Massachusetts Chapter in 2006 - Review
(December 2006)
Marguerite Helen and David Kelston, issue editors, write:
We should always be able to describe A Year in the Life of the Lawyers Guild as "good" in the sense of our aiming -- as much and as far as we are able -- for good goals and good results. We aim to make changes for the good and to help individuals and groups to have more good in their lives. We seldom can measure "good" in terms of complete success, though. We do achieve positives, but negatives remain. Our fight is primarily against injustice, inequality, and oppression. We can say that this past year has been another good one, as well as a very busy one, for the Massachusetts Chapter.
It couldn't have been as good without our great staff, who have also been very busy. Daniel Rodriquez, the Lawyer Referral Service coordinator and administrative assistant, left us this summer to start graduate work in New York City. Daniel was calm and cheerful, and we especially appreciated his work during Urszula's absences. We sent him off with thanks and best wishes for his future. Fortunately, Ariana Flores, who replaced Daniel in August, quickly got up to speed and is showing her worth. Ariana came to us from Jobs with Justice. We hope that she likes this job as well as we already like her.
We celebrated Urszula's tenth anniversary with the Chapter this year. Who could believe that it's been 10 years already? At our Membership Meeting in October, we expressed our gratitude with words, flowers, a gift, and a crown. She indicate that she expects to be with us for awhile. We certainly can use her management (of us and the office), her work on our behalf in coalitions, representation of us at news conferences, and so much more.
The distinctive, iridescent chartreuse vests and caps worn by legal observers from the Mass Defense Committee were seen in pictures of demonstrations across the state. Legal observers were at rallies on May Day and at massive ones for immigration reform. They covered protests against BU and its proposed bio lab, a demonstration during Cheney's visit, and another one against the Mexican government for its repression in Oaxaca. The Committee also represented animal rights activists. As the number of rallies and demonstrations rises we need more legal observers and lawyers to represent participants who are arrested.
On a lighter note, the 2nd Annual Fundraiser at The Rack in March, organized by Rosie Milano, was fun for all who attended. At the next one, come and join the party that the students organize for us all.
At the Annual Dinner the tone was set by co-emcees Jeff Feuer and Barb Dougan whose running commentary on current politics kept it on target. Candy was offered by charmers in "Serve the People" aprons (note: some of these are still available for sale). While we honored the noteworthy achievements of all the honorees, we had to give special kudos to Jane Alper, recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award, a long-time activist in all aspects of her life and work, and whose contributions to the Guild have been invaluable. As you know, last year’s Lifetime Achievement Award winner, dear friend, valiant activist, and wonderful legal worker, Jan Solet, passed away this summer. We will miss her greatly while we celebrate and thank her for her work.
At last year's and this year's retreats, we committed ourselves, as a predominantly white organization, to work on the Mass Chapter's diversification and anti-racism work. Beginning with diversity training and awareness, we had a workshop on "Meeting The Late Train: Anti-racist Activism". It was presented and led by Becky Thompson, a Professor of Sociology at Simmons College, author of "A Promise and a Way of Life: White Anti-racist Activism", and a nationally respected Anti-racist academic and activist. We continued at our Membership Meeting, where Horace Small, from the Union of Minority Neighborhoods, spoke to us and with us about "Key Issues Facing Communities of Color". His main point was that it is critical that white activists meet with activists from communities of color to begin to form long-term bonds in our work.
The referral service has been busy this year. There are 46 members but it is in serious need of bilingual attorneys, especially those who speak Spanish, Portuguese and/or Chinese.
Students have continued to be creative and hard-working. This fall, they organized information gatherings at Boston College, New England, Northeastern, and Suffolk, which generated more interest in Guild work, especially in street law clinics. The Detention Working Group continues to work on due process issues for immigrants. The annual Mentorship Brunch, attended by Guild lawyers and law students, provided an opportunity for law students to mingle with our attorneys.
The Street Law Clinic Project has been in great hands this year. Coordinator Laura Alfring has done an outstanding job. The Project had a spike of requests for clinics on immigration early this year, and then the demand changed for more clinics on tenants' and workers' rights. More Guild attorneys are always needed, so please volunteer!
In January we responded to reports that MBTA officials were working with ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) and checking the immigration status of vendors on the T as well as T riders. We organized a coalition, including Centro Presente, MIRA, the Brazilian Immigrant Center, AFSC, ACLU, and the Irish Immigration Center to work against MBTA collaboration with ICE and secured a commitment from the MBTA that they would stop the questioning of T passengers (see Nancy Kelly’s article).
Upon governor Romney’s announcement that the MBTA would reinstate a search policy on the public transit, our Chapter initiated campaign against these searches. An educational program of handing out flyers and "I DO NOT CONSENT TO A SEARCH" buttons at a number of T stations, similar to the one done during the Democratic National Convention, was carried out vigorously for almost a month. Our work concerning that issue will continue (see D. Michael Coy’s article).
The Guild co-sponsored a forum concerning the status of the Cuban 5, which drew an overflow audience. Speakers were Michael Avery, Noam Chomsky, and Salim Ramrani. Michael's talk on the legal and political issues, ending with exhortations for action, drew strong and enthusiastic responses from the crowd.
The NLG is a main force in a coalition of community groups calling for a creation of a civilian police review board in Boston; Barb Dougan writes about it in this issue of Mass Dissent.
Our Chapter was impressively represented by dozens of our members at the NLG Convention, however we were under-represented among workshop givers (see Jessica Jones’s article.)
And for the coming year? We need more members to be actively involved in all that we do, as the needs increase. One way you can help is by volunteering to work on the regional conference which will take place in Boston this spring (2007). Our chapter was chosen to host this, so we invite you to help ensure that we do a very good job. We believe it has been a good year as measured by our ambitious goals and our work toward them. But please do at least this one most important thing: renew your membership! This is not just a request for money -- it is vital for our work. So stay with the Guild!
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