Tag Archives: resistencia en accion

Activism and Its Critics

Posted on by under activism, migrant defense

The migrant defense group that I work with, Resistencia en Acción, held a rummage sale the other day, raising $3,700 for migrants detained in a recent set of raids here in Princeton. That, by any measure, is a success. Think about what was involved in making it happen.

Someone had to conceive the idea, then convey it to others willing to help make it happen. Tasks had to be divided up, and people had to be held to keeping whatever promises of assistance they made. The organizers had to find a space within which to hold the event. They had to acquire several roomfuls of items to sell, then go to the space they’d acquired and arrange the items there. The space in question was a set of rooms in a church, not presently set up for a rummage sale. So that had to be set up. “That had to be set up” is elliptical for hours of work too tedious to describe: the space in question was the size of small house; anyone who’s moved homes, even from one apartment to another, knows what’s involved. Continue reading →

Resistance in Action (7)

Posted on by under activism, anarchism, migrant defense

Resistencia en Acción Rapid Response Emergency Fund

There’s a lot more to say about Rapid Response to ICE detention, which I hope to say here soon, but for now, I wanted to announce Resistencia en Acción’s Rapid Response Emergency Fund in the hopes of getting some contributions from readers. The preceding link takes you to the donation form on zeffy.com. You can also get to the link by going to Resistencia’s Facebook page, and scrolling down to the post for August 21, 11:50 pm.

Continue reading →

Resistance in Action (5)

Posted on by under activism, anarchism, migrant defense

A Response to John Heilner

Toward the end of the August 11 Princeton Council meeting at which Princeton’s ITA Resolution was adopted, John Heilner, a Princeton resident, offered a comment that has now been transcribed in the August 13 issue of TapInto Princeton and in the August 13 issue of Town Topics (updated on August 18). Though Mr Heilner’s comment has not to my knowledge elicited very much public comment, I think it demands comment. To put the matter bluntly, I regard his comment as both incoherent and irresponsible, and am amazed that a Council that has spent the better part of the last six months lecturing us about matters of facticity and tone has received it with such apparent equanimity. Continue reading →

Resistance in Action (4)

Posted on by under activism, anarchism, migrant defense

More Botched Reporting from Town Topics 

In an earlier post here, I took issue with Town Topics’s defective reporting on the ITA municipal resolution campaign in Princeton. In quoting exclusively from members of the Princeton Council in its reporting on the July 28 Council meeting, I argued, the paper functioned essentially as a PR mouthpiece for the Council rather than as an expression of bona fide journalism. I sent a shorter version of that post as a letter to the editor of Town Topics, but it wasn’t printed. The paper’s most recent reporting on the August 11 meeting makes an attempt of sorts to remedy the problem, but still falls woefully short.  Continue reading →

Resistance in Action (1)

Posted on by under activism, anarchism, migrant defense

The Princeton Immigrant Trust Resolution

For the last two months, activists with Resistencia en Acción (including myself) have urged Princeton’s Mayor and Council to pass a municipal resolution in favor of the Immigrant Trust Act (ITA), a piece of pro-migrant legislation introduced last September in the New Jersey state legislature but currently stalled there. About a dozen New Jersey municipalities have adopted municipal resolutions urging passage of the ITA, and efforts are under way to persuade other municipalities to pass it as well. Continue reading →

Chris Hedges: Statement to Princeton Town Council

Posted on by under activism, migrant defense

By Chris Hedges, transcribed by Irfan Khawaja, posted with Hedges’ permission
Thank you Mr Mayor and Council members, for allowing us to speak. I know it’s probably been a bit uncomfortable, but listen: everybody in this room is alive, vital, committed, impassioned, honest, and courageous. It’s what makes Princeton a great community, and before I begin, I just want to say how much I admire the integrity and the courage and the commitment of my neighbors to stand up for their neighbors which, as a former seminarian, is of course the fundamental Biblical injunction: we are enjoined to love our neighbor, not our tribe. Continue reading →

Fundraiser for Detained Activist

Posted on by under activism, General announcements

(I’m happy to report that in less than a week, we’ve collected more than $10K, exceeding our initial goal.)

A migrant defense group I work with, Resistencia en Acción, is organizing a fundraiser via GoFundMe for one of our members who’s been detained by ICE.

We write to you with heavy hearts and a deep sense of urgency.

One of the worker leaders of the Day Laborer Committee in Princeton at Resistencia en Accion NJ has been detained by ICE and is currently being transferred to an immigration detention center here in New Jersey. He has been organizing alongside fellow day laborers at his corner and leading with courage, and showing up for our community in every moment of need.

Please consider making a donation. There’s more information at the GoFundMe link above. Continue reading →

May Day in Princeton

Posted on by under activism, anarchism, General announcements, Notes on the Anti-War Movement, Palestine, Trump 2

One of the activist groups I work with, Resistencia en Acción, is putting on a May Day march and celebration this Thursday, May 1st, in Princeton, New Jersey, starting at 6 pm. The event begins at the “Fountain of Freedom” at Washington Rd and Prospect St on the Princeton University campus. We’ll march through town, circle back, and hear from local activists and members of the community in both English and Spanish. This is a march in solidarity with and defense of all migrants, documented or not, “legal” or not, and against the arbitrary harassment, detentions, and deportations engaged in by the “Department of Homeland Security,” among others. We’re expecting some 800 participants, from Newark to Trenton and points in between. Join us if you want to stand up for justice, and have a good time doing it. And click the Instagram below to listen to Princeton’s own Chris Hedges while you’re at it: Continue reading →