VIEW FROM THE HILL - #7; January 31, 2006 A Monthly E-mail Update Highlander Research and Education Center www.highlandercenter.org >---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>--<>--<>--< CONTENTS 1. Action Alert: Anti-Immigrant Legislation in Congress 2. Highlander Supports Young Organizers in the Finding Our Folk Tour 3. Workshop Center Upgrades and Repairs 4. Interpreting For Social Justice; February 10-12 and May 5-7, 2006 5. Highlander Social Change Workshops; March 17-19 and Oct. 13-15, 2006 >---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>--<>--<>--< 1. ACTION ALERT: ANTI-IMMIGRANT LEGISLATION IN CONGRESS Highlander, with others, continues to be very concerned about the anti-immigrant legislation pending in Congress, particularly the Border Protection, and Illegal Immigration Control Act (H.R.4437; also known as the Sensenbrenner-King Bill), which was passed by the House of Representatives late last year. We urge all of our friends and supporters to contact their Senators to oppose the Sensenbrenner-King bill. The phone number for the Senate is (202) 224-3121. Other contact information for Senators can be found online at http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm. The Sensenbrenner-King bill is the worst piece of immigration legislation in the last 70 years. It would make being an undocumented immigrant a criminal offense (instead of a civil offense, as it is now) and would drastically limit undocumented immigrants' basic legal rights. The bill would also make assisting an undocumented immigrant a criminal offense, and it defines this assistance so broadly that it would include many average Americans. For example, according to an analysis prepared by the National Immigration Forum, a counselor who works with victims of domestic violence would be a criminal if one of her clients was undocumented. So would a soccer mom who gives her (undocumented) neighbor a lift to the store, or a landscaper who drives an (undocumented) worker to a job. All of these could be found guilty even if they did not know the person was undocumented. The Senate could take up immigration as soon as early February. We do not know yet what form their bill will take, and it is likely that whatever they pass will have to be negotiated with the House before a final bill is approved. Highlander is working with other groups at the local, state, and national levels to help develop a coordinated response to the Sensenbrenner-King bill. We will keep you informed about the actions that develop. We urge you to contact your Senators as soon as possible to let them know what you think about the Sensenbrenner-King bill. If they hear from enough people, they may realize that they need to pass more sensible, less punitive immigration reform. For more information about the Sensenbrenner-King bill and information about other immigration issues, see our Web site: www.highlandercenter.org. >---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>--<>--<>--< 2. HIGHLANDER SUPPORTS YOUNG ORGANIZERS IN THE FINDING OUR FOLK TOUR Members of Highlander's Education Team and interns are providing support to the Finding Our Folk Tour, an historic eight city tour organized by the Young People's Project to find the voices of Katrina survivors and connect them with other marginalized people in America. The tour is using the tools of education, documentation, healing, organizing, culture, and cultural celebrations. The Young People's Project, based in Jackson, MS, and supported in this tour by the Boston and Chicago chapters, is led by high school and college students. The tour is focusing on eight cities in the south where Katrina and Rita survivors have relocated, and is reconnecting individuals, families and communities, exploring the conditions that led to such devastation from Katrina and Rita, and connecting new and experienced voices of resistance with voices of Hip-Hop, Blues and Jazz. As the material for the tour puts it, "In finding our folk, we hope to find ourselves." Highlander staff members, invited by YPP, have provided logistical support for the tour stops in Atlanta, Jackson, and Mobile; have facilitated some workshops on grassroots organizing and culture, and will be part of the culminating events this weekend in Lafayette, LA, and Houston, TX. "This is going down in history," says Tufara Muhammad, Highlander's cultural organizer, "seeing young people that many have written off, transforming their own lives and the lives of those they are touching." For more information about the tour, please visit http://www.findingourfolk.org/. >---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>--<>--<>--< 3. WORKSHOP CENTER UPGRADES AND REPAIRS Highlander is pleased to announce the reopening of our Workshop Center, which was closed for six weeks so we could build an enclosure for a vertical wheelchair lift and make vital structural repairs to the building. Designed by Elizabeth Eason, the architect for our 75th Anniversary Capital Campaign, the lift enclosure is located in the lobby in front of the kitchen and rises to the main meeting room on the second floor. The enclosure is marked by large storefront windows, which bring new light and views into the building. The vertical lift itself will be installed in late March. Once it is, people with disabilities will be able to move easily between the dining room and the main meeting room, instead of having to go outside and around the building. Along with the construction of an accessible full bathroom in the building in early 2005, this will make the workshop center usable for people with disabilities in a way that it has never been before. While one construction crew was working on the lift enclosure, another crew reinforced the floor under the meeting room, rebuilt the exterior wall around the front of the dining room, and built a new, wheelchair-accessible deck. All of these efforts are part of our 75th Anniversary Capital Campaign, which is raising funds to renovate and upgrade Highlander's existing facilities and to build a new dormitory and a new library. Construction of the lift enclosure was supported in part by a planning grant from the Ford Foundation, which we deeply appreciate. We are pleased and excited to have finished this important work. Pictures of the construction and information about the 75th Anniversary Campaign will be available soon on our Web site: www.highlandercenter.org. For more information, contact Charlie Biggs, our Capital Campaign Coordinator, at charlie@highlandercenter.org, (865) 933-3443 x242. >---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>--<>--<>--< 4. INTERPRETING FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE; FEBRUARY 10-12 and MAY 5-7, 2006 Highlander's Multilingual Capacity Building Program is offering training workshops for social justice interpreters on February 10-12 and May 5-7, 2006. The workshops are intended for bilingual social justice activists who would like to learn more about interpreting and translating in a social justice context to empower immigrant communities and build alliances across communities. Each workshop will include sessions on the ethics of interpretation, interpretation modes, the use of interpreting equipment, the impact of language barriers in social justice movement building, and how to create a multilingual space. Participants will also do hands-on interpreting throughout the workshop. There is no charge for these workshops, and Highlander will provide room and board. We also have limited scholarships to assist with travel expenses. Child-care will be available. The February workshop is already full, but there is still space in the May session. For more information and an application, visit our Web site: www.highlandercenter.org. >---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>--<>--<>--< 5. HIGHLANDER SOCIAL CHANGE WORKSHOPS; MARCH 17-19 AND OCT. 13-15, 2006 As we announced in last month's View, Highlander is offering two Social Change Workshops this year - one on March 17-19 and the other on October 13-15. There is still space available in the March workshop. These workshops offer a unique opportunity to meet with activists from around the country to share ideas about social change and learn more about Highlander's history and current programs. There will also be time to relax, reflect, watch videos, talk with Highlander staff and other participants, use the resource center, and enjoy the outdoors. Simultaneous English/Spanish interpretation will be available if needed. The cost for the two-day workshop is $350, which includes room and board. We will have limited scholarships available for people with limited means who are actively engaged in social change. Childcare can be provided. For more information and an application form, see our Web site, www.highlandercenter.org. >---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>--<>--<>--< To unsubscribe from this e-mail list, or to add someone new, send an e-mail to hrec@highlandercenter.org. Past issues of View from the Hill are available online at www.highlandercenter.org/n-view.asp. To make an online contribution to Highlander, go to our Web site: www.highlandercenter.org, and click on the "Donate Now" button. Highlander Research and Education Center 1959 Highlander Way New Market, TN 37820 Phone: (865)-933-3443 Fax: (865) 933-3424 www.highlandercenter.org