May, 2023 - Mijente

Across the country Mijente is working to organize local campaigns that improve people’s lives, exploring new cities and states where Latinxs are building power, and working to shift the way our communities relate to their governments — sin, contra, y desde el estado (without, against, or within the State).

Over the past year and a half, our work in cities like Chicago, IL; Philadelphia, PA; Tucson, AZ; and 2 cities in Texas – Fort Worth and San Antonio have resulted in important learnings and victories for our communities. Check them out below!

Chicago, IL

As of this Monday, Chicago has a brand new Mayor and City Council! Brandon Johnson was officially sworn into office along with the youngest, most progressive, most Latinx City Council in the history of the city.

Mijente PAC ran the largest campaign to mobilize Latinx voters during the Runoff election in support of Brandon Johnson. In partnership with ICIRR Action, we reached hundreds of thousands of voters at the doors and on the phones, and played a key role in increasing voter turnout. And now, Mijente members and staff are part of the administration’s transition committees, serving as a key component of the development of the Mayor’s agenda.

During the General election we played a key role in securing wins for Alderwoman Julia Ramirez and Alderperson Jessie Fuentes, both longtime community organizers in their wards, and will be working with them to support their efforts in creating government offices that represent the needs of our communities. Shout out also to two Mijente fellows from our 2022 Fellowship for Local Elected Officials: Alderman Carlos Ramirez-Rosa just became the new floor leader and head of the zoning committee and Alderwoman Rossana Rodriguez whose ‘Treatment not Trauma’ framework has become a cornerstone of the new administration’s approach to increasing community safety and reducing police violence.

Philadelphia, PA

Philly has always been a key city for our efforts, for reasons like the growth of the Latinx community, the fight for immigrant rights, and recently, its electoral importance. This year we have focused our efforts on the densely Latinx-populated areas of North Philly, through electoral and sin el estado actions. We know that our movements have a better shot at success when they are powered by everyday people and community leaders from the poor and working class.

Throughout this year and during the 2023 City elections, we invested in the Philly organizing infrastructure by recruiting and training current local leaders and new organizers. We hosted multiple organizing trainings, along with mobilization efforts for local candidates, that brought out close to 100 people engaging with our programs. By tackling key issues, like public safety, disinvestment of schools, gentrification, drug addiction, and the lack of good-paying job opportunities, we are encouraging and supporting community members as they demand change and fight for a better future.

Mijente PAC also ran the only independent campaign in support of Erika Almirón, a long-time Mijente member who was running to be the first at-large Latina member of City Council. Although she did not get the number of votes needed, her campaign and our efforts brought attention to the needs of Latinxs in Philadelphia and the importance in working long-term with our communities.

Tucson, AZ

We’re celebrating a victory of the people and the Transit for All Coalition campaign! Last week’s announcement that Tucson Mayor and City Council voted unanimously for an open-ended extension to the Fare Free Transit policy that has been running since 2020 and was pushed by City Council and Mijente Member Lane Santa Cruz. This will benefit everyone who depends on public transportation and it furthers the city in staking its claim in aggressively addressing climate change.

As the City Manager considers long term funding options and identifies service improvement areas, we will continue to push to make this policy permanent and further accessible for all Tucson residents, many who signed our petition and turned out to speak in front of the Council. This is a win of the people, for basic human dignity and building a future where everyone has access to safe, reliable, and accessible transportation options.

Fort Worth, TX

We have long shared about the importance of organizing in Texas, and holding the line against right wing extremists. Because of the heaviness that follows so many of the recent tragedies and oppressive laws, we developed opportunities to encourage local communities to find their power and joy. That’s why we held an event to celebrate el Día de la Niñez, giving families the opportunity to connect with one another through games, art, food, music, and good conversation.

Throughout the event, we talked to parents about issues they are facing in their community. Most importantly, we had participants share with us the futures they imagine for themselves and their children through an interactive art piece. After that, we hosted a meeting to start organizing folks around the issues that are important to them. With these efforts, we are inviting our gente to imagine futures where we can thrive and fight back against the hopelessness that politicians aim to create in our communities.

San Antonio, TX

In San Antonio, we joined in local efforts to fight for better futures for our communities, around reproductive healthcare, community safety, decriminalization and more. We joined the San Antonio Justice Charter Coalition to talk to neighbors about Proposition A (Prop A), a community-written ballot measure up for a vote earlier this month. Even though we were up against millions of dollars spent on misinformation (primarily by police unions), we had heartfelt conversations at the doors with community members, with many showing interest in supporting the measure.

Despite not being able to pass Prop A, the fact that it was on the ballot was historic. Over 37,000 San Antonians supported Prop A, a direct reflection on what our community envisions for changes to public safety and protections to healthcare workers. We will continue organizing to support progressive community efforts and show everyone that power belongs in the hands of the people, not just the wealthy.

Whether you joined us on the ground or amplified our efforts online, we couldn’t have done it without you. As we move forward, we will continue to build independent political power, advocate for our communities, and drive transformative change. Gracias for everything

Since the founding of Mijente, we knew that we’d have to contest for power using multiple strategies for the good of our gente. Our communities have long been creating alternatives to oppressive structures. By providing help and support to one another when government systems left us high and dry, our people made a way where there was none. Since the beginning of the pandemic, we witnessed communities tapping into their hustle-wisdom. Using ancestral learnings and cultural practices, people transformed despair and hopelessness through collective action.

The Origins of La Vida Local

We launched La Vida Local in 2020 because we believe in the capacity of our people to imagine and bring to fruition solutions. These alternatives give us the opportunity to live into our abolitionist futures in the here and now. Through this work, individuals and communities get a taste for radical democracy, pro-conflict, confidence-boosting, trust-building new beliefs and behaviors that can help us get the goods and keep them.

La Vida Local projects answer “yes” to one or more of the following questions:

Can you live off it?
Can you eat from it?
Does it replace a harmful entity?
Does it exercise the muscles for participatory democracy?

Having the space and resources for collective practice and imagination are a necessity to carrying out this type of work. As we continue to lean into these alternatives to the status quo, we deepen our understanding of ourselves and of our communities. Then, we get better acquainted with our power. Our telaraña or web of individuals and communities keeps growing stronger. And then, we continue learning more about what it takes to do this type of future-building work.

How Local & Collective Efforts Fit With Our Vision

La Vida Local is part of our “sin el Estado” strategy. Sin el Estado takes the work of resistance and moves it one step further into the realm of imagination and transformation. The reality is that we are gente living under state capitalism, white supremacy, and heteropatriarchy. And we are often asked to define our existence in relation to the dominant structure. As organizers, activists, and resistors, we are often faced with the need to react en contra or against these conditions.

Sin el Estado work at its core is about being active participants in creating the solutions and antidotes that our communities need now. This way we explore other, liberatory ways of existing as individuals and communities — right here, and right now.

Check out our blog to learn more about our Sin el Estado strategy.

In a couple of weeks we’ll be launching the application for our 2023 cycle of La Vida Local, be on the lookout and jump in!

Let’s begin our abolitionist journey not with the question “What do we have now and how can we make it better?” Instead, let’s ask, “What can we imagine for ourselves and the world?” If we do that, then boundless possibilities of a more just world await us.
— Mariame Kaba

Abolitionist solutions are happening right now and we need more of them.

P.S. If you’d like to check out what a couple of our La Vida Local 2022 awardees are up to now, take a look at these videos from FUGA in Tucson, Arizona and Buford Highway People’s Hub in Atlanta, Georgia.

Lánzate 2024