On another level of meaning, by using the phrase "Path to the Oasis," and reflecting that image in the art I made for the site, I intend that there is a beautiful place we hold in our minds of what this world and society could be like, and whether we know it or not, whether we sketch out the particulars of this or not, this place must include kindness and love and sharing and a humane and forgiving look at all kinds of people and what they do as they try to feel worth and contribute to the great exchange that is living on this planet. It must, by necessity, value all hungers and all pains felt by all people, and it must understand that the Earth is our garden and our bed and our mother, not our prize nor our possession. This place that exists in the ideal can be reached by steps, by certain worldviews and certain behaviors. And while I can not speak for every or any other editor or diariest at The Sanctuary, I feel that what we intend to do there is a piece of such an achievement, or at least describes the whereabouts of that "piece."

Sometimes decrying the abundance of hate and ignorance, or lack of awareness and action on an issue is useful and helps to focus. And then a time comes when you simply feel you must find others who feel as you do and you join with them and fight. This is what we are doing and if you would join us, we would have you.

I expect this site to grow, as there are some super solid blog warriors on the roster, and more signing on as we speak. I'm not kidding—those writers you often see scattered in smaller pockets of the Internets but penning furiously and passionately and intelligently on these issues are gathering together to join forces. There are also active and healthy pro-migrant organizations that are in positions of consulting and information sharing with us. This blog was not my invention, though I did the artwork for it. It was a coming together of many minds and hearts at once in an almost magical way. It was a weave that found itself suddenly upon a loom.

The Sanctuary is a safe space that will be kept free of racist, sexist, misogynist, ablist, transphobic, homophobic and otherwise diminishing or ignorant energy. Also, we are not just writing, we are creating a network of activism and information gathering and disseminating information and forging a new conversation in areas that have been starving for the food of thought and thirsting for the water of care. Or that is our plan. And again, it relies on your energy.

We all want change to happen. And it can. But it requires our help to make its way forth into this world.

If ever there was a case to force the issue: humanity or legality - this is it.

—Marisa Treviño of LatinaLista, when fleeing hurricanes in s. texas, border patrol says undocumented not allowed to evacuate

I sometimes self-mockingly talk about the feelgood of virtual activism. But I want to be clear, your help here helps this cause. So please, if you are interested, subscribe to the feed, create an account, display the badge, make the community stronger with your diaries, join in the effort to amp a more humane voice up in these parts.

Gracias.

_____

Update: Manuel's intro post!

:Update 2:

from duke:

...make sure to tell new members that after they sign up they should get an e-mail IMMEDIATELY from us with their tempoary password....if they don't see it ...check their junk file in case we got caught in the spam filters ...I've got a more than few new members who've signed up but never signed in ...i'm betting they lost their password to the spam filters.

Update 3: Kai introduces his readers to The Sanctuary. I like how he puts it.