Monday, April 28, 2008

USA sings MEXICO


Check out this extremely touching video. Is part of a project called Pangea Day. According to its YouTube page, this video is part of a "powerful series of films to be shown on Pangea Day, May 10. The day the world comes together through film."

The goal of Pangea Day is to show people across the world what they have in common and to see past borders, difference and conflict.
There will be locations in Cairo, Kigali, London, Los Angeles, Mumbai and Rio De Janeiro. All these countries will be linked for a live program of powerful films, live music and visionary speakers.
History:
In 2006, filmmaker Jehane Noujaim won the TED Prize, an annual award granted at the TED Conference. She was granted $100,000, and more important, a wish to change the world. Her wish was to create a day in which the world came together through film. Pangea Day grew out of that wish. Watch Jehane Noujaim’s 2006 acceptance speech now. -Pangeaday.org

Minorities attacked

Unless you were no where near the Friendship Walk today, you missed on some spectacle of outright haterism (the Urban Dictionary definition of the act of hating). Under the blanket of free speech, a group of men displaying signs that listed "homos", "lesbos" and Roman Catholics as evil human beings, got into heated arguments with some students. Female students were specially enraged by comments made by one of the men who identified himself as Jeremy. He condemned women who didn't obey their husband and called them loud-mouth women.


Jeremy Sonnier, a member of a group of Christian religious activists who visited Cal State Long Beach on Monday, is challenged by a group of students. Signs warning of judgment against Jews, Muslims, gays and other groups drew fire from students. (Stephen Carr/Press-Telegram Staff Photographer )

The group attracted a big crowd of students, faculty members and even some police officers, althouth their enforcement was not needed at any time.
A student who identified himself as a gay male confronted Robert, another member of the alleged religious group. When this student pulled out his own bible, he asked Robert to show him where it read that he was going to hell for being a homosexual. After a few word exchanges, Robert said that he didn't want to talk to him anymore and turned his back on the student.
After a few hours, the crowd became smaller and so did the group's strenght to keep on screaming. Many students where schocked that this type of individuals are allowed to talk trash about women, gays and Muslims (among other minority groups) and still get away with it.
Erin Swetland, ASI's newly elected president, was collecting signatures to complain against these type of individuals to the school.

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

7TH ANNUAL CESAR CHAVEZ AND PHILIP VERA CRUZ CELEBRATION

The Thursday before Spring Break, the United Migrant Student Association and the Philipino American Coalition, just to name a few, sponsered the 7th Annual Cesar Chavez Celebration. There were a variety of foods and speakers included author Victor Villasenor and Asian American Studies Professor Linda Maram.
According to Maram, this is the first time in CSULB that both the Latino and Philipino community come together to celebrate both Chavez and Cruz. The two men were key figures in the civil rights movement for farmworkers in the 1960s and were part of the United Farm Workers Executive Board.
Maram said also said that Latino and Philipino students have the same struggles when it comes to higher education. She says that their socioeconomic status are one, not the only, of the factors that are keeping the low graduation numbers for these groups.


The UFW Executive Board in 1973 included veteran farmworker organizers and activists:
(l-r) Dolores Huerta, Mack Lyons, Richard Chavez, Cesar Chavez, Eliseo Medina,
Philip Veracruz, Gilbert Padilla, Marshall Ganz and Pete Velasco.