Mission
Project Economic Refugee is a progressive activist blog that seeks to engage Latinos and other underserved communities through news analysis, communications management tips, community organizing advice, and volunteer opportunities to become advocates for safe and healthy communities for all.
The project has been honored by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and has been featured on various progressive media outlets such as Nicole Sandler’s “Radio Or Not” radio show, Brave New Foundation’s Cuéntame, NRDC’s Spanish language blog, Citizen Orange, Voto Latino on The Huffington Post, and on a Netroots Nation 2011 panel titled “Beyond Environmental Justice“. The project was launched in 2007 by Online Organizer Refugio ”Reg” Mata upon reading ”The Framing of Immigration” essay written by UC Berkely’s Profesor of Linguists George Lakoff. At the time, the project’s main aim was to promote usage of the term “economic refugee” to humanize the dialogue when discussing the topic of undocumented immigrants in the United States. Since then, the project has evolved in scope and reach to better reflect how we live in an interconnected reality: in order to have healthier communities, we must create a systemic change in the way we deal with the challenges we face as a nation and as a continent.
The problems that impact both the Unites States and Latin America are a complex set of issues that will require mutual responsibility and collaboration among our people. Since they represent the largest block of undocumented workers, key to bringing a more permanent solution to our struggles will be the empowerment of Latinos that are already living in the U.S. Once legalized, these Latinos could become a resource to fight the poverty that creates “illegal immigrants” in the first place back in their countries of origin. Immigration reform would certainly be a first step towards empowerment, but it would need a second factor to truly bring about a sustainable solution. Providing and facilitating avenues for a progressive socio-economic cooperation and volunteerism between Latinos and others in the U.S. to lift those that live in oppressive poverty in Latin America could be that second factor. However, without immigration reform, this sort of model would be nearly impossible to explore. It will take all of us to truly solve this gigantic challenge because in the end, we are all in this together.
About the founder of Project Economic Refugee
Refugio “Reg” is a Los Angeles-based Online Organizer with extensive background in community organizing tactics and Integrated Communications Management. He is a Communications Coordinator for Good Jobs L.A., a grassroots project based in South L.A. In addition, for close to five years, he was a Project Organizer for Heal the Bay, a Southern California environmental nonprofit organization that focuses on revitalizing the Santa Monica Bay. He co-founded their “Healthy Neighborhoods, Healthy Environment Initiative” as part of a communications strategy to organize around environmental justice issues in inner city Los Angeles. For several years Reg has focused on working with the African-American and Latino communities of South Los Angeles (particularly in Watts and Compton), where he has managed greening beautification projects such as school gardens, pocket parks, and public “Living Rooms”. In addition, he launched Heal the Bay’s Spanish-language blog ”HtBLatino” and managed their Spanish language communications, expanding the organization’s outreach to the Latino community and Spanish language media, recruiting Latinos to help fight the pollution of our streets that threaten our rivers, oceans, and marine life. Originally from San Miguel De Allende in the state of Guanajuato, Mexico, he moved to Southern California when he was 14 years old and has lived there ever since. He graduated from California State University at Northridge with a bachelor’s degree in Anthropology with a cultural emphasis. He also served as a Naval Reservist at Port Hueneme and San Diego. After college, he spent some time volunteering abroad at community centers designed to help underserved children in Peru and Mexico.
You may reach Reg via e-mail here.
