Community Holds a Solidarity Vigil in Denver
This post was submitted by Kelly Dignan.
Iliff School of Theology in Denver, Colorado held a vigil on July 29, 2010 to stand on the side of love with those in Arizona affected by the anti-immigrant law SB 1070 and our culture that dehumanizes undocumented immigrants.
Faculty, students and members of the community gathered to build an altar. They brought candles, religious symbols, items that signify the present immigration debate, poems, and pictures of first family member(s) who were immigrants or refugees.
The event originated with the class held at Iliff this week on immigration, lead by Miguel A. De La Torre who is the Iliff professor of social ethics. He is also author of the book, Trails of Hope and Terror: Testimonies on Immigration.
The class focused on how to develop a conversation on immigration that is constructive rather than filled with fear and hate. It explored US foreign policy, economics, politics, history, rhetoric in the press, religious values, and an ethical response to the current situation. Class members witnessed testimonies of migrants and volunteers who have visited the border to provide aid. I concluded that whenever a nation builds roads into another country for extracting natural resources, we shouldn’t be surprised when citizens of that country follow those roads out to regain what has been stolen from them. As they do, we must stand on the side of love with them.
Class members requested that Professor De La Torre lead a humanitarian aid trip to the border next August. He has lead trips before, collaborating with No More Deaths which is a ministry of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Tucson.
