greg said...

so, i attended the ucsa board retreat a couple weeks ago at the university of california, santa barbara. myself and lindsay mccluskey trained the grassroots organizing weekend (GROW) and were around all weekend for some other amazing sessions from the ucsa staff and board of directors.

during the retreat, i acquired in the most friendly way, victor's armadillo named "diego". after the retreat was over, i thought it would be cool to take diego with me on all my different trips and take pictures to document each moment.

first picture: myself, diego & victor at uc santa barbara!





second picture: diego in paris, france at the unesco headquarters!

random pic: samahangers at the pilipino alumni association event last year (2008). jo-dang, norlyn, nick, jason, abby & myself!

i just heard some great news from folks from Samahang Pilipino at UCLA! THERE IS NOW A PILIPINO STUDIES CONCENTRATION within the ASIAN AMERICAN STUDIES MAJOR!

this is a short term victory for the long term goal of having a pilipino studies major & department.

for those of you who are not familiar with the campaign, here is the description from the samahang website (www.samahang.org):

Campaign for Pilipino Studies

Samahang Pilipino understands the importance of a relevant education that provides students with an opportunity to engage in dialogue and better understand the Pilipino history, culture and language. This year, we will prioritize the advancement of Pilipino Studies as part of the university curriculum by working with the Asian American Studies Department, South East Asian Studies as well as other Pilipina/o organizations system-wide.

We follow a legacy of advocacy and will continue in this struggle to ensure our community is represented in all aspects of the university. Samahang Pilipino is connected to a larger struggle demanding the prioritization of ethnic, gender and queer/LGBT studies on campus. This year is no different.

this is following some exciting news about the federal budget passing with reconciliation language. this means we are one step closer mandatory pell grant funding and universal healthcare. thank you, obama for putting students & working families first!

we aren't done yet but these are definitely victories worth celebrating!

my trip in WI, at a glance!

-17th annual building unity conference at uw-milwaukee
-referendum campaigning for united council at uw-milwaukee with nicole, erika, josh & omer
-eating fresh cheese curds (that weren't fried) for the first time--they were so fresh, they squeaked
-making spray paint shirts that have the united council logo and "vote yes" on them
-tour of milwaukee with nicole, erika & josh
-first time eating fresh frozen custard

HIGHLIGHT FROM WI!
one of the best parts about the trip though was hearing from speaker tim wise. he spoke about racism and the importance of being an ally to people of color. it was such an inspirational speech that called folks out and spoke truth to the internal, external, individual and insitutional oppression that exists in society and in our everyday lives. specifically, he talked about race as it relates to the election of the first black president, barack obama.

he just released a new book: betwen barack and a hard place: racism and white denial in the age of obama. definitely going to be on my reading list. you should check this book out or any of the other books he wrote before. i havent read any of them but i heard they wer amazing.

the take away point was that we do not talk about talk race enough and we, especially as people of color, need to do push ourselves to share our stories , own our stories and not let anyone take that away. tim wise described our stories as "true-isms", things that could not be argued for the fact that those were our experiences and we knew best what happened and how these experiences impacted our lives. not even the most ally of the allies would be able to understand and relate, no matter how many people of color they grew up with or knew. period.

it was definitely an eye opening speech. check out a clip from one of his similar speeches here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3Xe1kX7Wsc

in solidarity,
greg

random pic: from the very first student activist project retreat. now, they have been at the forefront of organizing at UCLA. oh so proud!

Students!

Today young people across the country are making their voices heard by calling on Congress to move quickly to pass a budget that is good for students and working families. We need a new direction for America and the federal budget proposed by President Obama makes some of the firmest commitments leading us there!

Please forward this message now and make a phone call today!

HOW TO CALL: Dial (888) 299-1447 to be connected to your Members of Congress.

SENATOR SCRIPT: Hello Senator ______. My name is ______. I am a student at (name your University) and a voter in your state. I am calling you today in conjunction with the United States Student Association’s National Call-In Day to urge you to vote for Budget Reconciliation in the final version of the Federal Budget. I support the budget with reconciliation because the proposed investments to Pell grants and other higher education programs are desperately needed by students & working families. Thank you for your time and I look forward to your support.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SCRIPT: Hello Congressperson ______. My name is ______. I am a student at (name your University) and a voter in your district. I am calling you today in conjunction with the United States Student Association’s National Call-In Day to urge you to vote for Budget Reconciliation in the final version of the Federal Budget. I support the Budget with reconciliation because the proposed investments in Pell grants and other higher education programs are desperately needed by students & working families. Thank you for your time and I look forward to your support.

If your Senator is already a supporter, ask her/him to urge their colleagues to be supporters as well.

Thank you for all that you do!

~The USSA Staff

this past weekend, myself and fellow brother bear, danny montes, took a trip to northern california to visit friends and take some time off after a crazy past couple of months (including our legislative conference that happened at the end of march).

on our last day of the trip, it was apparently 91 degrees in berkeley and i was literally sweating. people were wearing shorts and flip flops and it definitely reminded me of how much i think i miss CA, especially the weather.

in order to make it back for an important meeting, we took a red eye flight back to DC sunday night at 10:15pm. it had an on time departure but an hour into the flight, the pilot realized we were running out of gas SO HAD TO TURN AROUND! we had to wait to get on another plane and ended up getting to DC almost 5 hours later than we expected. on top of that, it was raining and pretty much the opposite of the weather we had.

a highlight of the day was eating lunch with ms. jean margaret biniek! although, we both live and work in dc, i actually dont see her as much as i thought i would or want! we ate at luna cafe, one of my favorite spots in town and got to catch up on life, next steps in our lives and to remind eachother of how ridiculous we both can be. i miss you, jeannie and thanks again for lunch!

a couple hours later, i was setting off to tallahassee, florida for a field visit at THE florida state university. and i am here now.

been up since 7am to goto a meeting with sakeena, one of USSA's board members (and new board member of the year to be exact). a busy day ahead, including USSA's National Day of Action. more information on the call in day to be posted after this...

looking forward to my next trip to WI and pride & heritage in DC on may 2.

missin' the CA sun,
greg