, while the litigation proceeds.

Rights continued to be protected:

1- Children in public schools shouldn’t be asked about their immigration status.

2- Undocumented students can continue to attend public colleges and universities.

3- People can still live with or provide transport to anyone who may be undocumented.

4- Employers may still make tax deductions from all workers, including any who may be undocumented.

5- Employers may not be sued for discrimination by “legal” employees if these workers aren’t hired (or are fired) when the employer has other workers who may be undocumented.

6- It is not a crime for someone to seek work as a day laborer.

Parts of the bill that went into effect:

1- Police may verify an individual’s immigration status of anyone they stop, detain, or arrest if they determine with reasonable suspicion that the individual may be unlawfully present.

2- Everyone must show proof of status when applying for any license plate, driver’s or business license. It is a crime for an undocumented person to enter into any “business contract” with the state.

3- All contracts between an undocumented immigrant and another person are unenforceable. These contracts include rental agreements, loans, etc.

4- Police will transport any person found to be driving without a license to the nearest magistrate to check for immigration status.

5- Police will check the immigration status of anyone booked in jail.

6- Any immigrant unlawfully present who is convicted of a crime will be placed in the custody of Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE/DHS).

Anyone seeking legal help/advice on any matters related to immigration or other should call 1-800-982-1620.

Read a more thorough analysis of HB 56 by the ACLU.

ACIJ Organizers

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 12:10:36 -0500

ACIJ Organizers

Cotton field in Summedale, Alabama.

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 12:07:07 -0500

Cotton field in Summedale, Alabama.

The Day of the Lord

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 12:06:00 -0500

October 23

Saturday night at dinner I called Pastor Enrique Escobar who provided me with a list of pastors and their contact information. I was able to get four of them to agree to let me speak to their congregations. Luckily their services were spread throughout the day and a little driving back and forth on Highway 59 would make it happen.

My first stop was Liberty Church with Pastora Luz Cunningham. Their congregation meets in what used to be a movie theater building. Several services go on at the same time in the different theaters and her congregation calls itself Iglesia Libertad. I walked into the middle of their service where a rock band on the stage played a song in Spanish. “In your presence we are consumed, heaven and earth are one, you renew everything, in your presence, everything kneels unto you.” Followed by another song with the words “God make it rain.” The songs were followed by the pastor’s husband giving a short sermon encouraging the congregants to have faith in spite of current events. He brought up the Exodus, the tower of Babel, and made historical allusion to Hitler blaming Jews for Germany’s problems. I was allowed to speak to the congregation and I made a call for bilingual leaders. Six came up to me afterwards eager to get involved. Amongst them was an employee of Wells Fargo that really wanted to know whether the state could seize bank accounts held by undocumented immigrants and a nurse who wanted to be able to answer her patient’s questions related to the bill. Another guy who was filming the service mentioned he had contacts with a local Spanish radio station which I’m going to pursue to do a Know Your Rights presentation on the air.

After the service I went to Wendy’s where I had a salad and fries. I don’t have much time to eat and it’s extremely difficult to find vegetarian options at the fast food places. There are also no coffee shops for me to stop and document contacts I make or write about my experience.

The next congregation I went to was Iglesia San Pedro where Pastor Enrique Escobar preaches in Summerdale. His service was a bit more traditional and somewhat more familiar to the services I attended in Midland, Texas for over 15 years at la Iglesia de Cristo (Church of Christ) with my parents. The pastor, here too, connected his sermon to the current events and covered the Exodus. He encouraged his members to pray and remember the Israelites who roamed in the desert for forty years after leaving the land of Egypt where they had been slaves. He reminded us that they too had grumbled about their fate and had wished they would have died by the hands of Jehovah in Egypt than be lost in the desert. He asked whether we thought Moses had done so willingly, or whether Daniel had excitedly invited his friends to go into the Lion’s den. They did so with faith and because they had to. They did it for a larger purpose and in the end they were rewarded. “The voice of the people of God in Alabama is being heard in the heavens and God is building up an army,” these words resounded with me and I aspired for our movement to be that army that would come to Alabama and undo this oppression. I spoke to the congregation, jotted down a few interested individuals and took off to the third congregation.

Pastor Armando Guevara preaches at one of the Presbyterian churches that also lets a Spanish congregation use their space. They let me speak at the beginning of their service so that I could head off to make the end of Pastora Socorro’s service.

I walked into Pastora Socorro’s service to see a room packed with people listening to her loud and aggressive words. Her service had more of a revival feeling and less of a somber serious tone. She shouted about her daughter’s chest pains post-heart attack and how they were eased after proclaiming that Jehovah had saved her and ordering Satan, the enemy, out of her body. Each of her remarks were followed by two or three “Hallelujah’s.” It was hard to follow her, but I got in front of the 50 or so congregants and tried to be as animated as possible. I made a call for leaders and they did come. Afterwards I spoke to the Pastor and her husband, another clergy person from Burmingham, in her office. Everything was going well until her husband turned to me and asked, “ACLU, isn’t that the anti-religious organization?” All my interactions with clergy had been inviting, receptive, and collaborative until then. What followed was a barrage of accusations and my attempts to explain that the ACLU defends the separation of church and state as much as the freedom of religion. Nothing that I said seemed to quell the Pastor’s agitation. He told me that the word of God asks that before we hear the messenger we know who the messenger is, “Before [they} listened to Paul they had to find out who he was.” I tried to explain that I work for the ACLU, but that I was only volunteering with the Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice. I had no other option but to say that I humbly appreciated their letting me speak to the congregation and make my exit.

Driving back to Gaby’s that night was difficult. I was tired and hungry and overwhelmed. I had to remind myself that I should have expected it and that this work would be challenging. I accepted what had happened and thought about how to handle something similar if it came up again. I sat down at Gaby’s table to eat the beef stew broth her husband had prepared, avoiding the bits of meat. It was delicious. I also had her mother-in-law’s homemade corn bread and a slice of coffee cake for dinner.

I went to bed a bit deflated.

Mobile/HWY 59

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 11:21:30 -0500

October 22

Leaving Montgomery was a bit weird as I headed south on Interstate 65. We were all dispersing across the state, some of us alone, some of us accompanied or soon to be met by another organizer or local community leader. Luckily for me, I had met Gaby at the training. She’s originally from Mexico but has been living near Robertsdale for some years. She offered to let me stay with her and her family during my stay, for which I’ll forever be thankful. Their generosity and hospitality has already overwhelmed me with appreciation and gratitude for good people.

The drive to my turf took about three and half hours. After crossing Interstate 10 into Baldwin County, I began stopping anytime I saw a church, a Latino store or business, or anyone looking like they would be open to talk to me. I stopped at a garage sale where an African American guy told me where I could find the nearest Latino congregation. He directed me down the street where the pastor’s house had burned down. He warned me he may not be home but I was lucky enough to catch him and his wife. They told me they open their doors to a Spanish speaking congregation and gave me the number of that pastor. The pastor’s wife mentioned she was Puerto Rican and that she wanted to know more about the law as her parents had many questions. She also mentioned she works for a local elementary school and has access to ESL teachers who could spread the word to parents. I left my contact info, some brochures, and a one pager on the law.

I also stopped at a well known Latino grocery store, La Michoacana, I had been told would be a good place to start. The store was empty with only a couple of cars parked in front. I spoke to the owner who was very pessimistic about the entire situation. According to him, at 70% of the immigrants had already left his community and he has lost a lot of business. He mentioned he was looking to close his store next month because he wasn’t going to be able to make things meet. It was hard to hear that after he had mentioned he’d been in the community twenty years. His brother’s store a few miles south in Foley would probably be okay, but his fate seemed to be already determined. I left a few flyers and asked him to put up a poster telling people what they could do to get more information and create a plan.

Outside the store, I walked up to a man who was waiting for a friend. He readily accepted to let me record him talking a bit about his perceptions about the law. He mentioned he was a bricklayer in Mobile and that so many people have left the state that homes are being left uncovered because he’s one of the few bricklayers left. He then proceeded to tell me that he had been pulled over at a DUI checkpoint and arrested along with his passengers for the sole reason of not being legally present. He told the arresting officer that it was unfair for him to arrest them for that reason and that they were only here to work and weren’t hurting anyone. The officer replied to him that he didn’t want them in the country because they were taking people’s job. At the booking station they were eventually released because an ICE agent was unable to come take custody of them. He also told me that he had a friend whose car had been repossessed. He purchased it from a auto dealer how had been selling cars to undocumented immigrants. The dealer called the Sheriff and reclaimed the car after the bill went into effect when the man had only a few payments left to make on the car. I told him to call the legal hotline (1-800-982-1620).

After that I stopped at a panaderia (bakery) where the owners were happy for me to leave information and willing to have a Know Your Rights presentation in their restaurant.

A few more stops later I decided to head to Mobile for a meeting I had been invited to where I would be meeting with another ACIJ organizer, Cathy and some local leaders. It turned out to be a Diwali celebration attended by at least 200 people, the District Attorney, and two County Supervisors. Cathy and I were allowed to speak to the audience about the bill, its effects, and our efforts. It was particularly interesting to call out the impact the bill has had on the entire community after the elected officials touted their love of diversity and the contributions the Indian community have made to Mobile.

We left the celebration before it was over and headed to a FexEx store to make copies of our one-pager on the bill in Korean and Vietnamese. After that Cathy and I had dinner together before she headed back to Mongomery and I to the East Shore.

Civil Rights Memorial Center

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 10:51:18 -0500

Civil Rights Memorial Center