Blogosphere: June 2008 Archives

If you get a chance, click on over to the Drum Major Institute Blog, where I've got a post up about the effects of immigration raids on children of migrants. 

You can even leave a comment if you wish.  But make sure not to let slip your dark desire to "kill all whites."  That outcome would be especially unfortunate for this white blogger.

Kyle already addressed some of the deficiencies in Antonio Olivo’s article in the Chicago Tribune yesterday about the migration blogosphere.  Even so, it is always nice to be noticed.  The article gives some much-needed exposure to the online manifestation of rising frustration in migrant communities, including Flor Crisostomo and our DREAMers. 

In the article, though, there was no hint that Olivo acknowledged any difference between the people trying to stay with their families and work in this country and the people trying to boot them all out.  The migrant rights movement is one of the great moral struggles of our time.  It implicates a host of issues about how people work and interact in a global community.  The NY Times has realized the import of the human rights issues involved and the destruction that is being visited on migrant families.  The Times has picked a side, the side of tolerance, compassion, and common sense.  I know there’s a difference between an opinion piece and straight reporting.  But by covering the story in a “he said/she said” format that the press often reverts to when dealing with controversial political issues, Olivo left the underlying issues almost entirely unanalyzed. 

Minutes after word broke about a Nickelodeon TV special on children affected by Immigration raids, messages like "What part of illegal don't you understand!?!" and "Deport them all!" bombarded Web sites and blogs.

Then, in an increasingly common reaction, bloggers from "pro-migrant" sites such as Citizen Orange and The Unapologetic Mexican countered by ridiculing the show's critics.

Antonio Olivo - Chicago Tribune (4 June 2008)

From then on, the article is all down hill.  It makes the pro-migrant sanctuarysphere sound defeated.  It makes William Gheen sound like the commander of a million person army, while we struggle with our last dieing breaths.  If people like Gheen really are winning, why do anti-migrant politicians keep losing elections?  Why is it that my blogroll has so many pro-migrant blogs?  Why is it that Citizen Orange comes out near the top of a google search of "attrition through enforcement"?  We're starting to take the web back from nativists like Gheen, and this article doesn't do our fight justice.

The Sanctuary has been mentioned before, but if you're coming here via the Chicago Tribune article, please check out this pro-migrant space made up of some of the best voices on the net.  The Sanctuary will be a spot free from a lot of the noise an misinformation spread by folks like Gheen at ALIPAC.

If you haven't seen the New York Times editorial today, read it.  Duke wrote a great post about this over at The Sanctuary.

It's good to see Max and the Marginalized getting some more exposure for their song on Lou Dobbs, "Weeknights at Six".  Crooks and Liars just embedded their new video in an open thread.  Max and the Marginalized let me do a Lou Dobbs video with their song earlier on in December.

C&L has been giving some good pro-migrant link love lately.  Keep it coming and check out the video below: