Module 1: Immigration History 101 is one of the cornerstones
of the BRIDGE Project, and one of the most flexible modules in the
whole curriculum. This module is excellent to use as an introductory
level orientation to immigrant rights and racial justice, and we
recommend that it be one of the first modules that you conduct when
using the BRIDGE Project. Participants will become familiar with
the history of immigration to the United States, and discuss some
of the key issues that intersect with immigration, such as labor,
institutionalized racism and the formation of race, liberation struggles
and social movements. This module features the BRIDGE Immigration
History Timeline in Pictures, with historical photos to illustrate
key dates in U.S. immigration history.
Module 2: Globalization, Migration, and Workers Rights
highlights NNIRR’s award-winning video, Uprooted: Refugees
of the Global Economy, which examines globalization as a force that
impoverishes and displaces communities, while erecting borders to
migration and allowing corporations free economic access to economies
in the Global South. Participants will examine corporate globalization
and its impact on migration and communities throughout the world.
Module 3: Introduction to Our Multiple Oppressions, Multiple
Privileges underscores one of the key themes of BRIDGE: the
complexity of privileges and oppressions that every individual experiences
in society. Participants will explore how all parts of their identities—which
include race, immigration status, gender, sexual orientation, class,
and others—shape their experiences with different forms of
oppression. This module is a useful starting point for facilitators
who plan to use the BRIDGE curriculum in a long-term process, as
it builds a framework for all the other exercises in the curriculum.
Module 4: Migrant Rights are Human Rights links immigrant
and refugee rights organizing to the human rights framework. Participants
will gain a basic introduction to human rights in this module, as
they explore the role of human rights in their lives, assess the
condition of human rights in their communities, and discuss how
different community organizations have organized and strengthened
their communities by using human rights tools. This module also
includes fact sheets and supplementary materials on key human rights
documents that relate to migration.
Module 5: Immigrant Rights and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and
Transgender (LGBT) Rights provides a tool to address homophobia
and heterosexism within the immigrant rights movement and other
social justice movements. Participants will explore the connections
between immigrant rights and the rights of LGBT people, examine
how homophobic messages about gender and sexual orientation are
shaped very early on from our cultures, families, and communities,
and discuss some of the ways immigration policies affect LGBT people.
This module works best with groups that are largely unfamiliar with
LGBT issues, but who may have more familiarity with immigrant rights
issues.
Module 6: Immigrant Women’s Leadership celebrates
the leadership of migrant and refugee women. Participants will honor
important women in their lives, examine the impact of migration
on women’s lives and families, discuss the specific impact
of immigration policy on women, and explore ways that social justice
organizations can better support the leadership of immigrant women.
This module is designed for mixed-gender audiences, although it
is also effective with single-gender groups. It is primarily intended
for groups whose primary focus is immigrant and refugee rights,
and have less experience addressing gender or women’s leadership.
Module 7: Finding Common Ground I: The Changing Demographics
of Race and Migration explores the intersection between immigrant
rights and a movement for racial justice. Participants will examine
the racial and ethnic makeup of their communities, place demographic
changes and tensions within a broader political context, and examine
ways that different communities have interpreted these changes as
opportunities for new learning, organizing, and alliance-building.
This module works best with groups where participants have a shared
context and are engaged in a process of building a relationship,
such as a workplace, neighborhood, campaign, organizing drive. Because
this module addresses divisions and conflicts within communities,
we strongly advise facilitators and participants to first use some
of the earlier modules before this one.
Module 8: Finding Common Ground II: Transforming Conflict in
Community Organizing opens a discussion of participants’
conceptions and styles of handling conflict. Together, participants
will examine different conceptions and styles of conflict, and identify
how different approaches to conflict can be put in a wider context.
The module also includes background material that further explores
different approaches to conflict resolution in communities for facilitators.
