fuking.....

It's really quite simple:

If you didn't want to go to Santa Cruz in the first place, why'd you come here?

There are so many students that dream of attending a school like ours. I'm not telling you to be grateful; rather, I'm telling you to be smart about the things you do. Make the most of what you have...

I never wanted to come to Santa Cruz. Here's my sob story: my (Pilipino) cousin was assaulted by three white men in the middle of the College 8 quad. He was rushed to the hospital because he was knocked unconscious... Get this, the University never called my family to let us know he was injured; rather, he called me from his hospital bed, asking me to call his dad for him. And after he finally got better, the University Police never investigated the case; the three white men were not expelled--they merely had their housing revoked. Today, one of these white men is still on our campus.

There are people on this campus who fight each day for the cause of students of color. The ChUCK folks that are part of the Chancellor's Undergraduate Internship Program fight for you everyday, making sure that you have a place to study, times to have fun with your peers, and the tools that you will need to graduate. The outreach folks bring up historically disadvantaged youth, enabling them to have a glimpse of our world. The people in the BIG 5 organizations work to recognize our cultures and the lack of diversity on our campus. SOAR supports hundreds of student organizations. SUA fights the negativity that other students attempt to create on our campus. Engaging Education bridges the outreach and retention organizations to create a fighting force in the war on education. ESOC creates spaces for students of color to interact and for wins in campus elections. The Ethnic Resource Center provides a place for students of color to find refuge, even though their centers have very little money.

Activism is NOT glamourus, nor should it be.

When you give alms, do not blow a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites 2 do in the synagogues and in the streets to win the praise of others. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right is doing, so that your almsgiving may be secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you. When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners so that others may see them. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you. In praying, do not babble like the pagans, who think that they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them. Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

Activism and organizing takes time. You can't snap your fingers and make it happen. Surely, one thinks that successful grass roots organizing is created by a few leaders who come together to a table and delegate tasks. NO! This is wrong. Rather, these leaders facilitiate a process in which people--people who have passion and love and motivation for the cause--are willing to give most (if not all) of themselves to the greater good.

Other campuses may have a leg up on us... They may have a history and legacy that is unmatched; they may have money up the wazoo; they may have thousands of students who can put up a fight and administrators who will fight with them. On our campus, however, we have much of this. You just have to open your eyes to what is there, make the most of what we have... You only have to sit and watch, smell the air and understand the cause that we are fighting for and which we are fighting... It's really easy to think that things happen magically, but they really take time and times change.

Here's how I see our campus... We are currently in a pre-renaissance; in the evolutionary tree, we are not yet mammals. We are almost there, however. The stepping stones are in place for revolution. The organizations have fought long and hard for themselves and the tools they need to exist. They have also won other battles that other campuses have lost (read: Engaging Education brought out an amazing voter turnout and a very high passing rate). And soon, the tides will turn, and the evil empire will attempt to take away everything we have won in one single swing. What they do not know, however, is that the students--while they have been inactive for months--are ready for action. At a moments notice, they will be ready to fight harder than ever before. One student said to me, "If I need to chain myself to the building, I will." And I, too, will do the same...

This action that we speak of is an end all solution. We can be radical and irrational. However, we must expend all rational and fair solutions before we explore other actions we can take in order to receive what we need.

Sometimes protest and the rally cry are not necessary to foster positive change. In the eyes of some people, positive change is created when you are able to bring a single person, who wasn't accepted to many other schools, to the University, providing them with a world of opportunity that many other students dream of.