The Story of American Communities

A few staff members from The Opportunity Agenda headed down to the Center for Community Change headquarters at the end of last week, to help prepare for the Reform Immigration for America march.   What we saw, and participated in, was a stirring affirmation of the power of collective action, and a powerful reminder of what participatory democracy means.

The march itself, which drew more than 200,000 people from all across the country, was an important political statement, designed to remind legislators that we expect them to provide real solutions to overhaul the fundamentally broken immigration system.  In addition to being a political statement, though, the march was a collection of stories.   To hear the story of the father of one of the Trail of Dreams walkers, whose son is walking 1,500 miles because he cares about his education and the education of people like himself, was to understand true commitment.  To hear the story of a professor from Gallaudet University, who had convinced her students to join the march by telling them the story of her own father’s journey to the U.S., was to be reminded that the role of immigrants in our national fabric extends both forward and backward.  And, perhaps most powerfully, to hear the story of the community that raised more than $13,000, in $1’s and $5’s, to charter a bus and come to the march, was to remember that every great change is built by the sacrifices of innumerable people who want nothing more than to create a better future for generations to come.  These stories, and the courage and conviction of the people telling them, are what give political movements their true meaning.