On Sunday May 1, nearly 300 people gathered at the San Bernardino Immigration and Customs Enforcement Detention Facility on W. Rialto Ave. in San Bernardino and made the nearly 5-mile trek to San Bernardino City Hall.
Some participants held signs that said “Luchando Por Justicia” or “Fighting for Justice” while others held signs that said “Vota!” or “Go DAPA Go.” DAPA refers to another deferred action program under review by the Supreme Court that would grant undocumented parents of U.S.-born children and legal permanent residents protection from deportation if implemented.
Among them was 19-year-old Eric Melendez of Colton, who said his cousin was deported after serving in the U.S. Army and returning home from Iraq. “There is something very wrong with our immigration system,” Melendez said. Melendez said his cousin, Marco Melendez, who deployed to Iraq twice, was arrested and convicted on charges of driving under the influence in Los Angeles County. After his conviction, he was placed on an immigration hold and deported back to Mexico. “He’s lived here his entire life,” Melendez said. “He didn’t even speak Spanish and after serving this country during a war they just sent him to Mexico after one mistake.”
The march was sponsored by the Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice, local families and community members. Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity is an active member of the Coalition and very active in the planning of the event.
For a period of 40 days, close to 50 participants and 6 congregations participated in the Banana Challenge. Participants of the Banana Challenge fasted from eating bananas for 40 days and formed book discussions groups to learn more about how transnational banana corporations helped shape Latin America.
Why bananas? This year, we decided to tackle one of the many examples of the many export and commodities that we get to enjoy from Latin America. We believe these extractive economies are a root cause of migration. This year we decided to focus on bananas. Next year, for example, we will focus on palm oil.
These extractive economies, driven by transnational corporations and international agreements like NAFTA and CAFTA, have been the cause of much political instability in Central America. There is a connection between the coup of the democratically elected president in Honduras in 2009 with transnational corporations that has left the country in much peril. Activists, like Berta Cáceres, have been targeted and assassinated since the coup in alarming numbers for wanting to protect their lands from these extractive forces of the local economy.
This is why we decided to focus on bananas, and other extractive economies, as a study in root causes.
What we learned during the Banana Challenge was both disturbing and transformative. We learned how the United Fruit Company had unquestionable control over many so called “Banana Republics” and how their benefits shaped the politics of these countries. Learning the history of the United Fruit Company “makes me never to want to eat bananas again” a Banana Challenge participant told us.
Transnational corporations like the United Fruit Company built a monopoly in Latin America by buying or trading massive portions of lands and putting small growers out of business. They grew to such proportion that, with the help of the CIA, they successfully arranged a coup of the democratically elected Guatemalan president in 1954, after he planned to take back the company’s lands and give it to poor peasants.
United Fruit, as part of their monopolizing strategy, undervalued their land to have less tax liability. By the 1930s they were successful in obtaining tax exemptions, duty free imports of needed goods, and guaranteed low wages. United Fruit also owned the major ports, railroads, and telegraphs services. They could charge whatever they wanted.
After reading and discussing the somber history of these transnational corporations, some participants expressed a desire to only buy local bananas as a way to protest an extractive economy, and also to reduce the heavy carbon footprint from transporting them from the tropics.
Some have decided to buy only fair trade bananas, and others to even grow their own bananas in their backyards!
The Banana Challenge was a poignant and transformative experience. Many of us can’t look at a banana the same way anymore. For many of us, it has become a symbol of colonization and exploitation of our brothers and sisters in Latin America.
If you want to learn more about this, I invite you to read these articles:
Supervisor John Avalos washes Rafael Jesus Gonzalez’s feet during a foot-washing ceremony on the steps of San Francisco City Hall, Thursday, March 24, 2016. (Ekevara Kitpowsong/ Special to S.F. Examiner)
This past Thursday we celebrated our annual footwashing ceremony honoring our immigrant community at the steps of San Francisco City Hall. In these ceremonies, our purpose is to honor the God given dignity of migrants with an ancient foot washing ritual.
In our current toxic anti-immigrant rhetoric, many migrants have been demonized by demagogues who try to blame every particular evil on immigrants. We want to take a stand against this rhetoric and offer this healing ritual to our immigrant community.
We also took a stand against the narrative of “family vs. felons” that tries to divide families, and instead offer a narrative of grace and restoration. This narrative has been used to justify the deportations of many hard working immigrants who had committed mistakes in the past but have changed their life around. This unforgiving narrative leaves no space for changed lives.
We believe that every human being is capable of transformation, and that those who committed a crime and have already paid for it should not be doubly punished by deportation.
Eddy Zheng, an immigrant from China, was one of many who offered their testimonies. He recounted how as a teenager he committed a felony and was incarcerated. While in prison and through education he was able to change his life. When he finally got out of prison, he resolved to help young people not to commit the same mistake he did many years ago.
Unfortunately, ICE placed a hold on him after spending 19 years in prison, transferred him to ICE detention for several years, trying to deport him. ICE still considered him a menace to our society, and under their narrative of deporting “felons not families”, Eddy was put through deportation proceedings. Eddy is a perfect example of why we stand against ICE’s divisive narrative.
We believe this narrative leaves no space for transformation. This narrative will affect countless people who have paid for their mistake and are now contributors to our society. Click here to learn more about a recent documentary on Eddy Zheng, Breathing.
Supervisor Avalos was present in the ceremony, and participated by washing migrant’s feet. He recently introduced a new legislation that will update San Francisco’s Sanctuary laws by limiting collaboration between local law enforcement and ICE.
The Right Rev. Bishop Marc from the Episcopal Diocese of California was also one of the participants, along with other clergy from many faith traditions. In the end, many migrants expressed their gratitude to us, saying how significant and moving this space was for them.
We leave you with a poem by Rafael Jesús Gonzáles, indigenous Elder of Xochipilli, who was one of the faith leaders who participated in the footwashing ceremony:
Rev. Deborah Lee hands out the intruction to the faith leaders and immigrants community members before the begining of the foot-washing ceremony on the steps of San Francisco City Hall, Thursday, March 24, 2016. (Ekevara Kitpowsong/ Special to S.F. Examiner)
