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This piece, entitled “Si Se Puede!” or “Yes, We Can!”, beckons to the call of migrant workers to come together and unite as a community to fight for justice and self-determination in Post-Katrina New Orleans. The piece is put together from footage shot by New Orleans resident, community member and videographer Mary Beth Black, and chronicles some recent events and developments relating to immigrant worker rights along the Gulf Coast.
The government’s decision to open up rebuilding to private contractors has had serious implications for poor workers. In the wake of Katrina, unprecedented numbers of migrant workers of various races came to New Orleans and other areas of the Gulf Coast from all parts of the USA, Latin America and South America, hoping to find decent work, pay, and accommodation through the reconstruction effort, and have instead found themselves in shockingly exploitative situations. Ensnared between laws that benefit contractors and leave them with no rights, and the financial need that brought them to the Gulf Coast in the first place, many of these workers are forced to live and work in circumstances that are unhygienic and dangerous, and more often than not, are cheated of their fair wages.
This piece, which we hope to continue as a series in the future, addressing upcoming issues, includes footage from the historic May 1 Immigrant Labor Rights Rally in New Orleans, interviews with workers, and the Indigenous Labor Rally in Lee Circle, which saw indigenous peace runners unite in solidarity with the fight of migrant workers.
Related Links ::: National Immigration Law Center, New Orleans Worker Justice Coalition, Mississippi Immigrants Rights Alliance