Rural Organizing Project

The No Soy El Army Tour is on its way! The Tour will be in stopping in 12 different communities in Oregon, from August 26-30 and September 26-Oct 1. Full Tour schedule is below.

Latino veterans and youth activists will dialogue with community members about the connections
between the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the war on immigrants here in the US. This tour is the
first Spanish-language tour in Oregon that focuses on the experiences of Latino veterans and shares specific alternatives to military enlistment for youth after high school!

 

 

We are proud to announce the OUT IN THE SILENCE Statewide Conversations Tour, which will bring celebrated filmmakers of this powerful documentary to rural and small-town Oregon from November 4th to 14th!

ROPers believe in the radical idea that the people should be safe in our communities, safe to live, work, and love whoever they please. And it’s true that such a core human value has become radical in these times. Whether we’re talking about LGBTQ families or immigrant families, we know that for many of our neighbors, the right to live safely and with the freedom to exist is not a given.

This election cycle let's connect the issues we face in our households with who and what is on the ballot.

ROP is well known for our election guide, STAND: Small Town Actions for a New Democracy Voter Guide.  Our guide uses community language and a neighborly approach to talking about what is at stake this election by using a values framework highlighting our belief in democracy and human dignity.

 Order your STAND Voter Guides by August 27th!

** Exciting EXTENSION for the order deadline.  Orders are now due on September 1st! **

Read on for more information about this year's STAND content.

As the summer adventures nip at our heels, many of us are taking roadtrips to the far reaches of Oregon – from Hells Canyon in Wallowa County to the Tropical rain forests of Curry County, rural Oregon is a destination.

This month, our elected officials will be doing the same thing, stopping in small town cafes and browsing books at the library as they prepare for the August tradition --- the Town Hall.

This month’s Kitchen Table Activism is to get you and your group ready and attend your local Town Hall or if there isn’t one in your area give your Congressperson or Senator a call to ask them some questions about the important topics of the day.

 

Today, July 29, 2010, a law takes effect that targets undocumented people living in Arizona's communities, SB1070.   Yesterday, we won a significant victory when the courts struck down the most egregious parts of the law. The peoples' voices always rise before the court's decisions, so with this sign of progress we will continue fighting the remainder of this unjust law.   ROP and HDGs have a long history of letting values of human dignity and democracy be our guide through the seas of cultural change. As we celebrate this small victory for basic human decency & prepare ourselves to continue the work of diffusing the wedge of hate in our own communities, let's take a minute to realign with what we know to be true.    

ROP Mission Statement: Our mission is to strengthen the skills, resources, and vision of primary leadership in local autonomous human dignity groups with a goal of keeping such groups a vibrant source for a just democracy.

The primary benefit of being a member group of the Rural Organizing Project is that you unite your voice with ours - you send the message to our legislators, to radical right-wing think tanks in Washington D.C., to neighbors, that there is a movement for justice and human dignity alive in Oregon committed to peace & justice, to nurturing and protecting our democracy.  You also send a message to every queer youth, every immigrant, every person confronting oppression and bigotry in their hometown, that there is support for them, and that they do belong right at home, in rural Oregon.

The Rural Organizing Project is excited to announce the No Soy El Army Peace Tour

coming to rural Oregon in August 2010.

** NEW ** Resources for No Soy El Army Tour **

What is No Soy El Army?

Human Dignity Groups are invited to host a stop on the No Soy El Army 2010 Tour in Oregon to open a dialogue between the traditional peace community and Spanish-speaking and Latino communities about war, military recruitment, race and cross-community organizing.

No Soy El Army  will present bilingual (English/Spanish) military veterans and community leaders from across the US speaking about their personal experiences and facilitating a dialogue about the experiences of those in the room, then offering concrete information about the military and alternatives for youth.

 

Two nights ago, I tasted hope.  It's sweetness came not from the homemade strawberry shortcake at our living room conversation on thorny immigration issues, nor from the soon-to-be flourishing produce in Newberg's newly completed community garden.  Rather, that delicious sense of possibility came from Keyla, a young Latina organizer, who enthusiastically shared her vision of the garden as a space where young children and people with disabilities and immigrant newcomers will all work side-by-side, tending their plots and taking breaks at picnic tables under the large oak tree.  And it came from the dozen folks gathered in Marni's living room, representing five different generations and multiple cultures, who demonstrated patience and compassion as we struggled to unpack the hate and fear that has become so embedded in our nation's discourse around immigration these days.

This jaunt to Yamhill County was my last official trip on the road as an organizer with the Rural Organizing Project.  In several weeks I will leave ROP, and move to New York City for a nine-month stint at Columbia University, earning a master's degree in Oral History.