Posts
1/17/21
We have been to the border. We have seen people on both sides of the border. Many of generous spirit and intellect will admit that on both sides the people are worthy of sympathy. Others, like us, who have stood on both sides of that line of guns and uniforms and rusted steel, have had our natural sympathies heightened, and it has become for us that thing which most enrages those less generous: a deep revulsion for the institutions that block the flow of suffering humanity toward the light, toward life.
1/8/21
Are we better than this?
Ask black children who learn when they are young to keep their hands out of their pockets when police are near. Ask children who lose their connection to the world inside of prison tents on the border, never to be found again. Ask parents of those children if their hearts will ever heal.
12/23/20
We all have our jobs. And we all decide what our jobs are.
I know that many people who visit this page are feeling hopeful about what will happen to people who have come to our border as migrants. But some of us have been among these pilgrims. We have seen the squalor that US policy decisions have imposed upon them. We have heard about kidnappings and rapes. We have watched as bodies floated in the river. We have watched as busloads of men, women and children are transferred to planes in chains, for deportation.
12/15/20
What’s Next? Postcard Campaign
Postcard #1 - End MPP
Mail December 15-18
This first postcard in a series is being sent to Joe & Jill Biden, Kamala Harris, Nancy Pelosi and Alejandro Mayorkas (nominated to head Department of Homeland Security).
Image: Sidewalk School for Children Asylum Seekers, Matamoros
12/10/20
Day 16 of 16 Days Of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence Against Women The Official 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence Campaign #16Days #OrangeTheWorld #GenerationEquality #RatifyILO190
For our final post of these 16 Days, we leave you with this general information, resources, statistics and this reminder: "When it comes to statistics relating to violence against women and children it’s important to know that you don’t have to be a math expert to understand the numbers. You simply have to be willing to recognize that each statistic represents a woman, child, or family — a life — torn apart by violence and abuse."
12/9/20
Day 15 of 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence Against Women The Official 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence Campaign
#16days #orangetheworld #generationequality #ratifyILO190
The health of immigrant women in detention suffers. In the case of the women forced to have hysterectomies at the Irwin Detention Facility in Georgia the threat to their reproductive health came from the doctor assigned to care for them.
12/8/20
Day 14 of 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence. The Official 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence Campaign #OrangeTheWorld #RatifyILO190 #generationalequality
"Latin America and the Caribbean account for 14 of the 25 deadliest nations in the world for women. There is rarely justice. As many as 98 percent of gender-related killings go unprosecuted in Latin America, according to the United Nations."
12/7/20
Day 13 of 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence Against Women The Official 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence Campaign
#16days #orangetheworld #generationequality #ratifyILO190
When I think about violence against women the acts that come to mind are rape, physical violence and verbal abuse. There are forms of abuse that may, on the surface, not look like violence but they are. I witnessed one of these subtler acts of violence at the El Paso airport last year.
12/06/20
I know we are all wondering how things will change for people waiting and arriving at the southern border. We have been promised an immediate end to MPP, the remain in Mexico policy that has stranded thousands who have been kept, impoverished, in limbo, in camps and scattered along the borderline. The line protected by guns and fortifications to defend the wealth of a nation against those seeking sanctuary.
12/6/20
Day 12 of 16 Days of Action Against Gender-Based Violence Against Women#16DaysOfActivismAgainstGenderBasedViolence#OrangeTheWorld #RatifyILO190 #generationalequality
In the midst of busy days caring for the mamas and 5 new babies that have been born in recent weeks, Haznos Valer writes: We hope the stories we share from Haznos Valer will lead people to greater empathy and a call to action. Gender-based violence against women has severe and maternal health consequences. In Ciudad Juarez, under MPP, women are even more vulnerable to gender-based violence in many ongoing ways and specifically in the area of maternal health.
12/5/20
Day 11 of 16 Days of Action Against Gender-Based Violence Against Women The Official 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence Campaign
#16days #OrangeTheWorld #generationalequality #RatifyILO190
Sarah Towle is a London-based US expatriate author who has been sharing her journey from outrage to activism one tale of humanity and heroism at a time on Medium. She joined the Witness at the Border vigil in Brownsville/Matamoros and shares here information on Rainbow Bridge Asylum Seekers.
12/4/20
Day 10 of 16 Days of Action Against Gender-Based Violence Against Women The Official 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence Campaign
#16days #OrangeTheWorld #generationalequality #RatifyILO190
Dr. Yolanda Layva, an acclaimed associate professor at the University of Texas El Paso, is a Chicana historian and writer who was raised on the Texas border. She listens compassionately to and documents the history of people on both sides of the border. She also stood witness outside the gates of Tornillo and gave voice to the children imprisoned there through their art at the exhibit, Uncaged Art, at UTEP (https://tinyurl.com/y55sb2cpl). Today she shares some of her impressions, observations and experiences.