Thoughts on "The Fence" - Documentary

By Norman Cervantes 

Write up for The Fence

I really liked the movie, The Fence, because it informs the viewer about the fence running along the US and Mexican border and how it has impacted life in the surrounding area and. One of the very first things I noticed about the fence is that it is very ineffective, costly, and poorly thought out. According to the movie, the flow of drugs and undocumented individuals into the states has not decreased at all. Moreover, the poorly thought out fence is very expensive as it costs about $1.8 million per mile and the lack of consistency in its’ construction is a jarring sore to one’s eyes with its many gaps and varying heights along the border. In my honest opinion, the wall is such a waste of taxpayer’s money and is the farthest thing from being an effective means of winning the war against “drugs”, “terrorists”, “illegals”, etc. However, the fence also has other effects that are not related necessarily to “national security”.

The environment and the lives of migrants have been affected as well. Since 1995, the rate of deaths for migrants trying to cross the border has risen sharply resulting with the death of about 300 migrants yearly. Moreover, the Minutemen that patrol the border often lack feelings of humanity towards the migrants as they often “hunt” them down with the aid of Border Patrol. If this wasn’t enough loss of life, animals are affected by it as well. Certain parts of the fence have cut through national animal refuges which disturb the natural environment of animals cutting access to food and water. Other environmental issues include inundations along border towns and access to clean water.

Overall, the construction of the fence has only added permanence to the unfounded hatred towards immigrants which has only fueled construction of the fence in the first place. Only time will tell if our future president will decide to revitalize the Border Fence Act of 2006.

Dosan Ahn Chang-Ho places his foot step on the International Civil Rights Walk of Fame

By: Claire Shin & Leslie Wang

One hundred and thirteen years after Dosan Ahn Chang-Ho set his first step onto the American soil, his footprint was now permanently honored as a part of the International Civil Rights Walk of Fame, located at the Martin Luther King Jr. Center, Atlanta, GA. It was also an appropriate time to celebrate his accomplishment and legacy as Korea celebrates 70 year anniversary of its Independence from Japan. 

On August 13, Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta was invited to the unveiling of Dosan Ahn Chang-Ho’s footprints which now resides with those of many other Civil Rights activists, such as Rosa Parks and Congressman John Lewis at the International Civil Righst Walk of Fame at the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site.

Born in 1878, Ahn Chang-Ho was an Korean independence activist who entertained and set out to exercise clear reforms to education and the modernization of schools in Korea, two of the most important efforts dedicated by Ahn Chang-Ho. Also known as Dosan (도산)- his pen name- Ahn Chang-Ho was respected as a patriotic figure who fearlessly fought for democracy and independence to prevent Korea from being obliterated by Japanese imperialists.

Since he was young, Dosan, with the ultimate goal of reforming and modernizing the nation of Korea, studied Western Education and became a great leader and educator. To seek better education, Dosan and his wife arrived in the United States in 1902, which made them the first married Korean couple to set foot on the Mainland. To advocate for his mission, Dosan circumnavigated the globe, starting in America in 1902 and going on to travel across Asia, Russia and Europe to return successfully to New York in 1911, making him the first Korean to go all around the world. During his immigration into the U.S., Dosan managed to establish the Friendship Society in 1903 and Mutual Assistance Society in 1905 to reform the local Korean community in San Francisco, California by establishing the Young Korean Academy in San Francisco in 1913.

Leaving behind his legacy to the Korean people in America, Dosan returned to Korea through China in 1926 to protest out of love for his country and his people. Irritated by Dosan’s anti-Japanese and patriotic activism, Japanese imperialists arrested and tortured him multiple times during his imprisonment. Dosan never came back to America. He was released on bail by Japanese authorities and died in a the Kyungsung University hospital on March 10, 1938 after he lived an honorable life. Many scholars believe that, had he lived beyond Korea’s liberation in 1945, Korea would not be divided.


The induction of Dosan Ahn Chang-Ho was a recognition of his beliefs and work. We wished someday there would be more people who could interpret his legacy in a more global context and understand his contribution to the advancement of civil rights. 

A Conversation About Being Asian-American in the South with Film Maker Matthew Hashiguchi

By Saisha Mediratta


When asked to reflect on the Asian-American experience in the South, several things immediately come to mind. I think back to the days of smelly lunches, people asking me if I understood English, and the constant feeling of being different. However when Matt Hashiguchi, an award winning documentary film maker, came and visited us here at Advancing Justice on July 21, 2015, we had to dig a little deeper, and recall a little further of what makes the Asian American experience in the south different from anywhere else. Matt primarily focuses on cultural and ethnic stories, motivated by his own half-Japanese, half-Italian background and the experiences he faced because of that, so the questions felt more like a conversation than an interview.

The staff and we interns eased into this topic smoothly because it is definitely something we have all thought about. Esther and Claire provided a unique perspective because although they grew up in the South, they have been attending college in the North for the past couple years. In their experience, the racism, discrimination, and dual feeling was equally as prevalent in the North as in the South even if it takes different forms. Language and accents became a source of discussion because every single one of us here had seen or faced such a situation such as being asked whether we need help, speak English, or our parents being asked to repeat something or being treated poorly.

Matt was constantly stressing on how any of this was any different than the North, and it wasn’t until another staff member joined the discussion did we really hit on what makes the South unique. She pointed out that the Asian American community in the South is not as well established as the North; the Advancing Justice branches in the North and on the West Coast are proof of that very observation because they are over a decade older than the Atlanta branch. She additionally mentioned that the legacy of racism in the South dates all the way back to the Civil War, so the historical context with which people view racism in the South is very black and white vs somewhere like California because of incidents like the Japanese internment camps during WWII.

Matt was especially interested in the concept of an “in between” feeling many Asian-Americans talk about, the sense of never truly fitting into either culture. Leslie, an international student from China, provided the apt contrast to all of our in between experiences because she said she has always considered herself just Chinese, not Asian or Asian-American. Esther and I recalled experiences at our heavily Asian populated school of never being part of a group, distancing ourselves from the Asian American community, or doing the complete opposite and isolating ourselves to just our community. Raymond’s experiences of growing up in Macon, Georgia, a predominately white neighborhood, really spoke to this topic because he really wasn’t exposed to the Asian American community until later in his life. He struggled with being open about his Filipino heritage in public in addition to his immigration status. Matt was fascinated with Raymond’s story, DACA, and his political awareness about the situation in Georgia and other states in the South.

The discussion forced all of us to introspect on the emotional impact of being an Asian-American particularly in the South and relive specific experiences. Matt was looking for a subject, a unique experience in the South, and although he didn’t quite get exactly that, our discussion definitely pointed him in a direction whether that be the lack of race discussion, the “in between” experience, or even the newer establishment. Either way, our conversation proved to be a learning experience for all of us, and helped us find common ground with each other no matter what our nationality.


Check out Matt’s work at his website: http://www.matthewhashiguchi.com/

Did Ellen Pao’s gender get in the way of her career?

(Ellen Pao, From Wikipedia)

By Yao Sun

Ellen Pao has been in the center of the spotlight in 2015. She is one of the few females working in Silicon Valley, serving as the interim CEO of the popular social media site Reddit until a couple of weeks ago. Ms. Pao is a highly educated and aspiring woman. She holds a bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering from Princeton University, an MBA and a JD degree from Harvard University. She was born to Chinese immigrant parents and is both fluent in English and Mandarin. In early February 2015, Pao sued Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers for sexual harassment and racial discrimination. Her lawsuit draws people’s attention back to the male-dominated culture of Silicon Valley.

At the center of the lawsuit is Ms. Pao’s former boss John Doerr who forced her in an affair and then retaliated against her when she broke if off, according to Ms. Pao. She also accused Kleiner of treating her “despicably, maliciously, fraudulently and oppressively” from “an improper and evil motive amounting to malice.” However, a few days later, the firm said that Ms. Pao did not succeed at Kleiner because she “lacked the ability to lead others, build consensus and be a team player, which is crucial to a successful career as a venture capital senior investing partner.” There are different opinions about Pao’s lawsuit: some are saying that she is taking advantage of being a woman to cover up her incapability as an employee. Others are defending Pao and saying that her lawsuit is one of the many as nearly every month there are accusations from female employees of men behaving badly at the workplace in Silicon Valley. Deborah Rhode, a law professor at Stanford, told the New Yorker reporter Vauhini Vara that, “the sort of evidence you’re seeing in the Ellen Pao case is very typical of what’s out there in Silicon Valley. There are no smoking guns; much of it is what social scientists call micro-indignities—small incidents that viewed individually may seem trivial, but when viewed cumulatively point to a practice of insensitivity and devaluation that can get in the way of work performance.”

Before people had decided on how they felt about Pao, she was once again in the headline. In early July, more than 213,000 Reddit users demanded Pao to leave her position as the interim chief executive of Reddit in response to the abrupt dismissal of a well-liked employee earlier this month. “The attacks were worse on Ellen because she is a woman,” said Sam Altman, a member of the Reddit board. “And that’s just a shame against humanity.” However, according to Ms. Pao’s own account, it was not her decision to fire the AMA moderator Victoria Taylor and she was just scapegoating for someone else. Former Reddit CEO Yishan Wong also bluntly commented that Pao was set up to fail from the start of her hiring at Reddit, which echoed Ms. Pao’s claims (http://gawker.com/former-reddit-ceo-youre-all-screwed-1717901652). In addition, Reddit’s former chief engineer Bethanye Blount backed Ms. Pao by pointing out that she believed Pao had been placed on a “glass cliff”, a term used to describe women being set up for failure by being put in leadership roles during crises. And Pao was, indeed, hired by Reddit two years ago in the midst of an internal reform. However, the board of directors at Reddit denied their accusations and insisted that there was no sexual or racial discrimination, or setup against anyone at Reddit.

If we look Ellen Pao’s incidents at a larger picture, we can see how female employees and women of color still face barriers to gain recognition because of their race and gender.  Back in 1994 also in Silicon Valley, Rena Weeks, a legal secretary, filed a complaint against Martin R. Greenstein, a well-regarded partner at the Baker & McKenzie law firm for sexual harassment. The jury awarded Weeks seven million dollars in damages.  Even though later a state jury cut it in half, it was still a stunning amount. However, two decades later harassment and other forms of discrimination are still preventing women from getting equal treatment and career opportunities. Melissa Hart, a law professor at the University of Colorado at Boulder, pointed to some of the language that Kleiner Perkins and its employees used to describe Pao’s problems at the firm: she wasn’t a team player, she raised her voice. In theory, these are traits that could make any employee look bad, but in practice, as social scientists have documented, discussions of these traits themselves have gendered implications. When a firm argues that a woman didn’t do well for these kinds of reasons, Hart said, “You need to stop and inquire, ‘What was meant by that?’ ” (http://www.newyorker.com/business/currency/the-ellen-pao-trial-what-do-we-mean-by-discrimination)

From both cases, we can see that people have been asking questions about whether Ellen Pao was a competent employee and a capable CEO. If we look from a different perspective, then more people should be asking whether she would be treated differently if she were a man.

Reflection on America by the Numbers "Politics of the New South"

By Leslie Wang

On Wednesday, July 8, 2015, we watched Politics of The New South. An episode of the documentary, America by the Numbers with Maria Hinojosa, which tracked the City Council and Mayor election of Clarkston, GA, which took place in 2013. What made this election to be under the spotlight was that as Clarkston saw a change in the demographic composition. From a predominantly white neighborhood to one with a majority of African-American and immigrant residents, many former refugees were seeking a political presence by running campaigns to win the office. Asian Americans Advancing Justice - Atlanta (AAAJ), which was AALAC at that time, engaged in registering voters.

Clarkston had a City Council that was all white in 2012. With three former refugees running for office in 2013, Clarkston was now responding to the demographic shifts that upheld the voices and needs of the immigrant and refugee community. Ibrahim Sufi, who escaped from Somalia, was the first former refugee to run for mayor in Clarkston. What drove him was the understanding that solutions to the problems in a community had to come from inside that community and by its people. With an ever-growing refugee composition, Sufi saw a need to engage that group and to include their needs in public policies.

The unemployment rate and poverty level in Clarkston was 2-3 times the national rate. Ahmed Hassan, a businessman himself, realized that refugees needed to understand how to run business to flourish in this new country that they settled. To make that happen, what Hassan saw as necessary was the representation of local minority groups in the decision-making process so that the voice of the refugees could be heard.

From the perspective of Birendra Dhakal, local elections determined what happened to the community. As the first Bhutanese-American to run for office in Clarkston, GA, Dhakal did not proceed without difficulties. He practiced a religion that was different from many people, and his family was not very sure about the pace that he was diving into local politics. Advancing Justice Atlanta had a candidate training program in which Dhakal participated. Dhakal also proved himself to be a determined candidate by campaigning and talking to people. He gathered the support of his family and the acceptance of many voters gradually down the road.

The progress that happened in Clarkston, GA, did not happen overnight. The city proved its capacity by electing its first Black mayor in 2010, and as the mayor, Emanuel Ransom, mentioned, the town sought further minority representation by seeking City Council members from minority groups. The process continued when Clarkston elected Hassan as a member of the City Council, which further unanimously appointed him as the vice mayor of the city.

If there were any doubts remained of whether the election represented what the residents of Clarkston really wanted, the turnout rate for the election was 21% of the registered voters in 2013, which was 8% higher than in the last election. With many more diverse voices included in the office, Clarkston could expect a more inclusive set of public policies.

To find out more check out the link for the preview of "Politics of the New South - America by The Numbers"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zj6PF5Oe4mQ

Lunch & Learn #3_Executive Administrative Assistant, Jessica Frankel & What do employers want

On June 26th 2015, Jessica Frankel, Advancing Justice-Atlanta’s Executive Administrative Assistant, trained the interns on the steps and formalities associated with job applications. The information presented reflected five central tenets - on nouveau new perspective on what employers truly look for in applicants and future employees.

Personally, I believed that the training was very useful and insightful. Jessica’s presentation started out with what future employers look for in applicants. For example, our online presence in the world of social media has a significant role in determining how employers judge individual applicants. Although many may not be aware of their online presence, it is important to note that everything someone writes on Facebook, Twitter, and email reflects how that person is regarded as by others (basically, don’t act inappropriately or post something you’ll regret a couple years from now). Some ways to make sure what sort of personal information might be available on the internet is to occasionally google yourself because it allows you to see what others may have posted and what future employers might come across that can either help or harm your reputation. Another tip is to always maintain a separate professional profile to use when networking with others.

Aside from the advice concerning online presence, I thought that tips regarding the actual interview process were the most helpful. For example, Sara Hamilton, our Deputy Director, believed that the question, “Tell me about yourself?”, was the most important of all other questions that will be asked nine times out of ten during an interview. The response, she stated, should depend on what job you are applying for and highlight the qualities you believe they are seeking. It is also important to make sure to be proactive in asking questions such as “Where do you see the company in ten years?”, because it shows the employer that you see yourself contributing to the company (and that you care enough about the job position to ask).

Last but not least, Jessica’s rule of thumb about following up with an email and then a hand written card was proved unique, because it sets a distinction from other applicants and leaves a lasting impression though you may not have received that specific job offer (Who knows, maybe in the future other job positions might be available or you might even see them again. It’s a small world).

Overall, the presentation had many useful inside tips and started topics of discussions to which other employees such as Sara Hamilton and Raymond Partolan contributed. We, interns, all agreed that Jessica did a great job in providing us a greater understanding of the job market and expectations.

Lunch & Learn #2_Executive Director Helen Ho's Presentation on Advancing Justice Atlanta

         

On June 11th, Executive Director Helen Ho presented a brief history of Advancing Justice Atlanta branch, formerly known as the Asian American Legal Advocacy Center.

She began with a quick breakdown of the organization, its first five years of logistical struggle, and its mission. In a broader sense, Advancing Justice Atlanta, as Helen put it, "it is a grassroots human rights organization that aims to empower the community through civic engagement. (she emphasized that civic engagement included many facets including but not limited to community organizing, legal education, leadership development, public policy work, etc.)." 

Helen stressed the importance of the organization’s setting, explaining that, with the fastest rate of Asian American/Pacific Islander population growth, the quickly diversifying South not only presents an opportunity to fight for the Asian American and immigrant communities’ rights. It gives us the opportunity to work against the regressive policies Southern states are known to pass, and toward positive movement building, cultural shifts, multiracial alliances, and more. "When we say we are building power for good in the south, we mean the common good," she continued. Given the current environment, then, AAAJ ATL, as the first non-profit law center dedicated to serving Asian American immigrants and refugees in the Southeast, is doing essential work. 

From GOTV campaigns aimed to increase Asian American voters, direct legal services and education, AAAJ ATL’s work encourages a more diverse, just, and democratic legal and social environment, yielding proven, measurable results. Since the organization has begun its GOTV campaigning, for example, Asian American voter turnout in Georgia has increased by over 25% in 2014 compared to the 2010 Midterm elections. With perceptions regarding Asian Americans shifting accordingly, AAAJ ATL has quickly become a foundational community leader, building a brighter future for not only Asian Americans, but groups of all colors, as it works towards equality, solidarity, and a voice for all. 

Lunch & Learn #1_Leonie’s Workshop

By Brian Lee and Sonia Chang

Leonie Barkakati, a graduate student intern, provided an interesting perspective concerning stereotypes of different races during her lunch-and-learn on June 4th, 2015.

The workshop began with an icebreaker in which all the staff and interns wrote obscure facts about themselves on slips of paper which were then distributed randomly. From these slips, each person was instructed to guess who wrote the information. Though seemingly facile, the task proved difficult as some of the facts could apply to more than one individual. In context, Sonia found it amusing upon realization of our myopic views of each other and also because most of the predictions turned out to inaccurate. These instances led us to reinforce the notion that outer perception may differ from inner identity, sometimes even drastically.

Later on during the actual workshop, Leonie opened the discussion of prejudice and the focus centered around an interactive chart activity in which people would write stereotypes in the respective box that indicated the appropriate race. In the second row of boxes, we wrote down characteristics of people we know that are of the race labelled at the top of the column.

Here is a sample of the table:

Race:	Asian	Native American	etc...
Stereotypes (Row 1):
Traits of People We Know (Row 2):

During the first round (Row 1), the traits that were mentioned were relatively negative. They reflected the most caricatured features of different races. These representations reflected everything from facial features to familial relations to contemporary political issues such as police/civilian relations while, on the contrary, Row 2 proved to be purely positive and supportive.

The subsequent conversation reflected our conjectures concerning the influences behind our beliefs and attitudes to distinct cultures: The first row, as Leonie holistically summarized, indicated the effect of media burlesque and news bias. Movie portrayals, news broadcast spins on current events tended to support archetypes of particular races which were ingrained in our conception of differences. The characteristics noted in the second row which contradicted that of the previous could be attributed to our respect for the people we know as well as the intimacy of the relationships we hold with those individuals. All in all, it is impossible to universally generalize traits. Even though we wish to categorize people, every individual is unique with their own set of characteristics and traits.

Reflection on "Freedom Summer", a documentary

By Leonie Barkakati

 

Freedom Summer is a documentary about the Mississippi Summer Project, which was initiated to register Black voters in Mississippi in June, 1964.

From the start, I was struck by the number of comparisons I could make from events in the movie to other occurrences in history and current events. Within the first thirty minutes of the movie, the individuals being interviewed talked about how white people in Mississippi thought Black people would “take over” if they began voting. Another individual said, “the vote was for white people.” This sounds very similar to the opinions of some Americans who believe that undocumented immigrants from Asia and Latin America will take over the country today.

When the Mississippi Summer Project began, southern whites criticized it as a “communist” initiative. It humors me how frequently Americans label groups “communist” whenever they feel threatened. This word has been used to describe farm workers in California in the 60’s and Chinese Americans during the Cold War. It reveals a disturbingly xenophobic tendency.

Freedom Summer starkly portrayed people’s humanity (or lack thereof). The volunteers knew they were putting their lives in danger by helping to register voters, but they stayed because they believed it was the right thing to do. Looking back at that time, who would disagree? The narrative being told in Freedom Summer is eerily similar to the current reality. There are organizations in place today that are trying to register millions of people who came to this country as immigrants. There are others who rave about how “illegal” immigrants will steal “our” jobs. When we look back on this decade of history, what will people say? Do we sympathize with the humanity of immigrants in this country?

Even the reluctance of the Mississippi constituents to register in the documentary is still present today. In the documentary, registering Black voters was slow work in the beginning. People were unwilling to sign up for fear that they would lose their jobs, and rightfully so. In my experience, registering Asian voters is equally difficult today. But the community in the documentary did not fully mobilize until volunteers went missing, and bodies were found. Do people have to die for our communities to recognize the urgency of this issue?

I was particularly impacted by the stories of two women who were included in the documentary. The first was Rita Schwerner, whose husband was killed by the Klan during the Project. She said she would not cry in front of any cameras because, “It would be offensive to everyone concerned.” I thought this was a profound example of allyship. Schwerner seemed to understand how much attention the press would give her if she cried. She would not give the media the satisfaction of watching her mourn her late husband when thousands of people mourned the deaths of far greater numbers of family members in the South for centuries.

I was also moved by Fannie Lou Hamer’s testimony. She was a sharecropper from Mississippi who attended the Democratic National Conference in 1964 to advocate for inclusion of people of color in the delegation from Mississippi. Her testimony was very important, yet not all of it was included in the documentary. In fact, the documentary seemed to focus more on how Lyndon Johnson interrupted her speech. I had to go to Youtube to find the entirety of her 8-minute testimony. I thought it was powerful that a Black woman came to be the symbol of the Mississippi Summer Project. She talked about losing her job just for trying to register to vote and about her time in jail. In the end, she says, “Is this America, land of the free home of the brave…where our lives are threatened daily because we want to live like decent human beings in America?” I thought she was brave to say all of these things on national television. It felt as though at that moment she carried the weight of her entire community.

I love watching moments like that. I wonder what they feel like, to truly be a representative of a community.

“Running from Office” Webinar Review

By Brian Lee

On May 27th 2015, the interns at AAAJ Atlanta participated in a webinar conducted by Jennifer L. Lawless and Richard L. Fox concerning the results of their observational study which are stated in their book “Running from Office: Why Young Americans are Turned Off to Politics” and a subsequent Q&A session.

The authors, Lawless and Fox, presented their study in three segments: A discussion of the status quo, explanations to these current phenomena, and potential resolutions for issues.

First, the authors reported their survey analysis that 89% of youth (defined as high school and college students) have not thought of becoming politicians, a finding they reinforced with GfK Custom Research’s data that youth career goals are excellent predictors of actual future careers, to determine that, with the level of trust in federal government so low, this proves to be a rising issue in American culture today.

Lawless and Fox supported this finding with three potential rationales for avoiding political careers - lack of encouragement within families, lack of exposure in school, and the negative stigma associated with politicians in the media - and supplied four plausible solutions:

1.    YouLead Initiative - Encouraging students to join organizations such as the Peace Corps
2.    PlayStation for Politics - Involving politics within video games to increase exposure
3.    Political Aptitude for College Admissions - Requiring a test of political awareness to attend higher education
4.    GoRun App - Providing access to smartphone applications that show available governmental positions in the vicinity and requirements to run for said offices.

Though I think that this Webinar provided an interesting insight into youth political activism, I believe that the researchers could have used a more comprehensive methodology to procure the same results.

First, because they operationally defined politics as strictly “running and sticking to elected office”, they ignore the myriad of other political activities youth ought to be encouraged to participate in such as voting. It seems more reasonable to interview participants with the notion that it is important to encourage civic engagement in general in comparison to seeking a position of power.

Also, when inquired as to whether race or economic status affected data or exhibited correlation, Lawless and Fox stated that the characteristics they measured for existed “regardless of demographic group” and “economic factors did not show any difference” which overlooked conspicuous confounding variables. I am highly skeptical of this outcome or lack thereof because holistically I believe that race and socioeconomic status would drastically affect whether or not families would discuss politics whether politics would be a concern, and how the environment would portray politicians in general.

Lastly, in my personal opinion, encroaching on video games to add a political feature or supporting a political awareness standard on college applications seems to be an unreasonable inconvenience for youth and a step into an already controversial topic, respectively, which would not bode well with the new electorate.

Instead, an additional curriculum within the education system or an extension of responsibilities inside student-run government associations would entrench a more politically active mindset in today’s youth.

Advancing Justice- Atlanta & Rally for In-State Tuition for DACA Students

By Leonie Barkakati
May 26, 2015

On May 19, 2015, Advancing Justice Atlanta attended the in-state tuition rally at 9:30 in the morning. The rally took place in front of the Board of Education building, where the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia met to approve changes to Policy 7.3.4.1. Policy 7.3.4.1 would allow students who reside in Alabama, South Carolina, and Florida to pay in-state tuition rates at colleges located in Georgia. Meanwhile, undocumented students who have lived in Georgia for the majority of their lives and paid taxes to the state are required to pay out-of-state tuition rates at those same colleges.

Representatives from the Georgia Undocumented Youth Alliance (GUYA) and the Georgia Dreamers were in attendance. Many individuals gave testimony about how this policy essentially excludes them from higher education due to the cost of out-of-state tuition. “My family has been paying GA taxes for the last 15 years. It is ridiculous that the Board of Regents continues to deny us entrance to Universities that we have helped fund,” said Maria Carrillo, who is affiliated with the Georgia Dreamers.

The rally lasted until about noon. Jaime Rangel and a small group from the assemblage walked into the board meeting, where Nels Peterson intercepted them, the Vice Chancellor for Legal Affairs for the Board of Regents. Rangel reported that the Board agreed to meet with their group at a later date. The group plans to hold them accountable to that statement. 

For me, this was different from other rallies I have been to because the group was smaller than what I am used to at a rally. I have attended rallies for Justice for Trayvon in Florida as well as Black Lives Matter in Massachusetts that were attended by at least 100 people. I thought this might impact the rally’s effectiveness. I wondered if we were enough to make a difference.

In my opinion, there were two factors that countered my assumption. First, there was heavy media representation at this rally. News channels such as CBS46 and El Nuevo Georgia were present to interview students and report what had happened. After the rally, I was able to find people from GUYA and the Georgia Dreamers on Twitter and Facebook, and many of them had posted video clips of the rally on their pages. This allowed them to reach a much larger audience than only those who were physically present, and also allowed us to record that this rally happened. Now if anyone searches the internet for information on undocumented students or in-state tuition in Georgia, they will know that a rally happened and that the Board of Regents has agreed to meet with young organizers to discuss allowing undocumented students to pay in-state tuition rates.

The other factor that boosted effectiveness was the disruption we caused. In my opinion, a rally is effective precisely when it disrupts everyday life. Rallies are not designed to be in closed off areas where no one can see them. They are not supposed to be convenient. A rally’s intention is to call attention to the fact that something is wrong so that people will do something about it. When we took to the street outside the Board of Education building, we did just that. When we carried huge signs over our heads and stopped traffic when we chanted, when we made enough noise, that the police showed up (for a peaceful protest), we reminded the state of Georgia that the current policy is an injustice. Our hope is that people who we marched by, who had to wait for maybe a few minutes at the most to wait until we passed, will be reminded that there are people whose entire lives have been put on hold because they do not have access to education. This small inconvenience they experience is a fraction of the hardship that undocumented students face every day.