A Road Towards Liberation

By Elizabeth Delgado

At a young age, I understood that my education was an important part of not only my physical environment, but of me. Such recognition led me to the understanding that this sort of education did not initiate within the four walls of the educational systems, but within my community, my family, and within myself. Since my understanding, I’ve acknowledged that the development of my consciousness is a never-ending process. Through the practice of praxis, the continuation of reflection and action, I have definitely understood my surroundings, my community, and myself in a totally different manner. With this said it would be oblivious not to speak of the experiences in my university career that have molded and thus reinforced my passion, dedication, accountability, and responsibility in everything I do. My experiences at this institution have not been ones that I can say that have always been positive. That is one of the reasons I feel it is necessary for me to be involved in my community, and in organizations that thrive to keep these institutions accountable to us and to our communities. This passion stemmed in various directions, which has allowed me to embrace brothers and sisters that share in similar struggles. This course has definitely questioned and challenged me to think beyond that "box," a mentality that does not allow us to connect our inner most selves with the world around us, and is prominent among students in institutions such as UCLA. It has challenged and allowed me to maintain a personal and academic balance, something crucial, I think among student activists, and necessary to maintain sanity and continual growth.

Upon my arrival at the university and my initial involvement in working with MEChA’s high school outreach component, I always knew the importance for me to help high school students to see themselves as part of their community, this university, their high school, and their family. My second year, ’99-’00, I was invited to partake in the organization of the 1^st annual Wilton Place UCLA tour. Going to the meetings, honestly, I did not see the importance of so much preparation with so much time in advance for a "simple tour." But my perceptions of this tour were about to change when the day of the tour came, and I had the opportunity to see the importance of such organization and I saw how much a "simple tour" could make a difference in the perception of young children. I saw how these kids, at such a young age, took hold of the realities around them, and were part of the change they deemed necessary for themselves and for their community. The following year, I enthusiastically delved into organizing and partaking once again in the 2^nd Annual Wilton Place tour. During this tour, three students – Diana Yi, Russell Muronaka, and Nick Occhipinti – also partook in an Asian American Studies Independent Studies course where they would visit Wilton Place Elementary to Tony Osumi’s 3^rd grade class and organized a booklet of the students’ unity stories. Through their dedication, passion, and experiences of these three UCLA students, the idea for a student initiated, student facilitated course emerged.

These events definitely made my decision to become a student facilitator for the Asian American Studies 197J even more meaningful. Though, at first, I did not really know what sorts of expectations I should hold towards organizing and facilitating a course in a subject so dear and personal for me. I definitely feel that my personal lack of preparation and lack of what do expect made my organizational process one in which challenging, since I really had not idea what to exactly expect. Cesar Chavez once said, "students must have the initiative; they should not be mere imitators. They must learn to think and act for themselves and be free.’

During this past summer in an effort to prepare and set forth expectations for the course, and we, Diana Yi, Chris Diaz, and I, met several times. With the guidance and support of Professor Glenn Omatsu, we embarked on one of the most overwhelming, yet fulfilling experiences in my undergraduate career. Coming in with my personal lack of guidance, yet guided by the experiences of those students, our predecessors (in which one of them was with us to share her experiences), we saw this class as a means to incorporate the knowledge and the skills we have acquired through each of our organizational and personal experiences. We saw it as a means to incorporate so many activities, so many reading, in so little amount of time (for the UCLA students and for ourselves). With so much enthusiasm, yet constant fear of not knowing exactly what to expect we looked forward t the day that everything we said would be able to put our words into action in the classroom, not only here at UCLA but at Wilton Place Elementary. But we knew that there were so many things that needed to be taken care of. From meeting with Professor Omatsu, to meeting with Tony Osumi, to student facilitator meetings every Tuesday night from 9 pm to 2am, to writing proposals for transportation and additional funding for printing and supplies, to staying up late copying the readers and the booklets at Kinko’s, to meeting with the Asian American Studies Center on the future of this course and other student initiated course, to presenting to graduate class on Asian American and Education in Center X of the UCLA School of Education teacher credential program about how education should be relevant in all schemes of the educational level, to stressing out before each activity – praying for it to be successful, all of this was necessary, not only for us, but for everyone involved in the course. As one of the student facilitators for this course, I definitely felt honored to be able to learn and grow so much from my fellow student facilitators, all of the UCLA AAS 197J students, from Glenn, from all the teachers, and from all the Wilton Place students.

A recommendation I could make for this class to be more balanced both in learning and engaging activities would be to expand the course into two quarters. This would help the class and the facilitators are able to incorporate the teachers more into the organizational process, as well as to being able to incorporate more open court vocabulary. Other thing would be to through the site visits to be able to adequately use these open court words to be able to help the kids and the teachers with reading and writing tests given to the kids. In all honesty, this past quarter I learned what it is to be a balanced individual, to be able to balance, my academics, my responsibilities as a part of the Mesa Directiva for MEChA, my responsibilities for this class, and my personal life, and try to stay sane through the whole time. I had to reflect upon what I did and didn’t do everyday in order to progress to the next day.

In the syllabus it states, "A key goal for this class is to encourage you to share what you are learning with others and to learn from the children and teachers in our communities. In the late 1960s, the movements that created Ethnic Studies began with a vision of education that linked classroom learning to the issues in the community. This vision continues today. Students have a special responsibility to share their knowledge and resources with others in their communities, including other campuses. Knowledge is too important to stay within the classroom or the university. In addition, students at elite institutions such as UCLA have a special responsibility to develop the necessary humility to effectively teach and learn from those in our communities."

The syllabus couldn’t have phrased it in a better way! I feel that, as students at this university, we also have the responsibility to share this knowledge with our fellow UCLA students who have yet to tie how the struggle for social justice exists within each one of us. The class has definitely been inspiring to see our own peers, who at the beginning did not grasp the concepts of service learning and collectively, be those individuals who, ultimately, made the connections between every aspect of the class. It inspired me to see all the children be part of my inner growth, and it has allowed me to think at the most simplest, and basic terms. A level that, at the university, is unseen. It definitely has grounded me to stay humble in everything I do.

EL Plan de Santa Barbara (1969), one of MEChA’s founding documents states, "liberation of her/his people from prejudice and oppression is in her/ his hands and this responsibility is greater than personal achievement." I definitely feel that I hold this responsibility deeply embedded in everything I do, in thinking of my brothers and sisters in the community as a motivating factor to continue my education and unifying struggle towards social justice. Thus in engaging in any act of social justice, we assume the sacrifices and responsibilities inherent in our commitment. In these sacrifices make us compassionate, humble, and giving towards others, in essence all the experiences and people we encounter in our lives liberates us to become a little bit more human. ¡La Lucha Continua! - Che Guevara.