Found Poem: Panel at K&L Gates LLP

The following found poem is based on notes and personal observations I wrote down at an immigration panel entitled "Is Arizona the future of America?" Needless to say, I was already quite skeptical of the event given that the event took place at the offices of downtown Seattle Law Firm, "K&L Gates, LLP." In effect, policy heads, and lawyers were speaking on these matters far from where those who are most impacted by immigration policy are situated. This was a glaring contradiction with what the program entailed (I opted to omit the names of these organizations so as to not call them out directly). At any rate, that's the background of the poem below, lost for some time in my notebook until I rediscovered it yesterday.
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Found Poem: Panel at K&L Gates LLP

Allusion to Reagan
lack of brown people
few visible non-professionals
"talk to the middle"
political reasoning is
at root of policy,
fight as far as maintaining
monopoly over enforce-
ment. U.S. v. Arizona
lawsuit. Focus in on
federal litigation.
Allusion to class-oriented
appearance in deter-
mining who does, does not
"belong." "what is our
counter-narrative?"
privileged white lady
talks about her epiphany
that there is a war
zone at the border,
however, conservative
bigots are still "good
people." lack of analysis
of sociological roots
of xenophobia. "No right
to counsel" in immigration
proceedings. "Where is
the middle?" Getting ICE'd
"speak to people we
don't speak to.

Oscar Rosales Castañeda, C/S
8 July 2010

John T. Williams March to Seattle City Hall

Tomorrow, there will be a march to commemorate the life of John T. Williams, who was recently taken away from the community by institutional neglect, through the firearm of a Seattle Police Officer. The preliminary details can be found on the flyer posted below. Another entry will follow as time allows.

Presenting to the City Council Meeting: Sept. 15, 2010

Earlier this afternoon, the "Energy, Technology, and Civil Rights Committee" with the City of Seattle convened at the city council chambers at Seattle City Hall. A brief, preliminary order of business that addressed energy and technology took a small portion, soon thereafter, giving way to the more contested order of business for the day. In wake of the shooting death of John T. Williams at the hands of a 2-Year Seattle Police veteran, a contingent of community members filled the room to capacity, urging the city to address the situation. The discourse was oriented around testimony given by a brief list of speakers, followed by further dialogue with representatives of Native advocacy organizations at the local and state level. There was common language amongst all entities, as well as allies in the crowd. However, from initial analysis, it appears that more is needed. As one speaker proclaimed, it is almost useless to have police firearm subcommittees when the sole voting members are law enforcement officials, leaving the remaining (non-voting) board positions open to the public. In effect, the question was "who polices the police?" When all accountability mechanisms are mired in bureaucratic entities that give sole enforcement capabilities to police internal investigators, it further illuminates the previous points made. Little can be accomplished with transparency being a word with relatively little value as "investigators" hoard all documentation, including structural documents that show how these procedures take place to begin with. Despite these contradictions, the community presence at the meeting made it known that this is a battle in its infancy, with the cauldron slowly nearing boiling point.

The Green War On Immigrants (Video)

Photo Essay: Vigil and Press Conference in Response to Seattle Police Murder of John T. Williams.

Posted Below is a brief photo essay of the community response to the shooting of John T. Williams at the hands of the Seattle Police Department. This tragedy took place within a week of an internal investigation clearing Seattle Police officers of a hate crime based on a police brutality incident in which an officer kicked a Latino man while on the ground, threating him with the words: "I'm going to beat the fucking Mexican piss out of you homey! You feel me?" Needless to say, there is much to be done to ensure we break this cycle of systemic violence aimed at communities of color in the Seattle area, and elsewhere. The author's thoughts are with the family of Mr. Williams and the Native community in Seattle whom have lost an elder to senseless police violence.
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for more on this, see the following links:
[http://www.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2010/09/03/native-american-leaders-deliver-demands-to-spd-after-shooting-death-of-carver]

[http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2012769201_copshooting01m.html]

[http://colorlines.com/archives/2010/09/seattle_demands_answers_after_cop_shoots_native_american_man.html]
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Jan Brewer: Private Prisons and Lobbyists (Video)