Support Tierras Milperas Move out to Community Lands

For Immediate Release

Contact: Hugo Nava 

(831) 687-9455

consejojardinesmilperos@gmail.com

No agreement was reached and the dialogue was exhausted. We see your solidarity and support in the petition you circulated. This was important for our community and our fight for remaining in our current garden site. Tierras Milperas families are not alone. Our legal advisors are now going to move this forward. For now, we have found ourselves in need of finding a new site to relocate our garden and belongings. All we are asking for is time. Time so we can harvest our crops and transition our belongings to a new location. We are now asking the church for February 28, 2024 as the final date to fully vacate from their site and mid November 2023 to move out of the office/storage space. 15 days was not enough nor will 2 months we need until the end of the harvest and some time to justly move. 

After 12 atmospheric rivers and a devastating flood that impacted our homes, livelihoods and community we are now in the midst of  another move in our community. The majority of the agricultural land area in the Pajaro Valley continues to be held by large corporate owners and the land areas within the city limits are few to host more than 51 families. Our families have already felt displacement many times before, some even continue to travel from Salinas to plant and build community here even after being priced out of Watsonville.  We find ourselves in the need to raise funds to move out and we ask our community at large to support us in this new phase as we search for a land area we can call home and transform into community lands in campesin@ hands. 

We are raising $500,000 to support our collective move and as seed money for a downpayment for land where we can grow the production of foods and reproduction of community that value earth and our labor. Support our GOFUNDME bit.ly/yeslandnolord our Unpaid Labor & Stolen Land Fund which will support Tierras Milperas move towards community held land. 

Stay connected for more updates on our community move out.

#yeslandnolo #campesinolandjustice #unpaidlabor&landfund #communitylandincampesin@hands #wearealltierrasmilperas

STOP THE EVICTION

For Immediate Release

Contact: Hugo Nava 

(831) 687-9455

consejojardinesmilperos@gmail.com

EPISCOPAL CHURCH AGAIN MOVES TO EVICT FARMWORKER LED-ORGANIZATION  FROM COMMUNITY GARDEN 

Watsonville, CA- 51 families of the farmworker-led community organization Tierras Milperas are facing renewed orders to vacate the premises from their office and garden at the All Saints/Cristo Rey Episcopal Church.  Last summer, Bishop Lucinda Ashby of the El Camino Real Diocese unjustly terminated Tierras Milperas’ lease with no prior communication. Bishop Ashby accused, with no substantiation, community insecurity, illicit activities, and unauthorized people as grounds for early termination. The Bishop also falsely claimed that the then-Pastor of the Church attempted to communicate with Tierras Milperas representatives with no avail.  In November, however, the Diocese quietly removed the pastor from his post and agreed to move forward with Tierras Milperas. After 2 months of mediation, the Deacon in charge ultimately refused to sign any mediation agreements created with Tierras Milperas and is now forcing us out by end of day of May 14, 2023.    

Tierras Milpera’s vision has centered in creating for ourselves a peaceful sanctuary to grow food, nutrition, and community, a place where farmworker families can find refuge after working 8 or more hours in the industrial agricultural fields and decide together the future of their community and the gardens they care for directly.  The last mediation meeting with the church was abruptly ended before it began by Deacon in charge, Robert Sommer, who now claims he and the Episcopal Church are not in agreement with Tierras Milperas’ vision.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

The Deacon repeatedly assured our community that we would make a new lease for as long as we would like and that mediation was to focus on communication details. We felt he understood the negative impact the Bishop and the Pastor had on our community when they called us dangerous and ended our contract 3 years early last summer. What is now clear is that the Deacon has no honor in his word.

The order to vacate will interrupt harvest and further disrupt the lives of farmworker families of Tierras Milperas who are still recovering from the flood impacts on their livelihoods, communities, and homes.   

Tierras Milperas’ vision of peace, tranquility, communication, respect, and honor to our word only appeared to resonate with the Deacon initially; we now understand directly from him that All Saints/Cristo Rey leadership and the El Camino Real Diocese don’t value this vision.

Tierras Milperas families have cultivated the land at All Saints/Cristo Rey for the last 13 years. Our seeds are planted. The Deacon and the Diocese continue to misunderstand that garden families are Tierras Milperas and this is who they are asking to vacate the premises. We say WE ARE ALL TIERRAS MILPERAS. WE CALL ON A STOP TO THE EVICTION OF OUR FAMILIES. https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/stop-the-eviction-of-tierras-milperas?source=direct_link&

WE ARE ALL TIERRAS MILPERAS! STOP THE EVICTION!

In Defense of Campesino Dignity & Community Organization

Watsonville- On August 7, Pastor Lawrence Robles, representing All Saints/Cristo Rey Episcopal Church walked out of our meeting where we were looking to discuss a lease extension for one of our community gardens. Bishop Lucinda Ashby and Pastor Robles say that our members in some way are responsible for criminal activity on church property. Now they mention “let’s work on conditions for a 90-day extension, we are committed to clear and frequent dialogue”, however this conversation finally opened after flooding social media networks with the media. As indigenous farmworkers, migrants, and people of color, we have experienced these types of racist accusations made against us far too many times. Too many institutions have a long history of oppression and displacement of families of color, indigenous families, and campesino families. Our frustration is excessive as we see this reflected again in the hostile attitude of Pastor Robles when he blames us for things that are out of our control, when he storms out of our first meeting on August 7 and when he maintains that we must comply with conditions that subject us to to public scrutiny and policing over who can or cannot enter our garden.

On September 18, the second dialogue was attempted, representatives of All Saints/Cristo Rey refused to remove the conditions for a contract extension. Meanwhile, representatives of the diocese and church continue to implement divisive tactics towards our organization.

“We are all Tierras Milperas. The land we have worked has 12 years of our sweat. Land that we have resuscitated. In the last two years we organized ourselves. If they want to kick one out, they'll have to kick us all out."

The new episcopal church administration again refused to respect our organization and tried to make their own biased judgments on individual gardeners. They made baseless accusations about the behavior of our community, without any type of proof or evidence, we feel that the only explanation for their accusations is racism, classism and anti-immigrant sentiment. We will not allow this institution and no other to track the families that care for this garden. We are being unfairly profiled because the Church does not require the same private records from other groups that use Church space. We refuse to be treated differently because we are an organized collective of migrant families. The termination of our lease contract and the conditional 90-day extension have been injustices implemented by the church without any foundation or evidence only to signal us out.

“The father repeats that safety and security and I told him the other time our solutions and the problem would be over, why does he have to repeat security? If the previous father never commented on that, everything was very calm, we were all fine, we had communication, everything was fine, and overnight this father came and changed everything. That we are doing something illegal that this and there were so many things that we were blamed for something that we have done absolutely nothing of what we are accused of. We ask that they give a solution to this, because this has already gone too far.”

Now because of the pain the truths we presented have caused them, perhaps they thought that by deleting their communications on the el camino real diocese's blog and publishing their July notes in September, they think we will forget the damage they have caused? We deserve an open dialogue about the truth to acknowledge this history, repair and restore the respect and trust that they have broken.

The truth cannot be erased by bringing down a web page or asking us not to look back.

We are a People with Memory.

THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH DISCRIMINATES AGAINST TIERRAS MILPERAS FARMWORKING FAMILIES & INSISTS ON EVICTION

Watsonville, CA- Tierras Milperas currently rents 1 acre of land in the Episcopal Church of Watsonville California, it is our largest community garden of the 7 that until now are under the care of our working hands from the field, who love, care for and respect the land for considering it sacred. For 12 years we have been working the land organically for the family even after 8, 9, 10… hours of the working day in the fields of the agricultural industry. Unfortunately, the work and sanctuary of relief and nutrition of 46 of our 140 families has been interrupted by the new administration in the All Saints/Cristo Rey Episcopal Church and the El Camino Real diocese who broke the contract on June 2 that would be valid until 2026. Tierras Milperas sought dialogue with the church 5 times and we have only received unfounded accusations, accusations of criminal acts through letters and emails. Meanwhile, our contract remains null and the Bishop has not invited Tierras Milperas to a dialogue and only confuses our fiscal sponsor, whom only supports us fiscally they do not govern Tierras Milperas.

Our community arrives in daylight and sometimes leaves shortly after dusk, over the years we have organized this space as required. Now we can plant all the crops that have fed our peoples for thousands of years with the essential components of our traditional milpa. We see more attendance from neighbors, sometimes they ask us for flowers to decorate their tables, we have also seen an increase in people who come to walk their dogs, ride a bike, take a walk or even enter the garden to browse. Three years ago, a member of the Watsonville community found this church so attractive that the church allowed him to live on their property and even recently hired him. Unfortunately, on May 15, he was found dead inside of his vehicle where he slept, a misfortune considered by the church as "suspicious death". But why not clarify it? What or who prevents it? Is it racism, discrimination, xenophobia, what is it, tell us...?

The families that make up Tierras Milperas are extremely surprised at the attitude that the current administration of All Saints has taken, taking this information to the communications apparatus of this episcopal institution, now stained with negligence. As Tierras Milperas we have invited Bishop Lucinda Ashby, Reverend Lawrence Robles and the bishop's committee to clarify the false information that has reached them but they seem to enjoy trying to make us less. We feel that they want to burn us alive as when they burned "witches" or when Europe came to take over these lands for being considered by them soulless beings for them. We have been open to reparation through constructive dialogue and they pretend we don't exist, as if they forgot that this city and this entire valley is agriculture and since the abolition of slavery they eat because of us.

“We exist and we are in the 7 gardens, our proof is the gardens” Eliodoro Martinez council of elders of Tierras Milperas ``They have not wanted to listen, they have only addressed the fiscal sponsor and the fiscal sponsor is not Tierras Milperas. We are Tierras Milperas.”

On the afternoon of Friday, June 17, we received an email inviting our coordinator to "meet" the bishop's committee on Sunday the 19th at 12:30 pm (Father's Day), announcing that they were giving 15 minutes. We arrived at 12:20 pm, about 20 gardeners went with him, we waited outside the church, finally he was allowed to speak at 1:50 pm even though the topic of Tierra Milperas had been scheduled as the last point and they changed it to the first. Said meeting seemed absurd because we are all members and representatives of Tierras Milperas, the coordinator is not the only one who can or should speak for all, in turn the committee only asked if there would be the possibility of relocating the garden and "what were we doing there if the bishop had already decided and only she has the power to decide.” There was no opening, that meeting was made for mockery, so that one person could speak and two ask questions. All the people representing the church could have clarified the false information but now we see that it was just to tease us.

On June 22 Tierras Milperas' community coordinator and commissioner member went to the bishop's office in Salinas to schedule a meeting with her, her assistant set the agenda for June 28, later changed it to June 29 and finally canceled this meeting altogether the same June 28. We sent a direct email to the bishop on the 28th to mention that we were willing to meet with her, since she had already spoken with Reverend Robles, none of our emails have been answered. The evasive and extremely offensive attitude of the current administration is totally visible, we never imagined being in such a shameful situation because they even dare to single us out as criminals. We do not understand why use the body of the Episcopal church to try to destroy our migrant farmworker organization when they could instead investigate the origin of these absurd arguments and instead truthfully support our campesinos families rather than criminalize them.

While the bishop and the reverend feed xenophobic and racist Rhetoric in their public Statements

WE…

Seed Direct DIALOGUE with the Bishop and her Team

TO FIND TRUTH.

NO EVICTION OF TIERRAS MILPERAS!

TRUTH & REPARATIONS!

PRESS RELEASE

IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 13, 2022 

CONTACT: Hugo Nava Community Coordinator: (831) 687-9455; consejojardinesmilperos@gmail.com 

EPISCOPAL CHURCH EVICTS 46 CAMPESINO FAMILIES OF WATSONVILLE

BISHOP LUCINDA ASHBY UNJUSTLY TERMINATES LEASE WITH TIERRAS MILPERAS COMMUNITY GARDENS DURING PEAK GROWING SEASON

Watsonville, CA - Tierras Milperas is a campesino-led organization stewarding 7 community gardens in Watsonville. Twelve years ago farmworker families built their first garden, now they face an unjust eviction from this land by Bishop Lucinda Ashby and Watsonville’s All Saints/Cristo Rey Episcopal Church. The pending eviction will go into effect on August 1 displacing 46 families from the community garden at the peak of the growing season.

On June 2nd Tierras Milperas indirectly received an email signed by Bishop Ashby terminating the five year lease that the organization signed in 2021. Ashby argues with no substantiation community insecurity, illicit activities, unauthorized people, and inability to communicate with Tierras Milperas representatives as grounds for early termination of the lease. Tierra Milperas immediately responded with an invitation for both Bishop Ashby and her team to a dialogue, yet multiple petitions and opportunities to discuss directly with the campesino families of Tierras Milperas about the reasons and terms of the eviction continue to be ignored.  

“We already gathered some signatures and we will see what can be done. We have to fight so they don't take it away because what they are saying is not true. Those are simply false words, false things were told to the reverend and we want to clear all that up” said Agustin Contreras, member of  Tierras Milperas’ Council of Elders.

“We grow our own food because of the love of family and mother earth. After working in the industrial agricultural fields, where chemicals destroy the soil and contaminate the water, we come to our garden to cultivate and gather with other families, to enjoy rest from the toil of the fields, and do so with great effort in search of our family’s well being” said Eliodoro Martinez,  Farmer and member of Tierras Milpera’s Council of Elders. “For this reason we have come to Watsonville with our seeds from our communities in the global south in search of peace that has been denied to us.” 

One of Tierras Milperas’ core principles is to create sanctuaries for farmworker families who experience a disproportionate lack of safety in their workplaces. 95% of Tierras Milperas’ membership are farmworkers and the group considers its gardens as venues of relief where respect is a fundamental value.

Tierras Milperas was formed by campesino families who depend on the land to nourish their communities, families and livelihoods. They are calling on Bishop Lucinda Ashby to publicly rescind the lease termination notice and dialogue in good faith with Tierras Milperas. Supporters can contact Bishop Lucinda to ask her to RESCIND the Eviction of Tierra Milpera’s Campesino Families and engage in a DIALOGUE WITH Tierras Milperas. 

https://www.realepiscopal.org/contact/

COPY
https://all-saints-cristo-rey-watsonville.org/contact/

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About Tierras Milperas

The migrant and farmworker community at Tierras Milperas comes from many generations of farming traditional milpas (biodiverse cornfields) in the global south as campesinos/as, or small scale farmers. Families built their first garden 12 years ago and in the last two years leveraged the power of their assembly to become self-organized as Tierras Milperas. Together they plant and care for a mosaic of seven community gardens in 4 acres of land throughout Watsonville and Pajaro. www.tierrasmilperas.org; IG @tierras.milperas