Queers + Trans, Immigrants, All of Us: Come out, Destroy Fear, Unleash power!

We understand, as liberation-minded LGBTQ people, that the oppressions we collectively face are systematic and intrinsically connected to the conditions of other marginalized people. As Southerners on New Ground (SONG) in Alabama, we stand in support of the brave and relentless individuals within the Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice who are placing their bodies on the line in a Hunger Strike this week. We do so because we understand that if our oppressions are interwoven then our resistance must be interwoven too.

As we approach the anniversary of Stonewall at the end of this week, we have seen policy changes that support and protect the rights of some LGBTQ people. SONG knows that for those of us who live within the the farthest of margins as poor people,Trans* people of color, gender non conforming, and undocumented LGBTQ people these policy changes alone are not enough. We continue to face sky-high rates of poverty, violence, isolation, incarceration, detention and deportations.

Our history shows us that we can affect change by organizing and building strong relationships that make us able to rely on one another in times of crisis and in times of pushing back against a system that tells us we ought not exist. Our identities and our issues cannot be separated in the struggle for liberation and we must stand together. Today, SONG members in Alabama will join the hunger strike to stand with and to honor the urgency and the demands of the immigrants rights struggle within this nation and the South demanding Not1More Deportation, an immediate relief solution and a permanent citizenship solution.  We take this action because we understand that white supremacy has created a culture where if you are not white, middle class, without disability, straight or gender conforming then you are under attack. We are under attack from a system that does not value our bodies, our agency, nor our ability to move and express ourselves.

SONG Alabama will continue to build with the Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice and immigrants across the nation who stand against the criminalization of our people. We do this out of a Southern spiritual and political legacy that calls us to show up when we are asked. We will continue to pressure the political leadership who claim to represent us and we will continue to organize to confront systems of racism, sexism, homophobia and transphobia that separate and criminalize our people. We believe building intersectional collective power is the most authentic strategy as we work toward achieving systematic transformation and liberation for all of our people. We hope you will join us in transforming Alabama, the South and the U.S.!

**For more information about how to get involved and learn more about this week’s hunger strike vist ACIJ’s facebook event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/1443338179256245/ Want to get connected in Alabama? Contact jazz@southernersonnewground.org

#not1more     #queeringimmigration    #somosalabama    #hungry4reform

In Solidarity,
Southerners On New Ground, AL