Labor & Employment Law

DREAM Act Leaders Build on Civil Rights Legacy

By admin

AFL-CIO Media Outreach fellow, Jennifer Angarita, reports on a national convening of DREAM Act leaders and advocates in Memphis, Tenn.

More than 250 of the nation?s leading undocumented youth activists from some 50 organizations and 30 states gathered in Memphis, Tenn., this past weekend for the United We DREAM National Congress. The organizers chose Memphis for its connection to the civil rights movement and to accommodate students traveling as far as California, Florida and New York.

Maricela Aguilar, 19, a junior at Marquette University and a member of Youth Empowered in the Struggle, is an undocumented immigrant who was brought to the United States at the age of three. Having grown up in Milwaukee, she is American in every sense except on official paperwork. The DREAM Act would provide a pathway to residency for her and other eligible youth who find themselves trapped in legal limbo. Maricela says:

Now more than ever our movement is strong and ready for next steps which include winning and fighting local battles and holding our congressional leaders accountable.  [We want] to grow our movement, to ensure that all DREAMers (DREAM Act-eligible youth) know they are not alone? and to stop the deportations of DREAMers.

DREAM Act leaders like Maricela came from across the country to Memphis to learn how to fight back against the injustices students and communities face today. Tracey Medina, 19, a student activist from Oklahoma, says:

I was looking for motivation after the DREAM Act was killed [in the Senate]. I was drained and let down. I wanted to go to the UWD Congress so that I could listen, talk and let today’s actions gives us more energy in order to take it back with me to Oklahoma and act as the platform for the rest of the [Oklahoma DREAM Team].

During the weekend, participants visited the National Civil Rights Museum, discussed tactics for the coming months and strategized ways to create awareness and build power. Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) member and civil rights leader Hollis Watkins spoke to students about the power of collective action.

Recognizing the rich history and legacy of the civil rights and labor movement, students held a rally in honor of the 1968 AFSCME Memphis Sanitation Workers? Strike and signed a ?Declaration of Education for All.”

As a community and campus organizer, Maricela understands the connections between the attack on workers in Wisconsin and Indiana and the attacks on immigrants nationwide.

[Immigrants] are usually the ones to be blame for all the problems that are occurring in the country… In Wisconsin, the budget deficit [was blamed on] unions. When the reality is that the economic crisis was began due to the unregulated decisions of the corporate banks. Politicians always try to scapegoat whom they deem the most politically weak and try to drive the narrative in their opposition. It is disgusting that the wrongful decisions of the few, so negatively affect the everyday lives of the many. Politicians however, mistakenly, overlooked the power of the students, workers and immigrants — especially the power they have together as is visible in Wisconsin.

For Maricela and other DREAMers, the struggle for economic, social and racial justice remains intricately linked.

Most of [DREAMer?s] parents are workers and we want them to have fair wages and safe working environments and our parents want us to have equal access to education; it is only reasonable that we fight for each other, together, against corporate greed and the disproportional political weight they hold.  

To learn more about the DREAM Act or to take action, please click here and here. 

Full post as published by AFL-CIO NOW BLOG on March 11, 2011 (boomark / email).