CALC: ‘We are called not only to reflect, but to act’

Presenter: The Hands Off! rally recognized a milestone for the Community Alliance of Lane County. Host of the anti-Trump protest April 5 at Eugene City Hall, Debbie Williamson Smith:

Debbie Williamson Smith: Did you know that next year the Community Alliance of Lane County, aka CALC, will turn 60 years old? Do you have any idea what an incredible organization this is?

For 60 years, they have been fighting the same issues: the struggle for racial justice, immigrant rights, economic justice, educational equity, and opposing all the -isms. I can’t think of a better organization to have as a speaker and I couldn’t have asked for a more welcoming human to speak on their behalf. Please welcome CALC’s Youth Program Director Kuit Lopez Rojas:

[00:00:58] Kuitlahuak Lopez Rojas (CALC): Hello, beautiful people. Before I start my speech, I just want to introduce myself. I’m the program coordinator for the youth program at CALC. I work on teaching ethnic studies and pivoting empowerment to youth.

[00:01:12] It was a program me and my buddy started six years ago, over six years ago. Last time Trump was in presidency, we found out that the highest suicide rate were 12-year-old Latino boys. Everything they were self-internalizing from the media, their peers, their teachers, that was the direct impact on my community. So me and my friend decided: How do we save the 12-year-old versions of ourselves? Thus this program was created.

[00:01:42] I was born in Portland, Oregon, raised in Mexico until I was four, but I’ve been living in Eugene ever since. I’ve been born and raised in this community and I’ve been waiting for this day for a long time. (¡Viva la raza!)

[00:02:00] Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for being here today. As we stand in this moment together, we are called not only to reflect, but to act. To act with strength that comes from our unity—unity across race, across class, across identity, and our shared humanity.

[00:02:18] For today the strength of our collective voice is needed more than ever. It is time when the humanity of so many is under attack. It is our shared responsibility to rise in defense of the most marginalized amongst us: immigrants, refugees, asylum seekers, trans and LGBTQ community members.

[00:02:37] Their lives are just not statistics. Their struggles are not just talking points. They are people. They are our brothers, our sisters, and our children. And we must be their protectors, their advocates, and their allies.

[00:03:01] We live in a state, a sanctuary state, that has committed itself to upholding the rights of immigrants and refugees. A place we believe that everyone deserves dignity, respect, and protection under the law.

[00:03:12] Yet as the winds of intolerance blow through this nation, we find ourselves in a moment of profound discomfort. We find a climate that seeks to strip away the protections we fought for, not for just ourselves, but for our neighbors, our communities, and for future generations.

[00:03:30] But let us not mistake the discomfort for weakness. Let us not be deterred by the forces that seek to divide us.

[00:03:38] How do lobsters grow? They are a small, mushy animal that lives in a rigid shell. That rigid shell does not expand. As the lobster grows in the shell, it becomes more confining. The lobster feels itself under pressure and becomes uncomfortable. It goes under a rock formation to protect itself from predatory fish, casts off the shell, and produces another one. The stimulus for the lobster to be able to grow is that it feels uncomfortable.

[00:04:10] If the lobster were to have doctors and get some Valium or Percocet, it would feel fine. It would never get out of its shell.

[00:04:29] We have to realize the times of stress are also times for signals for growth. If we use adversity properly, we can grow through adversity. Discomfort is our catalyst for change. It is the spark that can ignite standing firm in defense of sanctuary state laws to protect the rights of every immigrant, every refugee, every person who seeks safety belonging in this land. We must defend their humanity as if it were our own, because in truth, it is.

[00:05:09] What about the trans and LGBTQ community members? Their right to gender-affirming health care is under attack. Their right to exist and thrive in this world is under attack. No person, regardless of their identity, should have to fight for their basic right to live freely and authentically.

[00:05:30] As a collective, we must demand justice, not just for them, but for all of us. When we stand for the most vulnerable, we are standing for our shared humanity.

[00:05:45] But the road ahead of us will not be easy. The path to justice is often fraught with challenges, setbacks, and opposition. We will face resistance. There will be those who will seek to silence us, who will try to break our resolve.

[00:05:58] But we must remember: The fight is not just for us, this is for our children. This is for the next generation. It is for a world that they will inherit and a world that we can shape together.

[00:06:17] As we move forward, we must remain united, knowing that we have the power to demand structural lasting change. We must demand a system that upholds justice, equality, and compassion of all people, regardless of their background, their identity, or their status.

And let us not forget the world is watching us. History will look back on this moment and not judge us by the challenges we faced, but how we responded.

[00:06:50] The children, our children are especially watching. They are watching us to see if we will act with courage, the compassion, and the conviction necessary to create a world that reflects the best of us.

[00:07:12] So let us show them what democracy looks like. What does democracy look like? (This is what democracy looks like!) What does democracy look like? (This is what democracy looks like!) One more time. What does democracy look like? (This is what democracy looks like!)

[00:07:31] Let us show them that democracy is just not a system of government. It is a system of our values—a system that affirms the dignity of every human being, a system that seeks justice, a system that believes in the power of community.

[00:07:45] We are stronger together. Our resistance is rooted in unity. And when we stand together across race, across class, across identity, we are unstoppable.

[00:08:04] To quote my warrior and prophet Kendrick Lamar: ‘Continue to say lies about my community and I will be forced to tell the truth about yours.’ Thank you.

[00:08:25] Presenter: That’s Kuitlahuak Lopez Rojas, youth program director at CALC, the Community Alliance of Lane County. To learn more, see calclane.org.

Field recordings by Todd Boyle for KEPW 97.3, Eugene PeaceWorks Community Radio.