Hunger Strike for Immigrant Rights at Placita Olvera (Los Angeles)
Over 100 people are engaging in a hunger strike to mobilize 1,000,000 people to sign the Pledge to vote and take action for immigrant rights.
On October 15th, 21 days before the 2008 election, immigrants, movement leaders, day laborers, faith leaders, student leaders, grassroots organizers, musicians and artists, and people of conscience will rise out of fear and begin one of the largest hunger strikes in American history.
“The Fast for our Future” will set up a permanent encampment at La Placita Olvera (or Olvera Street Plaza), the historic heart of Los Angeles, for the duration of the hunger strike. In the same spirit as César Chávez and Mohandas K. Gandhi, our shared sacrifice and commitment to the Immigrant Rights Movement will inspire a historic mobilization of Latino, immigrant, and pro-immigrant rights voters. We must remember the I.C.E. raids, those detained and deported, the families torn apart, the dreams deferred. We must remember the marches, the walkouts, the boycotts, and the promise we made: “Hoy Marchamos, Manana Votamos.”
In 2006 we marched in millions for our rights.
On November 4th we will vote in unprecedented numbers.
Please sign the Pledge today. Be 1 of 1,000,000 to vote and take action for immigrant rights. Visit these websites: www.fastforourfuture.com or www.ayunoparanuestrofuturo.com
Who We Are
RISE is the new nonviolent action wing of the immigrant rights movement.
We are neither isolated individuals nor a coalition of organizations.
Rather, we are many independent leaders unified by a common message, strategy, nonviolent discipline, and brand.
We are a movement that will rapidly grow through the momentum generated by our militant nonviolent actions for immigrant rights.
We believe the aggressive enforcement of the unjust laws of our broken immigration system is tearing our country apart. The national policy–and its local reflections of raids, detentions, and deportations targeting the millions of undocumented immigrants who are an essential part of our nation–is ripping our families apart, terrorizing our communities, and shredding the civil and constitutional rights that define America. It must stop. Now.
The essential strategy of RISE will unfold in two phases:
In the 1st phase, beginning now and continuing through the first 100 days of the next administration, we will engage in lower-risk nonviolent tactics designed to rapidly recruit and train new members and popularize our national brand.
In the 2nd phase, we will escalate to a sustained campaign of nationally-coordinated mass nonviolent action and civil disobedience designed to make the enforcement of the unjust laws of our broken immigration system politically and practically impossible. The campaign will create an urgent moral imperative and a political necessity to achieve just and humane federal immigration reform now.
Anyone can join and become a leader in RISE by participating in a basic training and adopting our common message, strategy, nonviolent discipline, and brand.
Background
RISE was formed after a series of meetings exploring nonviolent movement strategy that brought together immigrant rights leaders from across the country. We decided that in order to address the current crisis of immigration law enforcement and win reform there was a need to build a militant nonviolent wing of our movement. In our strategy and tactics we learn from the example of successful nonviolent struggles from all over the world, from César Chávez and the United Farm Workers to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s.
Who is Joining the Fast?
The “Fast For Our Future” has received the support from numerous organizations. We would like to thank them for their commitment to La Causa and their courage in engaging in a long-term fast.
Maria Elena Durazo
Secretary-Treasurer
Los Angeles County Federation of Labor
Dolores Huerta
Co-Founder
United Farm Workers
Raúl Añorve
Executive Director
Institute of Popular Education of Southern California (IDEPSCA)
Angelica Salas
Executive Director
Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA)
Rev. Peter Laarman
Executive Director
Progressive Christians Uniting
Alex Sanchez
Executive Director
Homies Unidos
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Who is organizing this fast?
A: RISE is a movement of immigrant rights leaders and advocates who believe that to successfully confront and overcome the human rights crisis that we currently face in the immigrant rights community, we must use the strategies and tactics of escalating non-violent conflict taught to us by Cesar Chavez and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
RISE is the main sponsor of the Fast for our Future. Endorsers of the Fast include: IDEPSCA; CHIRLA; Center for the Working Poor, Faith/Activism Collective and Progressive Christians Uniting; Homies Unidos; Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice (CLUE-LA); Korean Resource Center; Hermandad Mexicana Transnacional; Father Richard Estrada, Placita Catholic Church; Pastor Abel Lara, Placita Methodist Church; Dolores Huerta, and Maria Elena Durazo.
Q: Is this really the largest hunger strike in American history?
A: We expect to have at least 100 fasters by the end of this fast. We already have 150 pledged. We know of no other hunger strike in American history with this many people fasting at once.
Q: Why are you taking part in this hunger strike?
We are taking part in this hunger strike to remobilize our community to vote in unprecedented numbers on November 4th. We are fasting until 1 million people sign the pledge to vote for immigrant rights on November 4th. Under the Bush Administration’s attack on the undocumented, our families, community and our country are being torn apart and our constitutional and civil rights are being shredded. We must RISE to protect our rights, our families, our community, and our country — and fulfill the promise we made in the spring of 2006, ‘Today We March, Tomorrow We Vote’. Tomorrow has arrived, and we must show politicians our collective power as voters and hold them accountable. I’m fasting to remind people how serious this crisis is and how important it is to vote now.
Q: How long are all of you fasting?
Some of us have pledged to fast until we reach 1 Million voters who pledge to vote and/or fast for immigrant rights. Others are committing to join the fast for a set period of time, anywhere from a day to a week and more.
Q: Will the hunger strike end on election day?
Our goal is for unprecedented numbers of Latinos to vote on November 4th. We will know the outcome on election day, so the fast will end on November 5th.
Q: Which Presidential candidate do you think will be more responsive to the needs of the undocumented? Why are you not targeting a specific candidate?
A: We are not here to endorse a specific candidate. We are here to call on our community to remember the attacks on our rights, our families, and our community and fulfill the promise we made in the Spring of 2006, ‘today we march, tomorrow we vote.” We encourage our community to look at the records of all candidates to see who has stood with us, but we believe that whoever is elected needs to know that the Latino and immigrant vote is powerful, that we care about this issue, and that we will hold them accountable.
Q: How do you think this will affect the election?
A: In 2006 we promised that “today we march, and tomorrow we vote”, and the day to vote has arrived and we will vote in unprecedented numbers.
We will show politicians that our vote is powerful and that we will hold them accountable for this all out attack against immigrants that is tearing our families, our community and our country apart.
Q: Are you asking that Congress or the President pass an immigration reform bill?
What should that bill look like?
A: We are here to draw a line and show that we will not accept the Bush Administration’s all out attack against our community. We will not let it continue. Our communities, our families, and ultimately our country are being torn apart by this attack and the hostile and hateful anti-immigrant environment it’s creating. It’s not who we are, as a country, and it’s not acceptable – it has to stop. We want to denounce the raids, denounce the hate, and call on our community to remember the undocumented and vote for a better future on November 4th.
Q: Are you calling for an end to the raids and other immigration enforcement?
A: We are fasting until we get 1 million people to sign a pledge to vote for immigrant rights. That is the goal of our fast. Of course we denounce the raids, denounce the hate, and denounce the attacks against immigrants that are tearing our families, our communities and our country apart. The first step to ending all this is for us voters to vote in unprecedented numbers for immigrant rights on November 4th. Sign the pledge today!
Q: Why is there only Spanish language and other ethnic press at our fast events?
A: Our goal is to mobilize the immigrant community to vote, and we know that the Spanish language press and the ethnic media was the key to mobilizing millions of people into the streets in 2006.