Please enjoy last nights Power Shift Keynote Address: Good evening PowerShift!! How’s everyone feeling tonight? Fantastic… Absolutely Fantastic…I’m feeling pretty good myself. Please allow me to thank each and everyone of you for being here this evening. I would like to especially thank the students, the organizers, the activist, and the mentors who are here. Your passion, your strength, and your dedication is what makes our movement possible. It’s also important tonight to remember that we stand on the shoulder’s of GIANTS, and so I would also like to thank them. We are indebted to those who came before us and who’s actions helped to motivate and inspire us to take a stand for the creation of a EQUITABLE AND SUSTAINABLE WORLD. This evening I would like to take a bit of time to encourage us all to reflect. The season has changed and we are now in Fall. The Earth, in this part of the world, is in the process of collecting herself and resting from the hard work and the fruits of her labor. In this moment I would like for us to connect with this natural rhythm. I know that much of our work is ongoing and extremely demanding, but for just a second, I would like each and everyone of us to think about the great work that we have accomplished thus far, the realizations that we have had, and the growth that we have experienced. For a moment, honor yourself and feel the power that is YOU! Now think about what this means on a collective level. Think about the possibilities that exist when we choose to collectively actualize our POWER. Let that sink in for moment….and now I ask you, are we ready for a POWER SHIFT! Wait a minute…wait a minute, I couldn’t hear you, I said, are we ready for a POWER SHIFT! That’s what I’m talking about. Now I know we’re fired up, but the reality is that this is easier said than done, but at this moment I ask you to recommit to your personal struggle and to recommit to our collective struggle, because only a powerful commitment will give us enough strength to continue our fight for Social and Environmental Justice. Now I know I haven’t introduced myself, so please allow me to do this now. My name is Luis Alberto Perales, and I am the co-founder of Tierra y Libertad Organization (TYLO), a grassroots group in Tucson, AZ dedicated to the creation of a model of Urban Green Living that is culturally relevant and socially based. I’m also a Green for All Fellow, working to create an inclusive Green Economy, strong enough to lift people out of poverty and to strengthen the middle class. But most importantly, I’m a young father, committed to building a COMMUNITY and a WORLD that our children deserve. With this as the backdrop to my message, please allow me to share with you some words about what is going on in my neck of the woods. ARIZONA. Arizona, at a legislative level has and continues to descend in a downward spiral. Many of our decision makers are actively attacking the Latino community through anti-immigrant legislation, actively attacking our system of education through the banning of ethnic studies and the banning of books, and destroying our environment through the misuse of natural resources and the continued promotion of mining and other pollution based industries. Now many would say that in this situation, there is little hope, that the powers that be will continue to do as they please, with a complete disregard for those most impacted by their actions and reckless behavior. And this is where we come in. Organizers and activist in Arizona have taken on these and many other issues head on. In the last few weeks for example immigrant rights organizers have shut down the offices of ICE and the kangaroo court known as operation streamline. Dreamers have reentered the US through ports of entry in Arizona. Educators, activists, and community members have found innovative ways to put banned books back in the hands of our young people and to continue to teach culturally relevant curriculum. Now you might ask, what does this have to do with the ENVIRONMENTAL MOVEMENT and why should we CARE? And to this I respond, because the communities most affected by poverty, discrimination, criminalization, the lack of good schooling, etc., are also the communities most impacted by CLIMATE CHANGE and ENVIRONMETAL INJUSTICE. And in the words of the great Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” For this reason, TYLO has and will continue to find ways to organize across sectors and with those who have the most to gain from our success. Our work stems from building POWER at the grassroots level, so communities can stand up and speak for themselves because the first access point to community change is to be heard. And again, this is where we come in. As those who have recommitted to individual and collective struggle, I ask you to go back to your earlier reflection about your accomplishments, realizations and growth. Now think about who you worked with to achieve this. Think about all the people that helped and struggled alongside you. Think about the work and dedication that you witnessed in yourself and in others, and now think about who was missing, who was left out, and who should have been there right next to you. Those are the people that make up our base, those are the people that not only need to be heard, but also need to help to create the conditions for action, and those are the people that will the help us take our movement to the next level. We need now more than ever to challenge ourselves and to reinvent ourselves in these times. We need to work together and reach across sectors more than ever before. And I recognize that it wont be easy, but it starts with each and everyone of us. It can even start now! At this moment take a look around. Introduce yourself to someone you don’t know or haven’t had a chance to meet. Thank them for their hard work and dedication and be willing to appreciate the recognition that they can give you. We are the people we have been waiting for, and the TIME IS NOW to break down silos and create new connections that will result in our collective greater good. And to end my talk, I leave you with the words of Wangari Maathai: “Today we are faced with a challenge that calls for a shift in our thinking, so that humanity stops threatening its life-support system. We are called to assist the Earth to heal her wounds and on the process heal our own – indeed to embrace the whole of creation in all its diversity, beauty, and wonder. Recognizing that sustainable development, democracy, and peace are indivisible as an idea whose time has come.” Muchas Gracias, Thank you very much y Que Viva Power Shift!
Posted on: Sun, 20 Oct 2013 13:50:32 +0000