...This could be a moment for a power shift--from workers being weak
to being strong--but only if people force government to kick in on the
workers' side...
by Allan Nairn, News and Comment
January 29, 2009
In bad situations, people lower their standards for what it is that
constitutes good news.
There's a very sick man with a withered arm, but it hasn't been
amputated, contrary to what a garbled, and panic-inducing, report had
indicated.
Similarly, a boy has been coughing for three months, but a TB test
says it isn't TB.
Saying this, the parent, on a cell phone from the Burma border can be
heard shivering in the rare cold, even though the family has just
invested in a blanket -- their second, which is now handy, since for
three nights they've been sleeping in the forest to dodge police who
(in a case of bad good news) aren't seeking bribes, but are instead
seeking to catch people and -- word has it -- ship them to Naypyidaw
(the capital) for one year's bondage labor.
The question always is, bad compared to what? One person's dump is
another's home hearth. [...]
Read the full article:
http://www.allannairn.com/2009/01/shift-toward-worker-power-time-is-ripe.html
I am an immigrant. I migrated to the U.S. from the Philippines. Although it wasn't always the case, today I am learning to peel the shame I used to feel about being an immigrant. Some cringe at the word "immigrant"; some take and use it as an insult. Many believe that it's an F-word; a word that's a curse, a taboo, something dirty, a word people aren't suppose to use, it's thrown around like a weapon of hate.
The history of the word, from my understanding, is that it was used to place an identifier on a group that was seen as an 'other.' It has been posed to me that perhaps the word "immigrant" should not be used in the first place. But I disagree; eradicating the word isn't a protest of disregard of the power of the ruling class. but rather it's an admittance of their power.
Instead of using "immigrant" as an F-word, I'm suggesting that people remember that language is ours; We determine its meaning and its development, not the other way around. I am an immigrant; I migrated from one place to another. There is nothing wrong with that.
(My particular interest is in the undocumented immigrant experience, particularly undocumented immigrant youth. This blog seeks to journey into learning about the lives of immigrants, documented and undocumented alike, and the politics surrounding the subject.)
The history of the word, from my understanding, is that it was used to place an identifier on a group that was seen as an 'other.' It has been posed to me that perhaps the word "immigrant" should not be used in the first place. But I disagree; eradicating the word isn't a protest of disregard of the power of the ruling class. but rather it's an admittance of their power.
Instead of using "immigrant" as an F-word, I'm suggesting that people remember that language is ours; We determine its meaning and its development, not the other way around. I am an immigrant; I migrated from one place to another. There is nothing wrong with that.
(My particular interest is in the undocumented immigrant experience, particularly undocumented immigrant youth. This blog seeks to journey into learning about the lives of immigrants, documented and undocumented alike, and the politics surrounding the subject.)
"google that!"
Immigrant Rights are Human Rights; If a group of people can be oppressed, who decides who's next?
Inform yourself and others, go to google.com and youtube.com and check out things like:
I.C.E. Detention Center / Hutto Dention Center / DREAM Act
Inform yourself and others, go to google.com and youtube.com and check out things like:
I.C.E. Detention Center / Hutto Dention Center / DREAM Act
Thursday, February 5, 2009
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