LTH Awards: Aguirre tells goals, Castro outlines Latino contributions

October 12, 2007
Santa Paula News

The 11th Annual Latino Town Hall 2007 Awards Dinner featured the State of the Latino Town Hall address by the organization’s president, and as keynote speaker a nationally known Latino educator and activist who was the focus of a 2006 HBO film directed by Edward James Olmos.

By Peggy KellySanta Paula TimesThe 11th Annual Latino Town Hall 2007 Awards Dinner featured the State of the Latino Town Hall address by the organization’s president, and as keynote speaker a nationally known Latino educator and activist who was the focus of a 2006 HBO film directed by Edward James Olmos.LTH President and City Councilman Dr. Gabino Aguirre noted that the organization “is here to take care of the whole community,” and the influence of LTH has led to “substantial progress in helping to improve certain conditions of life in Santa Paula.” LTH has three goals for the coming year, including education, economic development and cultural arts.“Education is not only the key to the American dream, but also to a good life,” noted Aguirre. “We have to engage and reengage the community in education” through a series of community conferences to inform and engage parents in their children’s education to enhance student learning. Working on the program with area school districts will “ultimately help parents to become partners” on various levels that impact education.When it comes to the economy, “Some look at poor people in town and say it’s their fault,” but poverty is linked to a national recession and higher prices for consumer necessities, said Aguirre. Area merchants must be engaged “so they can get on the train” and work together with active merchants to revitalize area businesses. Bilingual activities for local merchants to inform and encourage their participation and integration with economic development activities are the goal, noted Aguirre.Cultural arts are very important: “We are not just a white and brown community, we are a human family,” and barriers can be broken if the community can “get real with each other.” Aguirre said that the community must embrace its commonalties as well as its uniqueness to become “excited about doing something as a community” that celebrates diversity and develops cultural understanding and appreciation.
Sal Castro didn’t pull any punches in his keynote address, that mixed large doses of humor with a call for more citizen involvement in their communities. Other than the film “Walkout,” Castro said that people think, “Who the hell is Sal Castro?” He offered the long history of the continent and noted, “You can’t call me a wetback... I’ve had 40,000 years to dry out here!”Castro said he would continue to protest the Ken Burns documentary series “The War” due the initial exclusion of Latinos, a situation that was reversed only after public protest. “Our kids are crying for heroes with Spanish surnames,” he noted. “We have fought in every war” America has ever engaged in, including 25,000 Civil War troops.Over the course of wars Mexican soldiers have earned Medals of Honor and served as military leaders, and Castro noted that Burns’ exclusion was “insulting, but it is more insulting” that such contributions are overlooked in schools. Castro is a life-long Los Angeles County schoolteacher - his career started in 1963 - with a national reputation as a school reformer.Castro worked with Chicano high school students who walked out of high schools in East Los Angeles, the basis of the film. Since 1963 he has been the central organizer of the Chicano Youth Leadership Conferences, and over the past 44 years the organization has prepared several generations of leaders: alumni include a mayor of L.A., a state Supreme Court Justice, and others, including artists and filmmakers.Castro continues to press for educational reform, and he lectures student groups across the country including Yale University and UCLA.



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