Early one morning, Maria—then nine months pregnant—and her family were stopped by the police for no discernible reason. A special breakfast outing became a nightmare—and at one of the most intimate moments of her life, Maria found a team of immigration agents—not her husband—by her side.
Maria’s chilling story, which Breakthrough captured on a trip to the Mexico/Arizona border, is the centerpiece of “Checkpoint Nation? Building Community Across Borders,” a powerful new documentary that depicts the reality of post-9/11 racial profiling — as mandated by laws such as SB 1070 in Arizona, which are now being imitated and implemented nationwide — along with the new and strengthening alliances of diverse groups committed to racial justice.
Set in the U.S./Mexico border area near Tucson, Arizona, a region that sees more and more migrant deaths every year, the video explores the idea that the way to move forward is to find connections and build coalitions among between diverse groups of allies — including Muslim-, South Asian-, African-, and Latino-Americans; civil rights lawyers and media activists — that have identified with each other’s histories and united in the common goals of justice, equality, and respect for all.
“Checkpoint Nation?” was produced to complement the release of a new report and Week of Action around the 10th anniversary of September 11th spearheaded by Rights Working Group, a national coalition of more than 300 civil liberties, national security, immigrant rights and human rights organizations committed to restoring due process and human rights protections that have been eroded in the name of national security. The report, “Reclaiming Our Rights: Reflections on Racial Profiling in a Post-9/11 America,” will be released September 14th.
The groups that are featured in the video are ACLU of Arizona, Alliance for Educational Justice, Black Alliance for Just Immigration, Derechos Humanos, DRUM (Desis Rising Up and Moving), Funding Exchange, VAMOS Unidos
Denying fairness and justice to some puts all of our freedoms at risk. Ten years after September 11th, we must challenge ourselves to unite across our differences and reaffirm the real American values of pluralism, democracy, and dignity for all.
Watch the video and take action to stop racial profiling in your community.
Women & Migration – Building Bridges Between Black and Brown Communities
BAJI, The Latina Center, Black Women Organized for Political Action (BWOPA), the City of Richmond Human Rights/Human Relations Commission, and the Neighborhood House of North Richmond are collaborating to organize a series of dialogues to address the tensions that exist between the Black and Latino communities. The first session called “Building Bridges Between Black and Brown Communities” took place on June 25. The second gathering was held on October 29. Building Bridges is a safe space for the healing and empowerment of women as agents of social change in their communities.
You can read the Richmond Progressive Alliance’s account of the June 25 gathering at: http://www.richmondprogressivealliance.net/Issues/OneRichmond.html#BBD-June11
BAJI Statement – In Support of Occupy Oakland and Occupy Wall Street
Statement ofthe Black Alliance for Just Immigration
In Support ofOccupy Oakland and Occupy Wall Street
Theworld spotlight is on Oakland, California, a city that has historically beenrecognized for its strong resistance to injustice. From the Black Panther Party, to the Bay Area Free SouthAfrica Movement, to the Justice for Oscar Grant Committee, the people ofOakland and the Bay Area have stood on the right side of history time and timeagain. Today, as the OccupyOakland movement brings international attention to our city, the social justicemovement continues to be led by grassroots communities who have stood theirground against economic exploitation and police brutality.
TheBlack Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI), as an organization founded onracial equity, immigrant rights and economic justice, categorically condemnsthe forced removal of and police brutality perpetrated against Occupy Oaklandactivists. The Administration of Mayor Jean Quan, the first female Asian mayorof a major city in the U.S., elected with support from the diverse progressivemovement, has failed the people of Oakland.
Wesupport the Occupy Oakland movement and the Occupy Wall Street movement’sdemand for economic justice and endorse the occupation of public spaces to callattention to the gross inequalities in U.S. society. We condemn not only the growing national income inequalitybut also the racial inequality that leaves black and brown communities inpersistent poverty, with at least twice the unemployment rate as the generalpopulation. We denounce thescapegoating of African Americans, Latinos and immigrants of color, who make upa disproportionate share of the 99% living in poverty, for the economic crisiscaused by the banks and Wall Street.
Wecall upon the City of Oakland to cease all actions against the occupiers of OscarGrant Plaza (Frank Ogawa Plaza) as they use the public space to exercise theirrights of free speech and expression. We urge the Oakland Police rank and file to resist following orders thatperpetrate brutality and force against peaceful protesters.
Wecall upon progressive individuals and organizations, Labor unions and labororganizations, churches, synagogues and mosques, and all peace loving people tokeep the pressure up. OccupyEverywhere!
Occupy Wall Street!
Occupythe banks—Wells Fargo, Bank of America, CitiBank and other financialinstitutions—to demand the end to home foreclosures and investments inimmigrant detention centers. Boycott the Banks!
Occupy Washington!
Marchon Washington and occupy Congress to demand a public works program that createsliving wage jobs to repair our crumbling infrastructure and transform ouroil-dependent economy to a green economy. Demand that Washington tax the rich, restore the social safety net, andregulate financial institutions and big corporations.Occupy Oakland and all U.S. cities!
Demandthat local and state governments stop the cutbacks in services and educationand tax the rich to pay for them. Demand an end to attacks on Occupy WallStreet movement and the end to police brutality. Support and encourage the economic localization movement thatdisconnects the stranglehold that the Central Bank and predatory global capitalismhas on our communities. Supportmunicipal ID cards that will better integrate undocumented immigrants intoOakland’s diverse community and will benefit small businesses through a locale-currency that circulates the earnings of a city’s residents within the citywithout any portion being siphoned off by the national corporations and the bigbanks.
BAJI heads to Georgia!
Post by Opal Tometi, BAJI National Organizer
This summer wastumultuous for the migrant justice movement. As BAJI and allies across thenation took note and organized against a myriad of anti-immigrant legislation,policies and other attacks to racial justice and gains of the civil rightsstruggle – we realized that states in the south were under specific attack.
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Georgia – historicallyimportant city for many reasons including its prominence in the civil rightsmovement and contemporary politics was a glaring flag for BAJI staff andmembers. We knew instinctivelythat when HB 87 passed in Georgia that we must respond.
And so we did – sending2 of our staff members to Georgia. BAJI Senior Organizer, Phil Hutchings, aveteran of the civil rights movement, SNCC and actively involved in severalcutting edge human rights movements and me, Opal Tometi, a Nigerian born andraised in Phoenix, Arizona who has been active in the migrant rights struggleand stop-violence against women movement for years.
We are grateful to haveconnected with several phenomenal individuals and organizations that are doingtremendous work in Georgia. Some who have been established for decades andothers more recently formed. We know that we didn’t know everything, but foundthat there are several who are working diligently to find solutions toGeorgia’s most pressing human rights infractions and social ills.
Of note we found peopleorganizing for justice for immigrants, people who were concerned aboutre-districting which if done incorrectly/immorally will further disenfranchisecommunities of color. This is of grave importance to note because Georgia is enroute to becoming a majority ‘people of color’ state. The demographics areshifting and there are those in power who have taken note and are working toensure their power.
The migrant justicegroups we met with were recently working on fighting the deportation of a SouthAfrican man who if deported may face death from opposition forces in SouthAfrica, others had been fighting a federal program called “Secure Communities”which is in fact a misnomer and essentially encourages racial profiling and makeslocal police share fingerprints with national immigration irrespective of the reasonsomeone Is incarcerated. Other elected officials and civil rights groups weregrappling with the fact that some state officials were calling for parolees totake the unfilled jobs in fields that that were usually held by migrant daylaborers.
We plan to go back toGeorgia and continue to learn, build relationships,and assist in racial justice and immigrant rights organizing efforts. We’ll besure to keep our friends and allies posted as we continue to build in the South.
Black Belt Power: African-Americans come back South, change political landscape
Original post by Institute for Southern Studies
Much of the media buzz about the 2010 Census has focused on the role of Latinos and new immigrants in changing the face of the country.
It makes sense: According to the U.S. Census Bureau, about half of the nation’s growth over the last decade was driven by growth in the Latino community, much of it in Southern states.
But equally influential in the South’s rapidly-changing demographics is another story with a longer historical arc: The return of many African-Americans to Southern states after a decades-long exodus during the Jim Crow era.
The Great Migration of some 6 million African-Americans from the South from between World War I and 1970 is one of the most significant demographic upheavals in U.S. history. According to author Isabel Wilkerson, at the turn of the century 90 percent of all African-Americans were living in the South. By the end of the Great Migration, nearly half were living outside the South, mostly in the cities of the North and West.
The civil rights movement didn’t end racism, of course, but it did change the South enough to entice many African-Americans to come back, igniting a reverse migration movement that continues to gain steam.
The result: According to the U.S. Census, the South’s share of the black population — 57 percent — is now the highest it’s been since 1960.* That’s still less than the 90 percent mark before the Great Migration, but as the New York Times reported earlier this year, it’s a dramatic change:
During the turbulent 1960s, black population growth ground to a halt in the South, and Southern states claimed less than 10 percent of the national increase then. The South has increasingly claimed a greater share of black population growth since — about half the country’s total in the 1970s, two-thirds in the 1990s and three-quarters in the decade that just ended.
The shift could significantly strengthen the political power of African-Americans in the South, especially in the historic Black Belt stretching from the mid-Atlantic to east Texas. Here’s a map showing where the South’s growing African-American communities are concentrated, according to the latest Census data:
A glimpse of the political force this represents was a href=”http://www.southernstudies.org/2008/11/a-new-south-rising.html”>seen in 2008, when record-breaking African-American turnout helped push Florida, North Carolina and Virginia into blue territory.
It’s also seen in Georgia, the epicenter of the Black Belt, where the African-American community grew by more than 579,000 since 2000 — the leading ingredient in making it the seventh-fastest growing state in the country.
The 2010 Census also offers a glimpse of how Southern African-American communities are changing. Atlanta echoes a trend found across the South and country, where suburban black neighborhoods are growing at the expense of the urban core. The New York Times notes that “just 2 percent of the black population growth in the last decade occurred in counties that have traditionally been black population centers.”
African-Americans moving South also tend to be young: 40 percent of those moving to Southern states in the 2010 Census count were ages 21 to 40. Meaning that the political force of the latest phase of African-American reverse-migration South will be felt for years to come.
* The U.S. Census definition of “the South” includes Alabama, Arkansas, D.C., Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia. The Institute for Southern Studies typically does not include DC, DE, MD and OK in its definition.
Watch the new Restore Fairness documentary, “Checkpoint Nation? Building Community Across Borders”
Originally posted by Restore Fairness Blog
Early one morning, Maria—then nine months pregnant—and her family were stopped by the police for no discernible reason. A special breakfast outing became a nightmare—and at one of the most intimate moments of her life, Maria found a team of immigration agents—not her husband—by her side.
Maria’s chilling story, which Breakthrough captured on a trip to the Mexico/Arizona border, is the centerpiece of “Checkpoint Nation? Building Community Across Borders,” a powerful new documentary that depicts the reality of post-9/11 racial profiling — as mandated by laws such as SB 1070 in Arizona, which are now being imitated and implemented nationwide — along with the new and strengthening alliances of diverse groups committed to racial justice.
Set in the U.S./Mexico border area near Tucson, Arizona, a region that sees more and more migrant deaths every year, the video explores the idea that the way to move forward is to find connections and build coalitions among between diverse groups of allies — including Muslim-, South Asian-, African-, and Latino-Americans; civil rights lawyers and media activists — that have identified with each other’s histories and united in the common goals of justice, equality, and respect for all.
“Checkpoint Nation?” was produced to complement the release of a new report and Week of Action around the 10th anniversary of September 11th spearheaded by Rights Working Group, a national coalition of more than 300 civil liberties, national security, immigrant rights and human rights organizations committed to restoring due process and human rights protections that have been eroded in the name of national security. The report, “Reclaiming Our Rights: Reflections on Racial Profiling in a Post-9/11 America,” will be released September 14th.
The groups that are featured in the video are ACLU of Arizona, Alliance for Educational Justice, Black Alliance for Just Immigration, Derechos Humanos, DRUM (Desis Rising Up and Moving), Funding Exchange, VAMOS Unidos
Denying fairness and justice to some puts all of our freedoms at risk. Ten years after September 11th, we must challenge ourselves to unite across our differences and reaffirm the real American values of pluralism, democracy, and dignity for all.
Watch the video and take action to stop racial profiling in your community.
Maria’s chilling story, which Breakthrough captured on a trip to the Mexico/Arizona border, is the centerpiece of “Checkpoint Nation? Building Community Across Borders,” a powerful new documentary that depicts the reality of post-9/11 racial profiling — as mandated by laws such as SB 1070 in Arizona, which are now being imitated and implemented nationwide — along with the new and strengthening alliances of diverse groups committed to racial justice.
Set in the U.S./Mexico border area near Tucson, Arizona, a region that sees more and more migrant deaths every year, the video explores the idea that the way to move forward is to find connections and build coalitions among between diverse groups of allies — including Muslim-, South Asian-, African-, and Latino-Americans; civil rights lawyers and media activists — that have identified with each other’s histories and united in the common goals of justice, equality, and respect for all.
“Checkpoint Nation?” was produced to complement the release of a new report and Week of Action around the 10th anniversary of September 11th spearheaded by Rights Working Group, a national coalition of more than 300 civil liberties, national security, immigrant rights and human rights organizations committed to restoring due process and human rights protections that have been eroded in the name of national security. The report, “Reclaiming Our Rights: Reflections on Racial Profiling in a Post-9/11 America,” will be released September 14th.
The groups that are featured in the video are ACLU of Arizona, Alliance for Educational Justice, Black Alliance for Just Immigration, Derechos Humanos, DRUM (Desis Rising Up and Moving), Funding Exchange, VAMOS Unidos
Denying fairness and justice to some puts all of our freedoms at risk. Ten years after September 11th, we must challenge ourselves to unite across our differences and reaffirm the real American values of pluralism, democracy, and dignity for all.
Watch the video and take action to stop racial profiling in your community.
Border Justice Delegation Prt. 3
The final days of the delegation consisted of us traveling across the border and visiting a Comedor, which aids migrants crossing, by providing a hot meal, a phone and a roof. We crossed the enormous wall that continues to be built “dividing” Mexico and Arizona. We were searched trying to ENTER Mexico, not the US, as well as several miles away from the border, in the middle of the desert. I felt like I could be in a post-apocalyptic movie or the Occupied Territories.
By far, the most moving experience was listening to the Promotoras speak. The Promotoras, a group of organizer with Derechos Humanos were kind enough to wait for us despite out late arrival, due to a tire blow out. We heard from a woman whose husband and children were 
detained, while she was forced to give birth in the presence of ICE agents. After delivering she was given 10 days to recover and was deported with her new born, but she returned for her children. With a new born, this brave woman crossed the desert in seven days, to be reunited with her family. It made me ask myself, what parent would not do that? My parents would.
On the last day of the delegation, we visited the Tohono O’odham nation. There I saw how indigenous and desert customs are being destroyed. As mentioned in an earlier blog, the land of the Tohono O’odham spans across Arizona and Sonora, Mexico, and because of this the area is full of border patrol both on the border and further into Arizona. Indigenous people, by participating in traditional and everyday activities are subject to harassment and detention. What would you do if saw an elder and a child walking in an isolated desert? Would you offer them a ride? It is traditional for people living in isolated, harsh environment, especially desert to show hospitality to visitors. This hospitality can save lives, and is very important.
Now in Arizona, if you offer someone a ride out of the cold, rain or desert, you are subject to arrest. We learned of a woman who picked up two gentlemen in the middle of the night, in winter. She drove them to the nearest gas station and got them coffee. Unfortunately, a Border Patrol agent saw her and her vehicle was taken.
When are we going to make human life a priority? Why do we excuse abuse, discrimination, exploitation? We need to wake up and realize that what has, and is happening to us, is happening to others. Once we remember our history and join with immigrants, Mexican, Muslim, Nigerian, Haitian, then we will achieve community and freedom.
The same people, ideas, corporations, and justification that have been and continue to oppress African Americans and immigrants of color alike. I challenge African Americans to remember what they were taught, or do some research, or contact BAJI and learn about how you can connect with immigrants of color coming to the United States, and immigrants crossing the Border.
Border Justice Delegation Prt. 2
The second day opened with presentation by Raquel Rubio-Goldsmith from the University of Arizona, Binational Migration Institute, explained further how border has become land of impunity. She spoke of the Tohono O’odham nation and the migration history of the people who live on this land. The Tohono O’odham nation spans across the Arizona and Mexico Border, and indigenous people find themselves subject to harassment, arrest and detention. For generations, the harvest has driven people to migrate across the border. For the harvest, people have always migrated across this “border”.
We saw first-hand, the impact of border policy when we visited the Office of the Medical Examiner for Pima County, where the remains of nearly roughly 200 migrants are processed each year. People commonly die from exposure, heat stroke, drowning, and injury. Nothing hit you more once you see these bodies. What happened and ends up of people’s mother, father, brother, sister, child. I commend Pima County for being the only county on the broader willing to process the remains of migrants and work with relevant consulate to identify them and notify family members.
The day continued with a visit to the Federal Courthouse to see Operation Streamline in action:
Operation Streamline is a Bush Administration program implemented in 2005 ordering federal criminal charges for every person who crosses the border illegally. In other words, it is a “zero 
tolerance” border enforcement program that targets even first time undocumented border-crossers. Instead of routing non-violent individuals caught crossing the border into civil deportation proceedings, Operation Streamline forces undocumented migrants through the federal criminal justice executed for misdemeanors punishable by up to 6 months in prison, and those who reenter after deportation may be prosecuted for felonies punishable by up to 20 years in prison. Under this fast-track program, a federal criminal case with prison and deportation consequences is resolved in 2 Operation Streamline is a Buys or less. “OPERATION STREAMLINE FACT SHEET July 21, 2009” ACLU and National Immigration Forum.
As fellow delegates mentioned, it is easy to look in this courtroom and think of slave auctions. 48 men and 2 women were shackled from wrist, to waist, to ankle. They were called by name and number and asked a series of arbitrary questions to look like justice was being served.
Beside the process being more theatrical than judicial, I was heartbroken to know that these
pe
ople endured desert heat, starvation, dehydration and border patrol, to then be put in chains, jailed and deported.
Border Justice Delegation Prt. 1
Global events and economic policies have lead to increased migration globally. And the United States government has responded with militarization and low intensity warfare, in the guise of safety, security and management. And as a result, too many people are subject to punishment, exploitation and death. People crossing the Mexico/Arizona border encounter fences, hate crime, and the harsh desert because of lies perpetuated by the Department of Homeland Security, ICE and Border Patrol.
Working with the Black Alliance for Just Immigration, I can connect the suffering of African Americans to immigrants of color in the United States. But on August 11, 2011 I attended a Border I attended a Border Solidarity Delegation with DRUM and Vamos Unidos, with the aim of making concrete connections between the experiences of migrants crossing the US/Mexico Border to runaway slaves in the Underground Railroad. These crimes against humanity have similarities:
- aid was given to runaway slaves by abolitionists, free slaves and slaves alike
- aid if given to migrant by concerned individuals, organizations, and former migrants and their family.
- runaway slaves had to cross of number of natural barriers, travelling in winter, mountains, rivers, suicide and avoiding slave catchers
- migrants crossing the US/Mexico Border face similar struggles like, and many die due to exposure to the elements, suicide, border patrol agents, and injury.
- Slaves and immigrants were and are the result of a global economy, and a global economic policy
- Runaway developed networks and codes to navigate their journey and identify allies, migrants crossing the border have to do this today.
I was excited to join this delegation and see firsthand how these connections can be made, and who would help me make them.
After a long day of travel, I arrived at our delegation orientation. I met an amazing group of activists from New York, Phoenix, with DRUM (Desis Rising Up and Moving www.drumnation.org), Vamos Unidos (vamosunidos.org), and Alliance for Educational Justice (www.allianceforeducationaljustice.org), the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona (acluaz.org, ACLU) and Derechos Humanos (www.derechoshumanosaz.net). We introduced ourselves and shared our knowledge of the Border issues, what we hoped to learn and bring back from this experience. A theme emerged that was restated throughout the trip was education and solidarity. WE want to share issues on the Border with South Asian, Muslim, African American and student communities, in an effort to build solidarity in this movement. I believe everyone on this delegation believes that militarization and criminalization will not stop at the Border, but will and has moved into our respective communities.
Isabel Garcia, with Derechos Humanos then gave a brief presentation on the history of the Arizona/Mexico Border. She reiterated that these crimes against humanity have always taken place. She gave a historical, economic, political analysis of immigration in the country, focusing on Arizona. One can see, S-Comm., AB 1070, and E-Verify are not isolated policies. There are people, politicians and corporations tied to these decisions.
After our orientation I spoke briefly with Mary-Hope… African American ACLU is a part of the BAJI Advisory Committee in Phoenix. She shared with me, that she walked the migrant trail on the US/Mexico Border. And one night camping under the stars, she noticed the Big Dipper, and immediately she thought of the Underground Railroad. We share the same planet; we are the same species, being subject to the same Draconian laws. These connections have to be made. African Americans must see them and come to the conclusion that our liberty is bound in the liberty of others.
Border Justice Delegation Prt. 3
The final days of the delegation consisted of us traveling across the border and visiting a Comedor, which aids migrants crossing, by providing a hot meal, a phone and a roof. We crossed the enormous wall that continues to be built “dividing” Mexico and Arizona. We were searched trying to ENTER Mexico, not the US, as well as several miles away from the border, in the middle of the desert. I felt like I could be in a post-apocalyptic movie or the Occupied Territories.
By far, the most moving experience was listening to the Promotoras speak. The Promotoras, a group of organizer with Derechos Humanos were kind enough to wait for us despite out late arrival, due to a tire blow out. We heard from a woman whose husband and children were detained, while she was forced to give birth in the presence of ICE agents. After delivering she was given 10 days to recover and was deported with her new born, but she returned for her children. With a new born, this brave woman crossed the desert in seven days, to be reunited with her family. It made me ask myself, what parent would not do that? My parents would.
On the last day of the delegation, we visited the Tohono O’odham nation. There I saw how indigenous and desert customs are being destroyed. As mentioned in an earlier blog, the land of the Tohono O’odham spans across Arizona and Sonora, Mexico, and because of this the area is full of border patrol both on the border and further into Arizona. Indigenous people, by participating in traditional and everyday activities are subject to harassment and detention. What would you do if saw an elder and a child walking in an isolated desert? Would you offer them a ride? It is traditional for people living in isolated, harsh environment, especially desert to show hospitality to visitors. This hospitality can save lives, and is very important.
Now in Arizona, if you offer someone a ride out of the cold, rain or desert, you are subject to arrest. We learned of a woman who picked up two gentlemen in the middle of the night, in winter. She drove them to the nearest gas station and got them coffee. Unfortunately, a Border Patrol agent saw her and her vehicle was taken.
When are we going to make human life a priority? Why do we excuse abuse, discrimination, exploitation? We need to wake up and realize that what has, and is happening to us, is happening to others. Once we remember our history and join with immigrants, Mexican, Muslim, Nigerian, Haitian, then we will achieve community and freedom.
The same people, ideas, corporations, and justification that have been and continue to oppress African Americans and immigrants of color alike. I challenge African Americans to remember what they were taught, or do some research, or contact BAJI and learn about how you can connect with immigrants of color coming to the United States, and immigrants crossing the Border.
