>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>--<>--<>--<>--< VIEW FROM THE HILL - #1; August 25, 2005 A Monthly E-mail Update Highlander Research and Education Center www.highlandercenter.org >---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>--<>--<>--<>--< CONTENTS 1. Introducing "View from the Hill" 2. Emergency Meeting on Anti-Immigrant Organizing 3. Introducing Roberto Tijerina, Coordinator of Highlander's Multilingual Capacity Building Program 4. Highlander Homecoming, September 4th >---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>--<>--<>--<>--< 1. INTRODUCING "VIEW FROM THE HILL" Welcome to the first issue of "View from the Hill," Highlander's new e-mail communication to share short monthly updates about our work. This communication will enable us to stay in better touch with you as a friend and supporter of Highlander and of our efforts to help build strong grassroots movements in the south. Everyone who comes to Highlander is touched by the beautiful view of the east Tennessee mountains, whether standing on the deck at our workshop center, sitting in a rocker in the main meeting room, or eating at the picnic tables outside the dining room. But "View from the Hill" also refers to the way people are changed at Highlander by the opportunity to share their organizing work with other grassroots activists and to learn from each other about new ways to challenge injustice in their home communities. Remembering her work with Highlander in the 1950s and 1960s, long-time activist Anne Braden recently wrote, "People came together from diverse communities and went home to organize and make radical changes. They glimpsed a different world and many were never the same again." That view from the hill has not changed. Highlander continues to bring people together to learn from each other how to strengthen movements for justice. But the daily steps of movement building - trends, organizing opportunities, staff, new groups we work with - these things do change, and we are looking forward to communicating with you about them in a more timely manner. Thank you for joining us in this view from the hill. >---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>--<>--<>--<>--< 2. EMERGENCY MEETING ON ANTI-IMMIGRANT ORGANIZING Highlander, working with local, regional and national groups, is convening an emergency gathering August 28-30 focused on how to deter the rapid growth of anti-immigrant organizing, including the Minutemen groups that have sprung up in Arizona, Tennessee, and other states. These groups are threatening immigrant communities and providing the political backing for state and federal legislation targeting immigrants and refugees. The goals of the meeting include learning from each other about the Minutemen and other attacks on immigrant communities, sharing information and analysis about historical context and current conditions, and strategizing how local and national organizations can best respond to and deter anti-immigrant organizing efforts. Participants will also discuss the Right's use of immigration as a wedge issue to divide African Americans and Latinos, and develop immediate and long-term plans for action. Twenty-one people from across the country participated in a conference call to action, and a committee from those organizations is planning the agenda for the gathering. The groups involved in planning the meeting include the National Network of Immigrant and Refugee Rights, Project South, Southern Poverty Law Center, Southern Empowerment Project, Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, and Race Relations Center, Knoxville. Representatives from 25 organizations will attend the meeting. In addition to the groups on the planning committee, participants will include the following: American Civil Liberties Union (CA, NM, TX), American Friends Service Committee Project Voice (CA, FL, NC), Anti-Defamation League (NM), Center for New Community (IL), Colectivo Flatlander (TX), Community Economic Development Network of East Tennessee, Derechos Humanos (AZ), Georgia Coalition for Latino Elected Officials, Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (Atlanta office), North Carolina Farmworkers Project, North Carolina Latino Coalition, Southeast Regional Economic Justice Network, and Rights for All People (CO). We view this as an emergency gathering because of the urgent need to respond to the rapid escalation of anti-immigrant organizing on several levels and across geographies. We will provide a report on the meeting in our next update. >---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>--<>--<>--<>--< 3. INTRODUCING ROBERTO TIJERINA, COORDINATOR OF HIGHLANDER'S MULTILINGUAL CAPACITY BUILDING PROGRAM At the beginning of July, we welcomed Roberto Tijerina to the Highlander staff. Roberto is the lead person for our Multilingual Capacity Building program, which provides interpretation, translation, and training services to help Highlander and other social justice organizations work across language to support and build coalitions with immigrant activists and organizations. Roberto comes to Highlander from Chicago, where he worked most recently as an Outreach Associate for the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, supporting diverse LGBT communities around civil rights issues. In addition to English, he is fluent in Spanish and American Sign Language, and he has worked as a freelance sign-language interpreter, with a focus on the Deaf Latino community in Illinois. To see a photograph of Robert interpreting at a Jobs with Justice rally to support organizing efforts among low-wage Latino workers at a poultry processing plant in Morristown, TN, go to www.highlandercenter.org/view-2005-08.asp. For more information about the rally, see the East Tennessee Jobs with Justice Web site, www.jwjet.org. For information about Highlander's Multilingual Capacity Building program, you can contact Roberto at roberto@highlandercenter.org or at (865) 933-3443 x233. >---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>--<>--<>--<>--< 4. HIGHLANDER HOMECOMING; SEPTEMBER 4TH Highlander's Homecoming celebration will be on September 4th from 2:00-9:00 p.m. The festivities will include music and other performances, dinner, a discussion about what's going on at Highlander, and a celebration honoring Frank and Margaret Adams for their contributions to Highlander and social justice. There's more information online at www.highlandercenter.org. Please join us if you can! >---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>--<>--<>--<>--< To unsubscribe from this e-mail list, or to add someone new, send an e-mail to hrec@highlandercenter.org. Highlander Research and Education Center 1959 Highlander Way New Market, TN 37820 Phone: (865)-933-3443 Fax: (865) 933-3424 www.highlandercenter.org