The morning started with a solidarity workshop. After having been through the discussion, I wished we would have had this session on Day 1 or Day 2, but our leader assured us that it was only after we had experienced meeting with migrants and seeing the border, that we could think critically on the topic of solidarity. Our group discussed the differences between charity and solidarity and the further on the depiction of migrants by the media.
Acts of Charity – helpful “racist”, transactional, money, done for the giver not the receiver, savoir mentality, meeting assumed needs, impose
Acts of Solidarity – trust relationships, mutual learning, mutually beneficial, sharing, understanding, with permission, meeting expressed needs, empower
“If you are talking you are doing it wrong.” – Borderlinks group leader
Southside Presbyterian Church, a church in the 80s that led the sanctuary movement. From Southside’s website: In the 1980’s, civil wars in Central America brought refugees to our borders. In spite of the atrocities that refugees were fleeing, the US government were deporting refugees back to death squads. In the face of this humanitarian crisis Southside and other people of faith in Tucson felt called to respond and so they opened the doors of their church to offer hospitality to the stranger. The sanctuary movement became a way for congregations to express their moral and ethical resistance to oppression and persecution and the movement quickly spread throughout the United States. The committed communities of faith formed an underground railroad that moved refugees throughout the United States to other sanctuary churches. The commitment of people in the sanctuary movement lead to the indictment of 16 individuals including Rev. Fife. During the Sanctuary Movement approximately 13,000 Central Americans found hospitality at Southside. It was during this time that the Central American refugees taught Southsiders about courage, hope and faith.
Our group was thrilled to have a free afternoon. We visited the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. I was even more excited to have an evening to spend with a friend from Cottey College who saw that I was in Tucson. She was gracious to drive me around Tucson and get a feel for the city, something that I wouldn’t have been able to do otherwise. We hit up some local flavor: Sonora Dogs, Michelada (hope I’m saying that right Connie), and Baskin Robbins. After, I got a tour of 4th Ave shops and bar scene, attributed to the University of Arizona Tucson’s bustling student population of over 40,000.
Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.
Romans 13:8
Anne's Blog 