Being present in discussions of other communities with the intention to learn and not contribute, allows us to create these bridges we keep speaking of, because once we understand another group/individual's struggles, the links with our own become so much clearer. If we only pool our resources together in this manner, then maybe we can work towards a place where we truly understand each other's needs and advocate for the collective, not just our individual struggles.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If ya'll have been keeping up with my multiple instagram posts (follow me @thirdworldjar thx), you'll know that I was in Sacramento over the past weekend. What I haven't talked about yet is why I was there, and so I wanted to take some time and elaborate on that, and my experiences in the city in general.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If ya'll have been keeping up with my multiple instagram posts (follow me @thirdworldjar thx), you'll know that I was in Sacramento over the past weekend. What I haven't talked about yet is why I was there, and so I wanted to take some time and elaborate on that, and my experiences in the city in general.
First of all, I honestly fell in love with Sacramento. The beautiful, organized streets, the tram, the cold-ish weather- checked off all the criteria of a place I'd want to live in in the future. Add on the fact that it's California's state capital, i.e. a politically charged city, and I'm in heaven.
On the second night, at around 5 in the morning, I wandered through the streets until the sun rose- I felt at peace with the world, in a city that I knew nobody in and had no connection to. Something was just right, and I decided that if I'd end up there after graduation, that would be a fate I could live with. (side note: I haven't even entertained after-graduation thoughts before this because yikes)
Another major gain of mine were the friendship bonds I both formed with new friends and strengthened with already existing ones (naming all of them would be tedious and pretty unnecessary but ya'll know who you are). Shoutout to all of you for putting up with my pettiness, as I know it can be pretty draining- hopefully more entertaining than draining, but that's neither here nor there.
But I didn't go to Sacramento to roam the streets or turn up with my besties, even though it was Spring Break and we did do those things. I went as one of UCLA's delegates to the University of California Student Association's Student Lobby Conference, where graduate and undergraduate students across the UC congregated in Sacramento to lobby state Assemblymembers and Senators on certain issues and bills (a brief summary list of all the bills are provided below, courtesy of Emma Zawacki's Facebook status regarding the trip).
We were lobbying for three days: Day 1 and 2 consisted of a series of workshops educating the over 300 delegates about how the budget process works, how to effectively lobby, the specifics of the bills, etc. We also participated in two separate rounds of identity caucuses, where different communities came together to share their experiences in the UC. At the end of Day 2, it concluded with a dinner and debriefing on how the actual lobbying was going to go. 4 people, 3 undergrads and 1 grad student, attended each of the scheduled meetings.
The first caucus I attended had a discussion on the topic of being Jewish. As a non-Jewish person, I obviously realized that it wasn't my place to speak on any of the issues, but I wanted to learn more about the Jewish experience at the UC. The fairly wide-ranging discussion allowed me to gain this insight. Things I do want to comment on:
a. at one point, there was a discussion about how all Jewish individuals were clumped as having similar political stances (right-wing, pro-Netanyahu Administration), even if they don't personally ascribe to those ideals. A white, non-Jewish, man felt the need to add that he could identify with this experience, and started off with the phrase, "as a conservative on a liberal campus..." I, and most of the rest of the group, were shocked at how he drew a parallel between being Jewish on an antisemitic campus to being a conservative on a liberal campus. Associating a person with certain political ideologies because of other political ideologies they hold IS NOT the same thing as associating political ideologies with a person because of identities they are born with.
b. Jewish folks in the circle were talking about privilege within the Jewish community and Jewish American privilege in general, and how to understand and feel your history while simultaneously focusing on the present and move forward. This was a very eye-opening conversation for me, as privilege within communities is usually not something we talk about when we have discussions about privilege (it's mostly just directed at those who possess THE MOST privilege, i.e. straight, white, male, etc.) The general consensus was that progressives with any sort of privilege whatsoever must use their privilege to help those that don't have that particular privilege. Will be thinking about this a lot more in the coming days.
The second caucus I attended was the Queer and Trans Persons of Color Caucus, where QTPOC came together to talk about their experiences, possessing identities that stood in stark contrast to what they had been taught/what they saw practiced all around their families/societies/cultures. One part of the discussion that stood out to me was regarding the importance of actual physical spaces. For example, some UC campuses have cross-cultural centers that allow people from all types of cultures to interact with each other in capacities that are not strictly professional or educational. This in turn fosters harmony between the cultures, because knowledge is power etc. But while LGBT centers also exist on campuses, most of the time the centers do not address intersectionality, and view LGBTQ+ struggles through a white lens.
~~I know this is a really lengthy post so I want to pause and thank you for choosing to read this far. A lot of the writing I do on this blog is just for my own sake, because I have a terrible memory that needs to constantly be jogged~~
At our dinner on the second day, we had the honor of having State Senator Ricardo Lara, the first openly gay man elected to California State Legislature, address our conference and teach us the power of community organizing. He told us to stop caring about those that want to tear us down, and keep talking to them about why it is we feel we deserve basic equal rights; at one point or another, they'll get tired of ignoring us and actually listen. Also at this dinner, several student advocates were presented with awards for their work, and one of them was the incredible Georgia Savage, whose name precedes her, at least on the UC level (seriously she's amazing look her up). Lastly, all the delegation leaders also received special awards, and when Rafi stood up to take his, UCLA furthered its reputation as the most hated UC by greeting him with an 8-clap (ty Alley for the suggestion ily).
Finally, on the third day, we spent the remainder of our time in the Capitol, actually doing the advocacy that we claim to do. While each of our appointments were only about 20-30 minutes long, I wanted to take full advantage of my time in Sac, and spent the entire day on the 6th floor cafe of the Capitol Building. I talked to some incredibly knowledgeable people who gave me a lot of advice on how to move forward with a career in lobbying/community organizing/public service, and also did manage to get some face-time with a State Assemblymember! The assemblyman my lobbying team was assigned was Majority Whip Miguel Santiago, who co-sponsored 3 of the bills we were advocating for (we also learned he is UCLA alum, Go Bruins!)
All in all, this lobbying trip served me a great deal of personal growth and achievement. And so now I want to address why these trips are not only good and should exist and happen on a regular basis, but necessary.
When I was asked what I learned from the lobbying conference in our debrief, I said "I learned that I know a lot more than I think I know." After everyone had their moment of "Oh Wahid, so conceited always, LOVE IT, haha," I elaborated on what that meant for me. What that means, is that there's a lot of knowledge I possess that I've denied myself- "I don't know enough, so I can't do anything." This mentality has allowed me to rid myself of the responsibility I have towards other communities that are not just my own. Being present in discussions of other communities with the intention to learn and not contribute, allows us to create these bridges we keep speaking of, because once we understand another group/individual's struggles, the links with our own become so much clearer. If we only pool our resources together in this manner, then maybe we can work towards a place where we truly understand each other's needs and advocate for the collective, not just our individual struggles.
And that's what these lobbying trips do- they provide students like me an opportunity to learn not only how the system works (because honestly, who except policy nerds like myself actually know how a state budgeting process works?), but also to learn about each other. These trips are crucial to giving students the tools to advocate for themselves, because once you exist within the system, it is so much easier to navigate it. And that is why I am glad to have been taken on this trip-- but more importantly, that people who don't study politics and don't want to be politicians when they grow up, also get to go on these trips. Because we will never achieve actual change if we don't know how to get there, using the structures that already are in place.
And I think that's where I'll end this incoherent blob of text. Spring Quarter is here and I am not ready to end Junior Year.
The first caucus I attended had a discussion on the topic of being Jewish. As a non-Jewish person, I obviously realized that it wasn't my place to speak on any of the issues, but I wanted to learn more about the Jewish experience at the UC. The fairly wide-ranging discussion allowed me to gain this insight. Things I do want to comment on:
a. at one point, there was a discussion about how all Jewish individuals were clumped as having similar political stances (right-wing, pro-Netanyahu Administration), even if they don't personally ascribe to those ideals. A white, non-Jewish, man felt the need to add that he could identify with this experience, and started off with the phrase, "as a conservative on a liberal campus..." I, and most of the rest of the group, were shocked at how he drew a parallel between being Jewish on an antisemitic campus to being a conservative on a liberal campus. Associating a person with certain political ideologies because of other political ideologies they hold IS NOT the same thing as associating political ideologies with a person because of identities they are born with.
b. Jewish folks in the circle were talking about privilege within the Jewish community and Jewish American privilege in general, and how to understand and feel your history while simultaneously focusing on the present and move forward. This was a very eye-opening conversation for me, as privilege within communities is usually not something we talk about when we have discussions about privilege (it's mostly just directed at those who possess THE MOST privilege, i.e. straight, white, male, etc.) The general consensus was that progressives with any sort of privilege whatsoever must use their privilege to help those that don't have that particular privilege. Will be thinking about this a lot more in the coming days.
The second caucus I attended was the Queer and Trans Persons of Color Caucus, where QTPOC came together to talk about their experiences, possessing identities that stood in stark contrast to what they had been taught/what they saw practiced all around their families/societies/cultures. One part of the discussion that stood out to me was regarding the importance of actual physical spaces. For example, some UC campuses have cross-cultural centers that allow people from all types of cultures to interact with each other in capacities that are not strictly professional or educational. This in turn fosters harmony between the cultures, because knowledge is power etc. But while LGBT centers also exist on campuses, most of the time the centers do not address intersectionality, and view LGBTQ+ struggles through a white lens.
~~I know this is a really lengthy post so I want to pause and thank you for choosing to read this far. A lot of the writing I do on this blog is just for my own sake, because I have a terrible memory that needs to constantly be jogged~~
At our dinner on the second day, we had the honor of having State Senator Ricardo Lara, the first openly gay man elected to California State Legislature, address our conference and teach us the power of community organizing. He told us to stop caring about those that want to tear us down, and keep talking to them about why it is we feel we deserve basic equal rights; at one point or another, they'll get tired of ignoring us and actually listen. Also at this dinner, several student advocates were presented with awards for their work, and one of them was the incredible Georgia Savage, whose name precedes her, at least on the UC level (seriously she's amazing look her up). Lastly, all the delegation leaders also received special awards, and when Rafi stood up to take his, UCLA furthered its reputation as the most hated UC by greeting him with an 8-clap (ty Alley for the suggestion ily).
Finally, on the third day, we spent the remainder of our time in the Capitol, actually doing the advocacy that we claim to do. While each of our appointments were only about 20-30 minutes long, I wanted to take full advantage of my time in Sac, and spent the entire day on the 6th floor cafe of the Capitol Building. I talked to some incredibly knowledgeable people who gave me a lot of advice on how to move forward with a career in lobbying/community organizing/public service, and also did manage to get some face-time with a State Assemblymember! The assemblyman my lobbying team was assigned was Majority Whip Miguel Santiago, who co-sponsored 3 of the bills we were advocating for (we also learned he is UCLA alum, Go Bruins!)
All in all, this lobbying trip served me a great deal of personal growth and achievement. And so now I want to address why these trips are not only good and should exist and happen on a regular basis, but necessary.
When I was asked what I learned from the lobbying conference in our debrief, I said "I learned that I know a lot more than I think I know." After everyone had their moment of "Oh Wahid, so conceited always, LOVE IT, haha," I elaborated on what that meant for me. What that means, is that there's a lot of knowledge I possess that I've denied myself- "I don't know enough, so I can't do anything." This mentality has allowed me to rid myself of the responsibility I have towards other communities that are not just my own. Being present in discussions of other communities with the intention to learn and not contribute, allows us to create these bridges we keep speaking of, because once we understand another group/individual's struggles, the links with our own become so much clearer. If we only pool our resources together in this manner, then maybe we can work towards a place where we truly understand each other's needs and advocate for the collective, not just our individual struggles.
And that's what these lobbying trips do- they provide students like me an opportunity to learn not only how the system works (because honestly, who except policy nerds like myself actually know how a state budgeting process works?), but also to learn about each other. These trips are crucial to giving students the tools to advocate for themselves, because once you exist within the system, it is so much easier to navigate it. And that is why I am glad to have been taken on this trip-- but more importantly, that people who don't study politics and don't want to be politicians when they grow up, also get to go on these trips. Because we will never achieve actual change if we don't know how to get there, using the structures that already are in place.
And I think that's where I'll end this incoherent blob of text. Spring Quarter is here and I am not ready to end Junior Year.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
These are the issues and bills we lobbied for:
These are the issues and bills we lobbied for:
1. Preservation of the Middle Class Scholarship in Governor Brown's budget proposal
2. Expansion of Cal Grant A and B Programs
3. AB 214: basic needs security and student hunger on campus regarding the CalFresh Program
4. SB 201: gives students, specifically research assistants, the right to collectively bargain under the Higher Education Employer-Employee Relations Act
5. SB 54: supports undocumented students by ensuring that state and local resources are not used to fuel mass deportations, creating a safer and more accessible campus for all students
6. SB 68: revises and simplifies AB 540 requirements and expands it to include non-traditional students
7. AB 1622: provides a Dream Resource Liaison position at community colleges, CSUs, and UCs to provide undocumented students with academic, financial, and legal resources
Comments
Post a Comment