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reflections by fire fellow
Well, it has been a couple of years since I
left YUCA, but still the work that I saw there has permeated throughout
my school. Just last night, I was talking about the toxic tours YUCA organizes
in EPA during the Multicultural Environmental Film and Arts Festival that
I helped organize. As you can see, the impact this program has had on
me is still evident, even 5 years later.
The most important thing I learned and this is the same thing that I love
the most about the summer internship is the realization that youth are
powerful beings with the ability to institute change, influence litigation
and create unapathetic communities. Youth are always at the forefront
at fighting against mediocracy; Instead of simply settling for what others
have deemed sufficient for living, the youth I met across the bay and
in Los Angeles were fighting for what equality.
Not only did I challenge my own personal comfort by communicating with
young people of all backgrounds, I learned to embrace that diversity as
an essential component of organizing and creating change. Sadly,as I have
seen at UC Santa Cruz, institutions that want to create leaders of social
change continually fail to completely diversify. So,
even at the university level, I seek out groups that are similar; full
of diverse organizers and students of color.
Recognizing the power that youth of color bring to social institutions
has lead me on the path to advocate for diversity in education. At the
moment, I am part of a student organization that focuses on outreach and
retention for students of color. This group is also a safe space for students
of color to talk about their experiences at this institution.
Overall, my experience with YUCA was extremely positive and enlightening.
The retreats were powerful and motivational.
From glbtq issues, Asian women [AIWA{ organizing
around sweatshops in Oakland, to the little office the International Indian
Treaty Council that was around the corner from my home in San Francisco.
To know that I was part of such an eclectic and wonderful group also made
me feel I was not alone in my work.
Thanks for giving me a chance to finally put words to the gratitude I
always felt for YUCA. I am super busy and I never really get the chance
to reflect on some of the wonderful experiences I have had. I know it's
pretty long but man, once I started I couldn't stop! Good luck editing!
Just kidding.
Amor y paz!
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Fighting for Environmental Racism and Social Justice in my community
,
helping people who are in need or who need to be informed about issues
in the community.
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My experience with working with Phillipininio
Workers Coalition though the FIRE fellowship was a learning experience
that
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The summer internship allowed me to gain more knowledge about my community
and I was able to The
summer internship made me realized that a lot of things are unfair and
it will not change unless you do something about it to work for social
environmental justice. The site visits were helped me gained more knowledge
to work for social justice work. It is because some of the site visits
that we did we were able to go see the problems that are happening in
our community. It made me realized that these problems do affect many
of us, especially we as low income youth of color. My favorite component
was the site visits because it allowed each youth from the different organizations
to host the meetings at their organization. The youth had the chance to
educate [each] other youth about the kind of work that they do at their
organization, and it was a good opportunity to improve our facilitation
skills. These site visits are pretty fun because each youth are from a
different community so who
are not from the same area.
It
helped me reflect upon my life goals. The Internship with the International
Indian Treaty Council (IITC) helped me grow and was great to see other’s
people work. At the fun-trip was good to keep the network going and finish
off the summer.
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I’m Lourdes Best, a long time resident
of East Palo Alto and one of the founding members of the Higher Learning
Program. I started my journey with YUCA back in 1997 at the age of 17,
with the battle against the concrete batch plants, when RMC Lonestar along
with Central Concrete Plant tried to make their way into our city. One
of them pulled out after a strong resistance from East Palo Alto community
members. The determination which I was a part of inspired me to do what
was right. Then
Going out in the community and educating members
about the hazards of heavy industrial business empowered me to be heard
in the community. Why is it that 52 out of 53 toxic chemical waste plants
are located in low-income communities of color? Having the space &
support from staff at YUCA along with my family helped me mature into
the person I am today. At that time the media focused on negative issues
facing my community such as drug use and gang violence. Youth, especially,
were considered the “lost generation”. But how lost was I
when I was able to identify racism and classism affecting our community
and society?
I can remember the days when we talked about another Romic facility located
on an Indian Reservation in Arizona. Last year, the Higher Learning youth
had the opportunity to visit the people of Akimel O’Otham; both
groups were able to identify the same issues facing our communities. Just
recently the youth organized a protest in solidarity with the Native community
of Gila River. Unfortunately, United States Environmental Protection Agency
has allowed Romic Environmental Technologies Southwest to operate without
proper permits, public hearings or an Environmental Impact Study since
1975, which is no different from the Environmental Impact Report and expired
permit that Romic is failing to provide to our community in East Palo
Alto. We are both communities of low-income people of color who will not
stand to these injustices. These companies have another thing coming.
. Currently I coordinate the FIRE
(Fighting Injustice and Regulating Equality) Fellowship, a ten -week fellowship
in which we provide training and support for young youth organizers all
around the Bay Area (from San Francisco/ Oakland to San Jose).
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Through working at SAEJ (Southeast Alliance
for Environmental Justice) I have begun to have an intimate knowledge
of my community. I know more now about the movements that sustain us and
take us forward.
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