Arizona: History will not be forgotten, truth will prevail
Trail of Dreams


Posted on June 1, 2010 by carlos

During the civil rights movement, many perpetuators of oppression convincily agreed that segregation was necessary in order to maintain civility in society. After a 1962 landslide Gobernatoral victory, demagogic Gov. Wallace of Alabama during his inaugural speech spewed "In the name of the greatest people that have ever trod this earth, I draw the line in the dust and toss the gauntlet before the feet of tyranny, and I say segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever." Towards the end of his life, Wallace acknowledged his wrongdoings and recanted his old views on segregation. To the anti-immigrant of today: your words too have been documented, and so shall you shallow your own words one day.




Today we have Wallaces of a different sort and they have found a new scapegoat. We have Sheriff's, like Joe Arpaio of Maricopa county, who terrorize our undocumented communities with draconian tactics through the exorbitant use of law enforcement. They have used that arbitrary authority to promote backwards-minded xenophobic fear, hate, and oppression through criminalization.






Hence, to confront these realms of negativity, we must first begin by changing ourselves together. By embracing our love for humanity, we will thirstily seek to reclaim it. The desert of Arizona is a strange land, foreign to anything I have seen before. The people of the desert have altered my views on the microcosm of life and have propelled changes in the way I view our struggle.




It has become clear that the oppressive system wants to maintain people of color as second class "citizens" in this society and rid the US of all those who it deems undesirable. My convictions on America's contradictions solidify as my eyes bear witness to the injustice, hate, and racism behind Arizona's SB1070 and national programs like 287(g). These are pitiful excuses for justice. Do not remain fooled, SB1070 and 287(g) discriminate. This nation unfaithfully upholds the values and principles of equality, unity, and justice for all so long as these prototypical systems of oppression are maintained. So long as Juan Crow reigns these lands, it shall remain juxtapositioned to the dark history of Jim Crow, since both have perpetuated the mutual oppression of people of color.




We must not be self-defeating by accepting systemic oppression. We must remain defiant in the face of coveted hatred and discrimination. As a people, we are children to the movement, having much to learn as we set forth to serve with affectionate hands and courageous hearts to guide the moral path in our everlasting journey. We must raise the bar so that our future generations may continue to set precedents like the unspoken heroes of our past did on our behalf. As a people we must first rise from the shadows, thus beginning a process towards reclaiming the lost humanity in our lives.




I, for one, began that process, when I refused to sit idly by and watch my people suffer and be wrongfully criminalized. I made a pledge to defend the good name of our people until my final days. I refuse to tolerate hate and racism, the greatest impedments to justice in this society. As I have said before: Behold Arizona! Unjust laws will turn to dust against the unyielding winds of justice and righteousness! The system may fail to acknowledge us but it can never eradicate our existence, our essence, the quality of being human. In the midst of the oppression, a nonviolent people will arise from the shadows in the righteous claim for justice!

A people have risen, this movement has taken its unyielding sustainability as an chain-reactional force, which has been enacted through individual self-actualization. In other words, we ain't running scared anymore. We're breaking free from the invisible shackles that have become evident. On the 29th of May in Phoenix, AZ over 100, 000 people marched over five miles to bear witness to the sheer strength of this movement, I was one of them. Non-violent civil unrest is no longer an option, it's the only solution.

For all the innocent mothers seperated from their children, for all the day laborers harassed and discriminated against when they're only trying to put food on the table for their families, for all the youth who have lost the hope of achieving their dreams - a new day has dawn, a new beginning has arised, the serpent of hate shall be confronted head on. Without a question this is a battle of energies that confronts itself as the darkest energy in this society faces the radiant white light of truth and love.
link to http://www.trail2010.org/blog/2010/jun/1/az-history/