Tag Archives: long beach

GAHFU Performance

2 Mar

Hundreds of people, on Sunday, Feb. 26, attended the Afro-Latinx Festival at the Museum of Latin American Art, where beside art, there were crafts, food and musical performances. Of the performances, I had the pleasure of recording some snippets of video with my iPhone SE of performers from the Garifuna American Heritage Foundation United, also known as GAHFU.

The website of GAHFU says its mission is “to serve the Garifuna-American, Caribbean-American and Central American community in the greater Los Angeles and Long Beach area, the United States and abroad through cultural education programs, outreach, advocacy and social services programs.”

The UNESCO website describes the Garifuna, as “a population of mixed origin incorporating cultural elements of indigenous Caribbean and African groups, the Garifuna settled along the Atlantic coast of Central America after being forced to flee from the Caribbean island of Saint Vincent in the eighteenth century. Today, Garifuna communities mainly live in Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Belize.

The Garifuna language belongs to the Arawakan group of languages and has survived centuries of discrimination and linguistic domination. It is rich in tales (úraga) originally recited during wakes or large gatherings. The melodies bring together African and Amerindian elements, and the texts are a veritable repository of the history and traditional knowledge of the Garifuna, such as cassava-growing, fishing, canoe-building and the construction of baked mud houses. There is also a considerable amount of satire in these songs, which are accompanied by various drums and dances, which the spectators may join in.”

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Long Beach Residents Rally in Solidarity with Central-American Immigrants at US-Mexican Border

30 Nov

 

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Jonathan Solorzano of the Long Beach Immigrant Rights Coalition emcees, Thursday, Nov. 29, the rally in solidarity with Central-American Immigrants at the US-Mexican border; photo by Barry Saks.

While the Long Beach rally in solidarity with the caravan of Central-American immigrants at the United States-Mexican border, was canceled because of wind and rain, about 40 people, on Thursday, Nov. 29, braved the weather at Harvey Milk Promenade Park, 185 E. Third St. to show their solidarity with the migrants and to collect donations for them.

According to the press release issued before the rally, the organizers for the rally were the Long Beach Immigrant Rights Coalition and other community groups.

Jonathan Solorzano, the lead organizer for the LBIRC, emceed.  Solorzano began the rally with the chant: “When immigrants are under attack, what’ll we do?  We’ll stand up and fight back.”  He apologized for the sudden cancelation of the rally and said, however, a short program would follow.  He said, “There was a blatant human rights violation that happened on Sunday, in which the Mexican police attacked the Central-American caravan….This administration (U.S.) has time and time again shown that immigrants south of the border are not welcomed.”

Solorzano introduced the 2nd District Councilwoman Jeanine Pearce.  Pearce said, “I don’t want to target one administration (over another)….We as America has to do right by citizens of the world…. Having a border is one thing.  Having a disagreement on how we go through a process of making sure that people that are seeking asylum, that refugees have a safe place is another thing.  Gassing people at the border is completely unacceptable.”

 

 

Gaby Hernandez, the program manager for the LBIRC, said donations may be delivered to the LBIRC office at 525 E. 7th St., Long Beach until Friday, Nov. 30.

In the same press release, Hernandez said, “Long Beach is against the human rights violations happening at the southern border.  We stand in solidarity with refugees because seeking asylum is their human right.”  “Whether white, black, or brown, we want to join together across our differences and show our support for the refugee community by speaking out on these injustices and collecting essential donations for people in need.”

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Donations collected, Thursday, Nov. 29, at solidarity rally with Central-American immigrants at US-Mexican border; photo by Barry Saks

 

 

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Hundreds March Against Federal Policies of Separating Immigrant Families and for a ‘Clean’ Long Beach Values Act

3 Jul

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June 30, Long Beach; photo by Barry Saks

More than 1,000 people rallied and marched, on Saturday, June 30, from Caesar Chavez Park to the Glenn M. Anderson Federal Building, which houses offices of the U.S.  Immigration and Customs Enforcement, 501 W. Ocean Blvd., to protest the Trump Administration’s policy of separating immigrant children from their families and to protest locally the exceptions in the Long Beach Values Act, which allows the Long Beach Police Department to turn over previously convicted immigrants to the ICE.

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Nikole Cababa, from the Filipino Migrant Center, emcees pro-immigrant protest, June 30 in Long Beach; photo by Barry Saks

Nikole Cababa, who identified herself as a community organizer for the Filipino Migrant Center, emceed.  In her opening remarks, Cababa said, “We are here because families are being torn apart.  We are here because children, as young as three-years old are being forced to defend themselves in deportation hearings….We are here because parents are left with no choice but to flee their homelands to escape violence and poverty, and yet, they face detention and isolation away from their loved ones.  We are here because there are corporations making humongous profits, imprisoning migrants, refugees, black-and-brown communities and the poor every single day. And we are here to demand this city and all cities across this country to step up to do more for to protect migrants and refugees, and make this city a sanctuary for all.”  She reminded the audience President Obama had deported more than 2.5 million people and argued the migration patterns today, which she called, “forced migration” are a result of U.S. foreign policy toward Central America.  She ended with reiterating the need for the Long Beach City Council to pass a “clean” (meaning without exception to prior criminal convictions) Long Beach Values Act.

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Rev. Cue Jn-Marie speaks at protest at Caesar Chavez Park in Long Beach, June 30; photo by Barry Saks

Cababa introduced Rev. Cue Jn-Marie, which according to the Row Church website is “a former Virgin Records rapper, turned evangelist and activist.”  The Reverend, who said he lived in Long Beach, told the crowd he had just come back from Washington D.C., where he had participated in the Poor People’s Campaign.  He reminded the crowd the original Poor People’s Campaign was started by the Rev. Martin Luther King just before he was assassinated.  The Reverend ended by leading the crowd to the chant: Abolish ICE.

After the Reverend, Alan Lowenthal, the representative from the 47th Congressional District spoke.

 

 

 

The Democratic congressman was the only local elected official to speak.

No one from the Long Beach City Council, including the Mayor, responded to a request for comment for this story.

Jedi Jimenez speaks, Saturday, June 30, to pro-immigration protesters in Caesar Chavez Park, Long Beach; photo by Barry Saks

Jedi Jimenez speaks, Saturday, June 30, to pro-immigration protesters in Caesar Chavez Park, Long Beach; photo by Barry Saks

Another speaker was Jedi Jimenez, who said he is the chairperson of Anakbayan Long Beach.  According to the Anakbayan-USA website, Anakbayan believes “that Philippine society today is not truly free (sic) nor democratic. It is under the control of U.S imperialism, along with local landlords, big capitalists, and corrupt gov’t (sic) officials.” Jimenez said, “This country (U.S.) has a long history of settling indigenous children to boarding schools, locking away black and brown youth for life sentences. Six thousand Filipinos are forced to leave their homes every single day…to go abroad.”  Jimenez also called for abolishing ICE.

Lian Cheun speaks on Saturday, June 30, to pro-immgration protesters in Caesar Chavez Park, Long Beach; photo by Barry Saks

Lian Cheun speaks on Saturday, June 30, to pro-immgration protesters in Caesar Chavez Park, Long Beach; photo by Barry Saks

Lian Cheun, who is the Executive Director of Khymer Girls in Action, spoke after Jimenez.  The KGA website characterizes itself as “a community-based organization whose mission is to build a progressive and sustainable Long Beach community that works for gender, racial and economic justice led by Southeast Asian young women.”  Cheun, according to the same website, was “(i)n 2014…appointed to President Obama’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders,” said, “Long Beach has the largest Cambodian population outside of Cambodia and we came to this country as refugees…Our country (U.S.) has criminalized a lot of acts of survival, a lot acts of poverty in our community….Long Beach City Council finally approved what we know now as the Long Beach Values Act.

“It is a policy that intended to limit our city’s collaboration with ICE and end a role in the deportation of Long Beach residents….However, the city council included certain carve-outs which are loopholes that exclude some immigrants from these protections based off of their past history with the justice system.  These carve-outs mean if an immigrant has one of many particular convictions, city employees will be allowed to turn them over to ICE….There is a…claim that only hardened criminals are being deported and that’s untrue…because we have had folks who have been deported for very minor infractions.”

Cheun also claimed the carve-outs “disproportionally hurt the Cambodian community in Long Beach” and cited ICE statistics that 1,900 Cambodians in the U.S. have deportation orders and more than 1,400 are a result of the carve-outs.
After Cheun spoke, the protesters marched from the park to the Glenn M. Anderson Federal Building, where the protest ended.

 

 

One protester was Jillissa Reuteler.  Reuteler, who said she was from Minnesota and was in Long Beach to go on a cruise, said she decided to go to the protest because one was being planned where she was from.  Echoing what was on her tee-shirt, she said, “Abolish ICE.”

Another protester was Barbara Applerose, who said she has an interior-design business in La Habra.  The separation of children from their parents was personal for Applerose.  When she began to speak, she choked up and began to cry.  In a few short moments, her crying turned to anger.  Applerose said the cries of children being taken from their parents reminded her of when her mother left her once for 10 days.  She said, “I think this (separation of immigrant children from their parents) is so wrong….It makes me sick.  It makes me want to throw up. I don’t understand how our country could allow this to happen.”  Applerose added she thought criminal charges should be filed against President Donald Trump, Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen.

 

 

Photo by Barry Saks
Photo by Barry Saks
Photo by Barry Saks

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Long Beach: Activists Celebrate May Day 2018 with March and Rallies

4 May

May Day 2018

Photo by Barry Saks

About 150 people, many being youth of color, on Tuesday, May 1, marched from the north end of Caesar E. Chavez Park to Long Beach City Hall, to celebrate May Day and to highlight a range of issues from protecting the local wetlands from oil drilling to protecting the rights of workers, immigrants and tenants.

The May Day Long Beach Coalition, which characterizes itself, according to its website, as “a coalition of “organizations united for workers’ rights, immigrant rights, tenant rights, and black & (sic) brown unity,” organized the march and the rallies at each end of the march.

George Funmaker, May Day 2018, Long Beach

George Funmaker, co-founder of Red Earth Defense, speaks, on Tuesday, May 1, 2018, in Caesar Chavez Park for Long Beach May Day 2018; photo by Barry Saks

One of the first speakers at the park was George Funmaker, who characterizes himself as a co-founder Red Earth Defense.  Funmaker, who was introduced as an indigenous activist, began his remarks by acknowledging those present were on land, which the Tongva people once inhabited.  He said as indigenous activist, his focus is on the land.  He added, “When we talk about justice and equality we first have to tell the true story, the true history of this country, what it was built on, on genocide and oppression and greed.”

Another speaker at the park was Jonaya Chadwick, who spoke for the need for renter’s rights.  Chadwick, who was identified as being with Housing Long Beach, said she has lived in the same Long Beach location for 19 years with her disabled mother who lives on a fixed income of about $900 each month.  Chadwick said, “(D)ue to no rent control or just-cause eviction in Long Beach, me and my mom will be displaced sooner or later.”

Local trade union activist, Nerexda Soto spoke for UNITE HERE Local 11 and the Long Beach Coalition for Good Jobs and a Healthy Community, as she did last year.  However, this year she also emceed.  Soto reminded the audience the Long Beach City Council voted down in September 2017 a proposal for panic buttons for hotel workers.  In response, she said the union and its supporters have launched a ballot-initiative campaign and are collecting signatures.  Soto said, “If anybody knows UNITE HERE and our coalition, we don’t give up…We can’t trust the city council and the mayor, so we’re doing it ourselves.”

Xenia Arriola, representing Gabriela Los Angeles, followed Soto. Arriola divided her time, between reading aloud a statement and then performing her poem.  Arriola, in part, said, “I am a member of Gabriela Los Angeles.  We are grassroots Filipino women’s organization and we have members here in Long Beach…Los Angeles….We also have 200 chapters all over the world.  We fight for the rights and liberation of the Filipino people here in the United States and in the Philippines.  As Gabriela, we want to share about the conditions that migrant-working woman face here and abroad.  Many Filipino migrant workers are sent to places where they are overworked, underpaid and abused.”

After reading her statement, Arriola performed her spoken-word poem.

 

 

 

According to the Gabriela-USA website, the term, Gabriela, has two origins: first, the initials stand for “General Assembly Binding Women for Reforms, Integrity, Education, Leadership, and Action” and second, Gabriela is “named in honor of Gabriela Silang, the first Filipino woman to lead a revolt against the Spanish colonization of the Philippines.”

 

 

After Arriola spoke and performed, the crowd marched to Long Beach City Hall and chanted.  They chanted: No justice, no peace, no racist police; No Trump, No KKK, No racist USA; Get up, get down, there’s a people’s movement in this town; From Palestine to Mexico, all the walls have got to go; Black lives, they matter here; Education, not deportation; Move ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement), get out the way, get out the way; If we don’t get no justice, you don’t get no peace; The people united, will never be divided; No wall, no fear, immigrants are welcome here; One struggle, one fight, housing is a human right.

 

 

On arrival, a second rally was held outside city hall,

Near the beginning at the rally at the park, the member organizations of the coalition were read aloud.  They were Anakbayan Long Beach, Act Now to Stop War and Racism (Los Angeles), Black Lives Matter Long Beach, California Faculty Association, Clergy Laity United for Economic Justice, Coalition for Latino Advancement at LBCC (Long Beach City College), DAYS, Filipino Migrant Center, Gabriela Los Angeles, Greater Long Beach Interfaith Community Organization, Housing Long Beach, Long Beach Tenants Union, Justice for Port Truck Drivers Campaign, Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy, Little Brown Church, Long Beach Area Peace Network, Long Beach Coalition for Good Jobs and a Healthy Community, Long Beach G.R.R.R.L. Collective, Long Beach Immigrant Rights Coalition, Palestinian  Youth Movement, Semillas de Esperanza (Seeds of Hope), Stop Fracking Long Beach, UNITE HERE (Local 11, in the hotel industry) and Democratic Socialists of America (Long Beach).

 

 

 

 

 

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Long Beach Students March for Their Lives

26 Mar

More than a 1,000 students, parents and their supporters, in solidarity with the March for Our Lives in Washington, D.C., on Saturday, March 24, rallied twice at Bixby Park, with a march in between, to end gun violence.

Student leader Kelly Chinchilla, who is a student in the Long Beach Unified School District, emceed the rally, which included speeches by student leaders and local elected officials.  Among the elected local officials who spoke were Mayor Robert Garcia, 3rd District Councilwoman Suzie Price, Long Beach Unified District President Megan Kerr and Los Angeles County 4th District Los Angeles Supervisor Janice Hahn.

Hahn told the crowd that tougher gun-control ordinances for Los Angeles County will be forthcoming, without being specific, which will limit where and what kind of gun  may be purchased and how old someone must be to purchase a gun.

Besides the speeches, there was poetry and music.

The rally’s program began with Isaiah Walker, who teaches at Wilson High School and the director of the school’s gospel choir.  Walker said he is passionate about social justice. He then sang Sam Cooke’s ‘A Change is Gonna Come.’

Chinchilla, who is also a member of Californians for Justice, at the end of the first rally and just before the march admonished the audience to not walk in the street, to not obstruct traffic and to not engage with any counter protesters.

The marchers headed on Ocean Blvd. toward downtown.  Once downtown, they turned north toward Broadway.  On Broadway, the marchers headed back to Bixby Park.

Jennifer Allyn carrying her sign at Long Beach March for Our Lives

Jennifer Allyn, with her sign, said, “I’m marching so my kids will never text me under a desk.” Photo by Barry Saks

The audience for the second rally at the park had shrunk to about three hundred.  Again, like the first rally, student leaders from the different schools spoke or performed their poetry.  Not all the speakers at the second rally were student leaders.

Alan Lowenthal, the representative from the 47th Congressional District spoke.  Lowenthal told the audience, “This is an historic moment that we are living through…I’m just honored to be part of something that was created by students, organized by students, carried out by students and will lead the nation to change.  The last time we had a student movement like this is we stopped the Vietnam War, we changed the major civil rights of this nation to protect all.”

At the end of the second rally, Chinchilla reiterated the students’ demands: ban the sale of assault-style weapons; prohibit the sale of high-capacity magazines; and, close the gun-show loophole.

Ben Rockwell at Long Beach March for Our Lives

Long Beach resident and longtime civic activist Ben Rockwell in his wheelchair with sign, on Saturday, March 24, before the first rally; photo by Barry Saks.

Before the protest, while the student leaders were setting up, Josie Hahn, a 17-year-old student at Long Beach Polytechnic High School, said, “We are here, of course, to march for our lives because recently there has been the Parkland shooting and we want our voices to be heard that guns in schools and kids dying with gun violence is no longer OK.”  She added, “As a student at Long Beach Poly, there is always gun violence around the neighborhood.”  More particularly, she said that a couple of weeks ago, as she and others were driving to Poly, she saw on the corner of Pacific Coast Highway and Martin Luther King Blvd., five police cars.  She later found out that there were three shootings around the school that time.  Hahn, who said she joined the Women’s March, later as part of the first rally’s program, read one of her poems.

One supporter, who was present with her son for the first rally was Candyce Simpson, 50.  Simpson, who has been a LBUSD high school counselor for 22 years and lives in the city of Signal Hill, said, “I’m here to support students…They shouldn’t be scared to go to school…I think they’re going to make the biggest change.  It always comes from them…We don’t support them with social and emotional counseling.  We just test them more.”

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Long Beach LGBTQ Community and Allies Hold Transgender Day of Remembrance

24 Nov

About 200 people gathered on Monday, Nov. 20, at Harvey Milk Promenade Park in Long Beach, at 185 E. Third St, to remember those killed in the last year due to anti-transgender hatred, by publicly reading their names aloud.

The LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning) Center of Long Beach, the Human Rights Campaign, the Long Beach Imperial Court and Long Beach 1st District Councilwoman Lena Gonzalez hosted the remembrance, according to the Facebook page that announced the remembrance.

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Long Beach 1st District Councilwoman speaking, Monday, Nov. 20, at the Transgender Day of Remembrance; Photo by Barry Saks

According to the Center’s website, under its mission, “(t)he Center engages, empowers and advocates to achieve a more equitable society and fosters an ever-improving quality of life for the LGBTQ community.”

The HRC represents 1.5 million members and supporters nationwide, it’s the largest national LGBTQ civil rights organization and it “envisions a world where LGBTQ people are ensured of their basic equal rights, and can be open, honest and safe at home, at work and in the community,” according to its website.

According to the About Facebook page of the Long Beach Imperial Court, its mission is “(t)o sponsor, support and promote charitable and educational programs and efforts; to raise funds for organizations within the Long Beach Empire in particular organizations within the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Questioning community; to promote and recognize community leaders and to shine a light on those social service organizations that offer support and overall enrichment to those in need.”

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Porter Gilberg, the Executive Director of the LGBTQ Center of Long Beach, emceeing, on Monday, Nov. 20, at the Transgender Day of Remembrance; Photo by  Barry Saks

Before the names were read, Porter Gilberg, who’s the executive director of the Center, emceed. Gilberg opened the program by introducing Councilwoman Gonzalez and characterizing her as “one of the LGBTQ community’s strongest allies.”

Gonzalez said, “As we commence, you know, this beautiful night and event, it’s always so very difficult because I’ve been given a paper that show names and how people have past…It always shocks me and it is so difficult to read many of these.”

Gonzalez wasn’t the only elected official to speak.  City of Signal Hill Councilman Larry Forester followed her.  He said, “This is a very, very solemn evening.”  He added he is the president of GLBT caucus for the League of California Cities and that it published to educate people a municipal guide, “Transgender in the Workplace.”  The guide may be accessed by clicking here.

After Forester spoke, Gilberg said, “On a night where we are remembering lives lost from one of our most marginalized communities, I think it is incredibly important to acknowledge the leadership that is here tonight.”  Besides acknowledging the presence of Long Beach Councilwoman Gonzalez and Signal Hill Councilman Larry Forester, Gilberg also acknowledged the presence of Tim Patton representing Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia, Megan Kerr, the president of the Long Beach Unified School District, Larry Blunden, the Signal Hill City Treasurer, and Maricela Renteria de Rivera, the chair of the Long Beach Transit Board.

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Anna Gerringer speaking on Monday, Nov.20, at the Transgender Day of Remembrance; Pnoto by Barry Saks

Gilberg then introduced Anna Gerringer, as a “local community member” and said that Gerringer was going “to share her story of resiliency.”  She said, “I’ve been female for all of my existence…I knew I wasn’t strong enough to be openly trans (transgender) the first 48 years of my life. To be absolutely honest, I’m still not sure that I am….I’ve been assaulted several times….Violence against trans-women is rampant because they don’t want to call law enforcement, they feel that law enforcement often feels they (trans-women) have no value.”

The names were read solemnly with the audience holding candles.

The same Facebook announcing the event also said the Transgender Day of Remembrance is held yearly in November to honor Rita Hester, who was murdered on Nov. 28, 1998.

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Long Beach Rent Control Advocates File to Launch Initiative for November 2018 Ballot

10 Nov

 

Local rent control advocates—Josh Butler, executive director of Housing Long Beach, and Karen Reside, secretary of the Grey Panthers—on Wednesday, Nov. 8, filed paperwork to launch a November 2018 ballot measure to bring rent control to the city of Long Beach.

Martha Cota, executive director of Latinos in Action, whose name and signature were on the paperwork, was not present when the paperwork was submitted.

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Karen Reside and Josh Butler on Wednesday, Nov. 8, after filing paper work at Long Beach City Hall to launch a rent control initiative for November 2018 ballot, turn around to face supporters; photo by Barry Saks

According to the first page of the paperwork, the rent control measure, if passed, will be based on the consumer price index, rent increases will be allowed to rise no more than 100 percent of the rise in the index, a just cause for eviction will be required and a five-member rent board, appointed by the City Council, would be established.  Short-term rentals would be exempt.  Also a maximum of two board members would be allowed to own or manage rentals or be realtors.  The index measures the changes in the retail prices of a constant basket of goods and services.  It’s computed by comparing the cost of the basket at a fixed time with its cost at subsequent or prior intervals.

When Butler and Reside submitted the paperwork, about 20 supporters accompanied them.

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Mary Sedillo, on Wednesday, Nov. 8, waits in Long Beach Hall lobby with other supporters while initial paperwork is approved; photo by Barry Saks.

Mary Sedillo, 73, who was among the supporters and chair of the Senior Advisory Commission, said, “Our (the city’s) seniors are living just on Social Security and with the rent increases and them having to pay rent, buy medication plus food….The seniors don’t have enough money to cover everything.  Sedillo, who is a 20-year resident of Long Beach and the treasurer of the Long Beach Gray Panthers, added with the rent increases seniors are being pushed out of affordable housing, the fear is many will become homeless.

Meanwhile, statewide rent control advocates—Michael Weinstein, president of AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) Healthcare Foundation; Elena Popp, attorney, founder and executive director of the Eviction Defense Network; and Christina Livingston, executive director of ACCE (Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment—filed, on Oct. 23, the paperwork with the Office of the California Attorney General to launch a November 2018 ballot initiative to allow cities and counties in the state to strengthen local rent control laws by repealing California law regarding rental housing, known as the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act, which excludes rental housing built after 1995 from local rent control.

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About 20 rent control supporters, on Wednesday, Nov. 8, outside Long Beach Hall, rally before the submission of the paperwork to launch initiative for November 2018 ballot; photo by Barry Saks

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United Church of Christ Marches for Just Immigration Reform in Downtown Long Beach

3 Jul

Organized by the United Church of Christ and as part of its General Synod 2013, about 200 people marched on the sidewalk in downtown Long Beach, first to the office of Immigration Customs and Enforcement, then to City Hall, and finally to the office of Congressman Alan Lowenthal, on Monday, July 1, in support of just and comprehensive immigration reform.

While the UCC organized the march, it was endorsed by the Long Beach Immigrants Rights Coalition, FilipinoMigrantsCenter, and other local immigration rights groups.

While marching, one chant was “We are people.  We are not illegal.”  Another chant was “Stop deportations now.”  A third chant was “The people united will never be defeated.”  A fourth chant was “Education, not deportations.”  Also to the tune “Down by the Riverside,” the marchers, while walking, sang, “We’re all God’s children.  We ain’t going to build that border fence.”

Some marchers wore buttons, which said, “Jesus was a low-wage worker.”

One marcher was Kirk Laubstein, 32.  Laubstein, who is a third-year student at the Chicago Theological Seminary, said, “It says in the Bible God welcomes everyone … that is what we should do in America.”

Another marcher, Beverly Travers, 65, who is from Arizona, said she was marching because she opposes deportation of immigrants.

A third marcher was Rev. Dale Parson.  Parson said that he was “marching in solidarity with those whose daily lives are impacted by the reality of deportation and discrimination. . . .We’re marching for the rights of all immigrants, their families, for justice, for equality.”     

At each of the three stops a religious ritual was performed; at the immigration office, holy water was sprinkled; at City Hall, feet were washed; and at congressional office, bread was broken.

At the office of Congressman Alan Lowenthal, his field representative, Irantzu Pujadas thanked the marchers for their hard work and then read from Congressman’s statement of the previous week, which in part, said, “I look forward to supporting the comprehensive immigration reform bill in the House (of Representatives) that not only secure our borders, but protects our workers, reunites families, and offers an earned path to citizenship.”

Saved on home computer

2 July 2013

353 words

Organized by the United Church of Christ and as part of its General Synod 2013, about 200 people marched on the sidewalk in downtown Long Beach, first to the office of Immigration Customs and Enforcement, then to City Hall, and finally to the office of Congressman Alan Lowenthal, on Monday, July 1, in support of just and comprehensive immigration reform.

While the UCC organized the march, it was endorsed by the Long Beach Immigrants Rights Coalition, FilipinoMigrantsCenter, and other local immigration rights groups.

While marching, one chant was “We are people.  We are not illegal.”  Another chant was “Stop deportations now.”  A third chant was “The people united will never be defeated.”  A fourth chant was “Education, not deportations.”  Also to the tune “Down by the Riverside,” the marchers, while walking, sang, “We’re all God’s children.  We ain’t going to build that border fence.”

Some marchers wore buttons, which said, “Jesus was a low-wage worker.”

One marcher was Kirk Laubstein, 32.  Laubstein, who is a third-year student at the Chicago Theological Seminary, said, “It says in the Bible God welcomes everyone … that is what we should do in America.”

Another marcher, Beverly Travers, 65, who is from Arizona, said she was marching because she opposes deportation of immigrants.

A third marcher was Rev. Dale Parson.  Parson said that he was “marching in solidarity with those whose daily lives are impacted by the reality of deportation and discrimination. . . .We’re marching for the rights of all immigrants, their families, for justice, for equality.”     

At each of the three stops a religious ritual was performed; at the immigration office, holy water was sprinkled; at City Hall, feet were washed; and at congressional office, bread was broken.

At the office of Congressman Alan Lowenthal, his field representative, Irantzu Pujadas thanked the marchers for their hard work and then read from Congressman’s statement of the previous week, which in part, said, “I look forward to supporting the comprehensive immigration reform bill in the House (of Representatives) that not only secure our borders, but protects our workers, reunites families, and offers an earned path to citizenship.”

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Long Beach Immigration Rally

3 Apr

About 150 people from the Long Beach community, mostly youth of color, on Saturday, March 30 marched from City Hall to Caesar E. Chavez Park in support of comprehensive immigration reform.

Some marchers carried signs, which read, “No human being is illegal.” Another sign some marchers carried said, “This is what an immigrant looks like.”

The Filipino Migrant Center, Miguel Contreras Foundation, Unitarian Universalist Church of Long Beach, Long Beach Immigrant Rights Coalition and Bienestar (Spanish for wellbeing), which provides HIV prevention services in the LGBT-Latino community, each had a contigent.

One speaker at the park was Uduak Ntuk, from Organizing for Action, who characterized his organization as closely aligned with President Obama, said he was a neighborhood team leader, a second generation immigrant, born in southern California, whose parents’ backgrounds were German, Irish, French and Nigerian. Ntuk said, “Our city has more 125,000 foreign-born residents. The immigrant story is an American story. The immigrant story is a Long Beach story. We all deserve a common sense comprehensive immigration reform, that keeps our families together….The facts are immigrants are a net positive for our country and our community. They are paying more into the system than they are taking out.”

In an email the Long Beach Coalition for Good Jobs and a Healthy Community, a co-sponsor of the event, sent said the other co-sponsors were Filipino Migrant Center, Coalition for Latino Advancement, Future Underrepresented Educated Leaders, Miguel Contreras Foundation, Queer Undocumented Immigrant Project, Standing on the Side of Love, Orange County Dream Team, The Gay and Lesbian Center of Long Beach, Asian and Pacific American Law Center and Organizing for Action.

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