2016 is going to be an amazing year! Elections are upon us and my goal this year is to activate young Latinos in Detroit to canvas and talk about the issues that we are about! The Latino vote is growing in the country, but we still vote in very low numbers.  Latinos are a small population in Detroit and so we have to band together, show up and grab a seat at the table!

This year, Global Detroit won an national award from  and we also became a Knight Cities Challenge finalists. There is so much good work to do!
(www.globaldetroit.com or https://www.facebook.com/GlobalDetroit/)

http://www.nationaljournal.com/next-economy/renewal-project

http://www.knightfoundation.org/press-room/press-release/knight-cities-challenge-names-126-finalists/

First Wednesday of May Rant- 2015

Anyone that knows me knows this: I eventually get what I want... I make it happen or find a way to patch it. People work with me to make it happen. The universe conspires... Maybe it is all of the above. I just know that you need to be careful what you wish for. This is a great problem to have!

I wish for a lot of things throughout my day. Sometimes wishing can include a cup of coffee, a doughnut, or the exposure of young Latinos to STEM fields. Yes, those are the kinds of things that might cross my mind on a regular day. Henry Ford Health System has been engaging Latinos in SW Detroit for about a year now and we told that what we wanted- a pipeline into the STEM (Sciences) fields. Youth sometimes don't know that they can or even what is out there to apply to or aspire to. I remember that I aspired to what I saw when I lived in San Antonio, Texas and because my range of contacts were limited as a 17 year old, that was extremely limiting. I was not networking with professionals!

Today, I found an email in my inbox which was Henry Ford Health Systems' response to our requests from our meetings. They have found funding for programming for Southwest Detroit Latinos called C2 Southwest Detroit Initiative that will target Latino youth. We (Latinos) are so close, only a mere 5 miles away from Wayne State's Medical Campus or Henry Ford Health Systems, but believe me, it can feel like 100 miles if you don't "feel" like you belong. How do you begin to "feel" like you belong? You are exposed and this other landscape is normalized before doubt sets in. I am so excited about this fundamental and life-changing programming!

I am also excited because this also proves that you chip away at a mountain and you make your case well, giants, organizations, institutions will listen. We know STEM jobs are coming. It can be baffling how to help young people prepare for this and yes, this is what I spend my time daydreaming and wishing about. Now what to do? We need to mobilize and make sure that these STEM pipeline boot camps don't go to waste! Exposure to college or science can go a long way and can alter a young persons self-perception and life. I know that I needed someone to stop and ask me why I was so nervous to go to college. It is our turn to ask. Thank you, Henry Ford Health Systems and Wayne State University for looking around and asking,"who is NOT at the table?" And then, after taking note, DOING something about it.

I am so excited- I am not even spell checking!
Deep in the heart of Southwest,
Abrazos,
Raquel

DACA Students overturn college tuition policy

In April and May, I was able to witness POWER. I watched and supported to the best of my ability a group of young people gather their resources and get their voices heard. Oakland Community College changed their tuition policy in 2013 for the next fiscal year. The tuition change not meant not only increased prices for international students and DREAMERS, but these new prices were so unaffordable that it meant these students would not have access to education. The exchange on this tuition increase began as a social media campaign. This media campaign grew into a task force led by OCC administration who genuinely were wanting to learn about this new group of students. DACA or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals was put into effect by President Obama through executive order in 2012. It is new. A lot of people do not know what DACA means.

The task force heard the testimony of many, many DACA and undocumented students, researched the issue and issued recommendations to  the OCC Trustees. The Trustees unanimously voted YES on May 20th on the recommendations to include DACA students as residents. This is so much more than policy change. This means that if you speak up, that you will be heard. If you never speak up, you will NEVER be heard. This means trying new things in areas that you do not know- imagined and literal landscapes (Oakland County). It means potentially losing a fight that you pick. It means potentially being disappointed and hurt, but it means potentially winning.

The landscape for these young people is now wide open. What now? What next? They have their sights on other colleges. Inclusion is a goal. It is a mission. Affecting change and learning is addictive. I want to thank you, J.M. for leading this crazy thing, for letting me support you, for taking so many personal risks, for lifting up others, and teaching me and your peers by living (not by lecturing). I am so thrilled at YOUR win. I hope to be along for many, many more rides with you AND as I said to you in the Russell Building in Washington, DC in April, one day you will WORK there.  I don't know how, but we will figure it out!

Photos here!

Gema Lowe, Rep. Justin Amash constituent, continues her fast for a signature on the discharge petition

Our fast ended on Wednesday morning, but Gema in Grand Rapids has continued to fast. Fasting has shown me that withholding food builds resolve, it makes a statement to others, but most importantly, it makes a statement to yourself. Fasting puts your body in the fight. When you feel weak and tired, you say to yourself that it is a choice that you have made.

You make the choice to bring a fight inside close to your vital organs. It is the deepest statement that you can make about a commitment. I am so proud of Gema Lowe. I am so proud of my sisters in arms, the 106 women that fasted last week at the We Belong Together #womentogether 48 hour fast in Washington, DC.

Article in Spanish about the Grand Rapids team of fasters on El Informador in Wyoming, Michigan.

#womentogether

I have been in Washington, DC for the We Belong Together 48 hour fast for immigration reform. It has been wonderful to meet with women from all over the country from different movements coming together for immigration reform. We are now on day two. It is surprisingly easier to fast than I thought. I thought I would be hungry and crabby and I feel focused and alert. I am energized by the power and the learning that we are coming together around. We had a visit by Rep. Ballart yesterday in the evening and this morning, we decided that will not take visits like his again. He came to talk and not listen. We were told what we already know. We need allies not news briefs.

Here are photos from the 48 hour fast. This morning, Andrea Flores, a DHS staffer for Sec. Johnson, came to the tent. 6 women told their stories about separations and serious injustice done by enforcement. I recorded them all and will post as audio soon. The demands are - stays of deportation for these women and a demand to stop deportations altogether.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/raquel48216/

Hecho en Michigan (Made in Michigan)

So, I have always loved the Made in Mexico (Hecho en Mexico) image. It is kind of stark and super iconic. The image which has often come in the form of tiny stickers on the bottom items that I have bought. These stickers have always ended up on notebooks and door frames.  For some reason I have always tried to save them for some later purpose; they seemed precious. I know at some point, it will be a tattoo for me.  Maybe I have always felt a little like these items. I am Texan born, but a part of me was imported from Mexico.

This morning was trying to come up for a name for my new blog. You want the name to be original without trying too hard. I wanted the name to feel real to me and coming up with a name that fits all of this criteria of authenticity and originality is really hard and stressful work. I was thinking about how much the Latino roots of my SW Detroit neighborhood influences my life and my work in immigration reform. Of course, the melding and meshing of the two geographies that are both internal/external and personal/public just felt right.

The name "Hecho en Michigan" seemed to perfectly express my current personal space and so, I thought that it would be nice to combine the two most hard working regions that I know: Mexico and Michigan: