Elizabeth Serna  Serna is a
third-year history and Chicana/o studies student. She will serve as
the chair of MEChA this year. Contact her at [email protected]. Â Â
Each generation must, out of relative obscurity, discover its
mission, fulfill it, or betray it.” Though these words were
spoken more than 30 years ago by Frantz Fanon, they still apply to
the present generation of students who walk within the walls of the
ivory towers of UCLA.
For Movimiento Estudiantil Chicana/o de Aztlán, student of
color organizations and student activists on campus, the beginning
of this academic year brings us an opportunity to reflect on the
past and begin planning and realizing our mission for the
future.
Thirty years ago, the student of color organizations that were
formed on this campus and many other campuses throughout the nation
were seen as the student branch of larger social movements that
called for revolutionary change and an end to oppressive conditions
that plagued our communities. The student movements were successful
in establishing a power base within institutions of higher
education and in demanding that the university provide resources
and remain accountable to the needs of our communities. This was
realized through the establishment of affirmative action and ethnic
studies programs.
Today, the daily realities of our communities continue to be
those of increased poverty, violence, unequal access to education,
police brutality, exploitation in the workforce, sexism, racism,
homophobia and much more. As student activists at UCLA, we must
never forget the legacies of those students who came before us and
paved the way for our entrance into this university.
JENNY YURSHANSKY/Daily Bruin
We must also never forget the responsibility we have to our
respective communities, which is greater than personal achievement
and more meaningful than any degrees we will receive at UCLA. For
over 30 years, MEChA has sought to organize and challenge students
to maintain self-respect and dignity as we overcome historical
prejudices and discrimination. The historic and continuing mission
of MEChA involves an educational plan of action that ensures equal
access to education for all communities of color.
This past year, MEChA, along with other student organizations on
campus like the African Student Union and the Muslim Student
Association, formed a coalition with community groups such as the
Concerned Educators for Justice, Youth Organizing Communities, and
the Coalition for a Better Environment, in a movement to fight for
Educational Justice. During the Democratic National Convention in
August, the UCLA student organizations marched in solidarity with
students, parents and teachers to demand Justice for Youth in an
educational system that is set up to discriminate against people of
color.
The march was part of a series of marches that took place during
the DNC. The organizers of the march presented a set of 10 formal
demands to Gov. Gray Davis. We demanded he take action to repeal
Proposition 209, Proposition 21 and other laws that targeted youth
of color. Other demands dealt with an end to standardized testing
which has been proven to be culturally biased.
For this upcoming year, MEChA plans to continue working with
other student organizations and community groups around the fight
for educational justice. On campus, this will be done through a
campaign to educate the campus community on the issues affecting
communities of color. Among our many programs, MEChA will continue
to fight so that the doors of higher education remain open to all
students who seek a higher education, and to ensure that education
remains a right, and not a privilege.
More importantly, the fight around educational justice has
reminded us of the need to build a movement on and off campus by
solidifying a strong base comprised of students and community
members. We must not forget the power that students have to create
change both on campus and in our communities. Let me remind you
that the university will be a training ground for our leadership in
larger society.
For those of you who might be new to UCLA and unaware of how to
become a student activist, we welcome you to the university and
encourage you to join us as we begin this year acknowledging that
as student of color organizations, we must stand in solidarity to
continue the struggle for the advancement of our communities.
Walter Mosley tells us, “Advancement is not defined by the
passage of time, but by deeds and change.” Change will only
occur if we continue to make the conscious decision to challenge
the oppressive conditions that still exist and engage in a struggle
for social justice.
Change needs to come from us, the students, who have experienced
those daily realities and know the needs of our communities best.
The advancement of our communities will ultimately depend on our
acceptance of the responsibility to carry the movement forward.