Which Part Of Human Do You Not Understand?

One week into my new job as the Philadelphia Coordinator of Reform Immigration for America and I survived through one protest.

Today was just about as crazy as you could imagine.

First of all, the Philadelphia Security Officers Union had their forth negotiations with AlliedBarton. Our negotiations began at 2 in the afternoon. Our team of Charlotte Thompson, Margarett Snead; VP, Bernardo Dickerson, Warren Davis and Lead Negotiator, Lance Geren made it happen today. Despite the fact that I had to keep leaving the room to answer media calls about the Diamondbacks protest, these folks have probably brought us within one session of settling our union rights. We could even wrap this up by our September deadline.

This agreement will bring union rights to these workers for the first time in almost twenty years!

So, check the time frame, our protest was at Citizens Bank Stadium at 6.

The immigrant rights movement in our city is very strong. At least 100 people showed up and we had a loud picket going for at least an hour. Organizations like Juntos, New Sanctuary Movement, Jobs with Justice and the Unitarian Universalist Church and a bunch of young, energetic folks from the ISO put their people on the street!

There were three counter-counter-protesters with us today. They were peaceful and didn’t engage us in any way. They just stood around our picket holding their signs. One guys sign said, “Which part of illegal don’t you understand?”

Our message was that we don’t want our Phillies to go to Phoenix and be harassed for being non-white, which the law allows. Seriously, Jason Werth might be from mars for all I know, he has superpowers.

Yes, like it or not, non-white-skinned people will be treated differently than fair complected people.

Darker people will be asked to show their papers. Other people have been forced to submit to such indignities in history. Whether you are talking about black Afrikans having to show which bantustan they lived in, to Native Americans being chased back onto the early reservations at gun point by police, the mere act of demanding that a person prove of their legitimacy, based on their complexion, is dehumanizing.

My answer to the “illegal” sign: “What Part Of Human Do You Not Understand?”

The movement isn’t even finished for the week. On Thursday, Philadelphia will make history by declaring ourself as “The Most Welcoming City For Immigrants In The Nation.”

City and State elected leaders such as Mayor Michael Nutter, Representative Tony Payton, Representative Babette Josephs and Senator Daylin Leach will pose an alternative to the repressive Arizona SB 1070.

This is a big deal.

Then, Democracia Ahora will be at the Phillies game on Thursday too, with their own form of resistance.

You can check out the footage from the Diamondbacks game tonight(now) at 10 o’clock on Fox, ABC and Univision, on the radio at WHYY and KYW and in print in Al Dia, Impacto and the Inquirer.

Also, if you didn’t see me debate Dom Giordano from 1210 AM on CN8’s Larry Kane Report, it airs again this Wednesday at 5:30.