Save the Date! - Highlander Homecoming and Apple Fair; 9/6/09 Please join us Sunday, September 6, 2009, from 2:00-9:00 p.m. for Highlander's Homecoming and Apple Fair. There will be great music, children's activities, workshops and dinner, as well as hayrides to our apple orchard. More information will be posted soon on Highlander's website: www.highlandercenter.org.

What a beautiful and rainy Spring this has been at Highlander! Baby birds right outside the back window sing between mouthfuls of food, and a young lizard ventures from the porch as if to greet our guests. The hills, woods and pastures, and their inhabitants are alive with Spring and the great bounty - and work - of the land. We have geared up for important new goals on land preservation and sustainability education, and we are writing to invite you to be a part of this new effort. We hope you are inspired to support this work with your generosity.

As you may know, last fall Highlander purchased an 80-acre property adjacent to our current grounds to protect it from development as well as to provide opportunities for creative new programming. The purchase of this new property, especially in these times of economic and environmental crisis, spurred us to rethink our stewardship of all our land and its deeper connections to our program work. In that regard, Highlander's return to earlier practices of gardens and environmental justice organizing is strategically moving forward as well.

We have created a Land Vision element of our movement building work. Board and staff have been prioritizing and implementing this vision for the preservation and sustainable use of Highlander's land, and the expansion of our education and training programs in this area.

We ask your support for these exciting and challenging parts of this plan:

• Transition our newly acquired 500-tree apple orchard from conventional to organic, an intensive, multi-year effort.
• Plant an organic vegetable garden to provide produce for our Workshop Center, be an interactive space for workshops participants and demonstration garden for visitors.
• Harvest rainwater for use in watering our vegetable and flower gardens.
• Create hiking trails so workshop participants and visitors can enjoy woods on our property.
• Develop curriculum for workshops on land/food/ sustainability issues that can be presented in local communities and that can be included in Highlander's other training programs, including our Seeds of Fire Youth Leadership Camp and THREADS, our multi-racial, intergenerational leadership and organizing institute.

To assist us in this work, we have hired two interns-Josh Diamond and Jenny Paris, and I'd like to introduce you to these hard working young leaders and the exciting work they are doing here at Highlander.

Josh Diamond hails from Harrisonburg, Virginia, where he was previously teaching English to migrant workers in the apple orchards of the Shenandoah Valley and facilitating conversation around immigration and workers rights. Meaningful dialogue with workers helped define language needs, and as a result of these conversations, he created a curriculum based in language on wage negotiation and financial accountability from orchard owners. During this time, a co-worker gave him a copy of Myles Horton's autobiography, The Long Haul, which provided a context to Josh's interest in popular education. As he was seeking ways to better connect with orchard farm workers and to build more meaningful relationships with migrant workers of Shenandoah Valley, he also was searching for a new project that would help him grow as an organizer and popular educator. This interest led him to help organize an "Interpreting for Social Justice" workshop in Harrisonburg, facilitated by Roberto Tijerina, education team member at Highlander who leads the Multilingual Capacity Building program. Josh recently co-facilitated this same workshop here at Highlander. Previously, Josh worked on a campaign against a privately run immigrant detention center in Virginia, and helped organize a protest while educating around issues of private prisons.

Jenny Paris has intensive training in sustainable agriculture incorporated with social justice organizing. She hails from Nashville via Olympia, Washington where she attended Evergreen State College and pursued coursework in Environmental Studies, including organic agriculture, natural resource management and land planning along with critical social thought. She is experienced in plant propagation, plant pathology, soil amendments, seed cultivation, plant breeding, irrigation, and compost, experience gained through participating in a year-long program, "The Practice of Sustainable Agriculture," and through work-trade programs on several other farms. In 2005, she went to New Orleans and volunteered with Common Ground, working among other things on the Healthy Soil Project. She sees sustainable agriculture as intrinsically connected to farmworker rights, rebuilding local economies, teaching and learning about nutrition and diet-related diseases, and protecting indigenous and local knowledge. She hopes that the garden at Highlander will be a source of inspiration and ongoing coalition building around these issues already being addressed at Highlander. Months before Highlander had announced or even conceived of a farm intern, Jenny had daydreamed of spearheading such a garden project during her first visit to Highlander at the 75th anniversary celebration.

This is a very exciting time for the Highlander Center. In keeping with Highlander's celebrated traditions of popular education for social change, we are forging ahead with imaginative and cutting edge work grounded in working the Highlander soil and apple orchard in ways that are sustainable and nonviolent and bring people together. As we plant and grow the organic garden and transition the apple orchard to organic cultivation, you help us make important transitions to learn, model, share and preserve sustainable practices that will nourish our own bodies, our families, and our communities across Appalachia and the South.

Thank you for being such an important part of this work to further develop our collective power of good stewardship and sustainability, and to further the cause of economic and environmental justice.

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"Transformative." "Changed my life." "What a powerful community we built." "Do it again." These are just a few of the words from people who came to Highlander for W-7, our 1st Wild and Wacky, Witty and Wonderful Workshop Work Week, held May 25-29. From Thailand to Toronto. From the Bay Area to North Carolina. From DC to the heartland states of Kansas and Iowa. From New York to Georgetown College (KY), from Michigan to Florida and all the states in between, thirty-three people spent their mornings in educational workshops, their afternoons on work teams in service to Highlander's land and grounds, and their evenings in cultural sharing.

In the morning educational workshops, people explored their history and current relationship to land and work, discussed the economy, studied popular education, and talked with each other about how popular education can enhance their work in their home communities. In the afternoons, the group divided into five work teams: apple orchard, garden, trail clearing, chair/bench making, and grounds maintenance.

In the process of converting Highlander's newly acquired apple orchard from conventional to organic, thinning the apples, formerly done by chemicals, is now done by hand. A team led by intern Josh Diamond worked every afternoon in the orchard rain or shine. Very labor intensive, the work also afforded the opportunity to have political discussions as a team circled a tree and then spiraled to the next one, and people moved in and out from different teams.

Highlander has planted an organic garden for serving fresh fruit and vegetables in our workshop center and in a team led by intern Jenny Paris, crews filled in a rabbit-proofing trench around the fence, weeded, planted kale and herbs, built trellises, and designed and painted 2 signs for the garden - "Highlander Garden: How Does Your Garden Grow?" and "El Jardin de Amor, A Labor of Love". We ate some of our first lettuces during the work week, and planted a new crop for the next group to come.

In our desire to encourage more interaction with the woods and natural beauty of Highlander's land, we are building a series of trails throughout the 186 acres. In this first step, a team worked with Highlander staff Roberto Tijerina to clear an old postal service road that takes you by beautiful rock outcroppings to the edge of our new property.

Another team led by Louisville organizer and musician Carol Kraemer built chairs out of shipping pallets. Most shipping pallets end up in land fills so in addition to providing 3 adult chairs, a bench and 2 children's chairs for sitting throughout Highlander's grounds, the chair building modeled recycling and sustainability.

All of this work was overseen by Highlander's building and grounds manager, Johnny Bailey who said "It was a really productive week with a really great group of people. Everyone seemed really motivated to help us out, we all worked hard, and everyone had a good time."

In the evenings, we rejuvenated our minds and bodies from the day's hard work with singing, storytelling, square dancing, and homemade ice cream.

Highlander is deeply grateful for the hard work accomplished by the W-7 crew and inspired by the people who came. Look for details for a fall W-7 on our website soon.

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One of the most important pieces of legislation to address workers rights in decades was introduced in Congress on March 10, 2009. The Employee Free Choice Act (HR.1409 / S.560) addresses the right of workers with three simple and powerful steps.

1. The Employee Free Choice Act provides a fair path to form unions through direct majority sign-up.
2. It enables employees to secure a contract within a finite, reasonable time period.
3. It toughens penalties against employers who violate workers' rights.

All this sounds so basic and fair one would think it was already the case, but American workers trying to organize a union are put through hoops and obstacles that workers in dozens of other countries are not. The bail-out discussions made it abundantly clear how conservative forces want to destroy organized labor in this country, and, in fact, the Chamber of Commerce has made stopping the Employee Free Choice Act their number one priority.

To learn more about the Employee Free Choice Act, why it so important to a progressive agenda for all of us, and to take action go to:

• www.aflcio.org/joinaunion/voiceatwork/efca/whatis.cfm
• www.americanrightsatwork.org/employee-free-choice-act/
• www.freechoiceact.org/page/s/smwia

Or visit the website of your favorite union.

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The STAY Project Summer Institute for Appalachian Youth will bring together young people from across Appalachia to learn about each other's work, ideas, and vision for the region and to figure out a way to make things happen for themselves and the places where they live. At the STAY Institute, participants will have a chance to meet young people across the region who are working on issues of justice and community change, learn new skills to support their work, and be part of a network of awesome youth leaders!

For more information and to register online, click here.

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The 10th Annual Seeds of Fire Camp is a weeklong camp for Southern and Appalachian youth-led and youth centered groups organizing for social change. The camp is focused on changing the education and juvenile justice systems in our communities and states and across the country, while examining the world we live in. Due to the acknowledged economic crises and the economic crises our communities have been suffering with throughout, we also be looking at economics personally and systemically and we will look at how our education and juvenile justice system are impacted by the economic system.

For more information and to register online, click here.

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In March, people from across the United States and the world gathered in Massachusetts to expand the work and vision of the United States Solidarity Economy Network (USSEN). This umbrella organization started at the U.S. Social Forum in Atlanta in 2007, inspired by solidarity economy work in other countries and an international network, RIPESS, that works to connect information and alternative strategies for building an economy that has values beyond profit - an economy that recognizes the importance of people, communities, environment and equity.

Highlander staff, board and community members attended this forum, to learn more about it and to explore whether the Solidarity Economy Network is useful for groups in the South and Appalachia. It is clear that there are many people and groups around the world building alternative structures that can create a different reality. Some of these notions are not new, and some are very new, but it is an exciting way to help us think differently. Groups involved in the USSEN represent credit unions, cooperatives, labor, community housing, alternative agricultural models, along with people trying to figure out how to use the current economic crisis to push for different economic thinking to guide our politics and use of resources. Elandria Williams, Highlander staff, is part of the organizing and education committee for the USSEN. Staff and board members who went are working to develop a workshop to explore the current economic crisis, with a view towards alternative thinking and strategies.

For more information, go to www.ussen.org. Also, the Center for Popular Economics, which has been staffing the USSEN, is offering both an online class and a week-long institute on the Economic Crisis and Building a Solidarity Economy. For more information, visit www.populareconomics.org.

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Highlander staff member Susan Williams - coordinator of our Education Team and our Library/Resource Center - was one of the keynote speakers at the eighth annual California Association of Freirean Educators (CAFE) conference in Los Angeles on May 9th.

In addition to the keynote address, Susan presented Highlander's 75th anniversary DVD, talked about popular education, and facilitated our "living history" exercise, an interactive introduction to Highlander's history. She also attended a number of interesting workshops, including a session with participants from the Instituto de Educcacion Popular del Sur de California, who are organizing day laborers. One interesting thing they are doing is using cell phones to document people's stories at day laborer centers, on busses and at workplaces.

CAFÉ's goal is to open up dialogue around the themes of education and social justice in and outside of our classrooms. The conference was sponsored by the Paulo Freire Institute at UCLA in collaboration with Los Angeles Trade-Technical College (LATTC) and held at the Los Angeles Trade-Technical College on May 9-10. It was attended by students and teachers from around California and representatives from community groups in L.A.

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On March 12, 2009, Highlander staff member Susan Williams travelled to Asheville, NC, to facilitate a class on globalization. The class, held in a multi-racial neighborhood, was the second in a series of gatherings to talk about the economy. Participants included Ukrainians, Latin Americans, and African Americans, requiring three-way interpretation in Russian, Spanish, and English.

The group talked about globalization by exploring examples from their own experiences. During the discussion for example, participants looked at the labels in their shirts and talked about how the textile and apparel plants used to be such an important industry in North Carolina. One woman had even worked at one of these plants years ago before it closed and moved. Participants also talked about what's happening to people they know - lots of reduced hours, some lay-offs, a family who had moved to the apartment from a three-bedroom home because they couldn't afford it - and connected this with what is happening in the economy.

Finally, the group talked about what could be done - including planting a potato garden in the neighborhood, developing more relationships so that people would smile and wave at one another, and sharing information about jobs. They also talked about socialism, and one woman mentioned that she had 1-1/2 years of support in Russia when she had her baby. "You know," she said, "socialism wasn't all bad!"

The class was organized by staff from two western North Carolina groups that have participated in Highlander programs: Just Economics, which attended the Solidarity Economy meeting at Highlander in 2008, and Nuestro Centro, which is participating in the THREADS multi-racial organizing and leadership development institute. Altogether, it was an amazing experience - and a good reminder of how much a group of people know if you let them talk.

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On April 18th, a small group of volunteer gardeners from the Good Karma Gardening Circle weeded and mulched the flower gardens by the office and the Horton House. They also had a delicious pot-luck lunch at the Horton House, joined by Highlander interns and staff. The picture below was taken after lunch. Thanks to everyone who helped.

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Highlander is pleased to announce the publication of "Building Immigrant Leaders in the South: INDELI 2004-06," the final report of our immigrant leadership institute.

From October 2004 to October 2006, Highlander implemented the Institute for Immigrant Leadership Development (Instituto para el Desarrollo del Liderazgo Inmigrante, or INDELI, in Spanish) to promote and support the effort of Latin@ immigrant organizing in the Southeast through leadership development, political education and strengthening immigrant-led grassroots organizations.

This report describes and evaluates INDELI, provides feedback from participants and offers some recommendations and best practices for those wishing to implement similar programs.

Among the most compelling parts of the report are the voices of the participants, testifying to the impact of INDELI on their lives and work.

[Through INDELI I got] confidence in myself and the ability to say yes, I can do it or I can work in an organization… and to be a good popular organizer because I remember that I used to say that I wasn't a leader organizer but thanks to INDELI . . . I am.

My idea [was] that if people get organized it was because of a professional who knew how to do it . . . someone from above who is giving orders to someone else to do something. . . . But little by little my idea changed . . . [organizing] became very familiar . . . and I think we can do it.

I learned that in this you have to struggle, you have to struggle in this life . . . if you don't struggle you don't win. That you have to unite, being united is the most important . . . that's what I learned from Highlander.

I learned to love myself, personally. I learned to respect myself and to respect the differences among others and to tolerate more things than I did before. I also learned that as human beings one has rights, which I didn't know before. I thought that by being in this country… I didn't deserve anything. Because that's the way things were. But now I realize that it's different.

The report is available for download on the Highlander website at here.

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