A Bronx Tale

The years have been hard on the South Bronx. But there was a time, before the banks disinvested, exposing homes to the arsonist's torch, before crack and AIDS devastated whole families, that kids in the South Bronx knew better than to think that misdeeds would go unreported to their mothers. Back then, family meant the neighborhood and the neighborhood meant community, remembers Cerita Parker. That principle compels Parker--as a black woman, a community organizer and a mother--to champion immigrant rights.

Wearing dark glasses and long braids, Parker shares the message of her mission inside the storefront office of Mothers on the Move (MOM), the grassroots group to which she belongs. She explains to new members, and reminds a few veterans of the South Bronx group, why immigration belongs on their organizing agenda alongside environmental justice, housing and education.

"How can we close our eyes to our neighbors?" asks Parker, referring to undocumented immigrants. "It's just another device to divide and conquer. They want us to compete for the very basic things. No one is talking about the bigger picture."

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