En la lucha
Our organization was created in the spring of 2017 in the wake of immigration raids in Austin stemming from Senate Bill 4. Since the beginning, our focus has been expanded to include sharing the stories and experiences of people who are directly impacted by our criminal justice system. We have been in conversations with MOVE Texas, NAACP, Together for a Cause & Texas Rising about fortifying a criminal-justice coalition in Hays County, and with various Democrat & a few Libertarian groups in the county.
We have partnered with the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, Texas Advocates for Justice, the Texas Criminal Justice Center, and Grassroots Leadership.
In 2020, we will continue to advocate for a Cite and Release Ordinance for the city of San Marcos, a Public Defender’s Office for Hays County, and other related initiatives.
Community engagement
Since our start, we have participated actively in local volunteer events, programming hosted by Centro Cultural de Hispano, Calaboose African American History Museum, National Night for Safety and Liberation (Ella Baker Center), Splash Coworking, and others.
We have hosted dozens of Know Your Rights workshops in the surrounding areas and provided much needed access to important information for people from mixed status backgrounds and carceral experiences.
In 2019, we started SPEAK UP, a new workshop and restorative workshop series for justice-impacted people. Facilitated by justice-impacted Mano Amiga organizer and writer, Faylita Hicks, participants have had a voice in what steps Mano Amiga takes to promote safe alternatives to punitive measures in their community.
Art + Activism
Mano Amiga has produced several arts and cultural events in 2018-2019, including a pop-up art exhibit, a criminal justice reform based performance showcase, and a community event that coincided with the Calaboose African American History Museum’s latest art installation.
Mano Amiga brought in NY-based DACA artist Dayanne Pazmino to create a new visual art piece centered on telling the story of local resident, Janelie Rodriquez, whose case was at the center of deportation defense campaign.
Our community events have included muralist Rene Perez Jr., DJ Chief and the Doomsday Device, Rock Bottom String Band, and several other vocalists.
In 2020, we will be hosting the Writers by the River Reading Series, a quarterly event, alongside Austin-based literary journal, Borderlands: Texas Poetry Review.