Make The Road New York
Make the Road New York (MRNY), or Se Hace Camino Nueva York, is an immigrant-led grassroots organization that mobilizes Latine, Black, and immigrant groups in New York. Created in 2007, MRNY was actually a merger organization of Make the Road by Walking (MRBW) and the Latin American Integration Center (LAIC). MRBW was founded in 1997 by low-income Bushwick, Brooklyn residents of color. The organization pushed for community organizing and leadership. The LAIC was founded in 1992, in Jackson Heights, Queens, equipping Latin American immigrants with education, citizenship support, and community.
MRNY holds centers in Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, and Westchester County for each region and its immigrant population. It offers many programs, designed to address the specific needs of immigrant community members: Adult Literacy, Civic Engagement, Community Organizing, Health Access, Leadership Development, Legal Services, and Youth Power Project & School Programs. The organization strives to provide the community with educational skills, knowledge of their rights, and leadership skills, in order for them to vote, file legal complaints, and organize within their community. From addressing the needs of children and teenagers to supporting the older members of the community, MRNY works to provide all members with the knowledge and skills necessary to fight for their rights as a collective.
MRNY has made immense progress in legal matters, as it filed a complaint with the Commission on Human Rights against the NYPD’s 110th precinct on the basis of profiling and discrimination. As policing is an especially urgent matter in communities of color in New York City, and Black and brown people are targeted by NYPD, the organization works to educate young members about their rights. They have even advocated for the passage of the Community Safety Act, decreasing stop-and-frisk rates in New York City. Additionally, MRNY represents numerous DACA recipients in a lawsuit against Donald Trump’s presidential administration’s cessation of the DACA program, such as Martín Batalla Vidal, an immigrant from Mexico. MRNY has also been involved in the passage of the New York Dream Act in 2019.
From its conception to its expansion into other boroughs (and even counties in the state), MRNY has worked immensely to provide its community members with the tools necessary to address injustice and discrimination. With an accessible website that holds all the necessary information, guides, news stories, and programs to stay informed and educated about one’s rights and opportunities to work toward justice and social change, MRNY is tirelessly making history as an organization of immigrant community members for immigrant community members.
Sources:
Amin, Reema. “New York Legislators Pass Dream Act.” Chalkbeat New York, 23 Jan. 2019, ny.chalkbeat.org/2019/1/23/21106651/new-york-legislators-pass-dream-act.
Bobo, Kimberley A.; Pabellón, Marien Casillas (2016). The Worker Center Handbook: A Practical Guide to Starting and Building the New Labor Movement. Ithaca, NY: ILR Press.
McAlevey, Jane (2014). “The High-Touch Model: Make the Road New York’s Participatory Approach to Immigrant Organizing”. In Milkman, Ruth; Ott, Ed (eds.). New Labor in New York. Ithaca, NY: ILR Press. pp. 173–186. JSTOR 10.7591/j.ctt5hh18v.12.
https://maketheroadny.org/