History

EOAC initially came together following the passage of Arizona’s SB1070 and HB2281 during the Spring 2010 semester.  Students in Ethnic Studies 250, a course focused upon race and politics taught by Dr. Jason Ferreira at SFSU, organized a class project to take a firm stand and educate the public about the xenophobic and racist laws appearing in Arizona and rapidly spreading across the rest of the United States (Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina).  First, in an effort to take what they learned in class and apply it, students developed an interactive blog filled with valuable information regarding both the anti-immigrant and anti-Ethnic Studies initiatives in Arizona.  They sought to educate the public about what lie beneath the anti-immigrant hysteria.  They also organized a fundraiser at Bollyhood Café in the Mission District to support the grassroots work underway in Arizona.  In a night filled with music and poetry, words of solidarity came in from Angela Davis, Bobby Seale, Pam Tau Lee, Eric Mar, and veterans from the historic Mission District-based organization, Los Siete de La Raza.  Dolores Street Community Services participated too, as both Executive Director Eric Quezada and lead attorney Francisco Ugarte spoke to the students about the situation in the Bay Area and how it connected to Arizona.  All told, nearly $800 was raised that evening to support two key organizations in Tucson: the Coalición de Derechos Humanos and No More Deaths.

In 2011, the group expanded, drawing in members of the All Power to the People Archive Project.  Students in this oral history project were interested in creating an initiative, tentatively entitled “Undocumented and Unafraid,” that would record and preserve the life stories of immigrants in the Bay Area forced to live and struggle in the shadows.  This initiative never fully got off the ground (one of our community partners, Lorena Melgarejo, took leave due to family matters), but interested students joined with EOAC to deepen its work beyond sending money to Arizona.

In June, we successfully sent our first delegation to Tucson, Arizona for a nearly three-week exposure/solidarity trip.  During their stay, our delegation collaborated with a variety of grassroots groups.  These included:

• UNIDOS – a youth coalition comprised of students from various Tucson high schools who are organizing to challenge the ban on Ethnic Studies (HB 2281).
• Coalición de Derechos Humanos – a grassroots organization in Tucson that fights the militarization of the Southern Border region by monitoring and seeking redress of human rights abuses by federal, state, and local law enforcement officials.  They’ve been in the forefront of the struggle against SB1070 in southern Arizona.
• Pan Left Productions – an organization of artists and activists who use media for social change.  In addition to sharing progressive stories and voices from the grassroots, Pan Left Productions (in conjunction with the Coalición de Derechos Humanos) coordinates “Yo Soy Testigo,” a 24-hour hotline for people to call when they suspect law enforcement or ICE abuses.  Pan Left Productions quickly sends out volunteers to then document via video all interactions.
• Tierra y Libertad Organization (TYLO) –  is a grassroots organization that seeks to empower residents of South Tucson.  It is involved in four key organizing initiatives: 1) a Barrio Sustainability Project; 2) a Freedom School for neighborhood youth; 3) Maiz, a community-based art program; and 4) a Migrant Rights Organizing Campaign.
• No More Deaths – a non-profit organization whose goal is to “end death and suffering on the Mexico/U.S. border through civil initiative.”   Volunteers engage in water drops, provide first aid medical attention, and map migrant trails in the Sonoran Desert.  No More Deaths also participates in coalition with TYLO (and a host of other local progressive organizations) in a “We Reject Racism” campaign, designed to combat the culture of fear created by the racist legislation of SB1070 and HB2281.

EOAC members worked especially close with No More Deaths and Tierra y Libertad.