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" Lean into your curiosity about any issue, and there will likely be people to share a little bit more of their knowledge and insight and give you ideas on how to make change. "
Opal Tometi
Change
Curiosity
Knowledge
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" The black immigrant experience in the U.S. must be understood not in contrast to the African American experience but as an integral part of it. "
Opal Tometi
American
Immigrant
Experience
" To me and to a number of other activists from the U.S., we believe that the human rights movement has to evolve and understand the global implications of structural racism. This means engaging the United Nations and a variety of other human rights bodies. "
Opal Tometi
Understand
Rights
Racism
" Many of the concessions that leading Democrats seem willing to make - from cutting diversity visas to chipping away at family visas - would be made on the backs of black immigrants, people from Africa and the Caribbean who deserve these policies to remain intact as some of the few legal tools they have to immigrate to this country. "
Opal Tometi
Legal
People
Family
" There are always groups on campus that are doing amazing things. I know when I was in college, I was a student at the University of Arizona, working on my bachelor's in history, and I got involved with a number of different groups that were connected to different social justice issues that I cared about. "
Opal Tometi
History
Amazing
Justice
" For the U.S., a nation that boasts of being the land of the free, it does not live up to its ideal. "
Opal Tometi
Ideal
Free
Up
" From my youngest brother to immigrant women to black queer folks, those are the people who keep me going. When I think about their various acts of courage, it reminds me that I am not alone and that we can do even more, and we deserve more, so we have to keep going. "
Opal Tometi
I Am
Alone
Women
" I have three godkids that are just so gorgeous; I love them dearly, and they keep me going. "
Opal Tometi
Love
Me
Keep
" Some of us have held the hands of friends or brothers as they struggled with military and police academy recruiters, and though many of them never dreamed of being policemen, a lack of opportunities led them to those positions. "
Opal Tometi
Opportunities
Hands
Friends
" I have two younger brothers, and I know my parents have spoken to them about driving and interacting with police. They didn't have those conversations with me, but they did have conversations about being exceptional black people. "
Opal Tometi
People
Parents
Me
" If people take the fight for justice seriously in their own country and with partners and immigrants in their community and folks in the international community, I believe that we will see human rights for all people affirmed. "
Opal Tometi
People
Justice
Community
" African-Americans and black immigrants share a resilience and a determination for a better life. "
Opal Tometi
Black
Life
Determination
" Anti-black racism operates at a society-wide level and colludes in a seamless web of policies, practices, and beliefs to oppress and disempower black communities. "
Opal Tometi
Level
Black
Beliefs
" To fully understand the black immigrant experience in the U.S., we must understand it not in contrast to the African-American experience, but central to it. "
Opal Tometi
Immigrant
Understand
Black
" The U.S. has long characterized Haitian immigrants as criminals. This tradition began in 1963 when the first boat of Haitians seeking political asylum was summarily rejected by U.S. immigration officials, while at the same time the U.S. admitted thousands of Cubans as refugees and political asylees. "
Opal Tometi
Boat
Political
Long
" As an immigrant justice advocate, I, of course, want legal status for everyone trying to make it in this country. "
Opal Tometi
Trying
Immigrant
Justice
" I am the executive director of the Black Alliance for Just Immigration, which is the country's only national immigrant rights organization for black immigrants and African Americans. Being the daughter of Nigerian immigrants really drove me to do this type of work. "
Opal Tometi
Me
Daughter
Black
" Fortunately, the leadership of black immigrant communities has always been present in all black liberation movements from leaders like Marcus Garvey to Shirley Chisholm to Malcolm X and Harry Belafonte. We know this is our legacy. "
Opal Tometi
Present
Black
Legacy
" If black lives mattered, I believe that policing and immigration enforcement would not be the devastating force that it is in our communities. "
Opal Tometi
I Believe
Immigration
Black
" I was in awe of previous black liberation struggle leaders - Sojourner Truth, Ida B. Wells. I wanted to be part of something bigger than myself. Black Lives Matter has been that. "
Opal Tometi
Struggle
Black
Matter
" Civility is the recognition that all people have dignity that's inherent to their person, no matter their religion, race, gender, sexuality, or ability. "
Opal Tometi
Gender
Religion
Recognition
" Black Lives Matter has been viral, and people are taking it, appropriating it, and using it however they see fit. "
Opal Tometi
Been
Taking
See
" We deserve a multiracial democracy that works for all of us. "
Opal Tometi
Us
Works
Democracy
" Being in the immigrant rights space, I've heard a lot of transactional talk with questions like, 'When will black people show up for immigrants?' "
Opal Tometi
Questions
People
Black
" In my own personal experience, I've had different family members who have been held in immigration detention because they've had some sort of challenge financially, and they were making difficult decisions, and that led to their immigration detention and, eventually, deportation. "
Opal Tometi
Family
Challenge
Experience
" We have to start imagining a new reality - this will mean fewer police and more social workers and teachers. This will mean creating more economic possibilities and investment that preserves and does not displace our communities. "
Opal Tometi
New
Reality
Start
" There was a time when my uncle was in an immigration detention center, and members of our community would take turns visiting him each weekend. That instilled in me the value of taking care of each other even if the systems aren't working in your favor. "
Opal Tometi
Weekend
Value
Care
" We can't continue to sit on our hands and sit idly by as people are being brutalized, disenfranchised, and left out of the system. "
Opal Tometi
System
People
Out
" Let's demonstrate, illustrate, the ways in which our communities are being undermined time and time again, and make sure that the broader public and those in power choose to stand with us. "
Opal Tometi
Time
Stand
Us
" As we look ahead to our very diverse future, BAJI plans to continue to be at the forefront, uniting black communities to attain racial, social, and economic justice for all. "
Opal Tometi
Justice
Look
Ahead
" As a community organizer who holds a degree in history, I understand the fascination with history. However, there is a tendency for many of us to get engrossed in the recounting of our history, which often amounts to purely intellectual activity without material action. "
Opal Tometi
Action
Intellectual
Community