Monday, December 05, 2016

More of the Same


Much like everyone else after the elections were said and done, I followed through and processed what I needed to process in my own way. Part of that processing relit old fires given my involvement in the immigrant youth movement of the early 2000's. I asked the same of those who I'm still friends on Facebook with and folks felt the same way. For a second there, it felt like the band was getting back together. Every comment was one of inspiration, optimism, folks opening up their space to organize, and questions about next steps. Well, here in Los Angeles, a community meeting was put together last minute by the National Day Laborer Organizing Network and CARECEN to provide a place for those looking for answers about what's going to happen or a space to connect with others.

I went into that meeting and space ready to see familiar faces and to listen, stand back, and see what folks had to share given the fears of uncertainty hanging in the air. A lot of that was shared at this meeting, especially from those who have family that would be directly impacted, those working with kids and youth, and allies ready to put in work. From there, words of inspiration were spoken, groups were made to identify different problems and how to go about dealing with them. Hell, even I got asked to talk about the work I did during the Dream Act campaigns and how it lead to DACA. From there, I left the meeting realizing that wasn't a space for me in the sense that I've been down this road before. I can put in work and have been for the last few years outside the immigrant rights movement. I've grown and part of me wants to put those new skills to work, but I don't know where to plug in and more importantly, should I plug back in.