You know what I think is super cool about Blogotitlán? Well, that many of us have similar viewpoints on issues like undocumented immigration. It’s not necessarily that we all think the same, but we do have different experiences that inform the way we see things and I find it much more comfortable to talk about my decision to join the boycott here than on blogging.la.

I also love the fact that my scope of May Day/A Day Without an Immigrant is not just about Los Angeles or Southern California. I can go through my RSS feeds or Flickr and see photos from all over. Dude, we really need to get planning on that meetup.

Right now, I should be resting, but I was too eager to upload all of my photos (90+). It’s hard to choose a favorite, but for now I’ll leave you with Petra, my roommate’s mother. She inspired Isa to join the boycott. Isa and I made a few signs in the morning. The following sign was my idea, Isa made it, and Petra carried it. It seemed to be a hit.

A few days ago, I still had not made a decision on whether I’d be staying home from work and school on Monday, May 1st. The decision didn’t come easily despite years of activism around immigrants’ rights and an academic interest in immigrant students.

I realized that I wasn’t the only one feeling this way. Isa, my roommate and a teacher at a LAUSD high school hadn’t decided when we spoke about the topic on Thursday night. She was unsure about skipping out on the first day of classes when she returns for B track (she’s on a year-round schedule). I didn’t want to skip work after a short week at my new job. We also both knew that our jobs — positions that require advanced degrees — are not the types where most immigrants from Mexico are concentrated. It’s easy to go a day without spending, but not teaching or working with students didn’t come easy. I’ve read other Latina/o bloggers who are also conflicted (Jenn, Xoloitzquintle, and MsABCMom). They are all educators and feel that the education of their students will also contribute to the boycott and overall goal of empowering Latinas/os.

Although I respect decisions to go to work, I know that I had to change my mind. I thought of my grandparents who came here with several children in hopes of a better life. Although my parents and their families did not come as undocumented immigrants, I know well that I have a number of extended family members and good friends who do not have that privilege. I considered the day I walked along campus observing a display of crosses set up in remembrance of men and women how had died crossing the US-Mexico border. It all seemed rather abstract considering most of the people close to me are not immigrants and have not had to sneak across the border. Well, it was abstract until I read a cross with “____ Mosqueda, Guanajuato, Mexico.” I can’t remember the first name. I know it was a common name, probably José, Jesús or Juan. But the last name and state of origin struck me. This man (or boy?) who shared my name and home state in Mexico had died in the harsh territory separating the country my family came from and the country in which I live.

My privilege as the daughter of immigrants, graduate student, and US citizen became incredibly clear that afternoon. It’s something I know other young Chicanas/os and Latinas/os also identify with, including César Cuauhtémoc García Hernández (el not-so-dailyTexican’s hermanito) who wrote at alternet

I will join the boycott because my privilege demands it. I am a citizen of this country, a well-educated man with a love of justice. I must speak now because the people who clean my classrooms might not be able to, because the people who prepare the restaurant dinners I eat might not be able to, because the people about whose lives Congress is debating cannot talk back except through the power of protest.

I will stand with my immigrant sisters and brothers because I recognize and value their contribution to our country. I will join the nationwide boycott because their work makes my privilege possible. I will join because, as the book of Leviticus teaches: “The stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and you shall love him as thyself.” (Lev. 19:34).

Now… for how to figure out how to get to the marches in LA without having to drive (’cause I’ll surely be charged for parking) or getting some kind of pass for public transportation.

Notes:

In the photo, Mamá Toni holds her eldest daughter, Chilo, on her lap. Beside her stand her siblings Sabás and Josefa. When this photo was taken, my Papá Chepe had already left to work as a bracero in the US.

Chicana on the Edge has also written on the topic. Ktrion wrote about the concerns of potential little felons (if HR 4437 becomes law). Finally, I found a great piece ¿Qué onda Aztlán? by Oso Raro in response to the earlier protests and how the current activism around immigrants’ rights links to the Chicano Movement (thanks to Chicana on the Edge.

Ralph had more to say on the issue I referenced below. The following was copied with minor edits from his MySpace blog.

Many are worried over the use of Latin American flags in marches and of the walk-outs around the Southwest to combat HR 4437. But we must ask ourselves is there not already a backlash against Latinos?

While I understand the use of the Stars and Stripes as a precautionary measure to calm the xenophobic tendencies of Anglos, especially in the wake of a 500,000 march of Latinos that filled the megatropolis core of Los Angeles, has it come to this point in the political tactics of Latinos that we must receive approval from Anglos for everything? We seek to make them understand that we are humans and deserve rights, as in the case of contesting HR 4437, but must we also seek approval from them for the manner in which we demonstrate our anger at their vindictive immigration policies… such as what type of shirts we wear and what we can or can’t wave at a march?

As we get rid of the flags of Latin-American countries, why not be even more cautions and also hold a march in which we only speak English, better yet… how about we ask that all the dark-skinned Latinos stay home during that march so that they see many of “us” look just like them? For the naysayer, I challenge you to realize that the GOP is like 7UP, it does not like Latinos, “never has and never will.”

In fact, Americans, widely known for their “linguistic tolerance” of Spanish do not understand Latino protest language either. Within the Latino community we understand the use of flags is to demonstrate the representation of protesters by national origin. Although paranoid Anglos take every act Latinos do as either anti-American or an act of un-Americanism. In the eyes of Anglo-Saxon America, Latinos will never be “Americans”… this is demonstrated in the widespread fear of Latinos stoked by AM radio and Lou Dobbs on CNN. Many say that flags of Latin American countries will create a “nativist backlash.” Even with out the marches, the high school walk-outs, and the Latino politicians in office, Anglo-American have already created a backlash against Latinos. Not because of the flags at a march or the message of the pro-humane treatment to migrants, but in reality the Anti-Immigrant hysteria created by the GOP, AM radio, and the Minutemen from the DNC to the RNC, from Sen. Fienstien to Tancredo, from the soccer moms to the NASCAR dads, the new anti-immigrant movement is a distraction by America of its own failures.

The truth is that Anglo-America failed to protect its own democracy from the Republican Neocons and Corporatists. This deadly duo dragged the Evangelicals (Abortion Clinic Bombers) and fringe neo-nazi militia men (Minutemen type) voting blocs around by three golden words come election day: “Gods, Gays, and Guns.” These 3 words have allowed the Republican Neocons and Corporatists to plunder the coffers of the United States with a war on the world that has cost the American people plenty in terms of jobs, government services, and international prestige…. instead of blaming themselves for voting Bush & Co. into office TWICE, they do what every generation of Americans have done before them… they blame immigrants!

The issues around the Latino response to HR 4437 and the Anti-immigrant movement need not go the way of the convoluted responses generated by the Latino political elite during Prop-187. We need not prove that Latino immigrants love America, or that they enrich America economically, or even that they are law abiding citizens, the issue here is that for the last three presidential administration: Bush Sr., Clinton, and Bush Jr, Americans have allowed its leaders to embark upon a path of neoliberal corporate exploitation of the U.S. and the world. Policies such as NAFTA, CAFTA, and FTAA have decimated the agricultural-base of Mexico and Central-American, thus creating a push-pull immigration factor for those affected by neoliberal economic policies of Bush/Clinton/Bush through out the Western Hemisphere, forcing them to find refuge within the epicenter of that economic disaster called global capital… the United States of America.

Some may tell Latino youth to stay in school and learn about America and study English before they walk out to protest for the rights of the Undocumented. I scoff at those racists remarks and I challenge everyone Latino, Anglo, Asian, African-American alike to learn about the world of Neoliberal corporate globalization that you allowed to be ushered in on your watch. Look to the actions and teachings of the Zapatistas that clearly define what must be done to combat neoliberalism in la Sexta Declaración de la Selva Lacandona . We need not divisions or attempts to placate the beast, rather we need “a world in which many fit.”

“Para todos todo, y para nosotros nada!”

- Ollinkoatl (words and photo)