We have been following the strange case of Elvira Arellano quite closely as it is occuring on our own backyard, about five blocks from us. If you aren't familiar here's our earlier coverage...
Hunger Strike for Amnesty
Taking Responsibility for Your Actions
Illegal Alien Evades Deportation in Chicago Church
Here's where things started getting a little bit flaky, turns out the pastor of the church might have a history and our dogged media either don't know or don't care to reveal that little detail...
Interesting Little Tidbit
A little public opinion just for grins and giggles.
Now, my interest was piqued by the revelations about the pastor so I did a little internet sleuthing last night. Turns out the media is ignoring yet another salient detail regarding our innocent little pastor, Walter "Slim" Coleman.
Like the minor detail that he's married to Emma Lozano, a longtime immigration activist here in Chicago...
Among those who attended the (Nation Of Islam) Saviours’ Day gathering were Rev. Willie T. Barrow of Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, Latino activist Emma Lozano and husband Rev. Slim Coleman, noted attorney Lewis Meyers Jr., mayoral candidate Rev. Paul Jakes, Rev. Michael Jenkins and Bishop Kim of the Unification Church and other dignitaries.
Who is Emma Lozano you might ask?
"Elvira is not going to go to the back of the bus so somebody else can sit there while they treat her differently," said Ema Lozano of Center Without Borders. "Elvira is here, she works hard, her kid is a U.S. citizen, they allowed her to come into the country." source
Let's take a closer look at the Lozano family...
We have to acknowledge that there have been many retreats, defeats and disappointments, particularly in politics. Harold Washington died in office in 1987 and Chicago politics has generally taken a turn for the worse. On a national level, the Bush administration is even more ferociously reactionary than Ronald Reagan was in 1983 — something that Rudy would have probably found hard to believe. The Soviet Union and many other socialist countries are now capitalist backwaters. This would have distressed Rudy, who was an ardent fighter for socialism. source
Last year, Sin Fronteras, an organization in Chicago headed by Rudy’s sister Emma Lozano and modeled on his example, turned in 12,000 “Reward Work” cards in the campaign for immigrant legalization coordinated by the Service Employees International Union. This year, Sin Fronteras and any number of other organizations, churches and unions are working even harder to support the “Freedom Ride” for immigrant rights that has been initiated by the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Union.
As Emma Lozano points out, it was the diligent and patient work by Rudy and others like him within organized labor that made possible the historic move of the AFL-CIO Executive Committee in 2000 to make legalization of the undocumented a supreme objective of organized labor — an objective that will be won.
So, we have an activist Latina activist who just happens to attend a church run by a long time communist pastor and his communist/socialist wife who is widely considered "the face" of the undocumented struggle in Chicago.
I don't know about you, but I smell a set up.
I wonder what else the media is neglecting to tell us?
Technorati Tags: elvira arellano, walter "slim" coleman, emma lozano, sin fronteras, center without borders, illegal immigration, chicago, deportation, sanctuary, communists, socialists,
