Tens of thousands of immigrants and their allies (and maybe more) are heading to Washington, D.C. to march for comprehensive immigration reform this Sunday. When I was in San Jose for my book tour, I happened to join a prayer vigil for reform–expecting perhaps 50-100 people. Instead, the group that organized the action, People Acting in Community Together, turned out nearly 700 folks. It was amazing, and got me thinking about how there might be tons of really effective organizing–and really motivated leaders–that are just below the media’s radar.
I wrote a piece about the San Jose event, and the lead up to the march this Sunday, for The Nation. The article, “Immigrants to Obama: It’s Time,” is at http://www.thenation.com/doc/20100405/thompson.
Also, I’m happy to report that a Spanish press has expressed interest in publishing Working in the Shadows. This is absolutely wonderful; one of my disappointments with There’s No Jose Here is that it never got translated, so many of the people I wrote about couldn’t actually read it. It’s still early and nothing has been finalized, but I’m excited about the prospect of sending dozens of Spanish copies to all the people I met during the year.
Okay, that’s it for now. Hope everyone is well, and maybe I’ll bump into a few of you in D.C. on Sunday…
Published on March 19, 2010 04:36