On Sept. 18, 2023, Moorpark College’s Administration Building Lobby held a Latinx Heritage Month and Constitution Day commemoration that explored the importance of the 14th Amendment in American life.
Through heartfelt discussions, poetry readings and personal reflections, attendees had a chance to think about identity, cultural blending and the challenges people face in a diverse America.
The event was organized by Patricia Colman, an ethnic studies professor at Moorpark College, and Crystal Salas, a published poet and the tutorial services specialist at Moorpark College.
The commemoration started with attendees and speakers all sitting around a table, with Professor Colman passing out a paper with the 14th Amendment printed on it, as well as a few court cases that have used the 14th Amendment to protect the rights of all people.
Professor Colman emphasized the importance of the 14th Amendment, and how it continues to protect the rights of everyone in America.
“In the late 1800s, Chinese Americans used the 14th to guarantee citizenship for their children,” Colman explained. “In the 1940s, Mexican Americans used the 14th to fight school segregation, and in 2015, the 14th was used to secure the right for Americans to marry whomever they love. So while it was ratified in 1868, it remains, in my opinion, the most relevant amendment to this day.”
Afterward, Salas discussed a poem called “Citizen Illegal” written by Josè Olivarez. The poem expresses the struggles that second-generation immigrants can have with their identity because of the pressure they feel to fit in with two cultures.
“The poem makes me think a lot about how our society creates connotations around these ideas (Mexican, citizen, illegal) that, instead of being just confined to literal definitions, evoke all sorts of images and stereotypes that severely limit and burden people who never asked for them and didn’t create them,” Salas remarked.
Dean of Student Learning Robert Cabral interpreted the constant interruptions of “citizen” and “illegal” adlibs which were a representation of how often Mexican Americans may feel interrupted by the stress of being both a perfect American and Mexican.
Salas agreed with Cabral’s interpretation and explained how she can relate to that constant feeling of stress and exhaustion when trying to fit into a predominantly white space.
“Every time I read this poem, as I move from beginning to end, as a reader, I feel so boxed in and restricted, I feel like I’m walking with wet clothing, weighted down by sandbags, while fighting to keep my head above quicksand and looking over my shoulder all at the same time,” Salas expressed.
Faculty members gave their thoughts on how race has affected their lives. Attendees shared past experiences and reflections on how they feel about their identity, as well as discussed the struggles that the current generation of students might have with race.
Cabral explained that he still thinks about what differences there would be in his life if he had been taught Spanish first as opposed to English. He considers how his relationship with his family could have changed, and how those changes could have affected his path in life.
Intending to provide an inclusive and supportive environment for students, Moorpark College is uplifting Latinx conversations with a variety of upcoming events for Latinx Heritage Month.
For information on these upcoming events, click here. For more from Josè Olivarez, Crystal Salas recommends his full-length poetry collection “Citizen Illegal”.
