Riders
-
Carta a Una Madre Luchadora
July 30, 2012
Read More »
Hoy al comenzar tu recorrido por los campos de batalla del sur de los EEUU siento un gran orgullo decir que tengo una madre tan fuerte y valiente. Desde que yo tengo razón siempre has luchado, si no es por algo es por lo otro. ¡Así es como es mi gente! ¡Siempre luchando, porque nunca nada se nos ha dado! Al contrario mucho se nos a arrebatado; mucho se nos ha negado. Somos gente humilde y trabajadora, eso no ha cambiado. La llama en tu corazón y la de muchos en nuestra comunidad nunca se ha apagado, aunque soplen y soplen para que se apague. Toda la injusticia y todos los ataques que han querido quebrantar el alma y las esperanzas en nuestra comunidad no han logrado su objetivo, al contrario han creado el aire para que estas llamas brillen más que nunca y para que se enciendan aun más; encendidas por coraje, indignación, amor y valor para luchar. Tomamos sus ataques y los convertimos en combustible para seguir luchando. Para que este fuego de lucha y esperanza se extienda imparablemente abarcando e inspirando a nuestras comunidades a seguir su ejemplo y a superar el miedo. Son de las personas más valientes que eh conocido. -
Arestado por querer una vida mejor
July 25, 2012
Queremos decir a la gente, principalmente, que no tenga miedo, que nosotros estamos haciendo por ellos también. A particular, lo estoy haciendo por mi, por mi familia, por mi comunidad y por la demás gente que no sabe que no tiene que tener miedo.
Aparte vamos a ir a la Convencion Nacional de Democratas para decirle a Obama que ya basta de abusos, que queremos que quite las Comunidades Seguras, nos quitaron el 287g pero Comunidades Seguras no nos la quitaron por eso siguen las deportaciones. Y eso es lo que queremos, que ya basta de tantas injusticias, que queremos algo positivo, no algo negativo para el país.
Read More » -
If we can overcome our fear, so can anyone
July 25, 2012
I’m going to get arrested because I am tired of living in fear. I am tired of all these laws that are passing not just here in Arizona but in the whole United States. And most of all for my family and my community.I want them to know that we are not just doing this for ourselves, for our families, but for them too. We have seen so many families being separated each and every day. And people like the ones who are going to get arrested are the people who are being deported every day.
We want them to know we are coming out of our fear. They can come out as well.
Read More » -
We'll Make Arpaio's Job Easy Because We're Not Afraid Anymore
July 24, 2012
I've decided I can't be afraid any more, to fight for my community and my family and against all the laws and against what Arpaio is doing to our community. That's why I've decided to be arrested in our struggle for our community and my family.
Read More » -
Bio: Maria Cruz Ramirez
July 19, 2012
Maria Cruz Ramirez arrived in Phoenix, AZ with her three children just a few months before September 11, 2001 to be with her husband. She worked as a stylist in our own salon in Hidalgo, Mexico, and had hoped to have better opportunities for work in the U.S. She has been unable to find work for the last eleven years because she is undocumented. Two of her three children participated in a coming out of the shadows civil disobedience in Phoenix in March. She has been a member of the Arizona Dream Guardians, a group of parents of DREAM Act-eligible youth who fundraised for their children’s educations, and she hopes to start a new parents’ group in the future that is a community defense committee and a way to increase their children’s education opportunities. She says, “Me and my children, we give each other strength, and we struggle together. I’m going on the bus because I want a life with dignity and a just job for myself, for my family, and for my people. I fight for those who come after me.”
Read More » -
Bio: Natally Cruz
July 19, 2012
Natally Cruz has made her home in Phoenix, AZ for the last 16 years, since she was seven years old. She has been a part of the Puente Human Rights Movement for over two years, learning and educating others about the rights of undocumented people. Over the same period of time, five members of her family have been harassed or detained by Arpaio and his collaborators. Her main motivation to fight for her community is her 7-year-old son. She says, “We have to come out of the shadows just like the students did: we have to let people know that we are tired of being stepped on. We are not scared anymore. Enough is enough.”
Read More » -
Bio: Leticia Ramirez
July 19, 2012
Leticia Ramirez lives in Phoenix, AZ. She is a community organizer and health promoter with the Puente Human Rights Movement. She came to the United States in 1994 when she was 9 years old because her father found better work here than he was able to in Mexico. She has three U.S. citizen children, and watches her family and her community experience racial profiling every day. She says, “I am a cake decorator and I can’t even find work doing what I like because I don’t have papers. I want to open the community’s eyes and show them what it looks like to not be afraid, to come out the shadows, and stand united.”
Read More » -
Bio: Miguel Guerra
July 19, 2012
Miguel Guerra has lived in Phoenix, AZ, since 1998, with his wife and his three children. He works in construction, and has been a volunteer with the Puente Human Rights Movement since shortly after the passage of SB1070, when the organization helped him recover stolen wages from an employer. That same year, he was racially profiled and pulled over by Phoenix PD for an alleged traffic violation and had his car impounded, because as an undocumented immigrant he cannot get a driver’s license. He says that he is willing to take action and risk deportation for dignity. “We want to come out of the shadows. We want President Obama to see that we are no longer afraid and that that we are demanding that he take action to solve our community’s problems.”
Read More » -
Bio: Isela "Chela" Meraz
July 19, 2012
Isela Meraz (Chela) has lived in Phoenix, AZ since 1991. Chela was 8 years old when she came to the US with her parents who wanted a better education and life for their family. She is active in the community, from organizing in the streets, participating in hunger strikes and spiritual fast, to organizing art shows for queer cultura, 3rdSpace, and working with PUENTE. This is Chela’s first time doing a civil disobedience action. “I’m doing this for my parents. For the sacrifice they made bringing me here. To let them know that the obstacle I have encountered are the system’s fault and not theirs. I want people to not be afraid anymore, to know that even though we are undocumented we have rights. We need to tell our stories with pride.”
Read More » -
Bio: Gerardo Torres
July 19, 2012
Gerardo Torres is a self-employed handyman and community health promoter who has lived in Phoenix, AZ for the last 18 years, after staying after the time limit of a tourist visa. He is a member of the Puente Human Rights Movement and 3rdSpace, a group of queer brown migrants working to make their community visible. “I want people to know that the queer undocumented community is also affected by these laws. I want people in my communities to let go of their fear and to learn how to defend their human rights. It is a time for a change in the immigration laws: the status quo is not an option anymore. We have to move because we are in crisis, what is happening is not working anymore.
Read More »