Description:

Sanctuary and Accompaniment in Moments of Crisis

The idea and practice of sanctuary have a long and vexed presence in U.S. political discourse, community organizing and social movements. This talk explores the ways activists, service providers, faith leaders and religious communities in Northeast Ohio draw on long histories of faith-based and secular organizing to mobilize and respond to immigrant precarity, especially among Latina/o communities in the state.  While sanctuary has become polarized word and practice, the idea of accompaniment, with roots in Latin American liberation struggles, increasingly circulates as both a political and religious practice as well as an act of solidarity.  What lessons do we learn about our current immigration enforcement crisis by centering sanctuary and accompaniment? Practices of sanctuary and accompaniment, I argue, are grounded in local histories and attuned to national and transnational dynamics that offer valuable insight for those who seek to challenge anti-immigrant rhetoric and nurture the work of sanctuary people.