[Vision2020] Immigration Rally on the Palouse

[Moscow Cares]

Mark your calendars, peeps:  February 4th (Saturday), 1:00 pm . . . East City Park.

Join me . . . let's show the world that Moscow (the one in Idaho) cares as we take a . . .

. . . STAND !
http://www.TomandRodna.com/Songs/Stand.mp3
       
Courtesy of today's (January 31, 2017) Lewiston Tribune.

---------------------------------
Immigration rally on the Palouse
Event triggered by President Donald Trump's travel ban
By CHELSEA EMBREE of the Tribune
More than 2,000 pairs of boots stomped down snow to make room for the crowd of demonstrators at Moscow's East City Park during the Women's March on the Palouse Jan. 21.

The park is set to be the site of another historic gathering Saturday.

At 1 p.m., there will be a rally called "Beyond the Ban: Stand with Immigrants" that's intended as a "show of support" in reference to President Donald Trump's executive order banning travel from seven predominantly Muslim countries.

The event is being organized by Iranian students from the University of Idaho and Washington State University, along with the nonprofit group Palouse Proactive. The group, founded in November, intends to educate the community about issues and how to get involved in them, communicate with others in a positive manner and support people who feel marginalized.

Kimberly Carper, one of the founding members of Palouse Proactive, said the need for the rally has left the group "wishing that this never had to happen, but being glad that we were at least thinking about it in advance and that we're there to help them now that they do need help."

Trump's executive order on immigration, which also suspends refugee admissions, is one of the many that Carper didn't think would happen, especially so quickly, she said. Palouse Proactive doesn't advocate for or against any position, but Carper said the many changes that could affect the local community have lent a "sense of urgency" to the group's plans to spread information.

"What we wanted to do was connect people around issues that are important in our community, in the state and in the nation, and help people have a voice in those issues," Carper said.

The immigration rally planned for Saturday is one of many actions spurred by the Women's March on the Palouse.

Clarkston resident Emily Mangum attended the Women's March and left with a desire to bring activism to the Lewiston-Clarkston Valley. Mangum and some friends gathered last weekend to write postcards to their representatives, and she plans to do the same again this weekend. The events are part of the initiative by the Women's March on Washington organization to take 10 actions on important issues in 100 days.

The prejudice against immigrants and refugees is a "concern," Mangum said. "The fact that we could be closing our borders to people who are in need and at risk and displaced from their home countries is something that I think a lot of us are standing against."

As a bisexual woman, Mangum said she's also concerned about possible threats to the LGBT community, including the potential repeal of marriage equality.

"There's a lot of us who aren't heterosexual white males who still believe that we're human beings and that we have the same rights as everyone else," she said.

The group Mangum is trying to rally is still in its planning stages, she said, but there are hopes to become more involved locally.

In his time in Moscow, Latah County Commissioner Tom Lamar said he's never seen a rally like the Women's March, nor the level of activism it inspired.

"It's nice to see people waking up politically and deciding that they want to do something to protect their rights and be engaged and make sure their voice is heard by the people who are running our governments," Lamar said.

He encouraged citizens to participate in local politics, from participating on citizen's commissions to running for office.

Elizabeth Stevens and Mary Jo Hamilton, the Moscow women who organized the Women's March on the Palouse, said they've been fielding questions from those who want to get involved and referring people to a number of organizations on the Palouse. The two haven't planned any additional demonstrations, but said they intend to double-down on the causes they already support.

"This is a red state," Stevens said. "If federal funding goes away or control of funding goes back to the states, we're going to have a lot of real people in a lot of pain - people who are poor, people who are differently abled. So the thing that I feel most passionately about, going forward under this administration, is I want to do everything I can to protect the people locally."

---------------------------------

Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .

"Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)
http://www.MoscowCares.com
  
Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho
  
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/vision2020/attachments/20170131/83f49387/attachment.html>