The Mexico-US Solidarity Network organizes for fundamental social change grounded in democracy, economic justice, human rights and redistribution of power on both sides of the US-Mexico border. The foundations of effective social change are education, community building, and organizing:
- Education is a collective process that involves an exploration and deepening of knowledge gained from life experiences, and an evaluation/expansion of life horizons.
- Community building involves the (re)construction of trust and collectivity, with leadership constructed horizontally.
- Effective organizing includes a conscious evaluation of social problems and collective construction of a new future grounded in empowered and autonomous community.
The central work of the Mexico-US Solidarity Network is in impoverished and exploited communities on both sides of the Mexico-US border. In Chicago, the Albany Park Autonomous Center is building strong community through innovative education and organizing processes directed by immigrants. In Mexico, the Network works in solidarity with communities struggling for housing, land, democracy and human rights. Our work includes:
- Albany Park Autonomous Center: Located in Albany Park, Chicago, one of the nation’s most diverse urban neighborhoods, the Autonomous Center is an experiment in community building among largely Spanish speaking immigrants. English classes, a computer center, a literacy program, movie nights, and cultural events are all organized by and for members of the community. Small work groups are developing domestic worker and construction cooperatives, an alternative health program, and a legal clinic.
- Mexico Study Abroad Program: The Study Abroad Program offers university students the opportunity to study Mexico’s most important living social movements.
- Speaking tours: Ten speaking tours a year feature leaders from Mexico’s most dynamic social movements who build cross-border links and educate for bi-national social change.
- Alternative Economy Program: The AE Program distributes artisanry produced by indigenous communities in Chiapas, offering hundreds of families a fairer market for their products.
- The Mexico-US Solidarity Network is a self-sustaining, completley independent of any political parties.