Action Plan

Armed with their newly acquired knowledge of the injustices faced by our brothers and sisters in Arizona, our delegation returned from their trip with an even stronger resolve to combat the state’s discriminatory and dehumanizing campaigns.  At the same time, EOAC committed itself to truly “bring it home” by meaningfully supporting local immigrant rights work here in the Bay Area.

With these realities in mind, the Eyes on Arizona Collective reconvened in Fall 2011 and identified the following objectives:

• Sustain a relationship with grassroots groups in the Tucson region of Arizona, culminating in an annual trip to the area, in which students will gain first-hand experience of the environment they have only before studied and researched through an Ethnic Studies curriculum and other independent sources.

• Increase public awareness and provide political education about the human rights crisis along “the Border.” (again, a social reality that extends well-beyond the literal border to the Bay Area and across all communities of this nation).  This is accomplished through in-depth study by individuals, as they prepare for their trip to Arizona, and followed up afterwards by sharing their experiences with our broader communities here in the Bay Area (via report-backs and carefully documented videos, photographic exhibits, internet blogs, opinion editorials, and personal journals).

• Build Bridges:  Between study and action.  Between campus and community.  Between the Bay Area and Arizona.  EOAC seeks to support leadership development amongst students and youth.  This is to be accomplished by—in the best traditions of Ethnic Studies—involving students in community work, connecting them to the vibrant immigrant rights work already underway in the Bay Area. (Members have already, for instance, participated in SFILEN press conferences against S-COMM, volunteered at Casa Quezada with residents, and been contacted by CARECEN’s Director of Civic Engagement for assistance).  Further, EOAC seeks to nurture the relationship between those engaged in immigrant justice organizing here in the Bay Area (on campus and off) with those we’ve connected with in Arizona.  While we realize that our journey may have begun in the desert of southern Arizona, it ends in the place we call home.  And yet those here at home can learn much from our brothers and sisters organizing at the grassroots to create “another Arizona.”   Building these bridges can only make our movement stronger and more sustainable.

Our Goal: Educate.  Empower.  Organize

Our Values: Social Justice, Self-Determination, Solidarity