Centro de los Derechos del Migrante is calling for (law) students for unpaid internships in Mexico. The intern would join a dynamic team supporting the transnational migrant workers' rights movement from within Mexico. The intern will work with staff to develop and conduct labor and employment law know-your-rights trainings for migrants before they leave for the US; support and engage in on-going litigation efforts to protect and enhance the rights of (im)migrants; support a growing network of migrant leaders; and collaborate with partner organizations in Mexico and the US. CDM will provide whatever support interns need to receive funding from their academic institutions and/or from other sources. (Interns are required to volunteer at least 10 weeks.)

Send cover letter, resume, and references to Tory Gavito,
tory@cdmigrante.org

Role and Responsibilities:
• Work with CDM staff to ensure worker participation in ongoing programs
• Develop and enhance know your rights materials for (im)migrants bound to the United States
• Travel to remote locations in Mexico to locate clients for litigation support (e.g. acquiring signatures, gathering information,
preparing deposition testimony)
• Participate in litigation supporting migrants' rights
• Collaborate with partner organizations in Mexico and the US
• Be a part of litigation and policy campaigns

Qualifications:
• Experience with community organizing and/or grassroots leadership
development
• Ability to work independently and work well in a team
• Experience in labor, employment, or immigration law
• Strong research and writing skills
• Ability to work with people from diverse backgrounds
• Good communication skills
• Willingness to travel to remote places within Mexico
• Spanish is required

Centro de los Derechos del Migrante, Inc. was founded to address the intimidation factor that prevents many migrants from connecting with advocates in the United States and to address abuses that accompany migrant work in the US. Undocumented workers and guestworkers face major obstacles to accessing justice due to their vulnerable immigration status and scofflaw employers. We are located in Zacatecas because it is nearly impossible for Mexican migrant and "guest" workers, who by definition have no permanent home in the US, to fight the problems they face in the workplace without a source of support for those battles in their home country.

For more information see www.cdmigrante.org

The New York Civil Rights Coalition’s Unlearning Stereotypes: Civil Rights and Race Relations Project was established in the wake of the infamous racial confrontation in Bensonhurst and killing of 16-year-old Yusef Hawkins in December 1989, the project trains and deploys teams of volunteers (mostly lawyers, law and graduate students, community leaders and civic-minded professionals) to team-teach our award-winning Unlearning Stereotypes course at public high schools and junior high schools in New York City. Our program has been housed in some 40 public high schools throughout the five boroughs and two junior high schools in Manhattan, and continues the effort to confront the problems of bias and discrimination before they manifest into acts of violence and hatred.

Participation in our Unlearning Stereotypes program entails a weekly commitment for the Fall 2008 school semester, October-December. Volunteers will be assigned to two-person teams and will co-teach a regular high school or junior high school class. In order to visually promote our message of interracial cooperation and harmony, we try to make each team bi-racial, and, usually, co-ed. Classes last approximately 40 minutes and are mostly held in the mornings, prior to working hours. However, the actual teaching schedule depends on the availability of the classes at the participating schools matching with the volunteers’ schedules. Including transportation and preparation time, our volunteers commit to approximately two to three hours per week.

The teaching approach of our program is non-traditional, and each class is intended to be a forum that develops students’ awareness and critical thinking through open dialogue and debate. Our volunteers do not lecture, but serve as facilitators of candid discussion—about current events and controversial topics of interest to the students, such as race relations, gender discrimination and religious bigotry.

Our volunteers use a type of interactive Socratic teaching method, role-play exercises, and courtroom scenarios, including mock trials. The aim is to promote critical examination by the students of their own attitudes—as well as their classmates’—thereby learning about themselves and each other.

Our objective is not only to get high school and junior high school students to directly confront and evaluate the stereotypes and prejudices that contribute to ethnic polarization and intergroup conflicts, but to give them the knowledge and much needed opportunity to express their opinions and to think critically about the important issues of our day.

Our volunteers do not necessarily need to have formal teaching experience. Rather, individuals who are dedicated to the careful examination of social problems and who have a broad knowledge of civics, law, and civil rights issues will be well-qualified to lead the weekly discussions. In addition, the curriculum in our program covers various other discrimination topics, such as sexual orientation, age, and disability matters. Thus, knowledge of the legal system is helpful, and we feel that lawyers, law students, and paralegals are ideally suited for this unique classroom teaching experience.

Interested law students will need to contact us right away for training prior to placement. They should email us at sgeller@nycivilrights.org, or call us at 212-563-5636. In order to be accepted into the program and assigned to a school, all volunteers must register for and participate in a training session; trainings are held in September and early October.  Classes start up in October.

The New York Civil Rights Coalition (www.nycivilrights.org) is a non-governmental, non-partisan, not-for-profit organization

This is a message from Russell Bloom, one of the NLG's Executive VPs:
 .......

Dear NLG Students,

The Guild  has entered an agreement to help with an exciting new project.  Director John McTiernan (Die Hard, Hunt for Red October) is producing a series of interviews with elected officials who were targeted  by the Department of Justice.  The series will be posted on Youtube, hopefully around October 20th, 2008.  As part of our agreement with McTiernan and his team, we agreed to send out a call for interested volunteers to work in various ways to support the production team.  Volunteers are needed at all stages of the production, some of which may take place at McTiernan’s ranch home in Wyoming.  Other production work will center around interview taping in cities across the country, and some will be done remotely from your location.  Please let me know directly if you are interested in becoming involved in any way and I will forward to the team your contact info and any information regarding your areas of expertise or experience.  We hope you are excited about participating and I look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience.  You should also feel free to forward this request for assistance to friends and family members outside the Guild if you wish.  Thank you for your attention and I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Best,
Russell Bloom, EVP
rgbloom@earthlink.net

 

The next general meeting has been scheduled for Thursday, July 24, from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.

 

The meeting will be held at 63 Wall Street (between Hanover and Pearl Streets). Take the 2/3 or 4/5 to Wall Street. There will be someone in the lobby to meet folks at 7:00pm. If you're running late, call Josh (917-687-3387) or Jaya (202-321-9687) when you arrive, and someone will come to the lobby to meet you.