S&B’s Exclusive Interview w/Immigration Activist Will Coley

Will Coley has been an advocate for immigrants and refugees in Charlotte, New York/Newark, and Los Angeles as well as in Zimbabwe and Great Britain, for organizations such as Catholic Charities, American Friends Service Committee, Jesuit Refugee Service and Homies Unidos. For many years, he served as the chair of the Detention Watch Network leadership committee and the detention committee of the New Jersey Immigration Policy Network. Will has a Masters in Public Administration from Columbia University and a certificate in Forced Migration Studies from the Refugee Studies Centre at the University of Oxford. Through Aquifer Media, Will currently assists nonprofit organizations, foundations and community groups utilize digital social media in their strategies for community-building, advocacy and leadership development. More information can be found at http://aquifermedia.com and http://willcoley.com.

We love the self-description on his Twitter page: I’m a latte-drinking, bike-riding, NY Times-reading, taco-loving, social justice do-gooder originally from North Carolina now living in Los Angeles.

The following is our exclusive interview with Mr. Coley:

Spar & Bernstein: What got you involved in activism?

Coley: Even though I was involved in several causes in high school and college, I guess my current activism really took off when I began volunteering to teach English to Vietnamese and Montagard refugees recently resettled in my hometown of Charlotte, North Carolina. I started initially out of curiosity: here in my community were people from the other side of the world with compelling stories, experiencing the culture collision that had fascinated me in college. But ultimately it was seeing the challenges they faced and the shabby welcome they received that challenged me, my values and my faith. Eventually I got a job as a caseworker with the resettlement agency. One of my first assignments was taking refugee families to the DMV to get state ID cards. The women who worked there saw me so often, they’d say, “Here comes Will with all his little people.” Slowly I brought them around to understand that these families deserved assistance like everyone else. And in the end, the refugee communities themselves helped each other with the next step of getting driver licenses.

S&B: What attracted you to the cause of immigration/immigration reform?

Coley: I take to heart the Bible verse from Exodus that says we should “treat strangers as one of our own because [we] were once strangers in Egypt.” When I was seven years old, my father died in a commercial plane crash. My mother, who had lived 20 different places in the 11 years she was married to a military man, moved our family back to the Charlotte area to be near my four grandparents. I often think that the experience of grief, starting over and being a stranger resonated in some small way with the experiences of the refugees I assisted, people who had lost everything. While I started out assisting refugees and then asylum-seekers, I have continued learning about the injustice often faced by newcomers to this country. I often think about the Civil Rights movement and how it was about confronting injustice faced by African-Americans but it also challenged all Americans about the sort of country we wanted to live in. For me, as someone without recent immigration in my family, immigrant rights are also about building the nation we believe in. While the movement should be lead by immigrants, it concerns us all.

S&B: If you were able to change the immigration laws tomorrow, how would you change them?

Coley: Much of my career has taken place after the passage of the 1996 Immigration Act. After graduate school in New York, I got a job with Jesuit Refugee Service to start social service programs for detained asylum seekers in the Elizabeth Detention Center. We launched English classes and the volunteer visitor project that continues with community support, 13 years later. When I witnessed the impact of mandatory detention and lack of discretion for immigration judges, I understand the urgent need for reforming the system. I don’t think more enforcement is the answer: I’ve seen how overzealous and overfunded government agencies have destroyed the lives of individuals, families and communities. This is why I don’t like the label or strategy called “Comprehensive immigration Reform” since it assumes we need to compromise on more enforcement. Even without legislation, President Obama can make administrative changes that could improve the lives of thousands of people. Some might think that this is “Outside the Beltway” naivety but I see it as being accountable to the communities we serve.

S&B: What other causes interest you?

Coley: Obviously immigration doesn’t happen in a vacuum. I’m concerned about issues that create forced migration, like war, conflict, human rights abuses, and supposedly Free Trade. I’m also sort of an outsdoor person so I care about environmental and parks funding issues.

S&B: What are the goals of your activism?

Coley: Since moving to Los Angeles, I’ve found myself increasingly drawn to social media. To me, these online tools are exciting because of how well they mesh with community organizing and leadership development, something that’s often been a part of my work. The Digital Divide is certainly a reality that many communities face. But I believe that the experience of making media, whether it’s a blog post, video short or podcast, is an experience that harnesses creativity and teaches leadership, collaboration and challenges injustice. We can literally make our voices heard through our own networks. Through Aquifer Media, I’ve been consulting with lots of immigrant rights groups that are coming to terms with the new communications landscape. I try to help them see the opportunity we now have. I know that within our movement and community organizing trainings we love butcher paper-based presentations by small groups (I do too). But why can’t we think how to do organizing that results in digital content that immigrants themselves can share with the broader world? (No, we don’t have to ditch butcher paper: relax).

S&B: We saw that you posted this quote by Indian writer and activist Arundhati Roy on your Facebook page: “Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing.” Why is this quote so important to you?

Coley: I like this quote because it’s about hope and knowing that we have something better to look forward to: the nation and the world that we believe in. I also think about how Dr. Martin Luther King once quoted theologian Theodore Parker: “The arc of the moral universe is long but it bends towards justice.”

S&B: Aside from your activism, what do you do?

Coley: I’ve been taking creative writing classes to explore some of things I’ve learned working in this field. I’ve also been putting together work about social media strategy for social justice nonprofit organizations. To be honest, though, it’s hard to make time for writing with the constant siren song of social media beckoning. I’m learning how not to be less of a “human RSS” and participate fully in conversations online that inform my work and writing.

S&B: How long have you lived in LA? And what made you move from NYC? Is the LA activist community different from the one here in New York?

Coley: I’ve been in LA four years now. It took me a while to not be one of those “complaining former New Yorkers” in LA. I still miss New York but have found things to appreciate out here: the beach, the mountains, the weather and no snow. LA has an unexpected charm and many organizations here are doing great work on immigrant rights.

*****

Note: Mr. Coley is currently working with the National Immigrant Bond Fund (http://immigrantbondfund.wordpress.com/ ) and the Detention Watch Network (http://detentionwatchnetwork.wordpress.com/) on their social media strategy as a component of their campaigns.