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.
