On the first day of the mobilization to protest the Bush Agenda at the Republican National Convention in New York City, 500 people attended the Speak Out! organized by the Immigrant Solidarity Network. The program was designed to lift the voices of grassroots Immigrant organizations and workers, raising awareness of the many varied issues and struggles being led from within immigrant communities themselves in the U.S.
Speakers from Latino, South Asian, Muslim, Asian and African communities came together to relate news from their struggles. One of the goals of the conference was to bring the disparate focuses of many groups into a forum that would emphasize unity and promote the development of strategic action for all immigrant groups to share in the coming years.
Another goal was to present the specific information about "on the ground" immigrant struggles to the mostly foreign policy oriented activists who make up the non-immigrant and non-people of color "left."
Many people who came to listen commented on the value of the day and expressed an appreciation for the event, reflecting that there is a need for this type of community and movement-building work.
Over 30 grassroots groups participated or endorsed the event. Speakers and tables from these groups provided a broad slice of the experience of Immigrants in post-911 US.
Organizers are looking forward to moving forward in the future with the idea of a national stategy conference in which grassroots groups from all regions of the US could meet and develop a common stategy for increasing their political power and securing the goals of legalization, justice and a life free from discrimination and racism.
Immigrant Solidarity Network will be marching in two upcoming demonstrations this coming Monday, August 30. The Marches - Still We Rise's Poor Peoples' March and the Poor Peoples' Economic Human Rights Campaign March For Our Lives - will focus on redressing injustices and the negative domestic effects of US policies that have spread war and neo-liberal colonialism around the world.
