Organizing For El Buenvivir With Our Gente
Two weeks ago, we joined with our compas, members, and Texas community organizers in Laredo, Texas. During our Texas Organizers Workshop, we led sessions focused on the sociopolitical state of things in Texas, the threats to the Latinx community, and the opportunities for organizers.
These workshop offerings are part of our El Instituto efforts to build a shared analysis of the organizing landscape and make space for organizing possibilities. In Texas we are building upon our relationships with organizers in the state to create a shared language around strategy and analysis and strong networks of connection across the state and in specific regions.
Throughout the weekend we were joined by 30 participants from the Rio Grande Valley, San Antonio, Laredo, and Dallas. Texas Mijente members Barbie Hurtado and Juan Livas opened with a group activity for attendees to identify the threats and wins over the past 10 years across the state of Texas. Later, organizers participated in rounds of debates and fishbowl activities geared at opening our discussions and understanding of the realities shaping the lived experiences of Latinxs in Texas.
Our staff led various activities sharing the Mijente framework of Sin, Contra, y Desde el Estado work. We detailed how this framework has been instrumental in shaping our organization’s multi-strategy approach to organizing and movement-building, along with how building without, against, and within the state can look like in Texas.
This time with our Texas compas was filled with laughter, analysis, song, debate, and connection. As we develop our approach to our continued efforts in Texas, we are taking what we learned to inform our Sin, Contra, y Desde el Estado efforts. We hope you’ll stay tuned to what comes next and how we continue building Latinx, Chicanx, and Tejanx poder for and with our gente.