The Computers, Freedom and Privacy 2009 conference will be showcasing two important and under-recognized civil rights movements of this era– Join the Impact activism on same-sex equality and DreamACTivist organizing for immigrant youth rights on the same platform this coming Wednesday, June 3 2009 in Washington D.C.

What’s similar about the movement for marriage equality and the DREAM Act?

Some might venture to say that both are wedge issues with the electorate. The struggles for same-sex and immigration rights have often been cast as some of the most pressing civil rights issues of our times. The more progressive sphere would dismiss both movements for being ‘niche’ issues that do not address the real problem at hand: marriage being a pre-requisite for citizenship.

For the students that work in the movement, the parallels are more apparent. Both are queer, youth-driven movements that mobilized and built a support base after a setback i.e. the DREAM Act vote in 2007 and the passage of Prop 8 in California last November. And both Join the Impact and DreamACTivist are national Web 2.0 organizing powerhouses as well as actual grassroots organizers.

From the schedule:

10:15 - 10:45 Keynote: Join the Impact and the DREAM Activists: perspectives from the next generation

After the defeat of the DREAM Act in 2007, several undocumented students from around the country decided to come together and launch a real grassroots efforts for the DREAM Act that included both online and offline networking. In December 2008, DREAMActivist.org was appointed as the national communication center for the United We DREAM coalition of over 40 different organizations (both beltway, educators, and student groups) dedicated to the passage of the DREAM Act.

Join the Impact began in early November 2008 with two friends emailing back and forth about the California passage of Proposition 8. What grew out of this was a spirit of netroots activism that led to the 300 city international protests of Proposition 8 on November 15th, 2008. Since then, JTI has evolved into an organization that has called for specific actions every month from city leaders and organizers around the globe.

Both of these movements are founded by younger activists who have grown up with blogs, MySpace, Facebook, wikis, Twitter, and other social media technologies. What can the CFP community learn from their pespectives and experiences?

Willow Witte, co-founder, Join the Impact
Mohammed Abdol, administrator, DREAMActivist.org

To find out more about our work, challenges and successes, you can tune in LIVE at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/cfp09 on Wednesday. It is touted as a truly historic moment in youth organizing.