This year’s Rural Caucus & Strategy Session will be on Saturday, May 12th from 8:30am – 5pm in Woodburn, Oregon.  

A lot has happened since we last came together for last year’s Caucus in Central Oregon.  The Occupy movement has ignited our imaginations and redefined our economic moment.  Oregon is helping shape this movement with more rural Occupations than any other state in the country.   Our “Resources for Small Town Occupations” posted on the national HowToOccupy website, received over 10,000 hits.   When word spread our about our 23 “Occupy Our Post Office” actions in December, union leaders from Ohio called ROP to learn how to build a rural post office response.

At this year’s Rural Caucus and Strategy Session we’ll come together — new rural Occupiers and long term human dignity leadership alike –to reflect, connect and strategize together in Oregon’s farmerworker union hall.

Mark your calendars today for the weekend of May 12th!  The Caucus will be all day on Saturday, and there will be some additional activities to join before and after in Woodburn if you are interested.

A few highlights for this year’s Caucus include:

• Strategy sessions on strengthening the rural and small town movement for justice: saving rural post offices, building welcoming communities for immigrants, lessons from Occupy Walden, election year planning and more
• An occupy track by and for rural and small town occupiers and those inspired by the movement

We will be gathering at the PCUN Union Hall – a movement center in Oregon not only for the farmworker justice but as a welcoming center for all movements for dignity.  In the early 1990s the PCUN Union Hall was one of the few places that opened its doors to LGBTQ activists and allies marching against Ballot Measure 9.  A few years later ROPers and friends gathered in Woodburn to support the farmworkers in the strawberry campaign.  Again PCUN became a place for rural Oregonians trying to understand the complexity of race after Sept. 11th. It was only natural for PCUN & CAUSA to be partners in our 2005 Walk for Truth, Justice and Community when we marched for a week from Salem to Portland together.  In 2012 rural and small town Oregonians will once again come together in the heart and home of the Oregon’s immigrant rights movement to celebrate victories, share stories and deepen our connection and commitment for a long haul movement.

Download a registration form here and let us know who will be representing your community this year for the Rural Caucus & Strategy Session on Saturday, May 12th in Woodburn.

Over the last few months human dignity groups and newly developed Occupations in over 40 Oregon small towns have held creative and inspiring community actions. Groups have come together for statewide actions by and for rural Oregonians including 5 towns holding simultaneous “Occupy Walden” actions at Congressman Walden’s offices, and 23 communities Occupied their Post Office on December 19 to save rural post offices. As far as we can tell, Oregon leads the country in rural, small town occupy organizing.

This is an exciting moment in history. How do we best build from this moment? What are the next strategies for the Occupy movement in rural and small town Oregon?

Sometimes we need to step back and reflect. We need to set aside the time to analyze where we are, how the context we are organizing in has changed (or not), and think strategically about how we move forward.

What is the activity? This month’s Kitchen Table Activism asks your group or Occupation to gather activists, volunteers, and leaders to spend some time reflecting on strategy and next steps. (Below are two great articles to prime the pump for this conversation!)

The Rural Organizing Project is holding a series of Occupy Strategy Sessions to step back, reflect and think through the big questions around this movement. These are “think tank” conversations - it doesn’t matter if you have joined Occupy work or find your activism somewhere else. The purpose is two-fold: to help shape thinking for rural and small town strategy across Oregon and to share ideas and strategies that are relevant for local organizing.

Steps to Complete this Activity:
1. Use these articles to frame a conversation about next steps for building this movement in your community. Send these two article links out to your human dignity group and Occupy activists:

Occupy Wall Street: Why Now? What’s Next? Naomi Klein and Yotam Marom in Conversation

How the People Got Their Groove Back: What a Bunch of Farmers Can Teach a Bunch of Occupiers About How to Keep on Going

2. Contact the ROP to schedule a Strategy Session with your group to help shape statewide strategies and actions. ROP is eager to set up a “think tank” with your community to compare small town strategies that are working across the state and to think critically about how we build on this moment in rural and small town Oregon. (Or contact us to talk through ideas for your group’s conversation on the articles and some next steps!)

3. Mark your calendar for the Rural Caucus and Strategy Session on Saturday, May 12th in Woodburn. We will bring the thinking, learnings, and ideas from these Strategy Sessions to the “Occupy track” of the Caucus this year. Email cara@rop.org for a registration form.

Seem like a tall order?  Well do you remember that popular quote by anthropologist Margaret Mead?  “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world.  Indeed it is the only thing that ever has.”

And in fact, we’ve actually already seen this work.  What begins with a small group gains momentum, bringing in civic leaders, allies in the media and government, and captures the imagination of the community.

For example, Lincoln County’s Immigrant Information Response Team started in 2010 with a year of movie nights and cross-cultural relationship building that grew their group, then moved onto opening dialogue with law enforcement and county leadership about immigrant safety and inclusion, then began passing town resolutions to honor the innate dignity of immigrants and native-born, and committing to values of fairness and acceptance.  They have now passed 4 resolutions in Newport, Yachats, Waldport, and Toledo.  These are powerful steps that over time cause a deep change to take root.  We have been inspired.

Nearly all human dignity groups have a history of working for immigrants rights, it is part of our commitment to human dignity.  We’ve complemented local organizing with advocating for changes to the laws that created today’s immigration flows and second-class of undocumented immigrants. Now, we step again into our role as local community leaders and ask:

• What can we do right here, right now, to unite our community, immigrants with native-born, and make us visible to each other?
• What are some of the daily hardships that immigrants experience due to our community’s untrusting or hostile attitude, and how can we mend that trust?
• How can we build a cross-cultural fabric strong enough to easily expose the fear-mongering of anti-immigrant policies when and if they come to our town?
• How can shift the public storyline around immigration by honoring the richness of our heritage as a nation of immigrants – but include current immigration flows among those who greatly contribute?

The work that we’re talking about is possible when we make a long-term commitment to local transformation.  We, and no doubt you as well, have seen this happen.  We’ve drawn inspiration from your groups, and also from a national collaboration of groups that we’re a part of who are figuring this stuff out, called Welcoming America.  (This approach was recently featured in the New York Times!)

To get started, we’ve shared a toolkit as part of our immigrants rights toolkits series that compiles the best that we’ve seen to answer these question in Oregon and around the country.  Check it out on our website here.  (To cut to the chase, just download this Menu of Options and bring it to your next group meeting!)

Then, we’ll be getting in touch with member groups who are working on immigrant fairness work to see how this approach can be useful to your local work, and what tools and ideas you have to add.  As always, our number one priority is the strength and vibrancy of the human dignity network, so we’ll be available to travel to your community in these coming months to support you in thinking through a local approach that will work in your town to advance fairness and integration of immigrants into our communities.

The tour was on the road from October 1st – December 11th, 2011, stopping in towns in Western and Eastern Oregon, the Willamette Valley and the Coast. It was so exciting to see cultures come together to share their personal experiences and food. This speaks very highly of the work that human dignity groups have been doing toward reducing the isolation gap between Latinos and whites in rural and small-town Oregon.

The tour was part of ROP’s ongoing and intentional effort to support Latinos in rural areas and their allies. We will keep expanding the work and the tools we offer.  Did you miss the tour this time?  Take a look at our Know Your Rights toolkit on the ROP website to get started.

The “Know your Rights” presentations were bilingual, presenting the information in both English and Spanish at every stop. The information presented is not only important, it is urgent to take it to all of those families and individuals that are most targeted by law enforcement, like immigrants and people of color. Simple driving infractions are rapidly becoming the #1 reason  people go through deportation proceedings nowadays. It is our duty as engaged members of our community to empower everybody to learn how to enforce their own rights.

Participants were informed about their rights when dealing with police and ICE officials, and a “Safety Packet” sample was shared so families can be ready in tough situations, like when faced with the deportation of a family member. How is this “safety packet” helpful? One example is if a parent is deported, their children can be taken into custody of Child Protective Services. After 6 months of having no contact with the children, the parent(s) legally lose their parental rights. Having a Power of Attorney prepared beforehand can prevent this from happening.

Attorney Lauren Regan, of the CLDC, gave useful information about what immigrants can do to protect themselves and how allies can also be helpful in this or any other situation. The presentations were a great opportunity to provide a safe space in which immigrants openly asked questions of a personal nature and shared their past experiences with no fear and no shame. Others decided to ask questions directly to Lauren who made herself available after the presentations to offer her free legal advice more privately.

The support so many allies showed before, during, and after the presentation was incredibly important. They broke the language and cultural barrier by showing how much fellow community members not only care about the immigrant community, but they are willing to bring the “Know your Rights” presentation to their towns to ensure their community is safe for everyone. The need to have more presentations was expressed at every single stop!

ROP’s “Know Your Rights” toolkit developed on the road is now available for those interested in giving this presentation in your own community, or in making informational brochures and handouts available. You can find this toolkit on our website.

Will there be another “Know your Rights” tour in 2012? We’ll keep you posted! Until then look for another ROPnet soon with information about the 2nd annual Rural Latino Leadership Retreat!  We’ll have a Know Your Rights workshop available there for those leaders who want to learn the information, and bring it back to their community.

We also want to express our gratitude to the warm welcome given to ROP & CLDC staff during the tour. As always, ROP’s work would not happen without the hard work and hospitality of Human Dignity Groups.

ROP tools for planning Welcoming Communities organizing:

• ROP’s guide for organizing Welcoming Communities across Cultures, based on the best practices we’ve pulled together over time.
• Our framework for looking at models of immigrant integration is a good conversation starter when groups are grappling with questions of how to integrate immigrants into the community, and whose responsibility it is.

Film Resources that ROP can lend your group:

• Welcome to Shelbyville is the story of a Tennessee community and how a small multi-ethnic group of people build relationships that help to navigate a period of change.  The film is just an hour, leaving time for storytelling and discussion.  Here is the Welcome to Shelbyville Discussion Guide that goes with the film.
• Papers the Movie is a film about Oregon’s undocumented youth – DREAMers – who were brought to the country at a young age, then turn 18 to realize they are locked out of employment and college.

Public Declarations supporting Welcoming Communities:

• This resolution was passed by the Immigrant Information Response Team, a part of Coastal Progressives in Lincoln County.  This is the Newport resolution, though similar versions were passed in 3 other towns.
• This is an article about the resolution passed by Welcoming Idaho to our east.

Stories projects:

• This flyer from Polk Cafe Commons advertises their stories project, a way to documenting stories of immigrants.  Why did they come?  What do they contribute to the community.
• This short video from Uniting North Carolina is an inspiration to us.  It documents both immigrants and non-immigrants with simple reasons why we migrate, and why we support those who join our communities.

Do you have tools to share, or want to talk through how to use each of these?  Contact amanda@rop.org.

Don’t miss our Welcoming Communities homepage for links to the most recent stories from around the state.

Looking for a way to contribute to a good cause?

Interested in keeping your mind sharp in retirement or your resume fresh while you look for a job?

If you answered yes, you may be just who we’re looking for!  ROP has a very important volunteer position open in our Scappoose office. (If you answered a resounding “no” to every question, please forward or share this link with your friends, family, and coworkers that live or work in Columbia County.)

ROP is looking for a Database Lead!  This person is in charge of updating our database with the newest information about our members statewide.  The ideal candidate:

* Has prior experience working with computers and can learn new systems quickly
* Has a very high level of attention to detail and can work independently with success
* Can volunteer at our Scappoose office for a 2-hour shift every week
* Can commit to a minimum of 3 months with us
* Cares about progressive values of human dignity, democracy, and fairness, and is ready to take action!

If you are quick to learn and have less time available, we could also use some help catching up.  Contact us if you’re able to make a shorter term commitment to at least 3 shifts in the next couple of months! Please call us at 503-543-8417or email amanda@rop.org to set up an interview.  Or forward this message to your 10 closest friends!

About volunteers at ROP…
Volunteers play a treasured role for the Rural Organizing Project. At ROP, we accomplish far more than what 4 staff people could possibly do on our own, and how do we make it happen?  It is because of literally thousands of volunteers who serve on our board, who lead local groups, and for those in Columbia County . . . who take weekly shifts in our office, maintaining our critical systems!  While we’re in urgent need of a volunteer to fill our database lead role due to illness, we have other office and community garden roles available.  Get in touch!  Hope to hear from you (or your grandpa, or your niece, or that nice woman in your book club who just retired) soon.

The Occupy movement has gained and maintained so much traction because it is an opportunity for us to collectively envision and shape our communities into models for how an equitable society can work.  We are tired of waiting for politicians to solve our problems as our public infrastructure crumbles, our homes are foreclosed on, and our tax dollars are funneled to defense contractors, etc.  Many working class Americans are a few small steps away from homelessness and the social safety nets to protect us have been defunded.  Occupations across the country are addressing these issues head-on by engaging the most vulnerable in our society: the homeless.

Occupy Roseburg is taking its values to the streets. For the last three months, 50+ volunteers and community members have shown up every Saturday for Feed the ‘Burg community potluck.  Participants have a blast sharing a hot meal together and, more importantly, sharing a sense of community amongst the housed and houseless alike.  Taking their work one step further, Occupy Roseburg has also opened a Free Store with new and gently used items donated by the community, free for anyone who may need them.

The Occupy Roseburg’s Feed the ‘Burg website says:

“Occupy Roseburg is not just about standing on a corner or invading banks; it is also about shaping our world into something new– a world where people are not just seen as profit margins and voters, but a world where we all live with dignity and economic justice. “We must push this movement forward and start creating the type of JUST world that we want to see in our own community.”

With our social safety nets catching (and missing!) more people than ever, community action agencies are providing services, and several new ones have recently opened up in small town Oregon.  Is there a new or existing agency in your community? Here are some great examples of how rural Oregonians are stepping up addressing homelessness in their communities:

Each January, Community Action Agencies are responsible for counting the number of homeless people for a statewide report and for funding allocation to county homeless services.  In past years, ROP leaders have found that many counties would not have done the homeless count if their human dignity group had not stepped in to offer support! The agencies responsible for conducting the homeless count often do not have the resources to look into where the homeless are staying in their community, and only volunteers can step in to fill that gap.

Consider getting your local group involved in the Homeless Count this month!  Contact your Community Action Agency to get full details on their plan for the Homelessness Count.  Click here for a map of the CAAs and their contact information.  They might have a developed plan with different roles that you can plug into, or you might be free to brainstorm with them the best way to reach the homeless.

Before the Occupy movement, Yamhill County PeaceMakers was one of the human dignity groups that participated in the Homeless Count every year to supporting community members who fallen through a frayed social safety net while advocating for a political climate that allows for these issues to be resolved.  Yamhill County PeaceMakers will be out again January 25 to interview the homeless and assist with a special breakfast that will be served at the St. Barnabas Soup Kitchen that morning.

Addressing the oppressive winter weather, Hood River’s churches have joined together with a simple mission: “to ensure that homeless people in Hood River County have a safe place to sleep indoors from December through March.”  Churches are taking turns hosting the Hood River Warming Shelter.

In Umatilla County, the Hermiston Welcoming Committee has fostered a collaboration between churches, human dignity advocates, service organizations, and government agencies to do a similar project, making sure that nobody is left to sleep outside during the coldest nights of winter.  Wouldn’t it be great if we had partnerships in all of our communities to put hosting warming shelters in every place they’re needed?

If you take another look at www.rop.org we know you’ll be happy with what you see.  We’ve switched to a new layout designed to get you maximum access to the bounty we have to share.

Here are a couple of the goodies you can find there:

Our Resources for Small Town Occupations guide, developed by ROP organizers with much help from rural Occupiers and friends.  This guide has been used all over the country, and is a synthesis of information about democractic decisionmaking, General Assemblies, flyers, and tips for engaging the 99% in small-town America.

Our Organizing Tools page, where we make available to you many of the nuts and bolts of what we’ve learned for keeping human dignity groups alive and kicking.

Check back often to our Stories from the Field page where you’ll find updates about what human dignity groups are doing around the state.

Take a quick peak at our Member Groups list to make sure that your group is there, and that we have the right web address for you.

And of course, our Kitchen Table Activities, which we invite human dignity groups to do every month.  Come back and visit this page before your monthly group meetings to download tools and consider participating.

Surfing our site is a good idea, but never a substitute for a good old telephone conversation.  Have questions, comments, requests? Call us and talk to an organizer, we’d love to hear from you!

Happy New Year!
Amanda

This is a bad time for an even worse strategy.  The impacts we’ve seen are families broken apart, people living in fear, crimes going unreported, and a breach of trust in community policing.  Tactics that cause fear and isolation are not only wrong, but also dangerous.

This new strategy is carried out under a data sharing system called Secure Communities, which is now implemented in every Oregon county.

Human dignity groups have been identifying local impacts, and pushing for local and national level changes in the way we treat immigrants and their families – we are pushing for human dignity.  We have also found that when we promote safety and fairness for this minority, the entire community is safer, more united, and more able to focus on the real problems facing small-town America.

Please enjoy the following resources, and contact amanda@rop.org with questions, or to set up a strategy session in your community.

Education Resources: What the Heck is this all about?

• Get Oregon out of the Deportations Business (brochure)
• Overview of ICE ACCESS Programs
• Secure Communities Fact Sheet – from the National Immigration Project
• What is wrong with Secure Communities
• Deportations by Fiscal Year

Take Action:

• The Uncover the Truth Toolkit is a Wealth of information about how to respond locally.

Here are some examples of how local towns & counties are shifting policy to keep their communities safer:

• Taos Jail Policy
• Arlington County Resolution promoting community safety
• Santa Clara County Recommendation on Detainers

See these stories for some inspiration from small-town Oregonians:

The story of how one immigrant ally went toe to toe with a prominent Oregon anti-immigrant leader at the City Club of Central Oregon on the issue of deportations.  (You can see her entire speech here.)

The story of a public forum organized by the Immigrant Information Response Team of Lincoln County to address ICE enforcement and community safety with their sheriff and police chief.

The full report called “A Plea for Compassion and Common Sense” about the lived experience of the deportations crisis, published by the Immigrant Family Advocates from Deschutes County.  See the executive summary here.

Other Groups and Resources to explore:

• National Council of La Raza ( Here is their Tool Kit on State/Local Police enforcing Immigration Laws, which has lots of great sample materials and tips for lobbying, media, and coalition-building )
• National Day Labor Organizing Network
• National Immigration Law Center
• Rights Working Group – has great resources for addressing Racial Profiling