The 2014 story of the year: Immigration

In 2014, for a Latino news media organization — and particularly one in the Philadelphia area — there could be no more significant news story, or collective of stories, than immigration.

In January of 2014, President Obama’s new secretary of Homeland Security, Jeh Johnson, took over the department which had long incurred the wrath of immigration reform advocates and activists thanks to an unprecedented deportation rate that split up families and disproportionally impacted longtime residents with no criminal backgrounds. Early in March Johnson was charged with reviewing the administration’s deportation policies.

Also in March, after an uncomfortable White House meeting between immigration advocates and the President, in which Obama famously “chided” advocates for their criticism of his administration’s policies, the venerable National Council of la Raza, the nation’s largest Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization, followed the lead of more activist organizations and publicly named President Barack Obama the "deporter in chief.” Obama and some organizations with strong ties to the Democratic party tried to push back by redirecting that “title” to Republican Speaker of the House, John Boehner, but they were largely unsuccessful in diverting the mounting frustration directed specifically at the administration.

In April, in Philadelphia, Mayor Michael Nutter signed an executive order saying that local police would no longer cooperate with ICE in holding those suspected of being undocumented immigrants without a warrant to do so....

Read the rest of this editorial here, at AL DÍA News, which you should be reading regularly anyway ;)

Zombie City: A story about writing, publishing and real life (#SFWApro)

La Boca del Diablo, a.k.a. the entrance to Zombie City

On Dec. 3, my story Skin in the Game was published at Tor.com. Editor Carl Engle-Laird summarizes it like this:

Three kinds of people live in Zombie City-La Boca Del Diablo: the zombies, los vivos, and the ghosts. Officer Jimena Villagrán, not truly at home with any of these groups, patrols the barrio for stalking monsters. Magic con men and discarded needles make this beat hazardous enough, but the latest rash of murders threatens to up the ante by outing the horrors of Jimena’s personal history.

Under the Richmond bridge

While all of the happenings in my story are fantastical, Zombie City is a real place and one that was named long before I knew about it. 

The real

Almost a full year before my story appeared at Tor, I had assigned one of the AL DÍA News freelancers (Emma Restrepo) to do a story about Zombie City (in Philadelphia) and had walked the railbed strewn with spent needles with photographer David Cruz — who had been there years before, when a tent-city of homeless residents had shared the area with the drug-addicted "zombies." I saw and talked to some of the "zombies" shooting up, and later faced down five irate men (including a state legislator whose district includes Zombie City) who were furious when the investigative piece was published in the paper. 

There are those who dislike Fantasty/Sci Fi/Speculative fiction set in the real world. I am not one of them. Although I have written SFF stories set in different universes and alternate, high fantasy worlds, there is no getting around the fact that what I love best is to read (and write) about the magical, the horrific, the dystopic and fantastical amid the trappings of here and now ... or a few days, a few years from now. 

Walking along the railbed in Zombie City

Blame it on the fact that when a story makes itself known to me, I'm alway both a journalist and a fiction writer. (It's not a rare combination — SFF writer Michael Janairo was long a journo as well, and SFF publisher Brian White is in the news biz.) 

The real is often horrifically fantastical and needs no more than a small nudge over the line into SFF (see my novel of immigration dystopia, Ink).

The real is also, too frequently, hidden from and neglected by journalism. There are a number of reasons for this: the gutting of newsrooms; the resolutely monolingual composition of most media organizations; the fact that some communities are rarely or poorly covered. 

But the stories ... the seed of investigative or speculative ... are there anyway. 

Reimagining

There are two sizable Latino communities in Philadelphia — the (primarily) Mexican immigrant community in South Philly and the (primarily) Puerto Rican (and secondarily, Dominican) community in Northeast Philly. The communities are united by a common dominant language (Spanish) and a newspaper that serves them both (AL DÍA), but the gulf between them is perhaps best illustrated by the fact they are served by completely different subway lines, and they throw separate (and huge) street festivals and Masses on patronal saint feast days with little overlap. 

Decrying deportations in South Philly

Neither community has reason to love the police — the one because the police have collaborated with ICE in warrantless searches that break down doors in middle of the night and too often result in detention and deportation of family or friends; the other because police impunity and targeted harassment have a history almost as long as the history of the Puerto Rican community in the city. 

And yet, as is often case, becoming a police officer is, for Latin@s in Philly, a way to try to make policing more sensitive to the community policed, as well as step up to the middle class.

So the protagonist in Skin in the Game, Jimena Villagrán, is a cop ... daughter of a South Philly immigrant Mexican ... policing a precinct in the near Northeast that she's tied to by language and Latino culture writ big, set apart from it by the differences between Latino cultures writ small, and surrounded by a larger culture that doesn't know what to do with either.

Protesting Judge Dugan's ruling on Lt. Jonathan Josey punching Aida Guzman 

Latin@s are no monolith, though we are often portrayed by the pop media as such. But, it is also true that when we see each other beset and besieged we frequently step up and react as one community. Puerto Ricans are immigration reform advocates though they are citizens and the issue doesn't affect them personally; Mexican-Americans and Mexican immigrants stood with Puerto Ricans decrying a Philly judge's exoneration of a police officer caught on tape punching a woman in the face — because the barrio, the judge opined publicly, was full of drugged-out, out-of-control Puerto Ricans.

Because I write both fiction and non-fiction, I believe in the magic of community, writ small and large. Because I write both fiction and non-fiction I notice when the magic fails.

Conjuring the truth

I'll gloss-over the magic that got my story accepted for publication at Tor.com, but without doubt it, too, was contingent on community —the SFF one this time — and my inclusion in the anthology Long Hidden: Speculative Fiction from the Margins of History and the readings that took place during the book's launch in Brooklyn.

Months passed between acceptance and publication, and my anticipation escalated as I saw the illustration Wesley Allsbrook created for my story. 

And a week before publication, the Ferguson decision came down.

The wounds that the decision exculpating a police officer in the shooting death of unarmed Black teenager Michael Brown created were tremendous, undeniable, heartrending. 

It was, and is, a raw and ugly wound that will take many years, many amplified and prioritized Black voices, requiring many real — oh, so real — changes to be enacted before healing can even begin.

I was hyperaware that my story dealt with police who were literal monsters, and that the fictional violence and predation written into the story might further wound African-American readers. Carl (the Tor editor who acquired the piece) worried that too:

Just a week after the Ferguson grand jury decision, this is a particularly poignant time for such a story to come out. But while we could never have planned for "Skin in the Game" to coincide with such a nationally-recognized public tragedy, the sick reality is that it might not be possible to publish such a story on a week in which no hideous injustice had been inflicted by the police on an innocent young person of color. 

I imposed on two friends — writer Lisa Bolekaja whose very fine short story "Medu" also appeared in Long Hidden, and Dr. Kim Butler who is the chair of Africana Studies at Rutgers University — to read the story just days before publication. They both responded with grace and a big-heartedness that I will seek to emulate should anyone ask me to do what I asked them.

I just didn't want to, unintentionally, do harm. And stories — even speculative ones — live in the real world.

In my journalism, in my social media prattle, in my fiction, I've long held a stanza from a poet Adrienne Rich as touchstone:

We move but our words stand
become responsible
for more than we intended
and this is verbal privilege

Having my work published at Tor is indeed a privilege. As I track responses to Skin in the Game (because, yes, I'm a newish SFF writer and this is my first story published at Tor and I squee at every retweeted link to my story and openly do everything that would make more widely published writers grimace in embarrassment) I am acutely aware that the respectful reception to my words is a privilege not accorded to every writer. And even less frequently accorded to those people out "in the real" who cannot don my same armor — SFF writer, journo, college-educated light-skinned Latina — when they seek to be heard and understood.

Despite the thrill of seeing my words on a publisher web site I frequent and admire, it is not my own words that are ringing in my ears at this precise moment in American history.

Words stand:

#HandsUpDon'tShoot

#ICan'tBreathe

#EnoughIsEnough

#BlackLivesMatter

Competing fandoms: Philadelpha Comic Con vs. the World Cup

RB Silva & company at Philly Comic Con

Sometimes fate conspires to pit two interests against each other. Since June 13 I’ve been watching every soccer match in the undisputed king of world soccer tournaments — the World Cup. But even beyond the matches and surprises (Ghana matching Germany? Costa Rica beating Uruguay and Italy?) is the spectacle of fandom, and the creative ways it shows its love and support for the national teams. There’s been everything from face-paint to full-on costume, and I love it.

On Saturday, June 21 there were three World Cup matches: Argentina vs. Iran (1-0); Nigeria vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina (1-0); and the aforementioned Germany vs. Ghana stunner (2-2), and I didn’t see even one match. That’s because I was at another event that is all about the spectacle of fandom and creative ways to show love and support for  the world of comics, sci fi/fantasy/horror and gaming — Philadelphia Comic Con.

It’s funny, because there is probably not a whole lot of overlap between the two fandoms. In fact, the individuals involved in each often hold deprecating views of each other — the antagonism between geeks and jocks is standard in television shows and coming-of-age literature and films. And yet, the expression of fandom is indisputably the same.

Marvel’s Ironman fan vs.  Spain’s La Furia Roja fans

Ironman at Philadelphia Comic Con

La Furia Roja fans before Spain's second match

Nintendo’s Attack on Titan fans vs. Japan’s Samurai Blue fans

Attack on Titan cosplayers at Philly Comic Con

Japanese national team fans at the first match

Marvel’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier fans vs. Chile’s La Roja fans

Two sets of Captain America: The Winter Soldier cosplayers

Chile's La Roja fans before the second match

Dr. Who fan vs. Costa Rica’s Tico fan

Dr. Who cosplayer at Philly's Market East station.

Tico fan at a friendly preceding World Cup play

Marvel’s Captain America fan vs. United States’ Stars & Stripes fan

Captain America cosplayer at the PA Convention Center

U.S. national team fan in face paint

Sometimes, of course, the twain do meet in more ways than costume amd custom.

At the Philly Comic Con booth of artist R.B. Silva, who draws DC’s comic book Superman, we talked about the stunning Brazil and Mexico draw of last week. Silva is from Santos, Brazil, and we did a little trash-talking — me extolling El Tri’s vigor, Silva and his cohort minimizing everything but Mexican keeper Memo Ochoa’s ability to shut down Brazil’s prodigious striker Neymar.

And, on the way home from Comic Con — on a train with tired fans full of Dr. Who and Captain America: The Winter Soldier cosplayers — the first thing I checked? The scores of the fantastic three games of the day.

We are all part of communities within communities within even larger communities.

For me, much of the joy of attending an event like the Philadelphia Comic Con or following the World Cup, comes from the unpredictable and the wonderfully predictable. No matter who we are rooting for every four years, or dressing in tribute to every year, we come to celebrate our affections — creatively and unabashedly — together.

Cosplayers at Philadelphia Comic Con

Hiro Nishikawa is a defender of civil rights, and a living witness to one of our nation’s gravest abrogations of them

The memories are all described from the point of view of a young boy.

The way he and his brothers played in the crawlspace beneath one of the buildings, alert to the Gila monsters, scorpions and rattlesnakes that also sought relief from the sun and 110-degree heat in that shaded space.

He recollects, also, the sandstorms that funneled through cracks in ramshackle walls and burrowed into clothing and skin. In another memory, he and his brothers don their good corduroy pants for a rare family portrait taken in front of the barrack they shared with other residents.

The government euphemistically called it a relocation or internment center, but the reality of the 71,000 acres of the Colorado River camp in Poston, Ariz., was much uglier. It was a concentration camp built on American soil specifically to incarcerate those of Japanese ancestry during World War II.

Read the rest of this article by clicking here.

Governor Corbett, Think Progress and the invisible Latinos

Yesterday the blog, Think Progress, picked up a video from our web site, and before we knew it, Salon, Philly.com, the Huffington Post, and a number of other web sites followed suit. It even spawned a few internet memes.


Perhaps you saw the stories about Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett not being able to find Latinos for his staff? Yes, that’s the one. It was prompted by a question Al Día posed to the governor when we had the opportunity to interview him for an hour on May 17.


Read the rest of this column:
http://www.pontealdia.com/columnists/governor-corbett-think-progress-and-the-invisible-latinos.html#.UZ5pqNC8pKc.facebook

Help new citizens register to vote in Philadelphia

The Pennsylvania Immigration and Citizenship Coalition is launching its Get Out The Vote campaign for the 2011 Primary Election. On May 17, voters in Philadelphia will go to the polls to vote for City Council members as well as other municipal officials. With 5 open seats on City Council, this will be a historically competitive and important primary.

Through its ongoing effort to register new citizens to vote at their naturalization ceremonies, PICC has registered over 4,000 immigrant voters in the city of Philadelphia alone. In the next month, PICC volunteers will call these voters to encourage them to learn more about the candidates and to go to the polls on May 17.

Consider volunteering for one of the phonebanking sessions listed below. All phonebanks will take place at 2100 Arch Street, Philadelphia. Training and a script will be provided. To sign up please contact Rebecca Hufstader at rebeccahufstader@paimmigrant.org

Tuesday, May 10, 6-8 p.m.

Sunday, May 15, 3-5 p.m.

Monday, May 16, 6-8 p.m.

Our stories connect us

The New Sanctuary Movement of Philadelphia (NSM) is sponsoring an evening of storytelling and reflection"Our stories connect us: the Underground Railroad and the Sanctuary Movement" March 22, from 7 to 9 p.m., at Arch Street United Methodist Church in Philadelphia. NSM is a strong advocate for immigration justice and works to protect the human and civil rights of all people. A while back I interviewed Peter Pedemonti, who has since become one of the organization's leaders. Read that interview here.

Perhaps -- given the increasingly hate-filled and polarized views about immigration and the undocumented in the nation -- we will have to adopt the custom attributed to abolitionists and anti-slavery folk along the Railroad routes -- hanging a quilt on a porch railing to indicate a safe sanctuary for those fleeing oppressive laws. Or, as it was in the Great Depression, a pictogram alphabet will develop, helping wayfarers in need identify the "good-hearted" people willing to share a meal or shelter. In the meantime, let's make ourselves "signs." Help fight the drastic cuts to funding for refugees outlined in the House-passed Fiscal Year 2011 budget. Call your senator at 202-224-3121 and ask that the Senate restore all or some of the $827 million cut from refugee admissions and overseas refugee assistance and all or some of the $77 million for refugee resettlement, trafficking victim assistance, torture victim assistance, and the care of unaccompanied alien children. (For more information, visit the Justice for Immigrants web site here.)

The picture at the top of this post is a piece from the quilt I am making my daughter -- as it happens, an immigrant quilt. You can read about its making here.

Preview a segment from a film about Mexican community in Philadelphia

This is an excerpt from the beginning of El Sol Sale Para Todos a 54 minute documentary about the growth of the Mexican community in South Philadelphia.
Directed by Leticia Roa Nixon, Carlos Pascual Sanchez and Laura Deutch.

By now the Mexican community of faithful at St. Thomas Aquinas is so large and devoted they not only celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe at that church (and overflow onto the streets) but at the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul, which fits 1,000+ people and fills to the rafters during that celebration.

In addition, Antonio (one of the first people interviewed in the piece, was instrumental in the move to bring an image of la Morena to the Cathedral, as a permanent shrine. I will tell you -- her bank of candles is always, always lit.

I'll have a cheesesteak with that racial profiling bill, please

Philadelphia's renowned Geno's Steaks was the site of a 4-hour radio fundraiser in support of Arizona's SB1070 law. Organized by Geno's owner, Joey Vento, the event was broadcast by WPHT radio's Dom Giordano.

Citizens, people of faith, comprehensive immigration reform advocates and members of several Catholic religious congregations and organizations gathered across the street from the eatery to protest the Arizona law - which human and civil rights advocates (as well as many Latino citizens) say will institutionalize racial profiling and adversely affect people of Hispanic heritage regardless of documentation status.

A bill modeled after Arizona's has been introduced in Pennsylvania by Rep. Daryl Metcalfe. Like its Arizona counterpart HB2479 states that law enforcement shall verify the immigration status of any person the officer has stopped, arrested or detained and "who is or should reasonably be suspected of being unlawfully present in the state." One of the co-sponsors of the bill, Rep. Tom Creighton said in an interview in Lancaster's Intelligencer Journal that what amounts to reasonable suspicion would be "a real subjective decision by that officer."

Earlier on the 14th, Tucson's Bishop Gerald Kicanas testified before Congress (the House Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security, and International Law) on the ethical imperative for reform of the U.S. immigration system.

Immigration is ultimately a humanitarian issue, the bishop said, since it impacts the rights and dignity of millions of persons and their families. "As such it has moral implications." he said. "We cannot accept the toil and taxes of immigrants without providing them the protection of law."

The bishop, whose diocese runs along the whole of the Arizona-Mexico border, said he witnesses every day "the human consequences of our broken immigration system."

Photos of the rally across the street from Geno's Steaks by Sarah Webb for the CS&T.

July 14: Join other people of faith in Philadelphia to decry racial profiling & SB1070

Tomorrow, Joey Vento of Geno's Steaks (you know, the "Speak English, this is America" local merchant and anti-immigration personality who I wrote about here) is hosting a fundraiser to "protect" SB1070 from the Department of Justice lawsuit. Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, Sheriff Joe Arpaio (the Arizona sheriff who places detained immigrants in shackles and houses them in tent prisons, see a post about him here), Congressional candidate/Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta all plan to participate (via radio).

Please help us send a message that we do not support laws or policies that encourage racial profiling - here or in Arizona - by joining other people of faith and immigration advocates at 5:30 p.m. at the Capitolo Park, at 9th and Passayunk in South Philadelphia (across the street from Geno's Steaks).

Prayers for immigrant taxi drivers in Philly

On Wed., June 30, 26 Philadelphia taxi drivers arrived at the Philadelphia Parking Authority's garage on Swanson Street expecting to be paid for credit card transactions still owed to them. When they got there, however, the majority of them were handcuffed and detained by Immigration and Customs enforcement agents for being in the United States without documentation. According to a report filed July 2 by the Philadelphia Daily News' Gloria Campisi, "all but four were released but their names were placed on a deportation list." She added "Two of the three cleared drivers identified themselves as American citizens and said that the experience had been harrowing and humiliating and that they, too, had been handcuffed and interrogated." According to Campisi, the ICE spokesperson said "those arrested were from the United Kingdom, Morocco, Ghana, Nigeria, Liberia, Senegal, Jamaica, Ivory Coast and India." Wed., July 7 at noon, the Unified Taxi Workers Alliance of Pennsylvania, members of the New Sanctuary Movement, Juntos-Philadelphia, the IWW, the Media Mobilizing Project and people of faith from throughout the city joined in a prayer vigil
in support of the drivers and their families. One of the apprehended taxi drivers slated for deportation attended the prayer vigil - wearing an ankle monitoring device. Photos by Sam Williams for the Catholic Standard & Times.

HB2479 - Et tu, Pennsylvania?

Per the Pennsylvania Immigration and Citizenship Coalition:

"This morning, Representative Metcalfe (R-Butler) held a press conference to announce his intention to introduce Arizona-style legislation here in Pennsylvania. More information is available in his press release.

"Pennsylvania and America can do better. Polices that encourage racial profiling and create fear of police turn back the clock on the advances of the civil rights struggle and are counter to our values as Americans. Until we enact workable solutions at the federal level, local communities will continue to struggle with the impact of our broken system instead of moving forward together to rebuild our economy and secure our future.

"The Arizona law requires law enforcement to stop and question anyone whom they have 'reasonable suspicion' to believe is undocumented, requires immigrants to carry proof of their immigration status or else face fines and criminal penalties, and a provision that allows private citizens to sue law enforcement or other state and local government agencies over the issue. The Arizona law has raised concerns from law enforcement officers trying to focus scarce resources on their real job of protecting all of our communities, concerns about racial profiling and civil rights violations, and public condemnation from a wide range of elected officials. A number of organizations have announced their intention to bring a legal challenge."

Take Action:

1. Join people from faith, labor and immigrant communities this Thursday as they speak out against the Arizona law and any similar legislation here in PA, calling on the Senate to take action on reform at the federal level.

Thursday May 6, 10 AM
In front of Senator Casey's office in Philadelphia at 20th and Market. Followed by a procession down Market Street to Love Park (at 16th and JFK), to join people from all faith communities and participate in the Mayor's office of Faith Initiatives Day of Prayer. Faith leaders who are interested in offering prayers while at Love Park can contact Rev. Malcolm Byrd at the Mayor's Office of Faith Initiatives.

2. Call Senator Casey
Tell him: We need a comprehensive immigration reform bill in the Senate.
Toll Free Numbers: English 866-877-5552 Spanish 866-901-3139

3. Contact the White House and call on President Obama to put an end to policies like 287(g) and secure communities, which promote racial profiling and undermine police community relationships. 202-456-1111

March 4 America - South Philly to D.C.

Snowpocalypse Now, Redux

As if we hadn't gotten enough this past weekend (24+ inches), we've gotten between 18 -24 additional inches today, and it's not slated to stop snowing until sometime tomorrow.

Well, it is winter after all

Last time I went out and stuck a tape measure into the snow it was 18" inches deep, but now I think it's probably closer to 24" and it's supposed to snow another three to six hours.

Perhaps not the "snowpocalpyse" or "snowmageddon" it's been labeled on Twitter -- but more snow than I've seen since I left Central New York.

Catholic Social Services offers legal assistance with TPS applications for Haitians in Philly

From Catholic Social Services of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia: The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has granted Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for the citizens of Haiti. TPS provides Haitians that were physically present in the United States prior to Jan. 12, 2010 the opportunity to apply for a temporary legal status with the USCIS and to receive a work permit. Catholic Social Services is offering legal assistance with TPS applications by appointment. Call 215-854-7019 to schedule an appointment. Counselors will meet with applicants, determine if they are eligible to file for TPS and assist with the application process. Many people would qualify, including citizens of Haiti who have overstayed their visas, entered illegally, or have prior cases with the immigration court. All information discussed with Catholic Social Services is completely confidential.

Photo of Mass celebrated for Haitians in Philadelphia by Kevin Cook.

ICE raids South Philly homes

This morning at 6 a.m. Immigration Customs and Enforcement broke down doors at numerous homes in South Philadelphia taking 30 suspected undocumented immigrants into detention, according to CS&T sources.

More information as we receive it...

UPDATE:
Pre-school and school-age children were in many of the homes raided. Mothers were not taken into detention so they could stay with the children. According to our source, children were "traumatized" by the doors being broken down by agents.

UPDATE AT 1:30 P.M.:
Two of the addresses of houses in raid had been given to ICE several months ago as suspected hubs for human trafficking and/or a prostitution ring. Other homes in the area appear to have been targeted separately , and the undocumented immigrants picked up at those are not believed to be associated with the human trafficking/prostitution ring, according to our sources.

UPDATE AT 4:30 P.M.:
Inside one of the houses raided.

E., who is the second-trimester of her pregnancy, was asleep at 6:50 a.m. today. An insistent knocking at the door woke her. Her husband, and the nephews who share the house with them, had left at 6:30 a.m. for their jobs as cooks -- E. was alone with her 5-year-old son. She didn't answer the door. But in a matter of minutes, eight armed ICE agents where inside her house and then inside the room where she had been sleeping.

"They didn't break down the (front) door," she said, "so they must have done something to force the lock to get inside."

She was terrified, she told me during a brief interview we conducted over the phone, but was grateful that her son was asleep when the men entered the house. Otherwise, no doubt he would have been as frightened as she was, she said.

"Who lives here?" she said the agents asked her.

"My nephews, husband, my son and I," she said she answered.

They asked her whether her child was born here (he's a citizen) and then asked her for the names and birth dates of all of the members of her household, as well as their phone numbers. She wanted not to give them the information, but she complied.

"I was scared," she said. "Pretty much alone in the house with these men asking me questions, and never telling me what it was they were looking for."

The agents looked around her house, E. said, and found a passport that belonged to one of her nephews. They took that with them.

When they left they didn't tell her what is expected of her now (she is an undocumented immigrant from Mexico, as is her husband) or whether they will be back when they anticipate her husband and nephews will be home from work -- but that is what E. guesses will happen.

Of course, she called her husband as soon as the ICE agents left.

E. is spending the night at a friend's house tonight; her nephews and husband will also be staying with friends. They don't know for how long, E. said. What's more, they have no idea what they can, should or are required to do now. None of the agents answered any of her questions.

"But I can't go back home," she said. "Not to wake up again like that -- to eight men with guns. In my house."

A feast day like no other

Ready?

The feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe is nearly upon us.

Want the full Misa de Gallo experience as you'd have in Mexico or Latin America? Try St. Isidore Church in Quakertown, were the Mass begins on Friday and ends on Saturday. Yes, that's right, a midnight Mass with mariachis and roses and all the pageantry that accompanies this feast. The Mass will be celebrated by our Vicar for Hispanic Catholics, Msgr. Hugh Shields.

Not quite up for a midnight Mass? Try the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul in Philadelphia on Saturday, Dec. 12 instead. The Mass will be celebrated by Cardinal Justin Rigali from 7 to 11 p.m. The usual crowd from St. Thomas of Aquinas parish is expected to absolutely fill the Cathedral. This promises to be spectacular. I don't know if there will be matachines -- also known as the "soldiers of the Virgin"-- with their amazing outfits (those are matachines in this post's lead image) but if there are, you are in for a treat

Nearly every parish across the Archdiocese that has a Spanish-language Mass will celebrate a Mass for Guadalupe's feast day: Immaculate Conception in Levittown, Our Lady of Fatima in Bensalem, St. Patrick in Norristown, Visitation in the city, Mision Sta. Maria in Avondale and St. Cecilia in Coatesville are the ones I know about, among many others I'm sure.

Truly, if you've never experienced this feast day Mass at a church with Latino congregants, you must. Veneration of Our Lady of Guadalupe is joyful and festive and heartfelt -- and you'll never talk about pews empty of people again.
Next up in the Latino trifecta of the Christmas season: Las posadas -- which start Dec. 16 and run through Dec. 24.


(Photos by Sarah Webb and Joanna Lightner for the Catholic Standard & Times)

Lovely to Me (Immigrant Mother)

Sweet music video: "Lovely to Me (Immigrant Mother)" by Taiyo Na, beautifully filmed in Philly's Chinatown and Love Park.



Thanks to Swarthmore's Migration Project (http://swatmigration.wordpress.com/) for the heads up on this.

Voices joined in prayer for comprehensive immigration reform

60,000 strong. And in Philadelphia, with a distinctly Irish tenor.

Last night, St. Laurence Parish in Upper Darby hosted a prayer vigil for immigration.

Members of the Indonesian, Irish, African American and Latino community carried candles in a procession that started at the Irish Immigration Center in Upper Darby, then crossed West Chester Pike to the church for an hour of prayers, testimonies, petitions and hymns.

75 people heard the testimonies of two immigrants -- one currently undocumented and one who had gone through the long process of documentation -- as well as petitions in English and Spanish for the welfare of the nation and families. They intoned prayers and blessings for the legislators facing the task of crafting comprehensive immigration reform in the upcoming months. Then, they prayed the "Our Father" in Gaelic, and sang the concluding hymn to Our Lady of Knock-- the 19th century apparition of Mary in Knock, County Mayo, Ireland (approved by the Catholic Church in 1971) and beloved of the Irish immigrant community.

After praying together, many of the participants returned to the Irish Immigration Center to be part of a "listening party" -- a national teleconferenced town hall meeting.

The teleconference outlined immigration reform legislation that Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) proposes to present to Congress. Those gathered for the national event were asked to listen, and then share their thoughts and concerns about the proposed legislation.

"We need everyone on this call to take action with your churches, your families and your organizations so that we can deliver a strong message to President Obama and Congress that, hey, it has been a year... We want you to keep your promise to our families," Gutierrez said.

Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-N.Y.) were also part of the teleconference -- which drew more than 60,000 participants across the nation, according to Reform Immigration for America (the organization which organized the teleconferenced event).

"[The legislators] shared with the listeners their positive hope that we can move ahead," said Msgr. Hugh Shields, vicar for Hispanic Catholics of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

He acknowledged that a number of undocumented immigrants who knew about the prayer vigil and the teleconference were reluctant to attend either event for fear of possible repercussions. Many fear detention which would separate family members or strand minor children in the country alone.

"Immigration reform would enable them to come out of shadows," Msgr. Shields said."

Photos by Sarah Webb for the Catholic Standard & Times