“History
is not something that takes place “elsewhere”. It takes place here; we all
contribute to making it”
Vaclav
Havel
At the first NWJP fundraiser that I attended, the
founder Michael Dale told a story. He held up a framed check, a check that had
never been cashed. The gentleman who’d been issued that check had worked on a
reforestation project for weeks; this is hard, back breaking work. When it was
time for this gentleman (who happened to be undocumented) to get paid, so many
deductions had been taken out of his check for tools and living expenses that
his check was less than three dollars. Hence, it had never been cashed… because
the local check cashing place charged three dollars to cash a check! Michael
Dale decided right then and there, upon meeting this gentleman, that any human
being who puts in a day’s work deserves a day’s pay. And Northwest Workers’
Justice Project was born. NWJP provides advocacy, education, and support to low
wage workers. They also fight for workers’ justice on a legislative level. This
nonprofit legal services organization has been around for ten years, and they
have managed to recover over 1.5 million dollars for low wage workers in
Oregon.
WHAT
DOES “ILLEGAL” MEAN, ANYWAY?
“I
have a dream…that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true
meaning of its creed- we hold these truths to be self-evident- that all men are
created equal”
Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr
The truth is simple- undocumented workers are quite
vulnerable to wage theft. The majority of NWJP’s clients are from Mexico, South
America and Central America. I cannot lump all the folks together who are
empowered by NWJP’s work. But I can tell you that those I met were warm and
delightful people. Throughout my experience with this organization, when I
proudly explained what NWJP does, I was asked why I’d want to fundraise for a
nonprofit that helps “illegals”. I can only think… “I am helping fundraise for
PEOPLE… for JUSTICE.” And with that, I have another story…about immigration. I
appear to be the most typical American woman (whatever that means). People see
my outward appearance and feel free to say scathing things about immigration.
But I wouldn’t be here today if it weren’t for immigration. My grandmother was
born in Armenia in 1914, during a time of genocide and terror against the
Armenian people, as they were punished for being Christian, forced to pay
discriminatory taxes and denied democracy, and often killed. My grandmother
escaped to New York City as a young girl, but her cousin Yvenega was not so
fortunate. Yvenega was taken as a slave for years before she was finally able
to come to America to join her family. And they tell me that as she stepped off
the ship, before she even fell into my grandmother’s arms, she lifted her hand
up in the air and did a little dance as her feet first touched American soil.
Thus, I cannot speak badly of immigration. I can only be grateful that it
exists. And I am proud to be a volunteer for an organization that empowers
human beings, regardless of their legal status.
“Our
vision of justice is rooted in God’s kingdom, which cannot be realized by human
action alone”
Adam
Taylor
I already had a relationship with NWJP when I began
my Senior Capstone at Portland State University, a course called Mobilizing
Hope. But this course, which taught me to examine my desire for social justice
through the lens of my faith, brought me a new awareness of the importance of
what they do. Most importantly, Mobilizing Hope exposed me to some ideas and
some literature that brought me closer to my own spiritual awakening. I learned
some very important things. I learned that even though I am a liberal, a
feminist, and a humanist, I can proudly declare myself a Christian. I learned
about a different Jesus than I’d been taught about in my childhood. I was
introduced to a Jesus I could relate to- this Jesus is a revolutionary, a
whimsical and clever guy, a man who sought to be in constant contact with God
while he also sought to empower and heal the culture that oppressed his
brothers. I learned that I can proudly claim the God that my grandmother could
have died for worshipping and still keep my revolutionary beliefs. I come from
a background of fear, pain, addiction, desperation, and degradation. Today I
have a freedom and a hope that I had never thought possible, all because the
God of my understanding chose to set me free. Now that I have been given life,
who am I to just stand still and watch the world going by? I think that, quite
possibly, I was given life so that I could help others find their way out of
the darkness, too. I will close with the
words of Nelson Mandela, for he can articulate freedom and social justice in a
way that I can only strive to attempt:
“For
to be free is not merely to cast off one’s own chains, but to live in a way
that respects and enhances the freedom of others”
Nelson
Mandela
Thank
you, Deb, professor of Mobilizing Hope! And thank you, Portland State
University, for this amazing opportunity!
Meredith Meacham
March 2014
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