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Ocean State Action's Racial Justice Campaign

Winter/Spring 2007 update

Ocean State Action has been working vigorously to advance racial justice.   We understand the impact that this issue has in the scope of all our campaigns and work.    For the past couple of months, we have partnered with an array of new and past partners to accomplish our goal of not only advancing racial justice but of educating our communities about the existence of racism and the extent of its impact.

Immigrant Rights Work

Ocean State Action is working with a number of other organizations in re-establishing the RI Coalition of Immigrants and Refugees.   The Coalition was first established in March of 1986 as a result of the concerns among many organizations as to how the Immigrant Reform and Control Act of 1986 would affect the immigrant and refugee communities in Rhode Island.

Through this coalition Ocean State Action has begun to play an active role in defending and promoting legislation that positively impact the immigrant and refugee communities.  

During this legislative session we are working with the Coalition and with other partners such as the Minority Legislator/Leadership Caucus to pass numerous pieces of legislation that would further the rights of immigrants. These include:

• Comprehensive legislation that would ban and further reduce the incidence of racial profiling;
• legislation that would allow all graduates of Rhode Island high schools to receive in-state tuition at our state colleges and universities, regardless of legal status.
• Restoring access to Rite Care, our state health insurance program for low-income children and families, for immigrant children and parents who do not meet the federal eligibility guidelines.

 
Along with the Coalition of Immigrants and Refugees, we are also working forcefully to stop a wave of anti-immigrant legislation, which includes the criminalization of anyone harboring and aiding an undocumented, amongst others.   We want to positively promote the importance of all human being regardless of their status. Click here for more information on the two dozen anti-immigrant bills that we oppose.

 Undoing Racism

Ocean State Action is currently working with Making Connections, Providence and Greater Elmwood Neighborhood Services to develop an “Undoing Racism” conference, which will be facilitated by People's Institute.   Through this conference we hope to spark the interest of the community and encourage participants' involvement in advancing racial justice.   We also hope that the conference helps participants to acquire a better understanding of the history and systemic impact of racism, and can develop a shared definition on the impact of Racism that will foster collective action toward solutions, and get residents to increase civic participation in the community, city and statewide forums.

As part of Undoing Racism, we hope to incorporate the vision and goals of our regional partner Northeast Action.   This includes taking a leading regional and statewide role in advancing racial justice, especially in the legislative and electoral arenas. Northeast Action strives to foster civic engagement, leadership development and strategic connections in order to eliminate racial disparities, to fully include and empower people of color, and to advance racial equity and social justice for all people.

To learn more about our racial justice work and to find out how you can get involved, contact Ivette Luna at 463-5368, extension 336.