On December 1st and 2nd, 2018, we are excited to gather once again, this time in San Antonio, Texas, for the third Lánzate convening. Right on time.
Lánzate 2018 marks our largest, national gathering since Trump took office. It will come after the many rounds of attacks on our communities, and after our brave response from the ballot box to the streets. It will come on the heels of victory, so that we may celebrate and strategize how to achieve more wins for our communities. It will come in recognition of what we have lost, to honor each other and to learn.
Mijente was launched at the first Lánzate in Chicago during December of 2015.
Coming out of the #Not1More deportation campaign, we birthed Mijente as both an invitation and a political vehicle for Latinxs and Chicanxs to collectively bridge the gaps that exist in our communities and movements and unite to confront the challenges of our time. We believe that in the times of politicos like Trump, our community can do more than survive, we can thrive. We set off to do it, recognizing that transformative change comes when we make it.
In 2016 we held Lánzate in Puerto Rico. For many of us it was a homecoming and for others, exposure to a whole political context that paralleled our own experiences. We never imagined that a year later we would be mourning and rallying for the recognition of the 4,645 estimated deaths resulting from the U.S. government’s colonial and negligent response to Hurricane Maria, and demanding justice for Puerto Rico against the corporations and federal government trying to profit off the crisis.
Why San Antonio?
We are gathering our gente in San Antonio, Texas, a place that is a microcosm of the attacks our Latinx and Chicanx communities are facing, but also of our resistance and spirit of sobrevivencia.
San Antonio has a deep history of weaving together cultural resistance and grassroots organizing. It’s a place where Latinx and Chicanx communities have built roots and infrastructure towards fighting por un buenvivir.
It is also a place that shows demographics is not destiny. Latinxs in Texas are on track to become the largest population group in the state by 2022, and in San Antonio they already are. Poverty, unemployment and disinvestment foreshadow what we see taking shape in cities and towns across the country where demographics are quickly changing. San Antonio is also home to one of the largest concentrations of military bases in the country, and was officially trademarked “Military City, USA” last year. In Texas broadly, we also must contend with the deep organizing and transformation that must happen within the Latinx and Chicanx community. According to one poll, 82% of Latinxs in Texas describe themselves as moderate or conservative, similar to the rest of the Texas electorate.
In San Antonio and many places throughout Southern Texas, the Trump administration’s white supremacist agenda to incarcerate, de-naturalize, detain, or deport people of color whether undocumented, permanent residents, or U.S. citizens, manifests. Last year the Governor of Texas signed into law SB4, a law that prohibits “Sanctuary city” protections, makes immigrant detention mandatory and imposes criminal and civil penalties for anyone not following these violent policies. Texas is the place where the border crisis is constantly present, where people’s passports are snatched from their hands and their citizenship questioned, where immigrants with and without papers are targeted, and where more private prisons exist than any other state to cage our people for profit. Our hope is that amidst the challenges, we can imagine how to reclaim, rebuild and recover our homes and communities in San Antonio and beyond.
Who is Lánzate for?
Lánzate is for any Latinx and Chicanx change-makers, whether your organizing is IRL (in real life) or URL, whether you don’t know what that means but are interested in making sure we work together towards better communities and a more just country for all of us. It is for Mijente members as much as for those who choose not to be. It is for those who want to build movement together with others who want to create change. It is for those who want to learn, share, grow and heal.
In the coming weeks you’ll hear more about the key themes that will be highlighted in the convening, as well as more information on the basics of what to expect and who is involved in pushing this effort forward.
Meanwhile, we invite you to start making your plans to join us at our third Lánzate. Let’s gather to share our knowledge, cultura and visions for what a Latinx, pro-woman, pro-queer, pro-poor, pro-Black, pro-indigenous, pro-Earth movement could look like.
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