You say you can't understand how they could come here illegally. How they could disobey the law. How they could not wait in line.
You see them as nothing but terrorists and theives. Lazy figures who are less than human. Who come to change us -- instead of being changed.
"May God grant me the serenity, To accept the things I cannot change, The courage to change the things I can, And the wisdom to know the difference."
You refuse to look into the faces of those they come for. The ones they leave behind. The ones they send ahead.
What would you do -- if you couldn't help your child? If you had nowhere else to go. If you couldn't afford to raise them?
Not all of the faces of immigrants, Are the faces of terrorists. Some are the faces from your door you'd never turn away.
Many of them travel farther than you ever could -- Farther than you ever would. By foot no less. Through hellish heat.
Only to be caught. Deported. Left to taste defeat.
There's no easy solution -- that much is true. But to build a wall of cold hearts, Makes me pity them, not you.
Who wouldn't risk it all -- To leave this all behind? At the end of the day, couldn't you ask yourself:
Wouldn't you risk it all too?
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All photos taken by Kari Shaffer, except for the photo of the ground and the photo of the man sitting on the ground after being caught by the border patrol. Those photos were taken by Lauren Hillery.
Back in February, NYU's College Republicans decided to play a game. "Find the Illegal Immigrant" consisted of someone wearing an illegal immigrant name tag and wandering around the campus area until found by one of the other participants. The person who located the "illegal immigrant" was then to be rewarded with a gift certificate.
The group's defense of the try-and-hide-and-we'll-seek-you-out game?
"The game is going to bring awareness" to the issue of immigration, said President of the NYU College Republicans Sarah Chambers.
Uh-huh. Right. Awareness to the issue -- or to the ignorance of those supposedly debating the issue? Bringing "awareness" to the issue is a nice line to throw out in your defense to the media, after you've been protested and attacked by fellow students and the community.
National news coverage doesn't add any pressure either, I'm sure.
Photo property of Ashley Phillips. ABC News.
Many people say things or do things -- then backtrack as fast as they can once the spotlight and pressure are on. Look at examples we've seen recently -- the media is filled with them.
Most recently?
Don Imus' career suicidal "nappy-headed hos" comment during his Imus in the Morning show a couple weeks ago.
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There was also...
Michael Richards' not-so-funny Laugh Factory 2006 display when he yelled out at a disruptive audience member, "Shut up! Fifty years ago we'd have you upside down with a fucking fork up your ass!" Then he proceeded to use "nigger" multiple times.
Mel Gibson must not have really had passion for the Christ... otherwise, would he have made such anti-semitic remarks to a police officer when he was pulled over for drunk driving last summer? Jesus, after all, was Jewish.
Isaiah Washington got into a tumble with co-star Patrick Dempsey on the set of Grey's Anatomy when he referred to co-star T.R. Knight as a "faggot" last fall.
Rosie O'Donnell (though I love her to death) received a lot of criticism for using the phrase "ching chong" to represent the Chinese language.
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Don't worry though, all offenders have since told the media that they are deeply sorry. But for what?
Sorry they were metaphorically caught with their pants down in public? Sorry they've been backed into a corner, where only an apology may grant them some salvation? Or truly sorry not only has such hatred festered inside of them, but that their actions were vocalized in a world where we are supposedly above and beyond such cultural differences? Were they just sorry they added fuel to the already blazing hot fiery hatred?
For whatever reason, this past year has definitely felt like the year of slip-ups. It may seem only fitting that NYU's College Republicans join in, though their lack of celebrity status may or may not have lightened the blow of the media.
What is a relief to know is that when racial slurs are spewed, many react. However, is (most of) our nation smart enough, sensitive enough, to realize that such hatred does not have a place in our society -- anywhere? Maybe not.
At least it's comforting to see that some of the younger generations are able to see the consequences of such a hateful society. Especially, when you can visually witness their compassion and sensitivity.
It's easy to spout off an excuse when pressured by the media to defend your image.
But true honesty and opinions -- such as are presented in the above video -- are thankfully still alive somewhere in America.
This past Thursday, some member of Border Beat traveled to St. Andrew's Clinic to do some reporting, some profiles, some photography... some video. Everything we saw and experienced in our day there is probably more than most of us can put into words. It was the first trip for all of us -- and at least for me, I went into St. Andrew's having never heard of it before getting involved with Border Beat.
Then again, none of us have ever needed health care so badly that we've had to go to St. Andrew's.
At Border Beat, we are planning on making a special section in which to publish all of our articles, photographs and videos... and with everything we saw, I'm sure the section will turn out fantastic. There were just stories everywhere.
It's hard to not get caught up in everything, when you're there. All around you are children who are brought there because they have no options left. Some of them travel for hours for this once-a-month clinic; some come back every month, seeking care. It's hard to imagine the struggle they go through just to take care of their children.
I feel so niave when I look back on all of the times I just walked to the nurse's room when I was at school -- or when I had my mom simply drive me to the doctor. If I didn't feel good, I was always taken care of... and I never had to worry that I wouldn't receive the care I needed. My parents had insurance. My doctors accepted that insurance. My parents paid the co-pay. It was as simple as that. We picked up the prescriptions I needed and we were on our way. I never realized how lucky that was, because it felt so easy.
What these parents do in order to get care for their children, is not so easy. It's nothing like the life I had to live.
You can tell yourself all you want that you are going into an environment that is unfamiliar. You can prep yourself for what you are about to see. You can tell yourself you are there as a journalist, and try to force yourself to remain somewhat isolated.
It is ridiculously hard to stay as objective as possible -- and its hard to cut yourself off, in a way, from seeing those sad faces and wanting to scoop them up in your arms. You see, I love children. Head-over-heels love children. As easily as they make me smile, they also break my heart.
I know most people feel that way.
It's probably why Dolores Huerta said a week and a half ago at the Cesar Chavez Forum that we need to make children the faces of the immigration issue. We need to see the pain that is out there. People relate to children more. They see their negative actions more clearly when they realize how it is harming the generations that have to follow. We are more inspired when we realize there is someone out there worth the fight.
If St. Andrew's taught me anything -- it's that there are children worth the fight. Who knows what the right answer is to the "immigration issue." But its worth fighting for... a solution deserves to be reached because there are those who can't afford to not have a solution.
You know, this morning as I was getting ready, I was watching Lou Dobbs Tonight, on CNN. I couldn't help but cringe every time I heard them say "illegal aliens." It was almost like they refused to use any other term. Over and over again, the term rolled off their tongues as they discussed "BROKEN BORDERS."
They talked about how many jobs and how much money we lose every single year to illegal immigrants. They threw out facts and statistics left and right. At one point, they even said America basically gives away the cost of a "Mustang convertible" to each illegal immigrant family in the U.S. each year.
Yet, last time I checked, illegal immigrants weren't driving around in our mustang convertibles.
But there are kids crossing the border with their families to visit St. Andrew's Clinic every month because they can't afford surgeries that may or may not save their lives. Or at the very least --- help improve their quality of life.
(All photos taken by Kari Shaffer at St. Andrew's Clinic on April 5, 2007.)
How people can come from such meager beginnings and flourish into truly powerful spirits who not only rise above their circumstances for themselves -- but for other people -- truly makes you wonder why we all can't be strong enough to stand up that way.
They do the impossible. And all it seems we can do is admire their courage.
For me, this has certainly been the year of inspirational voices. I almost feel I must have missed out on some great opportunities my first three years of college because I'm sure all of these opportunities just didn't walk onto campus my last year here. Maybe I had just been blind to them at the time.
Since November, I've sat in on lectures given by three of the most amazing examples of human courage.
Maya Angelou. Chris Gardner.
(and most recently)
Dolores Huerta.
Now Maya Angelou made me laugh and cry - as cliche as that sounds. But it was the truth. I expected to like seeing her, but I didn't expect to be moved the way I was. I work in the box office of the theater she was speaking at in November, so I got to slip into unused company seats after we closed down the box office, right before she went on. To be 10 rows away at a sold-out lecture... to see 2,500 students, faculty, staff and community members all gathered around to see this one woman stand a podium, literally took my breath away.
Then just last week, I saw Chris Gardner speak at the same hall in which I witnessed Maya Angelou's powerful message and poetry readings. I had fallen in love with the movie The Pursuit of Happyness, which was based off of Gardner's book and life. Movies are great and they are powerful. They can make you see the world in a whole new light -- but to hear the man who lived the movie, and to see the man he's become since, also makes you take a moment to think, "Could that be me?"
And finally... someone I wasn't even expecting to be as impressed with (since both Gardner and Angelou had left such an impact on me.) Dolores Huerta.
She'll be 77 on April 10th. 77. And she's still as motivating as ever.
I went to cover Dolores' appearance on Friday as part of a celebration week being held at the University of Arizona. Saturday would have been Cesar Chavez's 80th birthday and the UA held discussion forums on campus, as well as this special lecture series at the James E. Rogers College of Law. In addition to Dolores, Antonio Bustamante, Chavez's former bodyguard, also spoke.
The meeting ran almost three and a half hours long, but the excitement in the room overflowed once Dolores entered. There had been a break planned in-between Antonio's talk and Dolores'. As everyone gathered outside to listen to music and eat, I walked off to the side to return a phone call I had missed.
As I was chatting, I noticed a woman in a blue dress-suit, standing off to the side. She was alone, separated from the crowd, with a cameraman at her side. She seemed quiet, small. Definitely not a voice of thousands.
I remember wondering if that was her -- having the cameraman there would have made sense, but why was no one talking to her?
I went back to my conversation and the next moment I glanced up and they were both gone.
As I filed back into the room with everyone else, I could sense the energy in the room. Everyone was waiting for Dolores -- and when she finally entered the room (quiet, small woman that she is) -- the room erupted into a standing ovation.
As she talked, her presence grew. You could see where the fire within her far overshadows her physical appearance. She must have been such a torch when she was younger, working with Chavez.
She has been arrested 22 times... and part of you can probably see why. She must have put up quite the fight.
But as she talked, she grabbed everyone's attention in the room and held it in the palm of her hand. I was so busy trying to take notes for an article, I had to keep stopping myself in order to truly listen to what this incredible woman was saying.
She may be the co-founder and first Vice-President Emeritus of the United Farm Workers of America. She may be a social activist and a prominent figure for the Chicago civil rights movement. She may also serve on boards for such organizations as the Feminist Majority Foundation.
But what I hadn't read before hand -- was that she is as FUNNY as she is inspirational.
This small, quiet woman outside the College of Law not only impressed me and had the audience soaking in every last word... she actually made them laugh.
When speaking of her pro-choice beliefs, she said as the audience's laughed:
"I'm the Catholic mother of 11 children! ...But that doesn't mean everyone should be the mother of 11 children."
Dolores Huerta is honest and frank. But she was the same as everyone else in that room -- simply human. And she had to admit, at times, she was scared.
But perhaps the greatest advice she left with the audience, was when she told us, "If you're not a little bit scared -- that means it's not important."
Dolores Huerta, Chris Gardner and Maya Angelou were all just people, trying to grow up in the same world our parents and grandparents were struggling to survive. Some of them had it easier than others, some had it harder. But the one thing all three had in common -- was they never let their circumstances define who they are.
And as I left Room 146 after Dolores' lecture, I realized I can't let my circumstances and my background define me. None of us can.
Otherwise, the world would have been a lot quieter without the likes of Dolores Huerta.
As she ended her speech, she encouraged the woman to raise their voices in the next election. She demands that we be heard. I was lucky enough to catch the last bit of her speech with my digital camera as she encouraged us to be strong. She encouraged the audience to clap and chant with her -- to bring our voices in unison.
But in the end, as you see, they were really clapping in unison for her -- And for the change Dolores' and those she inspired will bring to our nation.
