by Anthony Sandoval

About two dozen women sat Sunday encircling a small stone shrine at the Macehualli center, a self-described cultural embassy of indigenous people in downtown Phoenix.

The women came from California, Louisiana and Florida to protest SB 1070, the nation's toughest immigration new law and to encourage other women to keep fighting.

They included prominent coalition leaders and members such as AFL-CIO Director of Immigration and Community Action, Ana Avendano, Ai-jen Poo, director of the National Domestic Worker Alliance (Ms. foundation grantee), and Grace Chang, a feminist studies professor at the University of California Santa Barbara.

As the procession began, the smell of incense filled the pastel tinted room, and Benita Sozanski, a Nahuacalli elder, adorned the shrine with fresh flowers.

"This is a time to pray and stay strong for our families and our community," Sozanski said.

Using local women's experiences, the delegation argued that SB 1070 makes contact with law enforcement potentially life-shattering.

The women delegation showed video clips of children who were affected by Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's raids in mostly Latino neighborhoods. A 10-year-old girl explained how she couldn't sleep or eat after both her parent's were detained in a raid at their workplace.

Tamar McFarlane, 26, and Aisha Lewis, 26, found it easy to relate to the families affected by separation. Both women are members of the New Orleans Workers' Center for Racial Justice. They compared the anxiety of those families to those who endured Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

"It shows that racism has many different layers," McFarlane said. "Post-Katrina, the government blamed people affected by the hurricane for being homeless, and now that same organization is blaming these people for things they have no control over."

Representing the Grassroots Global Justice Alliance in Miami, Cindy Wiesner, 39, called the law an "overreaching, right-wing reaction."

Wiesner said her organization will support a boycott of Arizona and acts of civil disobedience until some federal form of immigration reform is enacted.

While the meeting was filled with a somber tone, the women spoke of courage and faith. They encouraged each other not to live in fear, but to speak up and continue moving forward.

"They say today is Mother's Day, but to me every day is Mother's Day," Sozanski said. "Every day is a struggle for women to hold jobs and keep their families together."

(Source: AZCentral)