Hip Hop Artists Unite Against Anti-Latino Bias

The Center for New Community's Hip Hop Project has hit the ground in Arizona! CNC and Verbal Kent, Chicago Rap artist, have teamed up with the Arizona Hip Hop community. Over 100 Hip Hop supporters attended two concerts on November 10 and 11 to begin the dialogue on countering the anti-Latino bigotry perpetrated by Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who is well-known in Arizona for his racial-profiling and terrorizing of Latino residents. Sheriff Joe has used national hysteria around undocumented immigration to criminalize Latinos. Hip Hop culture is very familiar with attempts to criminalize their youth communities, and hundreds of Hip Hop artists from all over the nation have joined the CUA myspace page to stand unified with CNC against bigotry.

This coalition of artists and the Center for New Community believe it's time that the voices of multicultural Hip Hop communities be heard condemning anti-Latino bias.

To learn more about the Hip Hop Project visit campaignforunitedamerica at myspace.

Cleaning Crew at Farmland Plant Faces Ongoing Struggle

Every night the contract cleaning crew at the Smithfield/Farmland hog processing plant in Milan, Missouri works with dangerous chemicals and little safety training to get the plant ready for the next day's production. Last spring Axel Fuentes, the Center's Missouri organizer for the Midwest Immigrant Health Project (MIHP) prepared the crew to meet with the contractor to press their concerns. In an atmosphere of relentless fear the courage of the workers to call for such a meeting was unprecedented.

When the regional manager arrived he was met by workers prepared and ready and with common voice, backed with open and vocal support from community clergy who accompanied them to the door and made clear that their concerns needed to be taken seriously. In a stunning outcome, all the concerns pressed by the workers were met by the contractor.

Despite that unprecedented breakthrough by the organized workers, the contractor has not followed through on promises made at that meeting. Inadequate safety training is still the norm, and promised safety equipment and apparel has not materialized. There is no supervisor on duty during the night shift until the early hours of the morning, and workers are not trained to handle accidents.

Recently, acid fell on one worker as he was knocked down a stairwell by a high pressure cleaning hose; no supervisor was on duty to assist and direct in his care. The company is not paying the attention it should to worker safety even though the crew won major agreements to do so in its organizing drive earlier this year.

Take Action Now!

Email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it now to express your support for the Smithfield/Farmland cleaning crew at its Milan, Missouri plant! Address your concerns for their health and safety to Mossberg Sanitation and urge the company to honor its commitments to the cleaning crew workers. Axel will provide your message of support to the crew as they prepare for their next meeting with the National Operations Manager. The well-being of this crew rests on your support!