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!
