Community Education: Student Empowerment

Assignment 1: History and Autobiography

Essay Assignment (Autobiography & History): According to sociologist C. Wright Mills, we can always discover an intersection between autobiography and history. Each person’s life unfolds within a particular historical period, and an individual can understand their own experience by locating their life within history. Each person’s life is shaped by historic events such as war, immigration, racism, oppression of women, economic recession, civil unrest, etc. As C. Wright Mills states, this discovery "in many ways is a terrible lesson; in many ways a magnificent one." For this Essay Assignment, each student will write a three-to-five page autobiography linking their life to history. Students should provide some background information about themselves (where they were born, where they live, what are the important things in their life, what are their life aspirations, etc.). However, they should focus their essays on three main questions: 1) How does their life intersect with history? (Have certain historical events, such as war, immigration, etc. shaped their lives or influenced their life plans?) 2) Why is the discovery of the intersection of autobiography and history "in many ways a terrible lesson; in many ways a magnificent one"? 3) Once a person has discovered this intersection, what meaning does this discovery have for that person’s life? This assignment is due by Friday, Oct. 5.

Shaping Our Destinies

By Raymond Ramirez

History books are often littered with stories of how people have shaped destinies of certain nations. What is often ignored in these academic studies, however, is how history influences the individual on a very interactive, personal basis. Undeniably, questions regarding – among other things – one’s socioeconomic status, political affiliations, and ideologies can likely be answered if his/her life is juxtaposed with the historical period with which they are born into. Such is the case with my story. My life experiences – such as the 1986 People Power Revolution in the Philippines and the 1990s immigrant backlash in California – can be seen as terrible in that they exposed the darker side of human beings per then-Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos and then-California Governor Pete Wilson. However, I also see these experiences as magnificent because they exposed me to the idea that institutions of oppression can and should be changed. More importantly, it led me to discover an intersection between my life and history – an intersection which teaches that certain elements in society must be changed, and that this change begins with one person who takes an initiative.

I was born in Makati, Metro Manila, in the Philippines. When I was almost eight years old, then-President Marcos was overthrown by a bloodless revolution in what has now become known as "People Power." Tired of the undemocratic hand with which he ruled the country, Filipinos took to the streets and demanded to be heard. The enduring scenes from those few celebrated days in February 1986 – Filipinos daring unwilling tanks to crush them, nuns praying rosaries in the streets, and women offering flowers to startled soldiers – were played for the world over and over. Although very young, I could feel the patriotism throughout the city; never had I been so proud to be a Filipino. In 1990, my family and I (four of us total) moved to Los Angeles to take advantage of better economic circumstances. In California, however, anti-immigrant sentiment – led by then-Governor Pete Wilson – was running high. For instance, I remember racial lines being drawn through anti-immigrant legislation such as Proposition 187 in 1994. While I personally never experienced any type of blatant discrimination, I was slowly becoming exposed to the concept that America is not necessarily the benevolent country it advertised itself to be. In 1995, my family moved again–this time to San Francisco. As I have come to gain more perspective on my experiences, I have come to learn that there are few important things in life. For me, family and education are tops among the list. As I am about to graduate from UCLA, I have professional aspirations of one day practicing law–possibly with a specialization in immigration issues.

As I have mentioned, the People Power revolution of 1986 played a very influential part in my life because it showed me that certain institutions can be oppressive, and should thus be stood up to. For instance, during the snap election that pitted Marcos against Corazon Aquino, cheating at the ballot boxes was rampant and well documented. When Marcos was declared the winner, many angry people took to the streets after defections by some cabinet members. While the revolution was bloodless, I do recall feeling a sense of uneasiness at seeing tanks on the local highways. The will of the People, however, could not be ignored for much longer. Not surprisingly, Marcos promptly left the country when he saw what had stood up to him.

Also, my experiences with immigration opened me to a type of oppression in a more subtle form. When there was debate over Proposition 187, I was in high school. Some Filipinos that I discussed the matter with were very nervous about the legislation and felt they were being scapegoated by politicians such as Governor Wilson for the problems the state was having. Wilson’s politicization of immigration issues is even more astonishing given that he was once considered – as I would later find out–a moderate Republican. But the most disturbing aspect of all of this was that the system was being used in a way that was divisive and oppressive (for example, is it right to deny a child an education because his parents brought him/her here illegally?). But, as I would learn later, if the system could be used to oppress, it could also be used to remedy the oppression. Looking back, that itself is probably the most important lesson I have learned from that period.

In many ways, the discovery that my life intersects with history has been a terrible lesson in that it introduced me to people and concepts that are able to manipulate the system and its institutions. For instance, People Power in retrospect taught me that we live in an uncertain world dictated by tanks, armies, and whoever is in charge of them (for instance, it is highly doubtful that the world would come to aid the U.S.’s current war on terrorism if America did not own the world’s most imposing military). Furthermore, the revolution forced many Filipinos and I to see the evil and corruption inherent in many government institutions. Likewise, the Wilson era of immigration showed me that oppression is not necessarily carried out at gunpoint. Oppression, I would learn, could take many legal forms as well. Legality, of course, does not always translate to right. If anything, these experiences taught me, unfortunately, to trust people less.

However, the discovery of this intersection between my life and history has drawn magnificent lessons of activism as well. For instance, People Power taught me that oppression cannot stand for long if it has a strong and visible opposition. Indeed, the twenty-year Marcos regime fell within a matter of days to an unarmed civilian population. More importantly, as I would learn later in "People Power II" (the revolution that ousted corrupt ex-President Joseph Estrada in the same bloodless fashion), activism that ensures safeguards against oppression should be constantly in place. Likewise, in retrospect the Wilson era taught me that since there are those who manipulate and misuse the system, others such as myself should work as a counterbalance to their causes. Seen through the eyes of retrospect, these experiences introduced me to the need for activism and social change – many of which begin at the grassroots level.

For me, the discovery of this intersection between my life and history has changed the way I perceive the status quo; that is, I have learned to shed fatalist notions that I may have had about the world. In its place, I feel like I have adopted the optimist attitude that injustices in this world are changeable, and will be changed. This cannot happen, however, without people that work to correct these injustices. I would have to say then, that these experiences have changed my life in that they opened up an avenue of activism that would have otherwise lay dormant. These phases in my life – the Wilson era especially–is probably one of the forces that draws me to the notion of possibly practicing immigration law one day. Should that aspiration ever come to fruition one day, it will probably be my own way of using the system to help those it was meant to disempower.

Indeed, history holds the power to influence the individual on a very interactive, personal basis. Such was the case with two particular experiences that I had: the People Power revolution in the Philippines and the Pete Wilson immigration era in California. While both experiences weakened my trust in government leaders, they did spark an interest in social change and activism. This concern is something that I can hopefully advance in my own small way per my professional career. Hopefully, history has been able to touch others in a similar, positive way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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