Jailed For Justice Tour: Day 6, Athens

We were all really excited to be rolling into Athens. As some may know Clarke County, despite being home to the University of Georgia,  has the highest poverty rate of any county in the state. Clarke County has great potential to play a key role in changing the political landscape in Georgia. There's something exciting brewing in Athens, which is part of Clarke County, and many of the groups organizing the change Athens so desperately needs helped organize our stop including Athens 4 Everyone, The Economic Justice Coalition, and the Athens/Clarke County NAACP.

The Athens tour stop managed to fill most of the pews at East Friendship Baptist Church and the turnout, like every stop so far, was a true cross section of the local community, a rainbow coalition of young old, white, black, brown, gay, straight, male, female, and everyone inbetween.

The panel included Joe Beasley, John Slaughter, and Peggy Marx who all recieved a standing ovation after giving truly moving  testimony about why they were willing to risk arrest in order to stand in the way of an immoral, extremist, economically insane agenda that year after year benefits just a few Georgians at the cost of everyone else.

After the panel local organizers talked about issues their organizing around, what a Moral Monday Athens would looks like, and strategies to increase voter turnout in November.

We were also excited that folks in Athens seemed really committed to coming together with people all over the state on August 23rd for the Moral March on Georgia.

Migrant Youth Voices Hits The Campus

After this past Sunday's Food For Thought Benefit, where one of our Migrant Youth Voices short film was shown, we we approached by a Paideia high school student who wanted to show the short film at his school and have a facilitated discussion about immigration reform, racism, and the coming realities of HB87.

We were surprised that there were any high schools still in session, but we were happy make the film screening happen on short notice. We want to get out to as many school, churches, homes, and community centers for film screenings as possible. The short notice event also gave one of our Migrant Youth Voice(MYV) participants the opportunity to polish his public speaking skills a bit more. After the film screen our MYV participant(who was featured in the film) spoke and answered questions for about 30 minutes.

It's been unexplainable inspiring to witness the journey many of the Migrant Youth Voices participants have taken in a fairly short period of time. From living with their secret, to sharing their stories with others who have been there, to sharing their story on film(safely), to speaking publicly. It's clear that there will be several emerging community leaders from this crew. Perhaps that is the silver lining that the passage of HB87 has brought, a new unstoppable force that will unquestionable prevail in the long run.


Contact us if you're interested in hosting a film screening in your community. The films are very short and we can set up a panel to follow. It's a great way to start a conversation.

Tim Franzen
American Friends Service Committee
tfranzen@afsc.org

Where Is The Love Georgia?

The American Friends Service Committee was one of several organizations that co-sponsored the “Love Your Neighbor Rally” located in Gainesville, GA, an event where several families, community leaders, and allies gathered to voice their opposition to HB 87, recently signed into law by Governor Deal.

RJ Hadley and State Representative Pedro Marin (D) were among the people who spoke to the crowd that Saturday. RJ Hadley, stating that HB 87 is a “Republican mess” and that HB 87 was “their” legislation. He announced that this was the time had come for action, to remove the people who had gotten them to this point, and encouraged people with access to citizenship to register to vote. He warned us that Republicans were redrawing the political line and were doing this secretly. Pedro Marin also charged the group to “keep watch” on HB 87, not to be afraid to stand tall and to talk with their neighbors and get people to register to vote, saying, “Atlanta will pay attention when we have that voting power.”

Maria Duarte from the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials (GALEO) announced that HB 87 goes into effect July 1 and promised the crowd that the legislation will fail. Maria stated there were 8 million people eligible to become citizens; she requested these people gain citizenship and for all citizens to register to vote. Maria stressed that it was important not to be guided by myths and rumors, and to “focus on the resources we have and not on what we don’t have.” An immigration lawyer based in Gainesville denounced HB 87, stating it was immoral and unconstitutional, and informed the crowd of their rights (including the right to remain silent). He then assured them that the majority of HB 87 will be blocked.

The rally had a mostly day festival feeling with prayer and songs, face painting, water and sandwiches for folks who wanted them, Mexican ice cream, and a clown making balloons for the children. The crowd that day was little over 300 people; there were tables set up for people to register to vote and plenty of shade where most folks were able to stay cool.

The Gainesville rally was occurring at the same time as a local auto show, but aside from getting to see some swanky cars driving down the street, the other event did not prevent several hundred people from attending the rally.

Guest Writer

Dawn Gibson

Nakba Day In Atlanta

Nakba Day is an annual day of commemoration for the Palestinian People of the displacement that accompanied the creation of Israel in 1948.

During the 1948 war an estimated 700,000 Palestinian's were expelled or fled their land and hundreds of Palestinian villages were depopulated and destroyed.

The overwhelming majority of Palestinian refugees, both those outside the 1949 armistice lines at the war's conclusion and those internally displaced, were barred by the newly declared state of Israel from returning to their homes or reclaiming their property. They number several million people today, divided between Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip, with another at least quarter of million internally displaced Palestinians in Israel. It should be noted that descendants of refugees live all over the world, with Atlanta being no exception.

The Loss of Palestine and the dispossession and dispersal of the Palestinian people is known to them as al-Nakba, meaning "the catastrophe," or "the disaster." The Nakba day is one recognized globally, marked by commemorations and resistance actions.

Locally the Movement to End Israeli Apartheid Georgia(MEIAG) held it's third annual Nakba commemoration at Piedmont park. It was a day not only set aside to share stories of family history, but also a day to build community and to enjoy each others company. This years event was by far the largest to date. Over the past year MEIAG has been working with Palestinian refugees in Clarkston , work that AFSC strongly supports whenever we can. Several families fromt the refugee community came out to the park to share their stories, meet new friends, share delicious food, and play games in the park.

Today we hold up Palestinian communities all over the world as we hope for peace and work for justice in the region. To learn more about AFSC's operation's in Palestine Click HERE.


Photo Credit: Ghazal Ahmadi


Tim Franzen
American Friends Service Committee

How Do We Make Sure HB87 Fails?

Today Governor Deal signed HB87 and effectively ushered in a new era in Georgia history. We now live in what some are calling the Juan Crow era, an era that we all must work to ensure is brief.

As news of HB87's signing spread folks started heading to capitol to express their outrage at Governor Deal's seemingly inevitable action. Knowing the Governor was politically committed to signing the bill did not soften the emotional impact. To be frank, today has been a very tough day for countless people.

Folks also came out to a town hall meeting held at Trinity United Methodist Church to discuss the impact of HB87. Groups shared resistance actions that they have been organizing and further strategized on effective next steps we all can take in the effort to make sure HB87 fails.

Throughout the course of the town hall meeting it became apparent that HB87 will be defeated. There were just too many committed folks in the room, too many communities represented, too many dynamic ideas put out and too many organizations lining up to support resistance to this bill. It's clearly a question of when and how, not if.

Some of the projects presented during the meeting included:

A boycott of Georgia. Already calls have gone out to avoid traveling to our state of hate. It is urged to no longer plan vacations to Georgia, have your conferences booked elsewhere, skip Georgia if you're booking a music/cultural tour, and make it known why you are boycotting our state.

Georgia Undocumented Youth Alliance is working on creating space for youth in the movement to defeat HB87. Here at AFSC we also hope to raise the voices of migrant youth through our Migrant Youth Voice project. We hope to launch a new website in the next month where we will be publishing a series of short films documenting the lives and struggles of undocumented youth in georgia, in edition we'll also be hosting a number of film screening across the state in the fall.

Southerners On New Ground and the Georgia Latino Alliance on Human Rights (GLAHR) will be leading an effort to organize businesses and sanctuaries to become hate free zones. Houses of worship and places of business that commit to non compliance of HB87 will be certified "hate free" zones where immigrants and human rights supporters are welcome to shop or worship. Contact Southerners on New Ground or the Georgia Latino Alliance on Human Rights if you're down to help with this ambitious effort. We all shop, and many of us are active in a church, so that's where we can start!

GLAHR has also organized an action for women in the defense of immigrant families. Women from all over Georgia will come together to demand a stop to the separation and persecution of their families and to put a stop to 287g and HB87. Wearing white, with their children by their side, women and those in solidarity opposing this legislation will gather at Centennial Park on May 22, 2011 at 10am.

Finally I just want to say that in my personal experience, sometimes failure can be the foundation by which success is built upon. I mention that just to highlight the opportunity that has been presented by HB87's signing today. The chance to build and strengthen communities, the thousands of people that will experience a life changing political awakening as a result of Governor Deals pen stroke today is inconceivable. It is on the foundation of HB87's failure that we can build something new, something different.

Tim Franzen

American Friends Service Committee

Georgia Law Makers Legislate Hate

In a sad historic vote the Georgia Senate passed SB 40. The bill has been know by many as an Arizona copy cat law.

The bill signifies a new chapter in Georgia's legacy of hate and discrimination. SB 40 will discard thousands of human beings that have helped build Georgia's infrastructure, grow our crops, and do most of Georgia's dirty work.

Most economist predict that SB40 will have a devastating effect on Georgia's struggling economy. The Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials stated,

"Georgia’s economy is at stake. HB 87 and SB 40 would impact the heart of Georgia’s economy: its agricultural industry, tourism and convention business, and foreign investment. Georgia’s leading industry is agriculture, which generates $65 billion annually toward the State’s economy and employs one out of every seven residents. It is estimated that 50-70% of our nation’s agricultural workforce is made up of undocumented immigrants. We commend the Georgia Farm Bureau for voicing its concern over a copycat Arizona law.

The tourism and convention business is the State’s second largest industry and has a total economic impact of about $34.8 billion. It is estimated that Arizona has lost over $140 million dollars on lost tourism and convention business as a direct result of the passage of its controversial law. Georgia cannot afford this type of loss. Georgia could potentially have a loss far greater than Arizona’s because Georgia is the home of many multi-national corporations, has the world’s busiest airport, has a thirst for expanding international trade."

But a bill being a bad deal for Georgian's didn't stop Senate from letting this one pass.

Outside the capitol, during the debate on the bill, 30-40 folks rallied against SB40. I had the honor of carrying several banners that youth involved with our migrant youth voice project had painted the day before. They weren't able to attend themselves because they're high school students, but they wanted to have a voice. One of them, Javier, was actually able to leave class for a few minutes to do a radio interview on 89.3.

About 20 minutes after the Senate voted to pass SB40 I received a phone call from one of our youth. His voice was shaky, I could tell something was wrong. He told me that his mother was moving the family to Houston because the laws passing here make them all unsafe. I can't think of any young person who deserves a future without bureaucratic, xenophobic obstacles more than this young man...yet I had little to say to him.

I found it ironic that just the day before this young man had bought an, "I Love ATL" shirt from a down town vendor after eating at the Hard Rock Cafe. He's an amazing guitar player and a rock and roll aficionado and the Hard Rock was a really great experience for him. I could see the doors of imagination opening up in his mind as he looked and took pictures of every piece of rock and roll history in the restaurant. He's just the kind of kid this city needs, smart, passionate, altruistic, and creative. I wish I could tell him that ATL loves him back, but today I couldn't.

I can't fathom any other reason for the passing of SB40 them pure racism.

Now more then ever we need folks off the sidelines. We need folks to go beyond agreeing with us, we need you to stand with us, organize with us.

Governor Deal has the power to veto this bill. We recommend you jam his office line, let his staff know this is unacceptable! That we don't want Jim Crow back in Georgia.

His Number:

404-657-7332

I'd also like to invite folks to come out to a few demonstrations over the next two weeks.

Wednesday, March 16 · 2:00pm - 4:00pm

Saturday March 19th 12-3pm

Thursday March 24th 11-2pm

Tim Franzen

American Friends Service Committee

Georgia Students Prepare To Resist!

This past Saturday I had the pleasure of participating in the Georgia Students For Public Higher Education's(GSPHE) winter conference in Athens. It was a great excuse to bust out our shuttle bus, get a crew and drive to Athens.

When we showed up it was clear that this Athens crew had it together. In a short period of time they not only put together the conference, which included speakers from around the globe, but they were able to pack the room full of people. I must also mention that the food situation was pretty amazing, hats off to my old pal Kelsea Norris for whipping up all that deliciousness!

I was tasked with facilitating a one hour movement building workshop that had a focus on base building, legislative work, and media. It was a challenge packing what could be a conference of its own into 60 minutes but I managed not to be long winded guy. No one booed me out of the room so folks were either being polite, or I did a satisfactory job.

I was really impressed with the next session which brought folks from around the world, through skype, into the room with us to share their analysis and organizing experience. It's that type of global connection that we need now. In this global economy I think it's safe to say that we can no longer wait for the leaders of our individual nations to represent us, to usher in the change the world needs. We can't wait for our leaders to lead. We must build movements to big for borders and force our leaders to follow us, or be left behind.

The GSPHE crew seem to get it. Their conference program was a reflection of the connections they've identified between systems of violence and oppression. GSPHE has panelist from the Georgia Dreamers, they made clear statements of support for the Georgia prison strike, were clearly in solidarity with university workers, and they pointed out the crisis of priority in military spending.

GSPHE, along with the rest of our great state faces an uphill battle this legislative session. We know that k-12 budgets can afford to lose another penny, but it already seems that the new Governor hope to cut even more from an already broken system. University students are facing an even greater tuition and fee hike, and the wildly popular HOPE scholarship even appears to be on the chopping block. GSPHE seemed to have some potential solutions that make a lot more sense then relegating children to ATMS, or pounding the final nails into our public k-12 schools.
I for one am exciting to see what GSPHE develops in the coming months, we need them no more then ever.

To learn more or get involved with GSPHE please visit:
www.georgiastudents.org


Photos by Caitie Elle & Dawn Gibson


Tim Franzen
American Friends Service Committee
tfranzen@afsc.org