Convicted

I attend a lot of events on the UChicago campus, many of which I've detailed for you here. I find myself here at least five or so days a week for something or other, whether it is a lecture, to break into the library system, or for a DocFilms screening.

The other night I attended an event that was, hands down, the coolest thing I've been exposed to here at the University.

In the summer of 2011, Jose Antonio Vargas wrote a story in the New York Times, "coming out" as an undocumented immigrant. He is a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and covered the 2008 Presidential election for the Washington Post. He has been employed at various reputable news organizations, and was hired at the Huffington Post after he was mistaken for a busboy at an event for journalists. He is from the Philippines, and came here to the United States at the age of 12.

I was both touched and convicted by his message. He has been traveling the country since his announcement, rallying support for the "DREAMers" and launching a campaign called "Define American." Check it out here.

Here are some things that stuck out to me from the evening:

• There are 2 million undocumented students in k-12 schools across this country. This IS an education issue.

• 50% of the kids under the age of 18 are minorities.

• This quote from "The American President"and this follow-up: "Undocumented immigrants have been fighting for America for years. You know why? It's not because we're un-American. It's because we think it's worth it."

"America isn't easy. America is advanced citizenship. You gotta want it bad, 'cause it's gonna put up a fight. It's gonna say 'You want free speech? Let's see you acknowledge a man whose words make your blood boil, who's standing center stage and advocating at the top of his lungs that which you would spend a lifetime opposing at the top of yours. You want to claim this land as the land of the free? Then the symbol of your country can't just be a flag; the symbol also has to be one of its citizens exercising his right to burn that flag in protest. Now show me that, defend that, celebrate that in your classrooms. Then, you can stand up and sing about the land of the free.'"

• "Do I feel that I needed to come out? You know, what's 'out' to you is 'in' to me."

• "We're so stuck on the who, the when, the where, the how... and we're missing the most important question. WHY are people coming here?"

• Regarding the argument that we should repeal birth-right citizenship, for people who used to be considered "first-generation American" and are now considered "anchor babies.": "Why don't we take it a step further? What if we ALL had to earn citizenship? Why don't we do that? I'm not saying this is necessarily the reason, but could it be because they are brown?"

• "Brown people can't be the only ones talking about this issue. White people need to be talking to everyone."

• Lastly, he was speaking about all the DREAMers and the movement across the country. The final quote, the one that sticks with me the most: "We don't have a number for those who gave up."

Maybe it's time we all get together to do something about this issue, hmm?