2012 Rural Caucus May 12th

 Democracy & Civic Participation, Economic Justice, Immigrant Fairness, ROPNET
Feb 222012
 

Every year the Rural Organizing Project brings together rural and small town leaders, activists, organizers and concerned community members for a day of strategizing.    We look back on our last year – what we have accomplished, what has changed in our political climate – and we strategize for the year to come.

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.

 Posted by Volunteer on February 22, 2012

Rural Latino Leadership Retreat

 Immigrant Fairness, ROPNET, Welcoming Communities
Feb 162012
 
Este correo se encuentra abajo en español.

We’re excited to announce that registration is now open for our 2012 Rural Latino Leadership Retreat!

Can you help us get the word out?  The Retreat is organized this year by an 8 member Latino Advisory Committee representing counties across the state.  We hope that you’ll help us to reach those far corners of the state where Latinos and immigrants are doing grassroots social justice organizing.  Registration instructions are on our blog site: http://ruraloregonlatinoleadership.wordpress.com/

If you’re an ally looking for ways to help, you can download and distribute flyers for the retreat.  We are also still hoping for a few donors who can help us to cover the costs of bringing this opportunity to small-town Latinos.  Your donation will be recognized at the retreat and on our website!

2nd Annual RURAL LATINO LEADERSHIP RETREAT 2012
Building Safe and Welcoming Communities for Immigrants in Rural and Small-town Oregon

SATURDAY, MARCH 24TH, 2012 – 8:30am – 5:00pm
IGLESIA SAN MARTIN DE PORRES
405 Ferry St., Dayton, OR 97114
Hosted by: MUJERES LATINAS LUCHANDO POR EL PUEBLO

The Rural Organizing Project and its Latino Advisory Committee is working to make this year’s retreat fun and useful for your group! Our workshops are themed around specific strategies to “build safe and welcoming communities:”

  • Stop Deportations/S-Comm
  • “Know your Rights” Train-the-Trainer
  • Taking Care of our own Backyard
  • Stopping Wage Theft
  • Naturalization

And so much more! All the workshops will provide useful tools and resources you can take back home and put it to good use in your community. The retreat provides a safe space to share ideas, strategies and personal stories. This is a great opportunity to get to know other Latinos from rural areas working towards justice for our communities.

COME AND JOIN US! THE RETREAT IS FREE but donations are always welcome.

To register, please send your name, address, organization, workshops you would like to attend, how many people you are bringing and lodging needs to: keyla@rop.org

For updates regarding the retreat as the planning moves forward, visit our blog: http://ruraloregonlatinoleadership.wordpress.com/

Estamos muy emocionadas de anunciar que la registración ya esta abierta para nuestro Retiro de Liderazgo para Latinos Rurales.

¿Nos puedes ayudar a correr la voz?  Este año el retiro está organizado por un Gabinete Asesor Latino que representa comunidades de todo el estado.  Esperamos que nos ayudes a alcanzar esos rinconcitos del estado donde Latinos e inmigrantes se están organizando para avanzar la justicia social.  Instrucciones de registracion están en nuestro sitio de blog: http://ruraloregonlatinoleadership.wordpress.com/

Si tu eres un aliado/a y quieres ayudar, puedes bajar y difundir los volantes para el retiro.  Esperamos que tambien nos ayuden a cubrir los gastos de traer esta oportunidad a Latinos que viven en zonas rurales.  Tu donación será reconocida en el retiro y en nuestro sitio de web!

Más detalles seguirán pronto,
Amanda & Keyla

RETIRO DE LIDERAZGO LATINO RURAL 2012
Construyendo Comunidades Seguras y Hospitalarias para Inmigrantes en Oregon Rural

SABADO, MARZO 24, 2012 – 8:30am – 5:00pm
IGLESIA SAN MARTIN DE PORRES
405 Ferry St., Dayton, OR 97114

Grupo Anfitrión: Mujeres Latinas Luchando por el Pueblo

El Proyecto Organización Rural y su Gabinete Asesor Latino están trabajando para hacer el retiro de este año divertido y útil para tu grupo. Nuestros talleres están basados en estrategias especificas para “construir comunidades seguras y hospitalarias”:

  • Alto a las deportaciones/S-Comm
  • “Conozca sus Derechos” Entrenando al Entrenador(a)
  • Alto al Robo de Salarios
  • Naturalización para Residentes

¡Y mucho mas! Los talleres proveerán recursos y herramientas que puedes utilizar y poner en acción en tu comunidad. El retiro provee un lugar seguro para compartir ideas, estrategias e historias personales. Esta es una gran oportunidad para conocer a otros Latinos que viven en zonas rurales que trabajan en avanzar la justicia social en nuestras comunidades.

¡VEN Y PARTICIPA! EL RETIRO ES GRATIS pero siempre aceptamos donaciones

Para registrarse, por favor manda tu nombre, domicilio, organización, que talleres quieres atender, cuantas personas vas a traer y necesidades de hospedaje a: keyla@rop.org

Para mantenerse al día sobre los planes del retiro, por favor visite nuestro blog en el internet: http://ruraloregonlatinoleadership.wordpress.com/

 Posted by Volunteer on February 16, 2012

Feb 2012 KTA: A Chance to Reflect – Occupy “Think Tanks”

 Democracy & Civic Participation, Economic Justice, Kitchen Table Activism, Occupy Rural Oregon
Feb 022012
 

“Strategy is the road resistance walks to freedom.” – David Swanson, How the People Got Their Groove Back: What a Bunch of Farmers Can Teach a Bunch of Occupiers About How to Keep on Going

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.

 Posted by Volunteer on February 2, 2012

Building Welcoming Communities

 Immigrant Fairness, ROPNET, Stories From The Field, Welcoming Communities
Jan 252012
 

This year, ROP is honing our focus to an ambitious project: building welcoming communities.  This means that we’re devoting extra of our most precious resource, organizer time, to working with small groups of people to run proactive campaigns to make their communities more welcoming to immigrants.

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.

 Posted by Volunteer on January 25, 2012

Know Your Rights Toolkit

 Immigrant Fairness, ROPNET
Jan 192012
 

The Rural Organizing Project and the Lane County-based Civil Liberties Defense Center (CLDC) traveled rural Oregon last fall bringing “Know your Rights” presentations to 7 communities across the state, reaching over 190 people including immigrants & allies alike.

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.

 Posted by Volunteer on January 19, 2012
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