I'm forwarding an email from Raven Brooks of Netroots Nation. I think Markos' reaction to the Phoenix location surprised him, and his subsequent visit to the border shocked him. This is the result.
As someone who lives in Arizona, I'm sorry about Markos' and the front pagers' and others' reactions and refusal to come, though I understand it well enough. I spend my money here anyway, and family obligations keep me here, so I am of course attending the conference. I will miss those who won't be there, but I do understand that decision.
And I thank Markos for making people think seriously about our problems.
Dear friend,
When we started planning this year’s conference, one of the things we heard from many of our allies on the ground was that we needed to highlight the injustices of the immigration system and elevate the voices of those doing work around these issues locally.
So we decided to do something a little different: produce a set of videos highlighting those stories and launch a monthlong campaign supporting Arizona organizations leading up to Netroots Nation.
I’ve now taken several trips through the Sonoran desert, to the border and around Arizona. You won’t view our immigration system the same way after you hear these stories.
Today we’re proud to launch #AZDispatch. Click here to watch our videos highlighting immigration injustices and activism efforts in Arizona.
Our goal in creating #AZDispatch is twofold: to expose some of the most unjust practices in our current immigration system and to elevate the stories and voices of local activists fighting back against those practices. We’ll also be doing a series of four actions between now and July supporting organizations like No More Deaths, Puente and Arcoíris Liberation Team.
Specifically, we want to highlight:
How our country’s migration “deterrence” policies force immigrants further into the barren desert, leading only to higher numbers of deaths as they cross.
How practices like workplace raids instill terror in communities across the border and strip away dignity and human rights.
How our current immigration policies criminalize people through racial profiling and unjust practices while funneling millions of taxpayer dollars into the for-profit prison industrial complex through a little-known process called Operation Streamline.
How activists in Arizona are stepping out of the shadows against these unjust policies and fighting for their families, their communities and at times, their own lives.
We hope that the stories shared here will inform you about what’s really happening within our immigration system and introduce you to some of the most courageous activists we’ve met. As progressives, when we push for just immigration reforms, it’s imperative that we take our cues from those living on the front lines.
Click here to watch the four short videos on #AZDispatch.
Thanks for standing with our brothers and sisters in Arizona.
[Here's the working link:
http://azdispatch.org/...
Raven Brooks
Netroots Nation