1990_02 The Daily Collegian February 1990

              PAGE 4
LA VOZ DE AZTLAN
FEBRUARY, 1990
X
"**•:
1990   Chicano
"1990's: La Decada Para FortalecerNuestra
?
Response high for first
CYC Empowerment Panel
A brave participant addresses the crowd at the 17th Annual
Chicano Youth Conference.
Audience listens attentively to Bea Molina's keynote
speech. The South Gym was filled to capacity, many
had to stand. *
IEloy Garcia
LA VOZ ASSISTANT EDITOR
Brand new to the Chicano Youth Con¬
ference was the Student Empowerment
Pane! designed to be an idea exchange
between high school and college students
and leaders in the community. '
"What we're going to do here at the
empowerment panel is tajk about the
problems andissuesfacingyour cam puses
such as racism and attitudes coming from
not only students but your teachers and
counselors. Drug and alcohol abuse are
also topics that we will discuss,"said Ralph
Avitia, moderator for the student empow¬
erment panel.
The panel consisted of Ben Benavidez,
state president of the Mexican American
Political Association (MAPA). Don'Daves,
a CSUF-graduate education student, and
Irma Serrano, chairwoman of the CYC
and a sophomore liberal studies major at
CSUF.
"If each and everyone of you takes one
thing that you will learn today back to
your school, back to your neigborhood, to
your home," Benrav-
idez said, "then it
wil 1 have been a very
successful day."
Racism, 3enav-
idezsaid, was listed
as the No. 1 concern
amo'ng the high
school students who
responded to a sur¬
vey sent out by the
CYC committee to
the different schools.
"I know we have a
major problem edu¬
cating our young
Chicanos when the
number one issue
concerning you is
the racism you have
to put up with at
school.
. "You're not receiving
the education that you duly deserve. You
deserve your education. If you go about
the business of thinking that you are a
second rate citizen, a second rate student,
a second rate person because of the color
ot your skin, then I can't believe that you
truly know what
a Chicano is."
CYC    Chair¬
woman IrmaSer-
rano spoke along these lines wh?n she
said, "We need you to open your eyesand
see what is going on. When a teacherit'elIs
you, "You're notgoingtomakeit.'you tell
him 'yes I am.'You dare them. You doit."
Daves urged the students to get in¬
volved, "This workshop is all about em¬
powerment. It's not just empowerment of
a few people but empowerment of all the
people of color.
"It's not a matter of sitting down and
having the attitude Lo Raza-Yo noy
Chicano ," Daves added. "That's not good
enough. You need to get up. You need to
take the bull by the horns and you need to
make things happen because they're not
going to do it for you. They're not going to
open the door for you."
Daves continued to stress the need for
involvement, "Politics is our way to the
future, so do something, empower your¬
selves. Make thingshappen. Don't sit back
on your morals."
A late addition to the empowerment
panel was Bea Molina, one of the keynote
speakers. "You have to get involved as
early as in high school. If no where elseat
least on your campus," she said.
Members of the audience were invited
up to the microphone to pose questions to
the pane] or to their peers in the audience.
One of the first students asked, "What are
we supposed to do? A lot of us Mexicans
that don't have the college preparatory
classes Can't get scholarships. Snme of us
also have to work and our grades aren't
that good."
Molina retorted, "Some of you guys are'
taking the easy way out. You're just gradu-
atingTftth easy classes. If that's what
you're going to do, don't expect to earn a
scholarship. And about working* you're
just going to have to find a way to balance
your life between school and work like
most of us up here had to do."
Vick Zendoya, a student from Tulare
Union High School said,"I feel their is
racism in my school and I want to know
how I can fight it."
Daves res ponded,"You need to get in¬
volved with student government. That
way you can be part of the system, you can
change things."
Another CYC participant commented,
"I just want to tell everyone, that if they're
determined to do something, they can do
it. I'm a teenage mother of two. I'm a
senior and right now I have five A's and n
C. I know if I can do it everyone can do it."
Photos by
Chris Heredia
(l-r) Ralph Avitia, Ben BenaviHez, Irma Serrano and Don
Daves comprise the first CYC empowerment panel. The
topics focused on problems high school student's, face.