Posted on 05/02/2005 1:20:15 PM PDT by MileHi
La Raza infuses teens with pride
By Manny Gonzales Denver Post Staff Writer
Wide-eyed and curious, young Jesus Tarin sat Saturday in a remote classroom at the Auraria campus as the pony-tailed man described this part of the country as "Aztlan."
Tarin, 16, a student at Palisade High School in Mesa County, listened to more about his culture and learned about the struggles of his ancestors. He was proud.
"They teach us here that we're more valuable than we might think we are," Tarin said.
He was among 1,500 teens from throughout the state who came to Denver for Saturday's 14th annual La Raza Youth Leadership Conference to learn that leadership, self-respect and self-worth are rooted in understanding culture.
"La cultura cura (your culture cures)," ethnic studies professor Arturo "Bones" Rodriguez told the classroom of students. "You practice culture, and you're practicing love, love for yourself and for your family and the people around you. You practice culture, and you're practicing dreaming and going after your dreams.
"You are living in our ancestral land, a place we call Aztlan," he said.
The conference, started by Denver-area civil rights leaders such as the late Corky Gonzales, provided the youth workshops on topics ranging from building leadership to making tortillas. It also gave the kids the opportunity to meet with college recruiters and discuss careers.
"These conferences taught me to get more involved in school and to stand out," said Yaneth Gutierrez, 18, who is a senior at Grand Junction High School.
When she attended her first La Raza conference in the ninth grade, she was a shy kid who followed crowds. Now she's doing much better at her school, where she was chosen as head girl.
Shirley Otero was the conference's keynote speaker and is an ethnic studies teacher at Grand Junction High. She's co-founder and president of the Land Rights Council in Chama in the San Luis Valley.
Otero said that by learning about their past, the students have a better chance at a successful future.
"It's important because these kids are the recipients of the rewards reaped from the Chicano movement and civil rights movement," Otero said.
Staff writer Manny Gonzales can be reached at 303-820-1190 or mgonzales@denverpost.com.
Sheesh
Was this supposed to excerpt? I don't do this often.
I've booked a flight to Ireland for this summer.
I'm going to walk into a pub and declare that they occupy what I consider sacred land to my forefathers. Everyone should leave immediately or I will cause problems.
Wish me luck!
Aztlan. Land of the Free and Home of the Virgin Sacrifice.
Swell, our tax dollar moving through government schools to convince these kids that they are victims who should stive against America.
" "You practice culture, and you're practicing love, love for yourself and for your family and the people around you. You practice culture, and you're practicing dreaming and going after your dreams."
What a lovely sentiment. Too bad it is denied to certain children on the basis of race and class.
Good luck. Let me know how it goes, I might join you. I'm 1/32 Irish and anyone says different is a racist!
Isn't La Raza racist? It's very name sounds pretty creepy to me.
Well, it means "The Race"...
Funny, no one ever had to teach me my own value.
Maybe I should cut myself up and send pieces to England, Germany, the Netherlands, France, and Wales. Then I can be in my ancestral lands. These are just the ones that I know of--an all-American mut, like most of us.
Nice knowin ya : )
Well. their motto is "Por La Raza todo. Fuera de La Raza nada (For the Race, everything. For those outside the Race, nothing)."
How long before the next UN leader demands the USA be broken up because it is too large a superpower? It would be a good world citizen to submit to that.
(I bet jimmy carter writes a paper supporting that)
I would prefere we just take over Mexico and Canada and cut the pretense.
Nothing like laying the groundwork for civil war and hatred of America. La Raza is the Mexican klan.
La Raza is another one of these ethnic groups that blame everyone for everything. This is the usual crapola one reads in the maggot paper the Denver Post. Make mine the Rocky Mtn News please.
"...where she was chosen as head girl. "
In my day HS girls preferred not to be known as the 'head girl'...
Maybe there was a reason no one ever tried? LOL Just kidding. :-)
We will have a war within 10 years if we don't seal the borders. We may have one anyway.
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