Kalamazoo College has announced the ten finalists for its 2015 Global Prize for Transformative Social Justice Leadership, a juried competition hosted by the College’s Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership. Finalists will present during a Prize Weekend, Oct. 9-11, and one project will receive a $25,000 prize. Below is one in a series of profiles on the ten finalists.

We invite individuals who are familiar with this project to use our Community Input form to comment on its “grass rootedness” and transformative leadership practices. Input received before September 8 will be submitted to our jurors. Please see videos submitted by each finalist, as well as our rubric and other information about the Global Prize here

Familia: Trans Queer Liberation Movement

Living in the shadows of society. Fearing deportation. Unable to fully immerse in American life. The anxieties experienced by many undocumented immigrants in the United States are real. But for those who identify as LGBTQ, the fear and struggle is sometimes much greater.

Those undocumented LGBTQ members finding themselves in immigration detention centers in the United States often face sexual harassment and mistreatment at the hand of their captors, and abuse from fellow inmates, said Jorge Gutierrez, national coordinator with Familia: Trans Queer Liberation Movement. Many of these people come to the U.S. fleeing persecution and seeking asylum and support, only to find themselves locked-up.

“We want to see all LGBTQ people in detention centers released,” he said. “Detention centers can be incredibly dangerous places for these people. They are stripped of their humanity, their medical care. Many are HIV positive and need drugs for that. ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] may use solitary confinement to protect them, but that has negative psychological effects. This is happening on a daily basis. Ultimately, we’re seeking to end all detentions.”

Familia: Trans Queer Liberation Movement was formed in Los Angeles in 2014 with a mission to work at the national and grassroots levels to achieve the collective liberation of LGBT Latinos and their families by leading an intergenerational movement through community organizing, advocacy, and education. It is the only national LGBTQ Latino organization that focuses on racial justice through a trans and queer lens.

The organization’s work extends across the nation, including California, Washington, Arizona, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Massachusetts, New York, and Pennsylvania. They are looking to enter several Midwest and southern states.

Another component of the organization is to help the families of those who come out as LGBTQ, providing safe spaces where parents and others can find mutual support to sort out any pain or confusion relating to a loved one coming out. The support garnered in those meetings can then extend out to Latino immigrant communities, growing understanding of LGBTQ Latinos and the challenges they face, Gutierrez said. This support can also help them realize there is a mutual social justice struggle between them – the right of undocumented residents to safety, self-determination, and to provide for their families, as well as the right of LGBTQ Latinos to be supported and protected in who they are.

“When I was 16, my mom asked me if I was gay,” he said. “I told her I was, and she said she loved me and wanted to protect me. That helped me develop self-esteem and a self-dignity that has helped me make healthy decisions through my life. We want that for all LGBTQ Latinos.”

Kalamazoo College has announced the ten finalists for its 2015 Global Prize for Transformative Social Justice Leadership, a juried competition hosted by the College’s Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership. Finalists will present during a Prize Weekend, Oct. 9-11, and one project will receive a $25,000 prize. Below is one in a series of profiles on the ten finalists.

We invite individuals who are familiar with this project to use our Community Input form to comment on its “grassrootedness” and transformative leadership practices. Input received before September 8 will be submitted to our jurors. Please see videos submitted by each finalist, as well as our rubric and other information about the Global Prize here

Freedom Inc.: Our Community Is Our Campaign

Trust in people.

That’s the idea that the leadership of Freedom Inc. had when looking at ways to lift up the community members they were trying to empower in Madison, Wisconsin, and is summed-up well in the moniker for an ongoing project helping Black and Southeast Asian transgender and gender non-conforming folks: “Our Community Is Our Campaign.”

“The traditional model of mainstream social justice groups is to focus on the issues first and the people second,” said M Adams, co-executive director of the group. “For us, it’s not issues first, it’s people first.”

FI is a grassroots collective of inter-generational Black and Southeast Asian women queer folks, and youth whose work is to end violence (both interpersonal and systemic) within and against low-income communities of color. That includes a large contingent of Hmong people living in the Madison area, Adams said.

Members of that ethnicity who are transgender or gender nonconforming need special help; the Hmong don’t even have a word for being trans, not to mention some have trouble with English, Adams said. Black folks who are trans or gender nonconforming also need some special assistance, having to deal with the legacy of racism, or being shunned by their families, in addition to how they personally identify.

“This (the trans and gender nonconforming) movement is a relatively young one here,” Adams said. “Many Hmong are here as a result of secret wars in 1970s and 80s. What does it mean for them to build a movement? How does the broader society relate or understand their leadership? It’s a unique challenge.

For Hmong women and queer folks operating in their patriarchal system, organizing themselves and taking leadership is a big thing. For the black community, it’s a challenge for us, too, on how to build a new black liberation movement that also centers those who are often shunned even by their own racial community, like trans folks. I’m working with people at the margins, in the margins.”

Freedom Inc. works directly with 300 low-income folks of color a year, working on culturally specific intimate partner services, gender justice organizing, political education and leadership development and direct action. Programming designed for youth and older folks alike seek to help them realize that their socioeconomic, racial and other struggles tie them to others around the world suffering the same kinds of injustices. It’s a way, Adams said, of building community across the globe.

“We’re working on building a world where we can live as our full selves,” Adams said.

Kalamazoo College has announced the ten finalists for its 2015 Global Prize for Transformative Social Justice Leadership, a juried competition hosted by the College’s Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership. Finalists will present during a Prize Weekend, Oct. 9-11, and one project will receive a $25,000 prize. Below is one in a series of profiles on the ten finalists.

We invite individuals who are familiar with this project to use our Community Input form to comment on its “grassrootedness” and transformative leadership practices. Input received before September 8 will be submitted to our jurors. Please see videos submitted by each finalist, as well as our rubric and other information about the Global Prize here.

The Icarus Project

In the hustle and bustle, dog-eat-dog, success-driven culture in which we live, those who struggle with depression, anxiety, or a host of other mental health issues are often stigmatized as weak by a society that almost demands a person toughen-up and trudge through their personal struggles.

But the issues are real, and those who struggle with a mental illness need to be supported in developing a self-determined path of healing and acceptance that helps them realize they are normal in a world they often view as anything but.

That’s where the The Icarus Project comes in, a support network and media project by and for people who experience the world in ways that are often diagnosed as mental illness.

The group advances social justice by fostering mutual aid and organizing practices that reconnect healing and collective liberation, transforming participants through altering the world around them.

“The work of being well in the face of madness is a revolutionary process and empowering change against unjust policies is a daily struggle,” says Maryse Mitchell-Brody, development coordinator and ally liaison for the organization.

The project does this work through education, visibility and international exchange. Workshops, an online and social media presence, and a wide array of resources provide individuals and communities with frameworks for radical healing. The group was formed 12 years ago and operates nationwide and in several countries.

Their work shifts conceptions of mental wellness and directly impacts how psychiatrists, therapists and institutions address emotional distress around the world.

The organization’s ‘Mad Maps’ project provides people with tools to transform themselves and their cultures and communities, tailoring content to the needs of specific constituencies that are often doubly stigmatized for their race or how they identify, such as people of color, LGBT folks, and immigrants.

“We aim to ensure this is participatory endeavor with all involved,” says Mitchell-Brody. “We are continuing to build experience. So many peoples’ lives are at stake in this struggle.”

Kalamazoo College has announced the ten finalists for its 2015 Global Prize for Transformative Social Justice Leadership, a juried competition hosted by the College’s Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership. Finalists will present during a Prize Weekend, Oct. 9-11, and one project will receive a $25,000 prize. Below is one in a series of profiles on the ten finalists.

We invite individuals who are familiar with this project to use our Community Input form to comment on its “grassrootedness” and transformative leadership practices. Input received before September 8 will be submitted to our jurors. Please see videos submitted by each finalist, as well as our rubric and other information about the Global Prize here.

Bavubuka Foundation

A Ugandan organization working to empower youth in the east African nation is using several elements of modern, popular arts and culture to reunite younger generations with their pasts.

For ten years, the Bavubuka Foundation has been exposing youth to music and the arts as a way to transform lives and unify diverse communities. The organization does this by reconnecting young leaders to their authentic indigenous roots and developing their understanding of the value of their culture and heritage.

“Many in the younger generations have left the villages and the countryside for the cities, and in the process have become disconnected from their heritage,” says Silas Balabyekkubo, aka, ‘Babaluku,’ founder and executive director of the foundation.

“Modern culture has uprooted the old ways. But we are turning that on its head, using modern culture as a vehicle to enable youth to get back in touch with their roots and express the newfound pride they have in their indigenous communities and pasts.”

Uganda has one of the world’s largest youth populations, many of whom have minimal resources and few platforms to be heard.

The foundation, which takes its name from the Luganda word for ‘youth,’ provides spaces, education and opportunities for youth to express their indigenous heritage in several ways. Their expression takes the form of storytelling through music, photography, journalism, dance, fashion, sustainable agriculture, and entrepreneurship.

The most popular form of expression is urban hip-hop, with the country becoming a wellspring of young emcees utilizing a type of rap called “Lugha Flow,” Swahili for ‘language’, to vocalize community issues and solutions, celebrate the wisdom of their elders and encourage the preservation of native languages.

“Regardless of what it is, the message from the youth is the same: that the truth of my past comes from my land, my culture and my language,” says Babaluku. “Youth are recognizing that, even though they may not live in their indigenous communities, they take the wisdom of their elders with them. They don’t disregard where they came from just because times have changed.”

The movement has seen a merging between old and young, an acceptance between the generations as they share an appreciation for a shared cultural experience and identity, the traditional both respected and remade within new, progressive art forms, Babaluku says.

“We are seeing kids doing some really inspiring work, and in the case of music, using indigenous hip-hop as a tool to tap into untapped leadership potential. “Theirs is a new, authentic voice that is being used to advocate for solutions, while breaking tribalism and other stereotypes, through the passion of hip-hop and other arts. The message is reconnection, restoration, healing and awakening to their authentic, true selves. It’s spreading everywhere. We are galvanizing multitudes because of the appeal of the arts.”

Kalamazoo College has announced the ten finalists for its 2015 Global Prize for Transformative Social Justice Leadership, a juried competition hosted by the College’s Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership. Finalists will present during a Prize Weekend, Oct. 9-11, and one project will receive a $25,000 prize. Below is one in a series of profiles on the ten finalists.

We invite individuals who are familiar with this project to use our Community Input form to comment on its “grassrootedness” and transformative leadership practices. Input received before September 8 will be submitted to our jurors. Please see videos submitted by each finalist, as well as our rubric and other information about the Global Prize here.

Black on Both Sides

The foster care system in the United States has a darker side to the benevolent image it tries to portray to the public, according to one social justice organization trying to demolish foster care altogether.

What hides in the shadows of this child care and rearing model is a kind of unofficial pipeline to the prison industrial complex, says Charity Tolliver, founder of Black on Both Sides, a project working to build a new generation of Black organizers towards the abolition of the foster care and prison systems.

Studies have shown that 80 percent of the prison population had spent time in the foster care system when they were younger, Tolliver says.

“That is not just surprising, it’s indicative of a messed up system,” she says. “It’s a dysfunctional system for those it’s supposed to serve.”

The majority of foster care children are removed from their biological homes for neglect – which really means poverty, Tolliver says. But instead of providing additional resources to struggling families to keep children with their parents, benefits – WIC, food stamps, and other assistance measures – are being cut, while at the same time, foster families are being paid to care for these kids.

“It’s hypocritical,” Tolliver says.

These young, mostly Black youth are taken away from their mothers, who are negatively stereotyped as abusive, loud, oversexed and unruly, set into the foster care system, where they are more likely to wind-up immersed in the juvenile justice system and, eventually, the prison system at-large, she says. This model eerily resembles the slavery-era practice of slave masters removing children from their mothers, treating the mothers merely as aspects of production and their children as commodities, she adds.

“It’s got less to do with money and more to do with disposable black bodies and create places to put them, to confine them in a post-slavery, neo-liberal society,” Tolliver says. “This pipeline, starting when a person is young, ensures a policy of sequestration of disposable, black bodies from the rest of society, while the increasingly for-profit foster care and prison industrial complex is able to increase profitability with a steady stream of new inmates.”

Although this issue hits poor white and Latino families, it impacts – indeed, targets – the Black community especially hard. Take New Mexico for example. Blacks make up 1 percent of that state’s population, but represent 5 percent of the foster care cases, Tolliver says. In Arizona, where blacks comprise 3 percent of the population, they make up 10 to 12 percent of the foster care population. Finally, in Illinois, where the organization is based, blacks make up 16 percent of the population but 54 percent of children in foster care and 32 percent of Chicago’s population but 95 percent of new foster care cases in the city.

The project highlights the voices and experiences of Black youth who have experienced both the foster care system and the juvenile or adult justice system, while launching a direct action organizing campaign to address the root causes of the foster care to prison pipeline.

Blacks on Both Sides pushed for a foster care bill of rights for foster kids in Illinois, which has passed through the state’s Senate and House, as well as a restorative justice model to deal with non-violent issues in a foster home, like arguments, stealing money or running away, problems where law enforcement is routinely called. Studies show that a foster child who is arrested – even for these minor offenses – is 15 percent more likely to wind up in prison, Tolliver says. The organization is looking to move nationwide with its restorative justice efforts and push for a national bill of rights for foster kids.

“We all know that children are best kept with their parents,” she says. “All of our work is focused on righting these injustices and reuniting families, where kids are their healthiest.”

 

Kalamazoo College has announced the ten finalists for its 2015 Global Prize for Transformative Social Justice Leadership, a juried competition hosted by the College’s Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership. Finalists will present during a Prize Weekend, Oct. 9-11, and one project will receive a $25,000 prize. Below is one in a series of profiles on the ten finalists.

We invite individuals who are familiar with this project to use our Community Input form to comment on its “grassrootedness” and transformative leadership practices. Input received before September 8 will be submitted to our jurors. Please see videos submitted by each finalist, as well as our rubric and other information about the Global Prize here.

Association of Injured Workers & Ex-Workers of General Motors Colmotores (ASOTRECOL)

For four years, a small but committed group of injured auto workers fired from the GM Colmotores assembly plant in Bogota, Colombia have been living in a tent encampment outside the U.S. embassy, drawing attention to the plight of employees there in a nation that has few worker protections. They suffer nerve damage and spinal, hand or shoulder injuries sustained in a factory with poor working conditions.

Over the years, the men in The Association of Injured Workers & Ex-Workers of General Motors Colmotores (ASOTRECOL) have gone on several hunger strikes, some sewing their mouths shut with needle and thread, to protest GM’s inhumane treatment of workers at the plant. Plant managers would fudge workers’ medical records and injury claims in order to keep insurance premiums as low as possible and increase profits, Hammer said. Some hunger strikers endured several months on just a liquid diet.

“At the core of all this is the question of the sacred right to dignified work,” said Frank Hammer, a lead organizer with the ASOTRECOL Solidarity Network. “That’s how the Association’s leader, Jorge Parra, explains their struggle.”

Colombia ranks as one of the most dangerous countries in the world for labor organizers, Hammer said, a nation where only 4 percent of the working population is a member of a trade union. In the early 1990s, the unionized population was four times that.

When a contingent of UAW and GM officials traveled to the plant in 2012, union inspectors said the safety standards at the plant were comparable to those in United States factories in the 1970s. GM promised to install modern machinery and ensure more transparency in the handling of injury claims in response to the ex-workers’ protest. But the UAW leadership never fully engaged with the protesting ex-workers, who had, as one of their demands, the right to form a union, Hammer said.

“The workers wanted their jobs back, or in lieu of that, to receive disability payments for their injuries, he said. The company declined both requests, offering limited severance payments instead.

Still, the improvements at the plant were seen as a victory to the men. GM has also stopped firing injured workers, placing them instead on other jobs they can do. Their commitment to their cause has inspired injured workers from other industrial sectors to join with them in solidarity, including workers from Colombia’s construction and oil drilling sectors, and Coca-Cola bottling operations. ASOTRECOL member Parra traveled to Detroit in 2012 to meet with UAW officials, and while he did not get the support he was looking for, rank-and-file union members and community activists showered ASOTRECOL with support, raising $10,000 for their efforts.

At the moment, about a half-dozen or so ASOTRECOL members and supporters are still living in the tents, still fully engrossed in their fight for worker rights and protections. And as corporations become more multinational, the need for cooperation between workers across borders has never been greater, Hammer said.

“That’s one of the biggest messages of the inspirational struggle of these men,” Hammer said.

“The broader objective being to build solidarity between workers employed by the same companies in different countries who experience the same mistreatment. The companies are becoming more global; we have to as well.”

 

Kalamazoo College has announced the ten finalists for its 2015 Global Prize for Transformative Social Justice Leadership, a juried competition hosted by the College’s Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership. Finalists will present during a Prize Weekend, Oct. 9-11, and one project will receive a $25,000 prize. Below is one in a series of profiles on the ten finalists.

We invite individuals who are familiar with this project to use our Community Input form to comment on its “grassrootedness” and transformative leadership practices. Input received before September 8 will be submitted to our jurors. Please see videos submitted by each finalist, as well as our rubric and other information about the Global Prize here.

At a Crossroads: Forest Dwellers of India

Western culture – obsessed with perpetual development, ever-increasing profits and uninterrupted growth – could learn a lot from the forest-dwelling native tribes on the Indian subcontinent, many of whom are unknown even in their own country.

Steeped in this economic paradigm, many tribes have become disconnected from the earth they consider their mother, losing the sensation of soil on their hands, the taste of fresh water, the ability to sense the wind, and what weather it might bring.

“These (indigenous) people wouldn’t even use a hoe on the earth, because they thought they were hurting their mother. They would simply mix their seeds, spread them and see what grew,” said Arunima Sharma, an organizer affiliated with Ekta Parishad, a nonviolent people’s movement that works to build community, self-reliance and power to India’s poorest people.

These indigenous peoples’ way of life is being seriously threatened, with government agencies in India seeking to remove them from the land they’ve taken care of for countless generations. The push to ‘Westernize’ these people – bringing them into the modern economic fold, teaching them different languages, exposing them to the educational system – has meant their way of life is slipping away.

Case in point, Sharma says, is the loss of the knowledge of several plant medicines, because the tribes are losing their languages and becoming smaller. The “At a Crossroads: Forest Dwellers of India” project empowers the dream of tribal communities to grow back forests, converting wastelands into healthy ecosystems, thus returning sustenance, agroforestry-based livelihood, and rootedness to community.

Some tribes, who have taken to living in forests redefined as ‘protected’ by the Indian government, have had their crops destroyed by government officials, Sharma says.

“These people have been called ‘backward’ by the government,” she says. “But in our view, it’s the modern society and its economic models that are unsustainable. Perhaps it’s ironic, but in order to go forward, we must go backward, to sustainable models of development.

In advocating for the autonomy native peoples, Ekta Parishad is revitalizing the relationship of cultural indigeneity and biodiversity by celebrating tribal traditions, supports indigenous education provided by elders to youth, retaining memory, history and culture and deconstructing hierarchy and re-defining progress.

There is a deep, respectful, symbiotic relationship between the native, forest-dwelling people of India and the land they call home. They use all their senses when interacting with their natural world, Sharma says.

“We are creating an opportunity for tribal communities to share their stories with the world, giving visibility to those lost and forgotten,” she says. “We need to question what out notion of progress is, and these native people can teach us a lot. We have a collective case of environmental amnesia, and are in such denial we forgot where we came from. These people may have no idea what life in the modern world is like, and are considered the poorest of the poor, but in many ways they are the ones who show us how to move forward, with love, respect and honor for the home we all share – the Earth.”