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!
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Monday, September 7, 2009
Take Action at San Jose State!
September hits us with a load of events, as we find ourselves in the furlough-budget cuts' muck. Students at San Jose State find it terribly difficult to add classes, get enough units to be considered full time (and thus unable to received financial aid), not to mention, unable to acquire classes we actually need to graduate when departments will be punished for exceeding the cap of the classes. With a 10% cut to faculty wages, 32% overall increase in student fees at SJSU, and denying thousands of qualified freshmen admission...
See this PAIN Index 2009, compiled by Professor Scott Myers-Lipton, Sociology:
SJSU Pain Index 2009
O. Number of classes students can add in the Department of Sociology.
1.8. Percent of California budget going to higher education in 2009.
3.1. Percent of California budget going to higher education 2008.
9.23. Percent reduction in each SJSU faculty salary (also took away 12% raise from a few years ago).
18. Number of State mandated furlough days CSU faculty forced to take this year.
32. Percent increase to student fees in 2009.
42. Million dollar reduction in State contribution towards SJSU budget.
182. Percent increase in SJSU fees from 2002 to 2009.
200. Number of SJSU faculty terminated in fall 2009.
550. Dollar amount for CSU fees for academic year in 1988.
900. Dollar increase in SJSU fees in 2009.
2,500. Fewer students at SJSU in 2010.
3,000. Fewer students at SJSU in 2009.
4, 827. Dollar amount for CSU fees.
40,000. Fewer students at CSU fees for academic year in 2009.
585,000,000. Dollar reduction in school funding this year in CSU budget.
And yet the Federal Gov. has now given around $2 trillion total to companies like GM and AIG.
If this makes you angry please contact:
Governor Arnold Sxhwarzenegger
email, go to: http://gov.ca.gov/interact
(916) 445-2841
Chancellor, CSU, Dr. Charles Reed
publicaffairs@calstate.edu
(562) 951-4700
State Assembly member Joe Coto
Assemblymember.Coto@assemb
(408) 277-1220
State Senator Elaine Alquist
(408) 286-8318
Senator.Alquist@senate.ca.
You can also join the SJSU club Students For Quality Education (sjsu.sqe@gmail.com)
to join together with other students to fight budget cuts.
To take action, join SQE to deliver over 1,000 complaint forms to the Provost office. They are meeting this Wednesday September 9th at the Tommie Smith and John Carlos statues in front of Clark Hall at 2 pm. Also, SQE meetings are Mondays, 4:30 pm at the CFA Office in Building Q, Room #6 (behind the ATM's).
We created a budget cuts timeline for the Cesar Chavez Community Action Center open house last Thursday:
And other upcoming events
Tuesday, September 8
History in the Making: Changes to the Court
Building BB room #203
10:30-11:00 light refreshments
11:00 am watch Live ceremony
View the formal investiture ceremony for 111th Supreme Court Justice, Sonia Sotomayor. Community dialogue to follow.
Wednesday, September 9
Community Connections Fair
7th Street Plaza
10:00am -1:30 pm
Meet local non-profits and learn about different community service opportunities...and get free ice cream from the Cesar Chavez Community Action Center booth!
*co-sponsored by the Center for Community Learning and Leadership
Friday, September 11
9/11 National Day for Service and Remembrance
9:00am -1:00pm
Various locations in the community--working on community garden plots from either 8-12 or 10-2. Email cccac@as.sjsu.edu
Wednesday, September 16
Dr. Reinhold Wagnleitner, University of Salzburg
“The United States and Obama – a World View”
Engineering Auditorium 189
2:00 pm-4:00 pm
Wednesday, September 16
Speakers Series: 40 years of Chicano Movement in San Jose
Roosevelt Community Center
901 E. Santa Clara St., San José, 95116
6:00 pm-8:00pm
Donations NEEDED!!!
We are collecting new and used children’s costumes and Halloween accessories (masks, wings, wigs etc) to be distributed to kids in low-income communities. Our goal for the Center is to collect 100 costumes. Please help us in meeting this need. Donation bins will be
located in the 1st floor lobby of Building BB through October 14, 2009. (Gift cards and monetary donations also accepted during business hours)
For more information email us at cccac@as.sjsu.edu .
Leaders Needed: Alternative Spring Break
The Alternative Spring Break (ASB) Program exposes SJSU students to diversity, cultural immersion, and political and economic differences in an alcohol and drug free environment during Spring Break. Students work side by side with local residents on grassroots projects to address critical, unmet needs on domestic and international service trips during spring break. The intensive cultural immersion and hands-on service exposes students to the realities of community development and promotes fuller comprehension of their place in the global community.
There are hard copy application in the office (BB Building #105). Team leader apps are due Sept 28. Program apps are due Oct 16.
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