JuanSky's Blog - April 2008
It was early morning on a beautiful spring Saturday. Despite it being clear and sunny, "Spring Storm" was about to hit the city. Every year during spring UNM students gather at the football stadium and contribute a part of their Saturday to go out and do community service. New Mexico Youth Organized was lucky enough to be one of the groups that students joined in a community action.
The Sigma Chi fraternity was assigned to help us, and, I can't lie, having just graduated from college, I had my preconceptions about "frat boys". Yet, I was already impressed that this group of young men were not only volunteering, but they were also sacrificing a beautiful Saturday morning and afternoon.
They had already put a dent into my long-held stereotype.
So they joined us on our bio-diesel powered school bus, and we all drove out to Alamosa Park in the South Valley. From the street the park doesn't look that dirty, but upon closer inspection we could see shards of glass dispersed amongst the sand in the playground and lots of trash throughout the grassy areas. Read More »
The Sigma Chi fraternity was assigned to help us, and, I can't lie, having just graduated from college, I had my preconceptions about "frat boys". Yet, I was already impressed that this group of young men were not only volunteering, but they were also sacrificing a beautiful Saturday morning and afternoon.
They had already put a dent into my long-held stereotype.
So they joined us on our bio-diesel powered school bus, and we all drove out to Alamosa Park in the South Valley. From the street the park doesn't look that dirty, but upon closer inspection we could see shards of glass dispersed amongst the sand in the playground and lots of trash throughout the grassy areas. Read More »
This is Juan Reynosa's eyewitness account of the recent Dream Reborn Conference held in Memphis (April 4-6).
Day 1
Up to this point the Dream Reborn has not really been a conference. Rather, it more resembles a revival since the amazing array of first day activities had us dancing to African rhythms, clapping and singing along with the Memphis Job Corps. Youth Choir, hugging our neighbors, and chanting together the mantra created for this event: We are the Dream Generation, We are the Dream Reborn.
Speakers on the first day then set the tone for this movement with their eloquent words that were mixed with strong messages. For instance, Afeni Shakur told us that green jobs will not matter unless we also strive to inspire and uplift the youth in our communities and turn them away from negativities like drugs and suicide. "Mr. Civil Rights", D'army Bailey blessed us with his presence and told us that this movement is just like the Civil Rights Movement that he fought through in his early years, yet that it is also ecological. He insisted that talk and theorization mean nothing unless there is action to save both our people and our earth. And finally, Revered Lennox Yearwood Jr. from the High Hop Caucus gave a refreshing sermon about how this social and ecological struggle has no boundaries. His energizing sermon spoke of how all ethnicities, all class levels, all sexual orientations, and all religions need to unite in love to fight for civil and environmental justice. Read More »
Day 1
Up to this point the Dream Reborn has not really been a conference. Rather, it more resembles a revival since the amazing array of first day activities had us dancing to African rhythms, clapping and singing along with the Memphis Job Corps. Youth Choir, hugging our neighbors, and chanting together the mantra created for this event: We are the Dream Generation, We are the Dream Reborn.
Speakers on the first day then set the tone for this movement with their eloquent words that were mixed with strong messages. For instance, Afeni Shakur told us that green jobs will not matter unless we also strive to inspire and uplift the youth in our communities and turn them away from negativities like drugs and suicide. "Mr. Civil Rights", D'army Bailey blessed us with his presence and told us that this movement is just like the Civil Rights Movement that he fought through in his early years, yet that it is also ecological. He insisted that talk and theorization mean nothing unless there is action to save both our people and our earth. And finally, Revered Lennox Yearwood Jr. from the High Hop Caucus gave a refreshing sermon about how this social and ecological struggle has no boundaries. His energizing sermon spoke of how all ethnicities, all class levels, all sexual orientations, and all religions need to unite in love to fight for civil and environmental justice. Read More »The Green Jobs movement has great potential to reduce our carbon emissions and create millions of new environmentally related jobs, yet it also has an even greater potential to unite Americans once again around a progressive, social advancement. Many are looking at the creation of nationwide green jobs as the "New Civil Rights Movement."
The first civil rights movement in America brought people of all mixes together to help African-Americans fight racial oppression, and the Green Jobs movement is now bringing together people, groups, and even industry together to fight environmental oppression of many of our citizens, especially the low-income, low opportunity citizens. We are now at a moment when we all need to come together to help our future generations to realize a prosperous and green future.
Memphis Conference: King's Legacy Grows Green Read More »
The first civil rights movement in America brought people of all mixes together to help African-Americans fight racial oppression, and the Green Jobs movement is now bringing together people, groups, and even industry together to fight environmental oppression of many of our citizens, especially the low-income, low opportunity citizens. We are now at a moment when we all need to come together to help our future generations to realize a prosperous and green future.
Memphis Conference: King's Legacy Grows Green Read More »
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