VIEW FROM THE HILL - #13; October 30, 2006 A Monthly E-mail Update Highlander Research and Education Center www.highlandercenter.org To make a secure online contribution to Highlander, go to www.highlandercenter.org and click on the "Donate Now" button. >---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>--<>--<>--<>---< CONTENTS 1. Highlander Collaborates with Regional Groups on Training Immigrant Leaders 2. MLCB Program Supports Immigrant Community Fighting Wal-Mart 3. Cultural Workshop; Sept. 1-2, 2006 4. New Resource Available on Latino Immigration in the South 5. UAW Region 8 Adds Myles Horton to Activist Hall of Fame 6. Highlander Homecoming; Sept. 3, 2006 >---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>--<>--<>--<>---< 1. HIGHLANDER COLLABORATES WITH REGIONAL GROUPS ON TRAINING IMMIGRANT LEADERS The Collaboration for Immigrant Empowerment, Leadership and Organizing (CIELO) met at Highlander on October 1-4 to discuss how regional intermediaries who train immigrant leaders can work together to strengthen immigrant organizing at the grassroots level. CIELO is comprised of five regionally based organizations which support grassroots immigrant organizing and leadership development: Highlander, the Coalition of African, Asian, European and Latino Immigrants of Illinois (CAAELII) in Chicago, the Center to Support Immigrant Organizing (CSIO) in Boston, the Partnership for Immigrant Leadership and Action (PILA) in San Francisco, and the Western States Center (WSC) in Portland. At the gathering, CIELO participants learned about each other's mission, programs, and approach to social change and leadership development. They also initiated a plan to: 1) collectively document and articulate the strategies and lessons they are learning in the field so they can strengthen each other's work, and 2) share these lessons broadly to strengthen the fields of immigrant rights organizing and organizational capacity building. >---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>--<>--<>--<>---< 2. MLCB PROGRAM SUPPORTS IMMIGRANT COMMUNITY FIGHTING WAL-MART Staff from Highlander's Multilingual Capacity Building (MLCB) program are supporting an immigrant community in a trailer-park in Asheville that is fighting forced displacement by corporate interests, including Wal-Mart. The community won a victory recently when the Asheville zoning board refused to rezone the property for Wal-Mart. However, the owner has since announced that he will sell the property to the highest bidder, which would result in over 100 people losing their homes. MLCB staff are currently interpreting for community meetings to help residents organize around this issue. Though they still face serious challenges about the use of the land, we lift up the work of local community people who stopped a Wal-Mart. >---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>--<>--<>--<>---< 3. CULTURAL WORKSHOP; SEPT. 1-2, 2006 On September 1-2, forty-three cultural workers and activists from the southeast and beyond gathered at Highlander for the annual Cultural Workshop sponsored by the We Shall Overcome Fund and Highlander's Cultural Program. The workshop, which included Black, Latino and white participants, was majority people of color. It was also intergenerational, ranging in age from 15-81. Participants included survivors of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, as well as people working on immigration issues, and conversations explored the connecting themes of displacement, the personal impact of these human tragedies, and the systems which cause them - structural racism, poverty, environmental degradation, government abandonment and societal neglect. The cultural workshop occurred just after the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, which was marked by the recognition that most of the displaced are still not home. That the most powerful nation on the planet, a nation with such enormous resources and wealth, so blatantly disregarded the lives of people of color and the poor of all races is a watershed moment that lifted the veil of denial. It leaves us with much work to do in solidarity with those still displaced, while we continue working to build the kind of fair and just society in which we want to live. Participants also shared the problems facing people in their communities and the work they do in response to these conditions. They also told stories about their own experiences nurturing and promoting the cultural and human resources of their communities and how they use these resources to support collective struggles for justice. In addition to the We Shall Overcome Fund and Highlander, participants from twenty-two organizations and twelve states-- Alabama, New York, Louisiana, Mississippi, Washington DC, Tennessee, North Carolina, Indiana, Virginia, Georgia, South Carolina, and Arkansas--attended the workshop. Pictures from the workshop are available on Highlander's website at www.highlandercenter.org/photo-gallery-culture2006.asp. >---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>--<>--<>--<>---< 4. NEW RESOURCE AVAILABLE ON LATINO IMMIGRATION IN THE SOUTH We are happy to announce the publication of a new report that focuses on the changing racial and ethnic dynamics of the southern United States. Entitled "Across Races & Nations: Building New Communities in the U.S. South," this compelling report is the product of a five-year collaboration between Highlander, the Southern Regional Council (SRC) in Atlanta, Georgia, and the Center for Research on Women at the University of Memphis. It will be an invaluable tool for activists, philanthropists and others who seek to address immigration and the needs of Latino immigrants as part of larger social justice agendas in the South. The 370-page report (written in both English and Spanish) is divided into three sections. 1. The Introduction provides overviews of both the project and the participating organizations, an analysis of the internal challenges faced in such a long-term, multi-state collaboration, along with brief histories of Latino immigration and the legacy of race and racism in the region. 2. Case Studies provide snapshots of racial/ethnic rivalry and solidarity, job competition and tensions in the workplace, and descriptions of successful collaborations across racial and ethnic lines throughout the South. 3. The report's final section is a collection of valuable resources including glossaries of U.S. immigration terms and policies; how to find, hire and work successfully with interpreters; economic fact sheets; U.S. Constitutional Rights; an overview of anti-immigrant organizing in the United States; "Know Your Rights" workshop guides for immigrants; and a variety of other materials for popular education. Across Races and Nations is available from the Highlander bookstore for $25 plus $5.00 shipping and handling. >---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>--<>- 5. UAW REGION 8 ADDS MYLES HORTON TO ACTIVIST HALL OF FAME Region 8 of the United Auto Workers has added Highlander's founder Myles Horton to their online Activist Hall of Fame. The page about Myles praises him for being "a pioneer in the cause of social justice" and reviews his lifetime work at Highlander with unemployed workers, labor unions, the Civil Rights Movement, the Appalachian environmental justice movement, and others. The text is accompanied by pictures from Highlander's archives. The page concludes that Myles "shaped the past" and that his "work and vision set the standard for generations to follow." It also notes that Highlander is continuing Myles's "dream and work" through its current programs. We thank UAW Region 8 for honoring Myles and appreciate their thorough review of his life and work. You can view their page about Myles at www.uawregion8.net/Activist-HOF/M-Horton.htm. >---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>--<>--<>--<>---< 6. HIGHLANDER HOMECOMING; SEPT. 3, 2006 On Sunday, September 3rd, over 120 people gathered at Highlander for our annual Homecoming celebration, which started at 2:00 and extended into the evening. The event began with a dynamic children's program and two workshops, one on what's up at Highlander and the other on immigration and border issues. Following the workshops, we enjoyed presentations and performances by noted national, regional, and local artists, including Guy and Candie Carawan of New Market, TN; Bernice Johnson Reagon of Washington, DC; Jolivette Anderson, The Poet Warrior of Jackson, MS; Rossi Tuner Dance Ensemble of Nashville, TN; Saddi Khali of New Orleans, LA; Paula Larke of Atmore, AL; Fruit of Labor Singing Ensemble of Raleigh, NC; Faye Bellamy Powell of Atlanta, GA; MUGABEE of Raymond, MS; Dan Sweeton of Lebanon, TN; Larry Osborne of Knoxville, TN; and Seed Lynn of Pulaski, TN. The afternoon also featured a tribute to four people with special relationships to Highlander who passed on in the last year: Rosa Parks, Anne Braden, Beverly Brown, and Eric Rofes. Please see our website for the bios displayed at Highlander. After a delicious barbecue dinner, the evening ended with more performances and a social justice fashion show, featuring clothes made at Highlander by Muna Mujahid, a participant in the We Shall Overcome Fund cultural workers workshop. Pictures from Homecoming are available on the Highlander website at www.highlandercenter.org/photo-gallery-homecoming2006.asp. >---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>---<>--<>--<>--<>---< 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. Highlander Research and Education Center 1959 Highlander Way New Market, TN 37820 Phone: (865)-933-3443 Fax: (865) 933-3424 www.highlandercenter.org