"9500 Liberty" Screening in Norfolk, 12/15/09

I just received word that Eric Byler's and Annabel Park's excellent documentary on the Prince William County immigration controversy, 9500 Liberty, is being screened in Norfolk on the evening of Tuesday, December 15, at the Naro Theater (1507 Colley Avenue). I've seen the movie a couple of times now, and I strongly recommend it. Here's a synopsis from the 9500 Liberty website:

Prince William County, Virginia becomes ground zero in America’s explosive battle over immigration policy when elected officials adopt a law requiring police officers to question anyone they have "probable cause" to suspect is an undocumented immigrant.

9500 Liberty reveals the startling vulnerability of a local government, targeted by national anti-immigration networks using the Internet to frighten and intimidate lawmakers and citizens. Alarmed by a climate of fear and racial division, residents form a resistance using YouTube videos and virtual townhalls, setting up a real-life showdown in the seat of county government.

The devastating social and economic impact of the “Immigration Resolution” is felt in the lives of real people in homes and in local businesses. But the ferocious fight to adopt and then reverse this policy unfolds inside government chambers, on the streets, and on the Internet. 9500 Liberty provides a front row seat to all three battlegrounds.

If that's not enough to whet your appetite for "9500 liberty," here are a few comments by people who have seen the film.

*Film critic Desson Thomson calls it "as powerful a booster of the democratic process as anything Frank Capra ever imprinted on our collective memory."

*Author John Grisham says the movie "makes it clear when we, as a nation of immigrants, debate the immigration issue, we are defining our very identity as Americans."

*New Democratic Network President Simon Rosenberg rates it as "one of the best documentary films I've ever seen."

*Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitsas says "the movie is freakin' amazing."

Getting psyched to see this yet? :)

UPDATE: The timing of this screening is excellent; according to Reform Immigration for America, Representatives Luis V. Gutierrez (D-IL), Nydia Vasquez (D-NY), Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) and Mike Honda (D-CA) are planning to introduce a national comprehensive immigration reform bill earlier that day.

How to "Punk" a Tea Party With Smart Satire

Awesome satire, and the tea partiers are utterly clueless, even applauding as the speaker rips "European immigrants" (e.g., from England and Ireland) and calls for America to "send these European immigrants back where they came from." It's like these people will applaud anything as long as you add words like "secure our borders," "restore order," "real Americans," "we're not going to take it anymore," etc. You know, the crap that Faux "News" spews out every day. Ha.

h/t: Daily Kos

Just Imagine...

I was talking to a friend last night, and we were both bemoaning the lack of progress in passing the agenda Democrats campaigned on - and won big on - in 2008. I was pondering what the political landscape might look like today if Democrats had:

*Passed the economic recovery package and had it on President Obama's desk the day he was sworn into office
*Passed health care reform by Memorial Day
*Passed clean energy legislation by Independence Day (we could have symbolically "declared independence" from foreign oil)
*Passed comprehensive immigration reform by Labor Day (appropriate, since most of this is an issue of undocumented workers)
*Turned this fall and winter towards dealing with the budget deficit, entitlements reform, financial regulation and the economy.

If we had accomplished all these things, my guess is that Democrats would be much higher in the polls, having demonstrated that they a) get things done for the American people and b) fulfill the promises they make. Instead, I feel like so far we're getting the worst of all worlds: lots of criticism, ranting and raving, insane cries of "communism" and "socialism," and demagoguery for raising big issues that absolutely need to be dealt with, but at the same time none of the credit for actually getting stuff done.

Now, given the fact that we've essentially wasted the last 9 months screwing around on health care reform, something we've been working on for decades and which I'm convinced we could have gotten done by Memorial Day, all the other items on our agenda have slipped into 2010, a mid-term election year. Brilliant! Once again, the saying about Democracy being the worst form of government ever invented, except for all the other ones, springs to mind. Argh.

DC Premiere of "9500 Liberty" a Big Success

This interview was shot last night - following the premiere of Annabel Park's and Eric Byler's documentary, "9500 Liberty," on the Prince William County immigration issue - by the blog Carlos in DC. The film was shown in front of several hundred people - myself included - at the Landmark E Street Cinemas near Metro Center, as part of the 2009 DC Asian Pacific American Film Festival. Carlos in DC writes:

I spoke to several people who saw the film last night, and the overwhelming response was in support of the message this documentary film expresses, towards respecting human rights regardless of immigration status and stopping racism in all its forms.

Most people in the audience where Whites and Asians, and when I asked their opinions about the possibility of an Immigration Reform, they told me they are in favor but they think it will be hard to pass it anytime soon, unless more education and advocacy is promoted among those who are anti-immigrants rights.

For more coverage of the film, see NBC4, where Eric Byler is quoted as saying, "This is the same kind of politicized hysteria we saw at the townhall protests." Also see NDN, which notes that last night "was not only a proud night for Annabel Park and Eric Byler, the filmmakers, but for all who lived through the terrible fight on immigration in Prince William County, and for those of us who are directly or indirectly affected by the anti-immigrant sentiments seen on screen." For future screenings, including one in Prince William County next Friday (October 9), click here. Personally, having watched this film develop from a series of YouTube videos into early rough drafts into the final version I saw last night, I'm excited for Annabel and Eric, but even more so, hopeful that this film will be viewed by as many people as possible. It's powerful.

P.S. I shot some video of the Q&A session with Annabel, Eric, and Washington Post film critic Desson Thomson after the film, but the lighting was very low and the video didn't come out well. I may end up posting the audio only...trying to decide.

Check Out the New "9500 Liberty" Movie Website

Click here to watch Eric Byler's and Annabel Park's trailer for the film, 9500 Liberty, which "reveals the startling vulnerability of a local government targeted by national anti-immigration networks using the Internet to frighten and intimidate lawmakers and citizens." The specific focus of the film is Prince William County, and the main characters including some of our favorites (both bad and good), like Prince William County Board Chair Corey Stewart and Police Chief Charlie Deane. Check it out.

"Prince William Tea Party Invites Anti-Immigrant Hate Group"

This article, "Prince William Tea Party Invites Anti-Immigrant Hate Group," by the consistently excellent (not to mention courageous) anti-BVBL blog is well worth reading. Here's an excerpt.

...I thought the Tea Parties were a way to revitalize the Republican Party. Apparently, they’ve opted instead to shoot themselves in the foot by inviting the anti-immigrant organization - Federation for American Immigration Reform(FAIR) that has been declared a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center(SPLC). The SPLC is a civil rights organization that was recently in the news after they correctly identified the Holocaust shooter as a white supremacist.

Gee, and here I thought the "Tea Parties" were a way for right wingnuts of various stripes (wingnutty, wingnuttier, wingnuttiest) to rail against their paranoid fantasies of "socialism" taking over America, of Obama "taking our guns away," and of so many other horrors like high-quality health care for all Americans and a new, vibrant, clean tech economy that doesn't rely on Saudi oil. Oh yes, and to celebrate the sacred Gadsden "Don't Tread on Me" Flag; let's not forget that nice bit of "dog whistle politics."

Anyway, party on in Prince William County, tea baggers, while the rest of us celebrate the birthday of our nation and a government "of the people, by the people and for the people."

John Grisham and 9500 Liberty Event

I encourage everyone to check this out: John Grisham and a screening of filmmakers Annabel Park's and Eric Byler's documentary, "9500 Liberty," about the Prince William County immigration controversy. Great stuff!

P.S. Click on the image above to "embiggen." Thanks.

NY Times on Corey Stewart, "hate-filled blogs," and a "foreign invasion"

Today's New York Times has a huge article on immigration, education and assimilation. It focuses on Cecil D. Hylton High School in Woodbridge, Prince William County. I thought the following discussion of Corey Stewart, particularly his claim that "We didn’t set out to pass a law addressing immigration," was fascinating. Also, I wonder what they're referring to when they talk about "hate-filled blogs" and a "foreign invasion." Hmmmmmmm. :)

Corey A. Stewart, chairman of the all-white, predominantly Republican Board of Supervisors, led the cause of those who argued that illegal immigrants — an estimated 30 percent of all those moving into the county — were an undue burden on taxpayers. It cost Prince William $40.2 million, about 5 percent of the school budget, to provide additional services to students with limited English last year, for example.

Mr. Stewart ordered his staff to identify services the county could deny to illegal immigrants. And he was a co-author of an ordinance that would have allowed the county police to check the immigration status of anyone they stopped whom they also suspected of living in the country illegally. (The authorities later backed off, limiting the police to checking the status of anyone arrested.)

“We didn’t set out to pass a law addressing immigration,” Mr. Stewart said in an interview. “We wanted to address issues involving problems in housing, in hospitals, in schools and with crime. And we found that when we looked at all those areas, illegal immigration was driving a lot of the problems.”

In neighborhoods, however, many people did not make distinctions between legal and illegal immigrants. Some residents complained of a “foreign invasion.” Constructive dialogue was often drowned out by hate-filled blogs, headlines and protests. And school boundaries were bitterly contested, with some families moving their children into schools with lower populations of immigrants, and others flexing their political influence to try to keep the immigrants out.

If you're not up to speed on the immigration issue and how it's played out in Prince William county, check out the New York Times article and also the superb YouTube channel, 9500 Liberty (by my friends Eric Byler and Annabel Park).