Community Leadership - Immigrants Seeking Equal Rights

Introduction (Sonia Ospina)

Bhairavi Desai, New York Taxi Workers Alliance

1. Describe the unique context of the Taxi Workers Alliance and its members. What are some of the distinct, unusual, or surprising conditions of their work?
2. How does Desai characterize leadership? In the context of the Taxi Workers Alliance, how do you think that kind of leadership is realized? Try to apply Desai's definition of leadership to an organization or group that you know well.
3. Desai's background is significantly different from the taxi drivers with whom she works: she is not a taxi driver; she is female in a largely male occupation; and she is U.S.-raised. Given these differences, how does she see her role as part of the alliance and how does she handle its context?
4. Describe other organizations or groups you know (or can imagine) that deal with contexts similar to those of taxi workers. Explain how you think the Taxi Workers Alliance's approach to leadership has implications for the organization you have in mind.
5. Desai speaks about taxi drivers' "wisdom and experience" as well as their generosity - concepts that the general public may not typically associate with taxi drivers. Based on your own experience, recall and describe an organization or group that broke your conventional assumptions.
6. Desai argues for a particular type of decision-making process that the Taxi Workers Alliance uses. Describe the organization's decision-making approach. Does it resonate for you? What are its pros and cons?
7. In your judgment, what makes this organization an example of community leadership? What are its features and/or what is the organization trying to overcome through a community approach?

Ramon Ramirez, Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste

1. Part of how Ramirez talks about community leadership is through alliances with diverse organizations. How do they work together? How does Ramirez suggest they engage in dialogue about their differences? What has he (and PCUN) learned from these alliances?
2. Ramirez talks about how PCUN also supports human rights groups outside of the scope of its work. For instance, it supports rural white organizations and gay and lesbian rights groups. What do you make of these unlikely alliances? What are your thoughts about it? Describe other unlikely alliances with which you are familiar (or that you can imagine).
3. Although he acknowledges the importance of public actions - such as protests and walkouts - Ramirez says this is only one dimension of civic responsibility. In light of his interview and based on your experience, how would you describe civic responsibility and its relationship to leadership (for individuals and/or organizations)?
4. PCUN uses an array of learning activities that Ramirez touches on in his interview. What are they and what is your hunch about which approaches work better than others? In your own experience, what learning strategies make the most sense for leadership development of individuals and/or organizations?
5. Ramirez talks about the influence of Cesar Chavez on his thinking. What (or who) are some of the specific influences - either personal or in general - that influence your thoughts about leadership and civic responsibility?
6. Ramirez advocates for thinking and acting "outside the box" or the norm. What examples does he give for how PCUN has acted "outside the box?" In your own experience, how have organizations or groups with which you are familiar thought or acted "outside the box?"
7. In your judgment, what makes this organization an example of community leadership? What are its features and/or what is the organization trying to overcome through a community approach?

Pablo Alvarado, National Day Laborer Organizing Network

1. What are some aspects of NDLON's work that make it unique from other types of worker unions? Are there other constituencies that might be described in ways similar to day laborers?
2. How does Alvarado describe how NDLON takes an abstract concept (like "power") and makes it concrete for day laborers such that they can then take action to advance their interests?
3. Alvarado mentions the need for creativity and the culture-based approaches NDLON uses to promote a community approach. Describe the creative and cultural approaches NDLON employs. Based on your experience, how do groups and organizations use creativity (and/or cultural elements) to advance their work and/or build leadership capacity?
4. Alvarado talks about day laborers having both political and leadership skills. What do you think is the difference between the two? To what skills, specifically, do you think he was referring? Think of a group you know well and describe the political and leadership skills required in it.
5. Alvarado gives an example of how day laborers both take action and participate as full members in their communities. What do you think of this approach? Can you think of an example where a similar strategy worked (or might have worked, if attempted) in a group with which you are familiar?
6. What did you learn about leadership, community leadership, and/or day laborers through this interview?
7. In your judgment, what makes this organization an example of community leadership? What are its features and/or what is the organization trying to overcome through a community approach?

People Organized in Defense of the Earth and her Resources (Sylvia Herrera and Susana Almanza)

1. How have Sylvia Herrera and Susana Almanza used their indigenous culture to inform the leadership style of their organization?
2. Who are PODER's primary targets for change? How does it engage with those targets and what strategies does it use? What is your assessment of the approach?
3. Environmental activism and immigrant rights rarely go together in public dialogue. What are PODER's approaches to increasing the involvement of people of color and immigrants in the policymaking process? What do you think of those approaches in the context of your own experience?
4. What might be some challenges in terms of redefining a term like "environmentalism" to include "environmental justice" for marginalized, low-income communities, particularly in urban environments?
5. How might already established environmental organizations, such as the Audubon Society, be different from an organization like PODER? How might they help and/or hinder younger, homegrown organizations like PODER?
6. In your view, what are the main lessons about leadership, community leadership, and/or immigrant communities that you have learned through this interview?
7. In your judgment, what makes this organization an example of community leadership? What are its features and/or what is the organization trying to overcome through a community approach?

Questions about community leadership

1. The organizations in this theme use community approaches to devise solutions to meet the needs of the largely immigrant communities with which they work. In one sentence each, describe each organization, its community's needs, and its core solution.
2. Day laborers, farm workers, and taxi drivers face the challenge of not having secure and consistent workplaces. How have the organizers who work with these constituencies handled this challenge?
3. What are some of the challenges that these types of immigrant-rights organizations face? What are the benefits or opportunities, these organizations face?
4. What are common links or themes that appear in the four interviews about community leadership?
5. Based on the four interviews, how would you define community leadership? What surprised you? In what ways are you still skeptical?
6. What are the key lessons or insights you find based on this set of interviews? Why or how might you apply aspects of this theme in your own life or work?
7. What questions remain for you about leadership, community leadership, or the organizations in this set of interviews?
8. Given how the narrator describes the context that many immigrants face - undesirable jobs, little time, systemic discrimination, caring for families in faraway places - what do you think are some of the most important considerations with respect to building leadership in immigrant communities?
9. What aspects of leadership development in immigrant communities do you suspect are distinct and unique as compared with leadership in other contexts?