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Sunday – Standing with Immigrant Families
Mar 08, 2010
This is the fifth and final blog in a series chronicling the adventures of the Standing on the Side of Love Campaign in San Diego between Thursday, February 25th and Sunday, February 28th. This blog is written by Daniel Stracka, founder of Unitarian Universalist Refugee and Immigrant Services and Education (UURISE), a non-profit agency dedicated to justice for immigrants and refugees and chair of the San Diego County Unitarian Universalist Network (SUUN), a cluster organization.
Our immigration laws are creating chaos and fear in the lives of immigrants and citizens. Our current members of Congress must look deep into that well of wisdom, which Stephen Shick suggests our founders of the United States of America had done by crafting dreams of democracy out of chaos. Elected officials must change the immigration laws that break families and break hearts, and stand on the side of love with immigrant families.
This standing on the side of love and walking the talk of justice can be exhausting but oh so satisfying! I am proud of having participated in the Standing on the Side of Love with Immigrant Families Public Witness Rally in Support of Comprehensive Immigration Reform at the Federal Building in San Diego.
Rev. Dr. Arvid Straube of First UU Church of San Diego offered an opening prayer in which he invoked the inherent worth and dignity of each person. Rev Peter Morales, President of the Unitarian Universalist Association, drew the distinction between immigration as a legal issue and a moral issue. He reminded us that throughout our history there have been laws that, while legal, were immoral. I hear a call!
Bishop Brenda Evans Cooper of Christ Chapel World Ministry provided an interfaith perspective that none of us and no immigrant should give up hope in a quest for freedom. I realized that interfaith does not mean we all believe alike, but we can all join in upholding the right of all persons, regardless of place of birth, to freedom.
A litany was presented by UU ministers, Rev Kathleen Green and Rev David Miller, to which the crowd responded “I stand on the side of love.” The power of public response was transforming for me. It reminded me that I am not in this alone and that together we do make a difference.
Enrique Morones, founder of Border Angels, called on all of us as citizens of the world to recognize that those seeking refuge in the United States of America are human beings and should be treated humanely regardless of the route their journey as taken them. I am emboldened by his passion for human rights, not as an ideal, but as a practice. Border Angels provides water and clothing for migrants in the desert. Over 4000 people have died since 1994. The image of one woman, Leticia, who died in the arms of her 15 year old son while crossing through the desert will not leave me.
Rev. Dr. Beth Johnson of Palormar UU Fellowship provided a closing prayer in which she invoked that love and compassion should be our guide, and that sometimes breaking a law while standing for love is a result of unjust laws.
I have been transformed by the events over four days of witness in San Diego. What I hold most in my heart is a five year old U.S. citizen child, who well could have been the child of Jorge, the man whom Adam, Kathy, Dick, Mar, Michanne, and I met at the border in Mexico, who came up to me and with all the courage she could muster, looked me directly in the eyes and asked “When will you bring my papa home?” I am standing on the side of love for this child and all the immigrant families who are broken by our broken immigration laws.
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We were entertained by Greg Brown and Dave Ploeser of North Crust Blue-geois Band, and by singer/song writer Chris Hassett, who wrote a song, “A Strange Kind of Gratitude” for the occasion. See the lyrics at www.chrishassett.com.
Saturday in San Diego – Social Justice Conference
This is the fourth in a blog series, chronicling the adventures of the Standing on the Side of Love Campaign in San Diego between Thursday, February 25th and Sunday, February 28th. This blog is written by Martin Kruming, who is building bonds between churches to become more effective justice advocates. On Saturday, February 27th, he helped organize a gathering of six local Unitarian Universalist Congregations for a Social Justice Conference.
I’ve always realized the power and impact of a penny. When I spot one on a sidewalk, in an airport or at a grocery store, I’ll pick it up. By themselves, pennies don’t buy much these days; but you put them with other pennies and now you’re on to something. Pool them with nickels, dimes, quarters and even a $20.00 bill that my wife found in the bushes during a walk, and you’ve really got something. It’s the same story with Unitarian Universalist churches and social justice work. Each one is powerful and can get things done but together a Cluster or group of them can do so much more for the homeless, marriage equality, immigrants, the environment – you name it. And when Unitarian Universalists link with other churches, people and groups, the possibilities soar.
Saturday, February 27th, some 30 Unitarian Universalist ministers and lay leaders spent five hours together at Palomar UU Fellowship in Vista, about 40 miles north of downtown San Diego to talk about social justice and what we could do together that would have an impact on the entire county. What if we made bowls and fed homeless families? What if we read to grade school kids at nearby Camp Pendleton whose Marine moms or dads were fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq? What if we gathered clothes, computers and more for colonias in Tijuana? Imagine what six churches together rather than one church alone – sort of a 6 vs. 1 concept. Toward the end of Saturday’s 1st Annual Social Justice Conference, we had the plan as well as the vision. We’ve had a San Diego County Cluster for four years but social justice has always been an individual church story – until today.
Rev. Dr. Beth Johnson, the minister at Palomar, probably put it best: “It’s obvious that we can do more together than we can do alone. We can continue to be that liberal, progressive beacon in San Diego County. This is a special and auspicious day.”
I was fascinated to hear UUs in the room share their passion for social justice and the words they used to describe it. Caring and need were at the top of the list. As we listened to Adam Gerhardstein talk during lunch of Subway sandwiches about the Standing On the Side of Love Campaign, we knew how powerful this 6 vs.1 concept was and how our work in San Diego is really all about love. Ironically, during our Social Justice Weekend a noose was found hanging in the library at the University of California at San Diego campus, just a few miles south.
Pennies. They’re the building blocks; they’re the connectors; they’re the “little people” in the world of millions, billions and trillions. Later that week, as I headed to a meeting in downtown San Diego, I spotted a penny on the sidewalk. I bent down, picked it up and when I got home dropped it into my 2010 Trader Joe’s coffee can of coins.
More >Love Triumphs in DC
Mar 04, 2010
Adam Gerhardstein is Campaign Manager of the Standing on the Side of Love Campaign.
On the way to work yesterday, the first day gay and lesbian couples could apply for marriage licenses in D.C., Rev. Rob Hardies called me and said, “Fred Phelps is at the courthouse and we need Standing on the Side of Love.” So as soon as I got in the office, my colleague Orelia Busch and I grabbed our banner, signs, buttons and wallet cards that say, “We believe homophobia, not homosexuality, is a sin,” and headed out.
When we arrived at the courthouse it was a media feeding frenzy. Videographers, photographers, people with tape recorders, bounced from one loud voice to another and mobbed any couple coming out of the courthouse. The couples were positively glowing. They were radiating love and energy that overshadowed all the craziness around them. The hate was there, and being loudly proclaimed, but love had already won.
My favorite moment of the morning occurred while a huge media mob swarmed around two protesters yelling at each other, not realizing that they were on the same side. When I looked past the media mob, over by the door of the courthouse, I saw a man get down on one knee, look in his partner’s eyes, and, while I couldn’t hear them, I am 100% sure that he proposed. His partner began to cry, then the man got up from his knees and they kissed. A lone photographer noticed this proposal and went running over to capture it, but he was too late.
Witnessing that proposal, on that momentous day, was one of the great privileges of my life. I wish you could have been there with me, but here is a short video that will at least give you glimpse of what that day was like.
Friday Afternoon in Tijuana
Mar 03, 2010
This is the third in a blog series, chronicling the adventures of the Standing on the Side of Love Campaign in San Diego between Thursday, February 25th and Sunday, February 28th. This blog is written by Kathy Faller, who travels to Tijuana weekly, supporting families and communities with donations; providing hope for better lives. On Friday, February 26th, she led a group that included Adam Gerhardstein, Campaign Manager of the Standing on the Side of Love campaign.
I know that when I take people to see Mexico, the Mexico that I see, it is a transformational experience. It’s not easy though. I have spent a lot of time thinking about how best to convey this experience for others, paint a rosy picture, not show them some areas, or support their stereotypes. Lots of paths that can be taken toward understanding. Over the past 5 years, I have seen many different reactions and emotions; sadness, anger, judgement, joy to name a few. My current approach is to just hold a space of compassion for everyone involved. This is how I embarked on the day with Adam, Dick, Dan, Mar and Michanne squeezing into my AWD Toyota. Curious what this adventure will bring…….
We traveled to Colonia Cumbres, where I have built 9 homes for families that truly needed good homes but were too poor to afford them. I love the name of the home program, Casas de Luz, having windows in each of these homes brings light into what was previously cave like conditions.
We go to Lulu’s bright blue home with her three large windows and see Daniel, 3 years old, smiling. When I first met him he suffered from asthma caused by the mold in their home, he never smiled. Lulu’s family has a hard life but her home is always neat; she takes great pride in owning it. It’s nice to know that I played a part in providing her some contentment.
In January of 2009, I was asked if I was interested in supporting Colonia Carretas in helping them become a community. Over the past year I have delivered weekly donations, raised funds for a new community center, and heard their struggles in community development. There are currently 30 families that are part of this squatter’s canyon of homes.
We drive up to the community a couple of hours late and there are 25 people waiting for us. There is excitement, to receive “Standing on the Side of Love” pins, and caution, who are these people with me.
We are on the lot that we hope to have become the new community center. The community has cleared the land by hand, forming a human chain to move the rocks. They have been working hard in the hope of having a better life. They see us as providing some hope for the future. I feel a big responsibility when I hear them talk about how hard their lives are and what they need. While they would love new homes, we are focusing on building a community center and entrepreneur development. Some of the women have made things to show us. There are scarves, tortilla holders, bags; all made from remnants brought down from the US. Adam purchased the perfect rainbow scarf to wear for his sermon on Sunday. I was touched deeply when they asked him to pray for them and their families. I felt such joy seeing Mar doing Cat’s cradle and Adam doing magic tricks with the kids.
It brings me such joy visiting my friends in the Colonias. This is my spiritual practice that awakens me to what’s really important and nourishes me with each visit. I will continue facilitating the alchemy of castoffs becoming gold across the border.
Friday Morning
Mar 01, 2010
This is the second in a blog series about a weekend in the life of Standing on the Side of Love. The series is written by Adam Gerhardstein, Campaign Manager and chronicles the adventures in San Diego between Thursday, February 25th and Sunday, February 28th. The stars of these stories are the people in the pews, who harness love’s power to stop oppression every single day.
Kathy Faller, Dick Eiden and Dan Stracka pick me up at the hotel and we drive to South Bay Unitarian Universalist Church in Chula Vista. I’d been told the church is in a strip mall next to a tattoo parlor, but the only thing I notice when I pull up is the sign on the door, “Bilingual Services Sunday/Domingo,” and a smaller sign down below, “Standing on the Side of Love with Immigrant Families.” I am definitely in the right place.
Mar Cardenas and Michanne Hoctor-Thompson meet us at South Bay and fill the remaining two seats in our mini-van.
Ten minutes later I learn a valuable lesson: do not videotape while driving through a border station. What I thought would be nice montage footage driving across the border, I end up erasing under the supervision of a Mexican border agent. Oops!
We enter Tijuana and begin driving along the border wall towards the Playas (beach) where the border wall ends in the ocean. In Tijuana, there are actually two border walls. The old one made of sheet metal and wire mesh followed by 50 feet of no-mans land and the new border wall made of tall cylindrical shafts shooting up in the air. As we drive along the wall we see hummers, trucks and SUVs patrolling the U.S. side of the border and a sand bag bunker in the middle of no-man’s land. Mar tells me the wall runs for 800 miles along the border.
When we arrive at the Playas, I have three experiences that profoundly change how I view immigration, immigrants and the United States.
First, the very first person I meet in Mexico is named Jorge. He stood at the border wall looking into the United States. He begins telling us his story and I am so moved I ask to tape him so that the world could witness his reality, one that so many immigrant families share. Here is Jorge’s story:
Jorge may not have had the proper documents to be in the U.S. or have a driver’s license, but he did have a family, a job, and a life. After 17 years in the U.S. he was deported and all of that was destroyed. It hits me hard – there is something profoundly wrong with my country’s immigration policy.
Second, Mar Cardenas points to the place where the wall runs into the ocean and tells me about the time when it wasn’t yet constructed and was demarcated by just a rope, but everyone was expected to treat that rope like a wall and never cross it, not even with a toe.
In an act of faithful resistance, people of faith gathered on both sides of the rope to worship. A Mexican priest reached across the rope to give communion to a U.S. citizen and was promptly arrested. Not even the body of Christ could cross that border.
Third, Mar volunteers with an organization called Border Angles. They save lives everyday by placing water, blankets and clothes in the desert where immigrants cross the border, risking their lives to reunite with family or to find work. Border Angels painted a mural where the wall runs into the water. The mural depicts an Angel watching over people crossing the border. It follows the wall up a small hill and culminates in a section of the wall draped with 4,000 white wooden crosses, one for each known immigrant who died crossing the border since Operation Gate Keeper started in 1994.
Any hang-ups I had previously had about who should or shouldn’t be allowed to come to the U.S. melted away as I learned of Jorge’s family being separated, imprisonment for worshipping with neighbors, and the immigrants who lose their lives seeking a better future. Standing at the border, I had more clarity than ever about what it meant to stand on the side of love.
Lunch time.
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