The Youth are not the Future, they are the Present

I did post coverage on the Students' Protest against Raids by Ice, but I was left with recordings of speeches by our revered elder sister, Elizabeth "Betita" Martínez, and, albeit young, already veteran activist and lawyer, Renee Saucedo and a young community activist running for the SF School Board, Barbara "Bobbi" Lopez, I decided to share these recordings with the people who couldn't make it to this awesome Youth / Student organized and led march.

 

In addition, there were so many wonderful pictures taken by very talented people like ~Bradley and Kevin Barnard at IndyMedia, that I have placed them for display below.

 

I felt both privileged and not surprised at the respect and deference our young ones exhibited for their elders, at 61, I was so gratified to see that the Torch of Freedom in this gargantuan struggle, was not passed on to the next generation of Activists / Leaders, rather, it was claimed and taken by our children so that "La Lucha" For our Gente ontinues.

 

The picture above-left says it all - The Youth are not the Future, they are the Present, indeed they are - Amen!

 

Aurora

 

Elizabeth "Betita" Martínez is a widely known Chicana writer, activist, and lecturer. Now director of the Institute for Multiracial Justice in San Franciso, she has published several books, most recently - De Colores Means All of Us: Latina Views for a Multi-Colored Century (1998)

500 years of Chicano History in Pictures (1976) -- The Youngest Revolution: A Personal Report on Cuba (1969) -- Letters from Mississippi (1964) -- Table of Contents from El Grito del Norte (1966-1972) -- Martinez, Elizabeth "Betita" What is White Supremacy? (1998) -- Martinez, Elizabeth "Betita" A view from New Mexico: recollections of the movimiento left Monthly Review (2002) -- Martinez, Elizabeth "Betita" Raza Protest A Day of Lies and Hate, (1998)

Listen to Betita's comments:

 

Barbara Lopez: For the last eight years, Barbara Lopez has been an advocate for immigrant and working families, representing families in special education and discipline hearings. She started at La Raza Centro Legal, where she was the coordinator of the Youth Law Project providing assistance to families in educational matters, spear-heading efforts with to give workshops to parents in youth in schools across the district.

Currently, she works with immigrant parents at La Voz Latina,an organization she founded several years ago within the Tenderloin Housing Clinic to give parent empowerment workshops, support parent engagement at school sites and work on parent-led community campaigns

Listen to Bobbi's comments:

 

Renee Saucedo is an organizer, an activist and a lawyer who has played a prominent role in this country's immigrant rights movement at all levels. She has led various immigrant rights organizations and has participated in numerous community campaigns related to the rights of undocumented immigrants, immigrant workers and poor people, generally. She founded INS WATCH, a grassroots organization that resists INS enforcement, facilitated immigrant organizing around Welfare Reform, and helped push for San Francisco being declared an "INS Raid-Free Zone."

RENEE SAUCEDO is an attorney and organizer with La Raza Centro Legal and the San Francisco Day Labor Program who believes that --We must continue to fight for legalization as the solution, not guest-worker programs. Temporary-worker programs are inherently exploitative, and they weaken the labor and workers' rights movements. They only benefit the bosses who want a constant source of cheap, exploitable labor.

Instead, we should support immigration proposals that strengthen family unification, protect workers' rights and make residency easy to obtain.

Listen to Renee's comments:

 

"Bay Area Youth Protest ICE Oct. 31st, 2008 in SF; Call for an Immediate End to All Raids" At IndyMedia by ~Bradley and,
"ICE PROTEST in San Francisco on Halloween 2008" At IndyMedia by - Kevin Barnard from http://barnardgraphics.com

 

Student / Youth Halloween Protest to Stop ICE - Oct. 31st 2008 San Francisco

IndyBay Coverage:

Halloween Protest to Stop ICE

Thu Oct 30 2008 (Updated 11/02/08) Bay Area Youth Demand an End to Raids

This Halloween, Friday, Oct. 31, hundreds of youth from throughout the Bay Area gathered with community members and families to denounce the atrocities committed against immigrant communities by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Youth demanded an immediate end to all ICE raids, the shutdown of all detention centers, and the creation of real sanctuary cities.

The protest started at 10 am in San Francisco’s Ferry Park (Washington between Davis and Drumm) with blessings from Danza Azteca and community organizer and author Betita Martinez, skull face painting, and other festivities. At 11:30 am, a funeral march made its way to the ICE office at 630 Sansome, followed by a mass rally in front of ICE.

The protest was a response to ICE attacks on immigrant communities, attacks that have taken place even in so-called “sanctuary cities” like San Francisco. The protest also brought attention to the repression and violence faced by immigrant communities during a presidential election season that has seen neither major candidate address the issues facing immigrant families.

Breaking News From 10/31:

2:15pm: In Oakland, 400 people were reportedly prevented from attending the protest because of BART's closure of the Fruitvale station.

2pm: Protesters have surrounded the ICE building on Sansome. Several people have locked down with 55-gallon drums on both ends of the building's driveway, where vans normally load and unload detainees.

11am: BART police have shut down at least three stations - Richmond, Fruitvale, and Coliseum - from which groups of protesters were gathering to commute to the protest in downtown San Francisco. At least three protesters were arrested in Richmond. Some trains were delayed, and others were bypassing Fruitvale and Coliseum stations.

Photos: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
Audio From FlashPoints
| Read More | Event Announcement | California Youth Skip Halloween to Protest Scary Anti-Immigrant Policies | Stop ICE! | H.O.M.E.Y.

Recent ICE Coverage: ICE Raids More Than a Dozen Bay Area Homes

SFGate (SF Chonicle) Coverage:

Protesting teens shut 3 BART stations

Carolyn Jones, Matthew B. Stannard, Jill Tucker,Rachel Gordon, Chronicle Staff Writers

Saturday, November 1, 2008

(10-31) 16:16 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- Hundreds of youths heading to a political protest jumped BART fare gates Friday morning, catching transit officials off-guard and forcing shutdowns at three East Bay stations that stranded some passengers for more than an hour.

The Fruitvale and Coliseum stations in Oakland and the Richmond station were all closed starting about 9:15 a.m. as young people heading for a rally in San Francisco against enforcement of federal immigration laws evaded fares. All three stations reopened by 10:30 a.m., but BART closed the Fruitvale station a second time for nearly an hour starting at 11 a.m. as more youths jumped the gates.
Read More....

Cobertura en Alianza Metropolitan News

AUDIOVISUAL: NO MÁS REDADAS

Por Manuel Ortiz

31 de octubre de 2008

SAN FRANCISCO, CA. Jóvenes del norte de California, y organizaciones comunitarias, se "saltaron el Halloween" para protestar contra las aterradoras políticas anti inmigrantes del Servicio de Inmigración y Control de Aduanas (ICE).

En menos de un año, el ICE ha efectuado 1, 172 redadas en todo el país. En 11 meses, del 1 de octubre de 2007 al 31 de agosto de 2008, ICE arrestó a 4,959 personas en estos operativos; sólo 1/5 parte de estas personas eran buscadas por haber cometido un crimen o por tener orden de deportación.
Para mayor información o unirse a la organización contra las redadas: stoptheraidsnow@gmail.com


Slideshow from I.C.E. Protest Oct. 31st 2008
Audiovisual de la marcha contra el ICE en SF.