Mass moblization of Latino community

This week the organization I am interning at had a bus tour throughout central Oregon, up to Washington, and into Idaho. The bus tour was to raise awareness about the need for a comprehensive immigration reform for 11 million undocumented immigrants. I did not go on the tour because it was a week long tour and I couldn't miss school. The bus tour had series of marches and rallies held in the multiple cities it stopped in. I was very sadden to hear back that on the first night after the kick-off rally in Bend, the church that hosted the bus riders was set on fire. The church facilities and a couple cars were set on fire shortly after midnight that night, something that I personally believe was not coincidental. It pushed me to really reflect on the impact that Causa's work is creating in people's mindset. For one, the bus tour was a success for supporters; but for others, the activism we are doing is apparently not welcome.

Meanwhile the tour was happening, I was assigned to mobilize close to 600 Latinos in Oregon who are affiliated with Causa. I called our affiliates and asked for their help advocating for legislation that would benefit them. I asked them to call four legislators in leadership positions at the state legislature and one Oregon member of Congress. The majority of the people I talked to were very warm and more than willing to make phone calls to the legislators' offices. I did however have experiences where some people sounded reluctant to call and for those I had to persuade them. I had to frame the phone calls in a way that sounded like a very simple task to do, something that wouldn't take much time out of their day. I realized that in the Latino community, we often hesitate to get politically involved because we are not familiar with the political process of a bill and we might think we are not capable of being activists. After explaining to the hesitant people how fast and easy the phone calls are, I was happy to hear them say that they were going to get others to call as well.

I think that sometimes when we think about politics we imagine a long drawn process that has to occur in order for "things to get done". Especially with Latinos, it can be that we see our personal beliefs as powerless and not useful. It is important for people to know however that while one person's voice may not move mountains, a shared concern does make a difference. I have been in meetings where we bring constituents to meetings with legislators outside their district. Even though it is just one or two persons asking for the legislator's support on an issue, I have seen that the mere fact that they are there really moves a legislator's opinion and I have heard legislators refer to conversations they have had with constituents about an issue.