[Sosfbay-discuss] report on a central valley tour

[Jim Doyle]

A report from one of the leaders of CHAM.
The report covers a lot of the issues that are a part of
Green Party key values and platform issues.

-----Original Message-----

*From:* PerrySandy at aol.com [mailto:PerrySandy at aol.com]
*Sent:* Friday, May 05, 2006 1:38 PM
*To:* PerrySandy at aol.com
*Subject:* JOURNEY FOR JUSTICE 2006

JOURNEY FOR JUSTICE 2006

This is a long report-back for those who are interested, feel free to 
delete if you’re not!

On the evening of April 20, CHAM members returned from an exhilarating 
Journey for Justice through the California Central Valley. When we 
embarked on this caravan, we knew that the Valley was one of the poorest 
areas in the state and the entire nation. We expected, and we found, 
poverty, homelessness, denial of medical care, and horrendous abuse by 
law enforcement and immigration agencies. But we also found, in every 
town, a strong outpouring of hospitality and love. Above all, everywhere 
we found community resistance to injustice, growing awareness, and 
powerful spiritual leaders.

The Journey for Justice was co-sponsored by CHAM, Merced Labor Party, 
California National Action Network, and California Poor Peoples Economic 
Human Rights Campaign.

The journey opened with a drum circle blessing ceremony in Fresno by 
Native American leaders. It affirmed the journey’s central message: that 
all life is sacred, no matter how despised and disrespected by the 
world. We need to align ourselves with the intention of our Creator, and 
every thought, word, and action is a significant and powerful 
opportunity to do that. As David Alvarez said, the horses haven’t 
forgotten how to be horses, the ants haven’t forgotten how to be ants, 
the trees haven’t forgotten how to be trees, but we human beings have 
forgotten how to be human beings.

Sister Adrienne celebrated our unity in spirit with a song version of 
the Lord’s Prayer.

We visited seven towns in the course of the week.

    * Reedley April 14 – After a torrential rainfall, we participated in
      a meeting of about 100 people described by a local activist as
      “historic” both for its diversity and intensity. It focused on
      issues of health care, immigration, and law enforcement justice.
    * Fresno April 15 – We rallied at the Fulton Mall with a broad group
      including California National Action Network, California Prison
      Moratorium Project, Books Not Bars, Communications Workers of
      America, immigration protestors, and the ESPINO Coalition. Lucia
      Aguilar excelled as M.C.
    * April 16 – We attended Easter Sunday service at Fresno’s United
      Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), a sister congregation to
      First Christian Church in San Jose. Then we held an interfaith
      Easter service and unity rally at Martin Luther King Middle School
      in Madera, led by Pastor Scott Wagers, Rev. Floyd Harris of
      Fresno, and CHAM Deacon Janel Martinez. The service included
      testimony by Madera residents Melchor Torres, whose son was shot
      to death by a police officer while handcuffed in back of a police
      car, and Julia Hernandez. A diverse crowd of about 80 enjoyed a
      simultaneous translation.
    * Merced April 17 – We participated in a powerful program of song,
      youth dances, prayer, and testimony at Applegate Park. Peg Elwell
      of the Low-Income Self-Help Center testified about San Jose’s
      successful Congressional Hearing on health care. A Hmong gentleman
      from Merced testified about community efforts to raise money for a
      $30,000 surgery needed by one of his uninsured colleagues. That
      evening a group of us watched the “Learning As We Lead” DVD from
      the University of the Poor, and discussed the process of moving
      beyond single issue politics to a politics of economic human
      rights and economic justice.
    * Modesto April 18 – We met at the Church of the Brethren with a
      group of about 50 people from diverse groups addressing issues of
      health care, environmental justice, education, and military
      counter-recruitment. Dantley Curry, Daryl Miller, Monika Kessling,
      Sandy Perry, Susan Mecartney, and Merced’s Dr. Sal Sandoval acted
      in a skit exposing the evils of our unjust health care system, and
      explaining the benefits of single payer universal care.
    * Stockton April 19 – We were hosted by Luis Magana and Cristina
      Gonzalez at La Jamaica Mexican Community Center. We ate dinner
      with about 60 people and exchanged testimonies on MediCal abuses,
      immigrant struggles, and experiences battling to end poverty,
      followed by folklorico dancing by local young people.
    * Sacramento April 20 – At the Capitol we met with Assemblywoman
      Sally Lieber, who hosted us with bagels, coffee, and juice while
      listening to our testimonies and tales of the journey. Unable to
      complete our meeting, we left to speak at a diversity fair at
      American River College and then a reception at Valley Hi Covenant
      Church. Sally Lieber met with us for an additional two hours at
      the church. She pledged her support and signed our Journey for
      Justice banner and was honored with a Native American song as part
      of our closing ceremony.

Throughout the Journey, especially toward the end, we held talking 
circles led by David Alvarez to help clarify our goals, evaluate our 
progress, connect with our Creator, and solve problems. As David 
reiterated frequently, we can’t fight effectively for justice out there 
in the world if we don’t have justice inside, in our hearts and in our 
own community.

CHAM’s unique and most powerful contribution during the journey was to 
model a diverse, multi-racial, multi-cultural ministry, moving beyond 
the politics of race toward a politics of unity against all forms of 
poverty and oppression. In addition, CHAM’s spiritual approach to the 
battle for justice resonated strongly with most of the leaders we met 
throughout the Valley. “If it’s not a spiritual walk, we will not join 
it,” said, David Alvarez, but it was spiritual – every step of the way.

The journey’s gains were the dissemination of hope and good news to the 
poor, the establishment of significant relationships, and a powerful 
unity transcending the different towns, issues, and struggles. 
Everywhere we went, people suggested doing it again and continuing it 
annually. Rev. Ashiya Odeye of Sacramento related the time in 1968 he 
joined a caravan of 50 people in Atlanta that grew to 4000 by the time 
it reached New York City. The time for much larger actions is coming. 
This year’s journey laid a powerful foundation.

Susanna Beauchan described in her journal one of the most emotional 
moments of the journey. After staying at the night at New Hope Christian 
Fellowship in Modesto, we met the next day with Chris, Jimmy, Mary and 
other leaders of Modesto Youth With a Mission. “We went with them to go 
feed people at a motel on Ninth Street,” Susanna wrote. “It turned out I 
used to live there myself in 1998 when it was called the Modesto Breeze. 
Now it was called the Sandhaven Inn. The rooms were $200 a month when I 
lived there. Now they were up to $900 a month, and $300 a month more for 
a refrigerator. The residents don’t know where to get this kind of 
money. The landlord refuses to make repairs. There is mold everywhere in 
the rooms, broken windows, rats, roaches, dripping faucets, and more.”

Susanna met an old friend of hers there, Esther Saldivar, who told us of 
repeated visits by CPS to take away people’s kids from there. Another 
resident in a wheelchair, Dean Ells, showed us photographs of the 
horrendous bedsores he received while treated at a Turlock hospital. 
More than any other stop, the visit to this motel clarified for us the 
purpose and reason for the Journey for Justice – to expose and abolish 
these kinds of injustices. We documented the conditions there by asking 
people to fill out economic human rights violation forms, and made 
arrangements to stay in contact with them and with Youth With a Mission.

“We learned there are a lot of brothers and sisters in the same boat as 
we are,” wrote Susanna in conclusion. “We need to fight for our right to 
housing, health care, education, and against police abuse and other 
problems we are facing. We also learned a lot from people with other 
cultural backgrounds and roots.”