Students for Fair Consideration

In the words of Harvey Milk:

“Brothers and Sisters, you must come out! Come out to your parents, come out to your friends, if indeed they are your friends, come out to your neighbors, come out to your fellow workers. Once and for all, let’s break down the myth and destroy the lies and distortions. For your sake, for their sake. For the sake of all the youngsters who’ve been scared.” – Harvey Milk

The day is almost here. On March 10th, undocumented youth all over this country will finally come out the shadows and lay claim to their own futures launching us into our week of action, the National Coming out of the Shadows week (March 15th to the 21st). No longer will we let ourselves be intimidated, scared and ashamed. We have worked long and hard, we have risen to meet every challenge and we have made this country a better place for all. And yet, we are relegated to live in fear. So let us come out and end this fear.

Yes, we are undocumented. We do not have those nine magic numbers. We are without papers. But we are not and have never been without identities, without dreams, without hope for the future. The time is NOW to claim our identities, our country, our rights, and our dreams.

And it begins with YOU. It is your time to come out as an undocumented youth. But you are not alone. Hundreds of thousands of promising young people, just like yourself, are making the decision to come out with you. Together, we are coming out of the shadows, leaving behind the fear and the broken promise of the American Dream. We are empowering ourselves to seek a better future, a future in which we are respected, in which our families live with dignity, in which our American Dream is possible.

We know that coming out as undocumented is a terrifying thought for many of us. But we also know that the experience is empowering and liberating for each of us, as well as for all of us as a community. We have created a guide to coming out to help you work through your fears and come up with coming out plan that is right for you. You can find that guide here. Additionally, you can contact us for help in planning your coming out. We are here to support each other through this process!

We have prepared a guide to help you get going, in addition to different levels of coming out, check it out here: Coming out, A How to Guide = http://www.dreamactivist.org/comeout/

Will you come out with me?

Mohammad Abdollahi
Co-founder DreamActivist.org
Online and Youth Organizer | Manager

Need 1 to 1 support? Call us at 1.800.596.7498 or
Email: mo@dreamactivist.org

P.S. If you are an ally and not undocumented work with your undocumented connections and help them come out.

For the DREAM Action week, RISE will be facilitating a teach-in about AB540 (undocumented) students in higher education.

“Dreamers: The Struggle of Undocumented Students in Higher Education”

The teach in will be part of “Decolonizing the University: Fulfilling the Dream of the Third World College,” a conference taking place February 26-27, 2010 at UC Berkeley, in commemoration of the Ethnic Studies Department’s 40th anniversary and in celebration of the 10th annual Cultural Night of Resistance.

More about the conference:
“The purpose of this conference is to have collective dialogues about fulfilling the dream of the Third World College and decolonizing the university at large. These goals are more relevant today than ever given the demographic change in the state and the nation, and the racial, sexual, gendered, and colonial dimensions of transnational capitalism, neoconservatisms, and neoliberalism globally. It is also significant that as people of color have become the majority in the state of California, the state has dramatically changed its priorities in funding and it is about to allocate more resources to prisons than to public higher education.”

http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?v=wall&gid=229249904147

About the teach in:

Despite economic hardships and unique sociopolitical challenges, many undocumented students have excelled academically and are active and productive members of society. Nevertheless, when these students apply for college admissions they are confronted with the reality that they cannot attend. Many if not all of these students were brought here as minors by their parents and thus had no choice when their families moved to the United States. Because of their immigration status, these students do not qualify to receive federal or state financial aid. These students are not eligible for Pell Grants, Cal Grants, federal loans, or even work study. Furthermore, they are not even eligible for most public and private scholarships since they require applicants to be at a minimum permanent residents or citizens. Even though these are bright and talented students with dreams of earning a degree, many give up because they find it difficult, if not impossible to afford an education.

Now, more than ever, action needs to be taken for these students’ rights as both the Federal and California Dream Acts have failed to pass and the comprehensive immigration reform has not been supported by the Senate in the past.

Our goals are to increase awareness around the issue and at the same time motivate attendees to get involved in the struggle and resistance that has been developing in the past years.
In order for the DREAM Act (which would make undocumented students qualify for financial aid and open a path to citizenship) or immigration reform to get enacted, student power and allies will be essential.

It has been said that there are about 450 undocumented students in the UC system. Students who have not received an equal opportunity to fulfill their dreams of achieving an education. That actually goes against decolonizing, ethnic studies and world college ideals which to a certain extent can be counteracted by increasing the awareness and supporting this AB540 student-led movement.

We hope to see many of you there.

Would a truly reputable national newspaper use the N-word to describe African-Americans and say it is just “company policy?”

I doubted it. But that the USA Today has done something similar.

On December 15, USA Today ran an article titled “Groups try to delay deportations of illegal students,” in which they called young immigrant students in the United States “illegal students.”

USA Today reporter, Emily Bazar (ebazar@usatoday.com), says she is just following company policy when she labels young immigrants without papers as “illegal students.” See the email where she justifies her actions by implicating that even the National Council of La Raza agrees with the usage of the word.

Appalling, isn’t it? I get the “illegal immigrant” euphemism because that slur is familiar. But just what exactly is an “illegal student?”

Erin Rosa from Campus Progress lays a must-read snarky smackdown on USA Today for using the term “illegal student” especially since it is almost impossible to be one in the United States:

First off, schooling for primary and secondary education is compulsorily in the United States, meaning that public schools are obligated to teach every child, undocumented or not. Even if Bazar is talking about higher education, universities and colleges are not legally bared from teaching to undocumented immigrants so long as they pay their own tuition bills. (Obtaining financial aid or in-state tuition is another story.) So, if “illegal” is being used by USA Today as an adjective to describe students in the United States, what is it about their status as scholars that would specifically make them illegal?

How can a group of people create and label disenfranchised populations in dehumanizing terms? This labeling process is based on the same institutionalized racism and homophobia directed against minorities. Niggers, fags, gooks, chinks, flips and so many other labels have been used to subjugate and subordinate people throughout history, denying them claims to citizenship and civic participation. This is not any different. “Illegal” is yet another otherizing and offensive term that we need to eliminate from public discourse as a way of describing people.

No human being can be illegal. Click on this link to tell USA Today to stop competing with the archaic immigration system and drop the use of the word ‘illegal’ http://www.change.org/actions/view/ask_usatoday_what_do_you_mean_by_illegal_students

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If you are in the area, please make sure to attend these events this Wednesday, make some more connections and maybe even give us a write-up.

For Northern California:

Berkeley: Petition drive at UC Berkeley
A coalition of organizations supporting DREAM
Throughout the day, UC Berkeley, 2311 Bowditch St, Berkeley, CA

Davis: Petition drive at UC Davis
University of California, Davis, 18830 Road 112, Tulare, CA?

Fresno: Rally at Cal State Fresno
Latino Student Coalition
California State University, Fresno, 5241 N Maple Ave, Fresno, CA

Merced: Petition drive and informational picket at UC Merced
Dreamers in Action / ASUCM External Affairs
Meet throughout the day on campus, then 5-7PM picket at the corner of M and 21st Street
University of California, Merced, 5200 N Lake Rd, Merced, CA

Sacramento: Petition Drive at Cal State Sacramento
Throughout the day at Main Library Quad
6000 J Street | Sacramento, CA 95819

Santa Cruz: Petition drive at UC Santa Cruz
Students Informing Now (SIN)
All day at 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95064

Santa Rosa: Rally at Windsor High School
MECHA
Meet at 8695 Windsor Rd, Windsor, CA 95492

For a full list of events nationwide, visit DreamActivist.