Activists are continuing a two-day march Tuesday that kicked off on May Day on Monday. May Day is an international day based around honoring workers. It’s also evolved into a national day of action for the immigrant rights movement.
Rain showers and brisk temperatures didn’t dissuade activists in Milwaukee. Dozens of members of Voces de la Frontera and Youth Empowered in the Struggle, or YES, and allies braved the soggy weather to demonstrate for change on Monday.
YES Milwaukee Youth Organizer Trisha Young said right now the group is focusing on their school lunch justice campaign. YES is demanding that local school boards respond to their calls for healthy and equitable school lunches for MPS students.
“They don't want to be fed improper lunch, bad lunch, food that's gone bad,” Young said. She said in a nutshell, proper school lunch is about students’ dignity.
“Many of these students come from homes where they might not get to eat more than one meal a day or more than the lunch and breakfast provided by MPS,” she said. “So it's an important step in realizing student's own agency in their lives.”
The call for student agency resonated with William Pickard. The sophomore at Hamilton High School is a student organizer with YES.
“When I was younger, I kind of saw a lot of the injustice growing up. I grew up poor, without a father. You know, it really was really tough growing up without lights or growing up without food, and it really made me care about what's happening in my community,” Pickard said. “Stuff like this is action that happens. I'm so used to inaction in our community. So when I see this action like this, I get real excited.”
YES has seen some progress. There’s now a school lunch justice task force at the MPS district level, which includes students, MPS administrators and the nutrition department.
And, there are now more vegan, vegetarian and halal options.
“In the beginning of the year, [there were] no salads at all,” explained Pickard. “If you're a vegetarian, you have like, no options. But now we have these options coming up for kids, you know, you don't eat meat, you have a salad. You know, you don't want a hot lunch, boom, you can have a sub something like that. It's great.”
Adults also rallied with the students — focusing on tuition equity at state universities and reinstating drivers’ license access. A 2007 Wisconsin law banned the issuance of driver’s licenses for undocumented immigrants and others without social security numbers.
“We're asking for people to get involved in a renewed statewide coalition fight. A driver's license coalition for safe roads,” said Christine Neumann-Ortiz, executive director of Voces de la Frontera, "to be able to put pressure particularly on our Republican representatives to demand that they bring back in state tuition and driver's licenses. This has broad popular support, especially driver's licenses, an urgent need for immigrant workers and their families and certainly in agriculture and rural districts.”
Neumann-Ortiz said those rallying also want to send a message to Democratic President Joe Biden, who recently announced his candidacy for 2024. They’re asking him to end Trump era border policies and extend pathways to citizenship.
Neumann-Ortiz said activists are also recognizing one big accomplishment in 2023.
“Under the Biden administration, the deferred action for undocumented workers who filed labor complaints is now a reality. So it's very similar to DACA, in that it provides protections that empower immigrant workers,” she said. “And we think that's a real game changer for both the immigrant and the labor rights movement.”
The marchers had stops at the Milwaukee Teachers Union office, the Voces de la Frontera headquarters and the downtown Department of Motor Vehicles. They continued to a rally at Zeidler Union Square.
Stephanie Johnson, a union organizer with SEIU, was there to show her support for workers.
“Today, I'm standing with Voces because I think it is very important that we are all included in fair jobs, able to form unions and make livable wages. And so I'm here to stand with them today and you know, to make sure that they can get proper documentation to acquire these jobs,” said Johnson.”
Activists will march and rally at the state capitol Tuesday to continue to shine a spotlight on their demands.
