THE DREAMS OF OUR PEOPLE

Anasazi Ochoa taking their graduation pictures in front of Brotman Hall. Photo Credits: Raya Torres

Good afternoon y buenas tardes a mis estimados graduados, familia, y amigos. Gracias por estar con nosotros hoy.

It is my deep honor to stand before you today, a second-generation Chicana and the product of education, reclamation, and determination.

As of Fall 2022, the number of Chicanx/Latinx students enrolled at CSULB was 51.2% of the total student population. It goes without saying that “The Beach” would not be what it is today, without LA RAZA.

It is at CSULB that I have learned that there is more than one way to be Chicanx and Latinx. We are more than just a check mark on a Census form, a stereotype, or a diversity hire.

It is at CSULB where I found solace in connection to my community, and I realized my purpose was to be a voice for the voiceless.

I strongly implore you all to cherish and protect your cultural identity, because truthfully it is what makes us great.

As members of an ethnically marginalized community, we have the honor of sharing our accomplishments with those who may not have the privilege to do the same. So, I would like to dedicate our successes to THE DREAMS OF MY PEOPLE, OUR PEOPLE, who could not be here today.

This is for the millions of Indigenous people who claimed their right to this land from birth before it was brutally taken from them.

This is for the thousands of incarcerated Chicanx/Latinx individuals, many wrongfully so, who continue to fight for their freedom in a corrupt justice system that works against them.

This is for the two educators and 19 children of Uvalde, Texas, whose dreams were ripped away from them, by a country that refuses to ensure their safety in a classroom.

This is for the millions of Latin-American immigrants who are crossing the border every day, risking their survival in search of a better life. 

This is for the children of those immigrants, THE DREAMERS, many in this room today. This is for the millions of working-class Latinos, who continue to do the jobs that America depends on but fails to value as they should.

Este logro es para los miles de vendedores ambulantes y trabajadores agrícolas migrantes, quienes sostienen a este país con su trabajo duro y habilidad.

Let us remember that it is because of THE DREAMS OF OUR PEOPLE that we have the ability to be here today.

In this room, we have staff and faculty within our respective departments, who for many of us were the source of representation that validated our presence in academic spaces. 

In this room, we have friends and family members who worked tirelessly to get us to these seats, gracias por su apoyo y su sacrificio.

In this room, we have sons, daughters, little siblings, nieces, nephews, and cousins who will now know that their own dreams are not just POSSIBLE, but PROBABLE, and they can do anything they set their mind to.

En este cuarto, están presente las almas de nuestros familiares y antepasados quienes están con nosotros en espíritu siempre.

In this room, we have future lawyers, doctors, engineers, educators, scientists, journalists, psychologists, social workers, politicians, mathematicians, athletes, and academics. I encourage every graduate to take in this moment, because it is here where we prove every prejudice and statistic wrong, and we create our own narrative.

We have come this far, but the journey doesn’t end here.

It is up to us as incoming professionals to ensure that we are not only maintaining our seat at the table but creating opportunities for those that come after us.

Whenever you feel any self-doubt or hesitation, remember, brown is beautiful, and our mere existence is something our ancestors could not fathom in their wildest dreams. Congratulations y felicidades to the Class of 2023, in the words of a little Brown girl whose mission was to explore life beyond her home, lo hicimos, we did it!

Gracias, y que viva la raza!