Embrace and Engage: Learning is for Everyone

After participating in the Cesar Chavez Community Action Center's first I THINK workshop at San Jose State University, my mind was blown away and I was once again reminded of the effective discussion method I learned while serving with AmeriCorps Bridging Borders: small group discussions and creating action plans.

Service learning and service planning makes me reflect on very necessary questions: What is my goal? What is our goal?

As fellow student and community organizer Latu Tapaatoutai says,
"The movement, as what we refer to, is never ending for it has existed before us and will continue after us until humanity is achieved. As you can tell, this is a life long committment and it's always over time. The movement has never died, such is the failed notion that is used to miseducate a generation. We learn from our elders, and take on the shared responsibility to work for humanity."

The ultimate goal is then, sustainability. Sustainability of a movement, of the peoples, of the communities, of the environment that makes up all of us, of the very place we call home, that is home to all other beings...

How do we keep an organization or movement sustainable through different leaders, different generations?

Education then becomes a necessary component for the service we give to humanity--it becomes the very tool for all peoples to desire the resources they need to become the leaders and resources their communities need. Education and service go hand in hand.

There is no discrimination for education. No one can be denied this access.

However, sometimes it is easy to look over the new generation. It is hard to keep biases away--but just as moving forward is important, is very necessary to educate the next generation that is helping creating and being the action that advocates for the movement--for if they do not know the whats and whys, education will not spread....it is about change, not charity. To clarify this point with an example--the Environmental Club this past Earth Day gave away reusable bottles, but before giving them away, had students pledge to use them instead of plastic water bottles. Service then becomes meaningful and critical to the people's survival, "Teach a human a skill and they can use that for life."

Education also comes in different forms--everyone learns and expresses themselves with diversity.

As Tamora Pearson says in her Intellectualism for Everyone essay, it is necessary that we LIVE our education. Education, like the fish market philosophy from yesterday's Associated Student's All Staff- Development Day, must be ALIVE, and we must LIVE it. Stories, politics, and history should be represented for all the people--not just the puppeteers or observers but also namely, the acting crew. That is why I enjoy the Radical Reader (McCarthy), because it highlights the stories of the struggles of radicals of all sorts of movements--not just the ones you will read about in your textbook.

Let your story be heard. Do not hesitate to use a nonconformist way to express yourself. Carthatic release is necessary and sometimes, essays and speeches and reports cannot be that emotional release.

I cannot wait for next week's First Thursday Open Mic with MOSAIC at Market Cafe on campus!