migration

Racist jet-set: Rusty Childress and the false class consciousness of the Minutemen

A takedown of a wealthy anti-immigrant business owner who plays up an image as 'an average working class guy'.

[i]After some prodding from comrades, I've been considering putting out a collection of Phoenix Insurgent pieces from the last few years. As a result, I've been re-reading older pieces in order to evaluate what might make a cut if I went ahead and did it. I'm still not convinced there's much point in the project, given that everything is already mostly available free on the internet.

Blood on the line: resistance, empire and repression at the border

Text from a flyer distributed at the May 2nd (2009) demonstration in front of the county jail in Phoenix.

The border fence is a result of three factors, inextricably intertwined: the expansion of capitalism, global war for empire and the desire of common people to organize their own lives free of the first two.

A venue of vultures: where now for anarchists and the immigrant movement?

An account of a 2009 immigration rights march and comments on the movement's decline, leftist opportunists and the prospects for anarchist intervention.

Last Saturday’s anti-Sheriff Joe march was truly a very exciting moment in recent Arizona and anarchist history. Especially given the statewide anarchist meeting that happened the following day, which was attended by fifty or so people by my count. There was a real feeling of excitement that I haven’t felt in some time and it was good to see a lot of new and familiar faces in attendance.

Forget victimisation: Granting agency to migrants

Laura Agustín, lifelong migrant and and author of Sex at the Margins: Migration, Labour Markets and the Rescue Industry, explores the concept of migrancy, exposes the prejudices in what is meant by the term and proposes another vision, in which less advantaged people are granted ordinary human autonomy.

There is a growing tendency to victimise poor people, weak people, uneducated people and migrant people. The trend, which began as a way of drawing attention to specific forms of violence committed against women, has now become a way of describing everyone on the lower rungs of power.

Last train home

Submitted by bulmer on Jan 29 2012 06:45
Last Train Home

A documentary focusing on one family of migrant workers, mainly around Chinese New Year. It reveals the conditions they live and work in, and the strain it has on the family, which comes out the only time they can see each other over the Spring Festival holiday.

Last Train Home is a wonderfully made and very honest documentary from 2009. The family it focuses on seem very uninhibited by the camera's presence, leading them to be very open in the way they talk and act. It just seems to capture something that most documentaries fail to.

Tomato harvest in Nardo, Apulia: The first self organised strike of the day labourers

An account and analysis by Devi Sacchetto and Mimmo Perrotta of a July 2011 strike by ultra-precarious migrant agricultural workers in Italy.

Kuwaiti government's brutal crackdown on ‘stateless’ people

Submitted by working class s... on Jan 16 2012 00:52

Kuwaiti security forces use dogs, tear gas, armoured vehicles, and water cannons, against protesting 'stateless' people, who are demanding citizenship and basic human rights.

Throughout the weekend, riot police across cities in Kuwait have been using batons and tear gas in an attempt to disperse ‘stateless’ protestors.

Italy is a racist country

This was written the day after the racist shootings in Florence, where a right-wing extremist shot dead two Senegalese men, Samb Modou and Diop Mor, and injured another three, Moustapha Dieng, Sougou Mor and Mbenghe Cheike (who are all out of danger now). Despite being focused on Italy and its history, I think it could be applied to any other country and to many other political issues. Real transformation can only come from a radical questioning of ourselves, our prejudices, and our ways of doing things.

Italy is a racist country. There’s no point getting around that. President Napolitano’s statements about granting full citizenship to migrants’ children born in Italy aren’t enough to question it. Nor is the new Ministry of Integration created by Monti to sweeten – at least for the leftwing and Catholic voters – the bitter pill of sacrifices and austerity.

Occupy Everything, and Everything for Everyone

Submitted by Nate on Dec 30 2011 07:49

Blog post about Occupy Wall Street, deportation, and demands.

This is an article about Occupy and immigration and demands. I've worked on this for a while off and on for a few months and I think this is as done as it gets. I'm sure there's more to say but this is the best I can do for now. I should also say, I'm aware that immigrant issues are in the mix in Occupy in the US to some extent and are growing, I don't say enough about that.

Reasonable accommodation

Submitted by Recomposition on Dec 29 2011 07:27

Our friend and comrade Invisible Man has contributed stories before about life on the job. In this piece he provides an analysis of race and policy and movements in Quebec. In a time of crisis and with a potential for rising right-wing movements, his points are relevant to people around the world.

Reasonable Accommodation
The accommodation debate began with the Dawson College shooting spree. Not many remember it now, but it’s a fact.