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Feminists Around the World: Guerline Jozef

Feminists Around the World: Guerline Jozef

Released Tuesday, 5th March 2024
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Feminists Around the World: Guerline Jozef

Feminists Around the World: Guerline Jozef

Feminists Around the World: Guerline Jozef

Feminists Around the World: Guerline Jozef

Tuesday, 5th March 2024
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Episode Transcript

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0:05

Hey, this is any and Samantha, what come to stuff?

0:07

I ever told you a prediction of iHeartRadio.

0:18

And today we are highlighting

0:21

the amazing works of Garlin

0:24

Joseph, a Haitian activist who's been

0:26

working to fight for our community and other refugees

0:28

around the world. And yes, obviously

0:32

we're still carrying on and making sure

0:34

we are talking about all the people's

0:37

no matter what month, it is, more feminists

0:39

around the world, and we will never stop. It's

0:42

Women's History month now, so we're talking

0:44

more women's surprise, surprise,

0:46

surprise, surprise, And

0:49

yes, we were talking women's as an inclusive

0:51

of every person who identifies

0:53

as women and according to Amnesty

0:56

dot org, as of July twenty twenty

0:58

three, she runs the the only black and

1:01

Haitian women led organization that

1:03

works to help migrants on either side

1:05

of the US Mexico border, which

1:07

is the Haitian Bridge Alliance or HbA

1:10

were also known as the Bridge. Joseph

1:13

has been outspoken about the needs of

1:15

the migrant community and the racist and inhumane

1:17

treatment of the refugees. She's been at the

1:19

forefront of not only working to educate

1:21

the public and migrants of the knees and dangers

1:24

the migrant community faces, but she's

1:26

been a political activist working to seek political

1:28

and social change.

1:29

Joseph started her advocacy activism as

1:31

a child, witnessing the inequalities and

1:34

its treatment of so many of her community.

1:36

In the twenty twenty one Forbes article titled a

1:38

Black Immigrants Mission to center Black Migrants

1:41

at the Southern Border, they quote Joseph

1:44

remembers when her father took her to meet Abner

1:47

Louima, a Haitian immigrant wrongfully

1:49

arrested, handcuffed, and forcefully sodomized

1:51

with a broken broomstick by two New York City

1:53

Police Department officers. As

1:56

a little girl, I had a chance to bear witness to

1:58

real violence against black bears. I

2:00

remember holding my father's hand as he took me

2:02

to visit mister Louima in the hospital, said Joseph,

2:05

co founder and executive director of the Haitian Bridge Alliance.

2:08

While a Haitian just like me, it was clear that those

2:10

two officers saw his color before they ever

2:12

considered his immigration status or country

2:14

of origin. Joseph continued seeing

2:17

Abner Luima laying in that bed, barely

2:19

breathing and missing most of his teeth made

2:21

it clear that my blackness and my immigration

2:23

status are interconnected, and

2:25

the article continues. That moment in

2:28

nineteen ninety seven, coupled with a twenty fifteen

2:30

phone call from a colleague about Haitian migrant

2:32

seeking asylum on the US Mexico border,

2:35

turned Joseph from an outspoken immigration

2:37

advocate to a black immigrant woman on

2:39

a mission to center black immigrants, those

2:41

already in the United States, and especially those praying

2:44

and hoping for entry and refuge on America's

2:46

southern.

2:46

Border, and with that

2:48

she started her organization, the Haitian

2:51

Bridge Alliance. Oh here's what their website

2:53

says. The Haitian Bridge Alliance

2:55

HbA, also known as The Bridge, as a grassroots,

2:58

nonprofit community organization that advocates

3:00

for fair and humane immigration policies

3:03

and provides migrants and immigrants with humanitarian,

3:06

legal and social services, with a particular

3:08

focus on black people, the Haitian community,

3:10

women and girls, LGBTQIA

3:13

plus individuals and survivors

3:15

of torture and other human rights abuse. It

3:18

goes on, we focus on the issues

3:20

unique to black migrants and build solidarity

3:22

and collective movement toward policy change.

3:25

We work closely with the black migrant communities

3:27

throughout the United States progressive coalitions

3:29

fighting anti blackness and advocate

3:31

locally, nationally, and internationally for

3:33

fair and just immigration policies. We're

3:36

working to end racist border policies

3:38

like the Remain in Mexico policy Title forty

3:41

two and the Border to Prison and Deportation

3:43

Pipeline. We advocate for the expansion

3:46

of TPS, protection for more communities,

3:48

DACA, and an overhaul of the asylum system

3:50

that centers dignity and passion, not

3:52

cruelty. Since twenty sixteen, HbA

3:55

has regularly brought delegations of lawyers,

3:57

doctors, and other volunteers to the

3:59

same Diego Tijuana border to provide

4:02

humanitarian relief to Haitian and other

4:04

black migrants from Africa. We also

4:06

work with Haitian migrants in Tapatula, Mexico,

4:09

and were the first organizations on the ground

4:11

during the Del Rio emergency. We

4:13

aim to transform the perception of the border

4:15

from the misguided stereotype that it only

4:18

impacts a certain set of people to Transamerican

4:20

global space that includes black people, because

4:23

immigration is a black issue.

4:25

And here is a bit directly about Joseph and

4:27

her work within the organization quote

4:30

with many hands, that work is light. This Haitian

4:33

proverb serves as Garlin Joseph's inspiration

4:35

and the vision behind the Haitian Bridge Alliance in twenty

4:38

fifteen. Garlin is a human rights advocate

4:40

who dedicates her life to bringing awareness

4:42

to issues that affect us all locally and globally,

4:45

such as immigration, domestic violence, child

4:47

sexual abuse, and other human rights

4:49

issues. And she and her organization

4:52

have been doing their continuous work in

4:54

order to get justice and help for the migrant

4:56

community, and part of that work

4:58

has been to fight against Title FI two

5:00

in the US, which was finally lifted in twenty twenty

5:02

three, but a lot of heavy stipulations

5:04

were still put into place.

5:06

Right and just a note, Title forty

5:09

two is quote created to address public

5:11

health and social welfare and grants the government

5:13

the ability to take emergency action in numerous

5:16

ways, including to stop

5:18

the introduction of communical diseases. While

5:20

the code has been in place for decades,

5:23

it was used widely beginning in March

5:25

twenty twenty by the administration of then

5:27

President Donald Trump in order to regulate

5:29

border crossings under the premise of increased

5:32

COVID nineteen precautions. The Trump

5:34

administration used Title forty two essentially

5:36

to override immigration law that allowed

5:39

people to ask for asylum after entering

5:41

illegally and said we could send

5:43

them back across the border, arguing

5:46

that taking micros into custody and federal

5:48

facilities would create more of a

5:50

public health risk. And that was from

5:52

the PBS article.

5:54

And recently, Joseph and the bridge helped

5:56

bring a lawsuit against the current administration

5:59

for quote, racial discrimination and rights

6:01

violations of Haitian asylum seekers. In

6:04

truthout dot org, they write the suit

6:06

was brought on behalf of eleven Haitian asylum seekers

6:08

who were abused by US border agents as more

6:10

than fifteen thousand people, mostly from Haiti,

6:13

were forced to stay in a makeshift border encampment

6:15

on the banks of the Rio Grande near the Acuna

6:17

del Rio International Bridge in Texas.

6:20

One of the plaintiffs is Mirard Joseph,

6:23

the asylum seeker whose image went viral after

6:25

being photographed while a border patrol agent on

6:27

horseback lashed him with split

6:30

reins, grabbed his neck, and gripped

6:32

Joseph by the shirt collar.

6:34

Right, And they quoted Joseph in that article,

6:36

as her saying, this is a critical

6:38

junction in our country here in the United States,

6:41

as we make sure to uphold human rights and

6:43

understanding seeking asylum is a human

6:45

right. We will continue to push forward

6:47

and make sure that accountability is served,

6:50

but also we have systematic change in the way

6:52

that we receive people in the United States,

6:54

and just as a side, the lawsuit was originally

6:57

filed in twenty twenty one, but

6:59

was just her last week, and according.

7:01

To the transcript from the hearing, Joseph testified

7:04

for what they were asking for in

7:06

that hearing quote, there are a few

7:08

things we are asking for. We'll be able to share

7:10

more as the case continues, but one of the

7:12

things we are asking is accountability, justice

7:15

for those people to be able to get a fair access

7:17

to protection as they continue to barely

7:19

survive because the conditions in Haiti continue

7:21

to be extremely difficult, and the deportation

7:24

and expulsions of those people were found to be unacceptable.

7:27

So we will continue to fight and we are

7:29

grateful that the judge listened to our request to continue

7:32

this case. And even though the government said

7:34

that our case had no basis,

7:36

and what the world saw is that what we witnessed,

7:39

but we will continue to push forward and make

7:41

sure that accountability is served. But

7:43

also we have systematic change in the

7:45

way that we receive people in the United States

7:48

and making sure we have a fair, just

7:51

immigration system where people can continue to

7:53

seek asylum and seek protection.

8:05

Obviously, she and her organization

8:08

are quite busy again, like we said,

8:10

last week was the hearing in front of the judges.

8:13

And just to add to her mini roles, here's a

8:15

bit of information on other things that

8:17

Joseph has been a part of and continues

8:20

to do. According to her biography

8:22

on docs dot house dot gov. Miss

8:24

Joseph created Tales from the US Mexico,

8:26

Borderlands and Beyond and Immigration Information

8:29

Session focusing on Black immigrants and the

8:31

Borderlands and Beyond. She is

8:33

also a co creator of Faith and Action

8:35

and Immigration Justice Movement in Southern California,

8:38

a four part immigration program for both impacted

8:41

communities and allies. Miss Joseph

8:43

uses her platform FYI for Your

8:45

Inspiration Radio located

8:48

in Mission Behill with correspondence

8:50

in Africa to give a voice to the voiceless

8:52

coast to coast and around the world. Miss

8:54

Joseph also served as an advisory member

8:56

to Voices against Violence and their efforts

8:58

to prevent domestic violence in California and

9:00

around the world. She was a chairwoman of Award

9:03

and Action from twenty thirteen to twenty nineteen,

9:05

a nonprofit organization that aims to

9:07

prevent and decrease the occurrence of

9:09

child sexual abuse.

9:11

And here are some accolades she has received. According

9:13

to the National Alliance for Advancement of Haitian

9:15

Professionals quote, Miss Joseph was

9:17

named one of Politico's twenty twenty one forty

9:20

most Influential people on race, politics,

9:22

and policy in the United States for her

9:24

leadership and is the recipient of prestigious

9:26

awards, most recently the LOSS America's

9:29

twenty twenty one Border Heroes Award,

9:31

the twenty twenty one Robert F. Kennedy Human

9:33

Rights Award, the twenty twenty two National

9:36

Haitian American Elected Officials Network Community

9:38

Champion Award, and the twenty twenty two

9:40

American Immigration Lawyers Associations

9:43

Arthur C. Helton Human Rights Award.

9:46

That's quite unmouthful, but she deserves

9:48

all of those awards.

9:50

And war you know, I know these awards

9:52

are great, but the fact that we have to attach

9:54

people's names on it and make it even

9:56

longer instead of vagueous America

10:00

Immigration Lawyers Association Human Rights Award.

10:05

I feel like I nailed the last You

10:08

nailed everything about that anyway.

10:10

And by the way, these are just her recent

10:13

awards. She has a bigger list like started

10:15

like way back early two thousands, like twenty nineteen,

10:17

like she received so many more that

10:20

were just not going down the list. She doesn't

10:22

have a Wikipedia page, which is

10:24

horrifying to me because I'm like, she's

10:26

one these accolades I

10:28

don't understand. And she's doing so much work

10:31

with Haitian community and

10:33

the immigrant situation. Obviously

10:36

again doing some amazing things. She was testifying

10:39

in front of the White House as well. I

10:41

think she actually had a whole thing where

10:43

it was presented to President Biden

10:46

as well in these conversations

10:48

and again had a huge part in taking down

10:51

or making sure that title forty two was autsigned,

10:54

resigned, or renewed.

10:56

And I think it actually went away in twenty twenty

10:58

three. So it was supposed to go in a way in twenty

11:00

twenty one, but it stuck around the

11:03

under the guys at COVID. This

11:05

is a COVID measure, which is abhorrent

11:09

anyway, But yes, amazing

11:11

works from garyln Joseph, and I'm sure we're

11:13

gonna hear a lot more, especially with that case.

11:16

Yes, and if any listeners, because

11:18

I know we've talked about this before, if you have

11:21

the time and the interest of making a Wikipedia

11:24

page, you can.

11:27

Here's a suggestion. And

11:29

if you have any suggestions for us

11:31

for people we could cover in the segment or organizations

11:34

we could cover, you can let us

11:36

know. You can email us at Stephanie momsteffantiheartmedia

11:38

dot com. You can find us on Twitter at momsue podcast

11:41

or on Instagram and TikTok at stuff One Ever Told

11:43

You. We have a tea public story and we have a book you

11:45

can get wherever you get your books. Thanks us always

11:47

to our super producer Christina, executive producer

11:49

Maya, and your contributor Joey. Thank you

11:52

and thanks to you for listening. Stefan Never Told

11:54

You is production by Heart Radio. For more podcasts from my heart

11:56

Radio, you can check out the heart Radio app Apple Podcasts

11:58

wherever you listen to your favorite shows.

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