Students for Fair Consideration

Enough!

My choice is to rejoice

In the liberation of my own voice

The sound of struggle is what keeps me silent

My screams of injustice might as well be whisper.

But I tell you NOW

There is not louder sound to wake up to,

Then a whisper………

Of truth

So I ask you now to WAKE UP!

Wake up to the sound of your own voice

Stand tall and with a deep breath

Inhale knowledge

Inhale compassion

Inhale truth

Then exhale

Exhale, so your voice carries for all to hear.

Speak to the innocent

So our children will shine

Love, patience, soon you’ll find

God lives in a child’s eyes

Speak to the wise

Learn from where you come from

Relearn your traditions and vow to them alive

Honored to walk a mile in their shoes

Learn to appreciate,

Without them is no you.

Speak for the forgotten

Your voice will reach through the bars that hold them

My brothers, our broken English helps us spit in the face of

the system that enslaves us

Stay true to your convictions and you can never be

spiritually convicted

We are with you always and your fight will not die with us.

If youcan hear my voice,

YOU CAN NEVER BE SILENT AGAIN!

I wanted to share this with everyone so long ago, but I was not sure about it. Now, I’ll never be silent again!!!!! Yoshi

The College Board Advocacy & Policy Center and The California Legislative Tri-Caucus (The Asian Pacific Islander Legislative Caucus, the California Latino Legislative Caucus, and the Legislative Black Caucus)

Invite you to

Stand Up for the DREAM
February 3, 2010
9:30 – 11:30 am
State Capitol, Room 3191
Sacramento, CA

A summit to raise awareness about the plight of undocumented students and promote the DREAM Act as an effective, bipartisan solution. Distinguished panelists will include representatives from the legislative caucuses, scholars, educators representing K-12 and higher education, community activists and students.

Speakers include:

Senator Gilbert Cedillo, Chair, The California Latino Legislative Caucus

Assemblymember Warren Furutani, Chair, Asian Pacific Islander Legislative Caucus

Assemblymember Sandré Swanson, Chair, Legislative Black Caucus (invited)

Edward Hernandez, Chancellor, Rancho Santiago Community College District

Al Mijares, Vice President Western Region, The College Board

Save the date and register early to reserve your space for this free event.

To register, please email jdonovan@collegeboard.org

with your name, affiliation, and email address.

To learn more, visit www.collegeboard.com/dreamact.

(Ambassadors: I’ll be going to this event. Let me know if you want to go, and need help with a ride. Kathy)

I am excited that school started as it will be my last semester here at Cal. Luckily, I got all the classes I need and don’t need to be worried about waitlisted courses.

Budget cuts are really driving everyone crazy because it lowered the number of classes offered this semester. Most of the students I know are waitlisted in not one but up to three courses. For many, this is can mean they are not going to graduate because of a class that was full, and for others it is a missed opportunity to develop an interest.

The first day of class, both of my art classes had about 40 people, half of which wanted to add and were not allowed to add because of the limited number of seats per class. These art classes were pretty much for majors only, meaning that those who wanted to experiment or learn something different were not allowed because they were not declared art majors. To me this is sad because I feel like if I was one of those students who was denied the opportunity I would not have discovered my interest in art.

I was not an artist from birth like some artists. It was my interest in exploring a different field aside from music that led me to take an intro to drawing class. If I had not been allowed to take it because I was not an art major, then I would have never discovered the artist in me.

“Look at those illegals,” my friend said jokingly while he was dropping me off to the Bart Station. He pointed at two Mexican immigrants standing against the fence. Although it was a joke, I was extremely angry. Yet, I was defenseless and vulnerable. I simply laughed with him and stayed casual as if nothing happened. Once he dropped me off, I wondered if he would treat me differently if he knew that I’m also “illegal.”

Too Much At Stake for Complacency – A Call to Action for Immigration Reform

By Joe Rodriguez

San Jose Mercury News

http://www.mercurynews.com/top-stories/ci_14224527

Malin Tom is an “emotional man,” which explains why he kept his journey through Angel Island mostly to himself for 60 years.

“I did not want to cry in front of people,” says Tom, now 81 and living in Santa Clara. “It is a sad story. I was so scared and poor. I was ashamed, and Chinese don’t talk about their shame.”

But he could not resist a granddaughter’s plea a few years ago. Would he talk to her classmates about passing through the “Ellis Island of the West”?

“My granddaughter gave me courage.”

And when Tom finally spoke it was as if a dam holding back immigrant tears had cracked, replenishing the soil of American history with bittersweet truth.

On Thursday, a ceremony in San Francisco will commemorate — 100 years to the date — the opening of Angel Island’s immigration station. The government will swear in 100 new American citizens. Some of the nation’s top immigration officials will speak, as well as people who actually went through the island in San Francisco Bay, including poet Nellie Wong and her sister from Sunnyvale, Lai Webster.

The speakers won’t sugarcoat the island’s checkered past. Angel Island was different from its welcoming counterpart in New York Harbor.

About 500,000 immigrants passed through the island from 1910 to 1940. Of these, 300,000 were detained, a third of them Chinese. While most were ultimately allowed in, many, like Tom, waited months in a torturous limbo while their backgrounds were investigated.

“Angel Island was really there to keep people out, not to welcome them,” says Judy Yung, a University of California-Santa Cruz professor emeritus of American studies and author of two books on the subject. “We need to remember that. How can we use the lesson of Angel Island to live up to our ideal as a nation of immigrants?”…

Read the whole article:
http://www.mercurynews.com/top-stories/ci_14224527

http://trail2010.org/

On January 1, 2010, we embarked on a 1,500-mile walk from our home in Miami, FL, to Washington, D.C. We walk to share our stories, so that everyday Americans understand what it’s like for the millions of immigrants, especially young people, unable to fully participate in society. It’s time that our country come together to fix a failed system that keeps millions in the shadows, with no pathway to a better life.

Our journey will be long and full of hardship, but for us, we see no other option. We are putting our futures in jeopardy because our present is unbearable.

HEY EVERYONE!!!
I JUST WANTED TO SHARE THIS WITH YOU! PLEASE VISIT THE PAGE AND JOIN IN THIS CAUSE!!! IF YOU GET A CHANCE, GO AND SEE THE BLOGS… LET EVERYONE KNOW IN ORDER FOR US TO BE VISIBLE!!!!!!!!

E4FC is now accepting applications for our 2010 New American Scholars Program!  E4FC’s New American Scholars Program provides financial awards and support services to low-income immigrant college students who live or attend school in the San Francisco Bay Area.  We provide scholarships of up to $5,000 to cover tuition and other college expenses. Scholars are selected for their academic excellence, financial need, and community impact, regardless of their citizenship or residency status. Scholars are also expected to participate in E4FC events and commit to community service or professional development activities for the year.

Please share this information and application with all deserving Bay Area immigrant students. We strongly encourage them to apply!

Please note the following changes this year:
- We have expanded our applicant pool to include students who attend college in the San Francisco Bay Area, in addition to those who live and went to high school in the area.
- Applicants are now required to complete a Preliminary Online Application as well as the Paper Application.
- All application materials must be received by Friday, March 5^th.

Application Process
The application deadline is Friday, March 5th. Applicants are now required to complete and submit both a Preliminary Online Application and a Paper Application, which includes essays, transcripts, and recommendations. To download the application and for additional information, please visit: http://e4fc.org/scholarsprogram.html.

Profile of 2009 Scholars
In 2009, we received 130 applications and awarded 9 scholarships. In selecting recipients, we considered students’ academic performance, financial need, commitment to earning a college degree, and personal character.  Last year, our scholars had an average family income of $26,000.  For college recipients, the average cumulative college GPA was 3.23. For high school recipients, the average weighted GPA was 4.05.

For additional information, visit: http://e4fc.org/scholarsprogram.html.

Papers showing in Oakland on 1/21

Hi E4FC Students:

PAPERS is a new movie about undocumented youth and the challenges they face as they turn 18 without legal status. It’s been getting a lot of attention nationally, and it’s about to come to the Bay Area! On Thursday January 21st, Papers will be showing at the Oakland Public Library. Jodi Mitchell, the Teen Librarian who’s organizing the event, is looking for students who might be willing to participate in a short Q&A after the screening (see Jodi’s note below). If you’re interested, can you please contact her? Also, please forward the Facebook invite to all your friends and allies!

Thanks, Kathy

Hi Kathy,

I am looking for knowledgeable student volunteers who can facilitate a short Q & A session after this movie is shown. The movie starts at 6 PM on Thursday, January 21st and is 90 minutes long. We have to have everyone out of the auditorium at least 5 minutes before 8 if not a little sooner!
Also, I have promotional flyers about this event that I would like to distribute far and wide if anyone would like to pick some up; or have some mailed to you?

Please share this widely! Send to youth organizations, teachers, schools, faith based organizations, other libraries, etc. This is the Northern Californian premiere viewing. Program is free and open to all. Can seat 130. First come first served.

http://papersthemovie.com/upcoming_events/locations.html#CA

Please share Oakland Public Library Facebook event invite with everyone:

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?ref=name&id=1075364299#/event.php?eid=367071015401&ref=ts

Thanks,

Jodi Mitchell
Teen Outreach Librarian
Youth Leadership Council Facilitator
Oakland Public Library
125 14th Street
Oakland, CA 94612
jnmitchell@oaklandlibrary.org
(510) 238-7233 work phone

During the E4FC and S4FC Holiday party, I had chosen to share the following quote by Mark Houlahan: “If you want your life to be a magnificent story, then begin by realizing that you are the author and everyday you have the opportunity to write a new page.” To me, it seemed to be the best way to greet the upcoming year.

Before I begin on my plans for the new year, I would like to note that 2009 was also a great year. Although I had feared and was anxious about my first semester of college, I was able to persevere and finish my first semester. Personally, I consider this to be an accomplishment. I was on the border of opting out and taking the easy way out, but I stuck with it and I emerged victorious! I am looking forward writing more victories in the pages of my life.

On such an optimistic note, I believe that 2010 will be a good year. I have drawn up and listed my resolutions and change is coming! This spring semester I will be working on two projects: an art auction with Monica and a mentoring program for high school students at Pittsburg High School. I am certain that both projects will bring great opportunities to many deserving students and that I will be able to learn and grow in the process. I am still currently arranging the mentoring program with the AP coordinator. As I receive more details on the projects, I will update.

Remember, we are the authors of our lives and we hold in our own hands the power to act and create. I hope that everyone is doing well and that 2010 has begun on a good note for everyone as well.

Folks: This is a great story. Read it. Kathy

Link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/03/education/edlife/03alien-t.html

Excerpt:

In lyrical passages of “This Side of Paradise,” F. Scott Fitzgerald’s young alter ego, Amory Blaine, is awed by the “great dreaming spires” of Princeton and its “lazy beauty, its half-grasped significance, the wild moonlight revel of the rushes.” Three generations later, Harold Fernandez was no less awed by the castle-like dormitories, the teeming libraries, the hoary traditions.

But Harold Fernandez was different from most freshmen. Amory Blaine had been to prep school, and his mother, though not of the privileged class, had raised him to appreciate the treasures of Western culture. Harold had been raised in the streets of Medellín, Colombia, listening to tango and salsa lyrics that spoke of the harsh local realities of violence, drugs and prison. His American schooling was in a gritty factory town, West New York, N.J.

He also harbored a secret. He had entered Princeton using a fake green card and Social Security number that he had acquired in the immigrant black market, because he had been smuggled into Florida on a leaky boat crowded with illegal immigrants….