Today, I gave this speech to the Brownsville City Council Meeting during the public comment portion. The Brownsville Herald ran an article on Sunday that said that the Mayor was betrayed by the City Council who went behind closed doors to allow the Army Corps of Engineers onto city land to survey for the wall. It is in response to that that I wrote this speech-on the back, and in the margins of the agenda.
Yesterday, Princeton University recognized five of my 8th grade students for essays they wrote on the topic “What would Martin Luther King say and do about immigration?” Princeton opened this year’s essay contest to my students because they used my blog, nonviolent migration, as a resource for their contest. These five students, Melissa Guerra, Yessenia Martinez, Abigail Cabrera, Vanessa Trevino, and Blanca Gonzalez were the only five students who had the faith to submit an essay and all were recognized by Princeton.
I asked the rest of my 121 students to speak honestly about why they had decided not to write for the contest. The overwhelming number of students responded that it wasn’t worth trying because they felt that because Princeton is in the North, they would prejudge their work since they live on the border. This experience reminded me once again just how excluded these children feel. Even though this wall will be South of most of my students, my students are smart enough to know that the same motive behind this wall is also shouting at them, saying, “You are not us; keep out!”
These students, who started with such enthusiasm when the contest was announced, lost hope and they let their fears overcome their faith. This broke my heart because I love my students, but your capitulation is something other than heartbreaking because you are no longer 8th graders. We expect you to hold out hope. We expect you to keep the faith. We expect you to work for us, and let us fight this fight.
At this time, we want to express our love… and forgiveness… to all the members of the commission. However, as a result of your action, we must now find a legal way to undo what you’ve done so that my 8th graders don’t come to learn that you prejudged them too.
Once again, I have to point you in the direction of a friend of mine who wrote an excellent article entitled, “Duty Free.”
Stop the wall this spring break.
A year and a half ago, Border Ambassador Jay Johnson-Castro went on a 15 day walk through the Texas communities that will be affected if the Secure Fence Act of 2006—already federal law—becomes a reality. His walk, which he undertook basically alone, was covered by the BBC[1] and other international media, as well as multiple articles in the Houston Chronicle and the San Antonio Express News.[2] Hearing of the walk, Republican Governor Rick Perry (a proponent of the wall) held a press conference about border security in the tiny community of Rio Grande City while Jay was walking through town.
Why would one man require a response from such a powerful person? Why would Governor Perry even care about one Don Quixote-like figure plodding through the long stretches of nothingness? Why would the Houston Chronicle give its front page as a pulpit for a solitary nobody doing something so crazy? These questions have elusive answers, but those familiar with the civil rights movement in the 1950s and 60s are better equipped to make sense of them than most. Two clues are found in familiar phrases from that generation. “Unearned suffering is redemptive,” which Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. often said, and “You got to move,” a favorite phrase of the Highlander Folk School—who trained Rosa Parks and others—have oriented my understanding of why a walk can be so powerful.
Following that motto, “You got to move,” this spring break—from March 8th to the 16th—local educators and students, along with religious and civic leaders will walk 115 miles (13 miles each day for 9 days) from Roma to Brownsville as a form of nonviolent direct action. We invite you to partner with us in an alternative spring break, by following this link. http://www.mysignup.com/noborderwallwalk There you will make a commitment to participate and input your information. We will then contact you with the necessary details.
The purpose of this walk is to show support for local landowners who do not want to give the Army Corps of Engineers access to their property. These landowners are facing litigation by the U.S. Government, and are acting very courageously in spite of this threat. Many more landowners would resist the government if they knew they were supported. A second purpose is to gain the attention of the nation, especially during this election year.
Through today’s New York Times,[3] land owner Eloisa Tamez’s plan for resistance was shared with a national audience. Eloisa works closely with Jay Johnson-Castro in the fight to prevent this wall from segregating our community, but she isn’t the only land owner along the proposed fence route. Now is the time to share her story, Jay’s story, and spread the message of our collective struggle. Please join us and invite your friends, family, and neighbors to do the same.
Nonviolent Migration 