Viva la causa!
"The end of all education should surely be service to others."
- Cesar Chavez
Today is Cesar Chavez Day and I wouldn't have remembered that if it wasn't for the slideshow in the student activities building. I can't tell you just how great I think this man is. Being a farm worker at one point in my life and coming from a family who for generations before has been, everything he accomplished as a civil rights activist really means a lot to me and makes him one of my personal heroes.
On a related note, some people here in the Valley have an angry sentiment for migrant students because they recieve financial aid or opportunities regular students dont. But that's the common misconception. They wouldn't understand that being displaced from home constantly makes it hard to recieve a decent education. It's a battle trying to catch up in classes after starting school somewhere away from home and then coming back mid fall, then leaving again in the spring. It's very hard. Half the time, students who go through this don't even graduate high school. Organizations who provide the help and opportunities for migrant students know what it's like and choose to make an effort to help these kids get ahead and not live the life their parents do.
I leave you with another famous quote from Cesar Chavez;
"Once social change begins, it cannot be reversed. You cannot uneducate the person who has learned to read. You cannot humiliate the person who feels pride. You cannot oppress the people who are not afraid anymore. We have seen the future, and the future is ours."
