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May 1, 2008

Happy May Day!

Lion dancing

I celebrated May Day with thousands of other marchers in MacArthur Park and Downtown LA. The organizers of the march called for an end to the deportation raids (or redadas), legalization and a path to citizenship for all undocumented immigrants and dignitity and peace for all workers.

The march was fun and festive like the last immigrants’ rights march I attended in 2006, A Day Without an Immigrant/Un Día Sin Inmigrante. I went alone, but knew I’d find someone I knew. I did. Almost as soon as I caught up to the march (I was a little late because it’s tough to find parking in MacArthur Park), I ran in to some friends from school. They were lion dancing and playing drums and cymbals.

Sadly, I had to leave around 3:30 to make it back to campus in time for a meeting. I missed the rest of the march and rally. Anyone want to fill me in?

For a slide show of march photos, click on the image above.

Filed under: Política, Los Angeles | POSTED BY cindylu AT 8:49 pm | No Comments

February 21, 2008

A Closer Look: UCLA’s Underground Students

Remember those undocumented college students I’ve mentioned time and time again? Well, there’s more stories, four to be exact, and two touching photos essays.

The Daily Bruin’s series on AB 540 students profiles four students, all in slightly different situations. Three of the students are current undergrads. Ernesto sent out an email and texts to his friends just to be able to pay for the $2,600 or so it costs to attend UCLA for winter quarter. Victor’s father was picked up by ICE officials at his home and later deported to Peru after 17 years in the states. He considered leaving UCLA to spend more time running the family gardening business. Stephanie has been in school six years, she attends when she has the money to pay and skips a quarter when she can’t afford the cost. Mariana received her green card less than a year ago and is now a graduate student at Harvard. She’s part of an effort to get legislation passed in Massachusetts similar to California’s AB 540, which allows undocumented students who have graduated from a California high school to pay in-state tuition at public colleges and universities.

Oh yeah, and if you’re more of a visual person, you should also check out the photo essays: part one, part two.

Filed under: Política, Escuela | POSTED BY cindylu AT 11:56 am | 11 Comments

February 5, 2008

Poetry and politics

I don’t remember the exact words from Julia Alvarez’s In the Name of Salomé, but I do remember the sentiment:

A poet puts into words what can’t be put into words.

Kris articulated exactly how I felt today, how I felt in 2000 (even voting Green!) and 2004. He’s a poet.

America felt especially beautiful this morning.
New York City feels especially beautiful today.
I can’t quite wrap my head around how beautiful the whole world might look tomorrow morning.

I voted today. I’ve never voted in a primary before. I’ve been registered as Independent since Nader–and no, I didn’t cost Gore the presidency, Mom. When I moved back to New York, I re-joined the Democratic party. I did it so I could vote for Obama.

So okay, it’s not a shock that I’d be voting for this guy. I’m a member of the hip-hop generation. There’s a cool ass Black dude–a Progressive cool ass Black dude–running for President? Of course he gets my vote. He’s from Chicago, he plays basketball, he owns up to his youthful indiscretions? Sign me up. And he can speak? He can speak with rhythm, with flavorful cadences, with enthusiasm and passion and accessibility? He can speak to me, directly to me, the way so many hip-hop artists and theater artists and neighborhood geniuses have spoken to me, full of confidence without bluster, swagger with compassion, spirit and spirituality and yeah, I say this without irony, love in his voice and his heart? And he’s young, he’s handsome, he’s–I can’t believe I’m saying this–electable? I’m voting. I voted. I ride for Barack.

AND he sounds like The Rock? Sheeeeeeeeeeeeeit (c) Clay Davis.

My vote isn’t surprising.

But my dad reminded me to vote today. He voted early. I think he voted for Barack. But even that’s not surprising, really–my dad likes cool ass Black dudes as much as I do. He has a bust of Marx on his bookshelves. He’s also a real estate agent now (hmm–think about that one). He’s a Democrat, pretty through and through. And he digs Obama. Not a shock.

My mom–look, my mom is a woman. My mom is a Baby Boomer woman who rode for The Clintons like I ride for Barack. My mom has been ready to vote for Hillary since that first post-Lewinski press conference, I bit. She’s the kind of relatively conservative Democrat that the Clintons want to have dinner with up in Chappaqua. She’s the kind of voter that Hillary’s folks are counting as givens. And yeah, she’ll probably vote for Hillary. But as I write this, she’s undecided. She’s that taken in by this guy.

It’s beautiful.

I’ve voted in two other presidential elections in my lifetime. Nader had me (and many of my peers) fired up because he represented something different. He was a voice for the issues we felt were important. We knew he wouldn’t win. We didn’t care about him winning. We went Green and independent because we were independent, because we needed to be heard somehow, and he was the way to get heard. And we lost, and our second choice lost, and it was disheartening, yes, but it felt like we were speaking loud and clear, and lo and behold–our second choice is now the greenest motherfucker in politics. And film, for that matter. As Fergie and Daddy Yankee would say: “Impacto.”

In 2004, we mobilized and we mobilized strong. We rode hard for Kerry, not because any of us really dug Kerry, but because–well, you know. And we lost. I remember being at Southpaw on election night, watching Baba Israel and J-Love and company bring hip-hop and funk and US to the presidential election. We went to bed that night thinking we had changed the way things were done. We woke up to find out the efforts had fallen short. The students I had been working with on the campaign said things like: “Why should I even register when I turn eighteen? We did all this work, and it didn’t make a difference.” I knew where they were coming from. I couldn’t teach that day. I cried tears of frustration in the office when no one was looking. The tears were about losing so much as anger at the process–we poured this much work into getting behind a guy that NO ONE really wanted to see as President. And we still almost made it happen. Imagine if it was Edwards. Imagine if it was a cool ass smart ass Black dude. Things would have changed.

But of course, things do change, and impacts are made, and now, today, it’s soggy and nasty in New York, but The Giants are parading in the Canyon of Heroes, and there’s an energy here, yo.

Brooklyn College (the most ethnically diverse institution I know of in NYC) is buzzing. For a primary.
Emerson Middle School, where I voted, was buzzing. For a primary.

There’s a guy we care about, and he’s running against a woman who, all things being equal, would be a President I could stand behind. Hell, there’s a crazy old Republican with a crazy way old mother who I could stand behind (The old guy, not the mom. No wait–the mom too). There’s an internet rock star independent thinker sticking around, stirring things up. And yeah, there’s a business as usual Mormon robo-politican around, and a religious conservative dude–but hey, no Rudy.

And there’s Barack Hussein Effing Obama, who has put tears in the back of my eyes, who has me believing in Bob The Builder slogans (Yes We Can!) as a sign of potential social change.

I’m not convinced he’s going to win.
Hell, I’m not convinced he’ll get nominated.
And I’m sure that if he does win, he’ll never–NEVER–live up to everything that my generation is expecting of him.
He might not be the best President ever.

And you know what? It wouldn’t matter.

Because right now, a whole lot of people fucking care for once.
And we care because this dude is here.

Neither my state nor Kris’ state has gone for Obama, but there’s still hope.

Filed under: Política | POSTED BY cindylu AT 9:52 pm | 7 Comments

February 4, 2008

Rockstars have videos

I remember the feeling I had on January 3rd. I had just left the Murakami exhibit at MOCA and was on my way back to my apartment. The first thing I did when I got to my car was turning on the radio to hear the news from the Iowa caucuses.

NPR was reporting the news that Obama had won. I yelled in my car. It was the first time that I yelled out in happiness. I usually scream in frustration and anger. But no, this yell was happy. And I found myself choked up and crying a little.

It was strange. I didn’t even know I liked Obama that much.

I got that same sense watching this video Friday night. It was right after I’d read the news about La Opinión endorsing Obama. It gave me chills.

I hope Super Tuesday is like the Super Bowl and goes to the underdog.

Filed under: Política | POSTED BY cindylu AT 8:38 pm | 6 Comments

January 31, 2008

Obama the Rockstar

Senator Barack Obama

“I feel like we’re at a rock concert,” Oiyan observed. Lisa and I nodded and looked ahead at the snaking line leading to a small lawn at Los Angeles Trade Tech College.

“Actually,” I noted, “it feels like we’re at an amusement park.”

I mean, who really goes to rock concerts at 8:30 in the morning?

But Oiyan was right, the town hall with Senator Obama was rather rock concert-ish.

For more photos and more on the town hall, click below.

(more…)

Filed under: Política, Fotos | POSTED BY cindylu AT 11:21 pm | 17 Comments

Cars and candidates

“Están registrados para votar?” I asked my grandparents over dinner on Sunday. They shook their heads, despite having become naturalized citizens about five years ago (I helped them study for the test!).

“You should register them,” my mom suggested.

“I can’t, at least not for the primary election,” I informed my mom. “But they can register for the next elections in June and November.”

Then my mom turned to me and asked me what she’s been asking me since I was 12, “who should I vote for?”

“Well, I’m going to pick my candidate like I chose my car,” I responded in between bites of chicken.

“On color?” she asked.

“Yup,” I said and smiled. The main reason I chose to buy a Dodge Stratus rather than a Neon was because of the color. (To make me seem less shallow, I chose the Stratus after a weekend of driving my brother’s Stratus.)

“Obama?”

“Yup…”

Okay, so it’s not that simple. I’m not choosing Obama simply because I want to vote for the black candidate. I’ve voted for black candidates before (hello, Assemblywoman Karen Bass and Rep. Diane Watson). What black/brown divide?

“Actually,” I confessed to my mom, “I’m still undecided. But I know who I’m not voting for.”

I didn’t make my decision until this afternoon when I read the news about John Edwards backing out of the race. Hopefully I’ll be able to articulate my choice after the townhall with Senator Obama tomorrow.

Filed under: Política | POSTED BY cindylu AT 1:10 am | 9 Comments

October 25, 2007

Another DREAM doused

Sigh.

The Senate on Wednesday rejected a bill [the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act] offering the children of illegal immigrants a path to citizenship if they serve in the military or complete two years of higher education. The defeat of the measure, which had attracted bipartisan support, underscored the difficulty of enacting even a narrowly tailored proposal in the polarizing atmosphere surrounding immigration reform.

The vote on the proposal was 52 to 44, short of the 60-vote margin needed to prevent a filibuster and begin debate. It was one small piece of a comprehensive immigration bill that collapsed in the Senate earlier this year, and it sparked a brief but heated debate.

Opponents called the bill a form of amnesty and argued that it would create incentives for illegal immigrants to cross the border with their children. But Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.), who supported the measure, said that “to turn on these children and treat them as criminals is an indication of the level of emotion and, in some cases, bigotry and hatred that is involved in this debate.”

LA Times story

I like the closing quote from Senator Durbin (D-Illinois):

“Don’t turn around and tell me tomorrow you need H-1B immigration visas to bring in talented people to America because we don’t have enough,” Durbin said. “Don’t take your anger on illegal immigration out on children who have nothing to say about this. They were brought to this country…. They’ve beaten the odds. We need them.”

I haven’t written much about the federal DREAM Act lately. Half of me supports it, and the other half of me feels the bills is rather weak. I don’t like the military service provision, which has been in previous iterations of the bill, but was more strongly stressed this time around. Second, undocumented students would still be ineligble for in-state tuition unless they were in a state like California or Texas which have laws which grant undocumented students in-state residency for tuition purposes. Third, students in college would not be eligible for federal grants, but would be able to get loans and work-study. On the positive side, the DREAM Act would regularize the status of those undocumented students who defy the odds and go through college or serve in the military. They’d actually be able to get jobs now.

Despite my ambivalence, I didn’t want to see the DREAM Act die. Arguably, it’s probably the most widely attractive immigration reform bill and it still couldn’t go anywhere. It’s another blow to the immigrant rights movement. If Congress doesn’t give a break to kids who had no choice but to follow their parents or guardians, then who will get a break?

One last question, why the hell was Barbara Boxer (D-California) not there?

Filed under: Política | POSTED BY cindylu AT 12:57 pm | 2 Comments

October 17, 2007

Sueño vetado (dream vetoed)

Just a few links related to the issue of undocumented students in higher education:

There are two DREAM Acts I’ve referred o here. The California one is about financial aid and has no provisions to create a path to citizenship. The federal DREAM Act would create a path to citizenship for undocumented youth who meet certain requirements — such as no criminal record — and have completed two years of postsecondary education or military service.

Filed under: Política | POSTED BY cindylu AT 5:54 pm | 5 Comments

October 15, 2007

Schwarzenegger vetoed the California Dream Act

File under things that suck:

The governor’s veto of SB 1, dubbed the California Dream Act, marked the second time in two years that he had rejected a proposal by Sen. Gil Cedillo (D-Los Angeles) to extend college financial aid to illegal immigrants.

The legislation would have made California high school graduates who met the nonresident in-state tuition requirements eligible for the Cal Grant financial aid program and a fee waiver at community colleges.

Schwarzenegger vetoed the measure, citing its cost. [In UC only about 300 students would benefit from this legislation. So, cost shouldn’t be much of an issue. Okay, that’s wrong. See the comments.]

“At a time when segments of California public higher education, the University of California and the California State University, are raising fees on all students attending college in order to maintain the quality of education provided, it would not be prudent to place additional strain on the General Fund to accord the new benefit of providing state subsidized financial aid to students without lawful immigration status,” Schwarzenegger wrote in his veto message.

Cedillo said he had support for the bill from college administrators.

“The governor has basically said today that immigrants can do the hardest and most dangerous jobs in California, but they are not allowed to dream for a better future,” the senator said.

Cedillo said the governor objected last year to a version of the bill that might have allowed some illegal immigrants to get financial aid before all qualified legal residents received aid. But the senator said the new bill required that all requests by legal residents be filled before aid could be made available to others. (link)

I talked to my friend Oiyan, the president of the UC Student Association, before she had a phone press conference about the student response. She’s been working really hard along with lots of other UC students to urge the Governor to pass the California Dream Act (aka SB 1). She says the governor has no human compassion. I agree.

For more on this issue scroll down for my post on the subject.

Filed under: Política | POSTED BY cindylu AT 12:45 pm | 18 Comments

October 1, 2007

California DREAM Act

I just called the governor’s office. No, I didn’t talk to Arnold Schwarzenegger (not that I expected I’d get to speak to him).

I called to ask him to sign California DREAM Act or Senate Bill 1, sponsored by Senator Gil Cedillo.

According to the action alert I received from UCSA:

SB 1 will qualify undocumented students for non-competitive Cal Grants as well as private scholarships, and will enable California to educate more students and continue to compete economically in the changing economy.

Currently, undocumented students in public higher education — known in California as AB 540 students — qualify for in-state tuition if they meet certain requirements. (I’ve written on this in the past.) However, since they’re undocumented they’re ineligible for all forms of federal and state financial aid. They also can’t apply for many scholarships because those often require citizenship or permanent residency.

The bill is supported by lots of constituents. The UC Student Association (woot woot!) made this one of their main campaigns for the year and has been working hard on building student support. The main University of California Office of the President lobbyist sent in a letter urging the Governor to sign SB 1 (pdf). The California Postsecondary Education Commission did the same (pdf).

SB 1 is currently on the governor’s desk and waiting to be signed. You can help out. Make a call, send a letter or an email. It takes a few minutes to make a call, I was on hold longer than it took me to say “hi I’m Cindy Mosqueda. I’m calling to ask the governor to sign SB 1, a bill I think is very important to expand access to higher education.” Or something like that.

Either way, if you’re in California, show your support!

Filed under: Política | POSTED BY cindylu AT 2:36 pm | 4 Comments

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