This worshop will look at the different types of messages being used in the immigrant rights movement. In recent mobilizations there have been messages put out by well-meaning organizations that have actually gone counter to some of the work different communities have been doing. We in the immigrant rights movement can do better than the slogans "We are not criminals" and "We do the jobs no one else wants to do."

Among the topics for this workshop:

messages and frames from a grassroots immigrant rights perspective;
connecting our messaging to the struggles of other communities in the struggle for social justice
looking at our messages in the context of current campaigns

This session will be coordinated with the work of others in the immigrant rights movement to support their efforts. The USSF will provide a great opportunity to come together in one area to have some needed discussions. We will be looking at this session as a continuation of our work. As such, this session is part of an ongoing process that will continue beyond this event.

We plan on doing this workshop using multi-lingual strategies: interpretation and printed
materials. We will use a popular education approach in designing this session as well as during this session. We hope to create a space for trust and participation, where tough issues can be debated and hopefully take us to another level.