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San Patrick's Day


at spaceland. we met up with Nicolas, Yesenia, Roy, and Ollin of course. Scott Randy Ralo Vincent. st patrick's day, which in this case was a celebration of the San Patricio Battalion. a group of conscripted irish immigrants who were part of Zachary Taylor's invading army. during the U.S.-Mexico War in the 1840s. seeing themselves as unwilling participants in an unjustified war, they defected to the mexican army, focusing on catholicism and shared victimhood (as the irish were not "white" yet). they are still folk heroes in mexico. Ollin, that night, released an entire album dedicated to the San Patricios. they played those songs and plenty of pogues, too.

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there was much guinness and tequila and vodka consumed. among a dozen people who danced with reckless abandon for 2 hours straight. dripping sweat and bumping into each other. we waltzed and conjuntoed, and did uncategorizable dances, too. nicolas probably melted his accordeon keys.

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Roy stayed at our place, i made breakfast tacos and coffee the next morning. i think i'm going to do a research and activist project at his Indio high school. looking at the way the teachers/staff do/don't prepare students for college. very few of them continue to college. apparently, nobody wants them to know about AB540. AB540 is a law that allows immigrants (regardless of documentation), who have attended elementary and high school in california, to receive in-state tuition at state universities. all of us, in my program at UCLA, are trying to find ways to directly improve the chances of students. i'm imagining a study where i go to the school, as a sort of freelance college recruiter, and simply tell the kids about their options (community college, cal state, UC), costs, and programs to help them. as of now, too many go on to walk the same orchards their parents do. professional college recruiters, they prefer Palm Springs, you know? we reveal our values through our work, i think. every educator giving his/her attention at Palm Springs, Beverly Hills, or Malibu - they work for their chosen cause: more opportunities for rich white kids.

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it is still so hard for many Americans to understand: immigrants are people, too -- humanity is not defined by a piece of paper --everyone deserves an education. the people in Indio, they grow the food you eat, they pay as much tax as you do (and never receive a refund). why can't people admit they deserve to go to school? when our irish and scots-irish ancestors arrived to work (or join the army), they were issued green cards right off the boat. now we want Mexicanos to do the work, but expect them to wait 7 years for a green card? when your family is hungry, are you going to wait seven years to "enter legally," as lou dobbs (irish-american) wants everyone to do? legal entry, today, usually means you are rich. and could already feed your family anyway. the rich didn't have to fight during the U.S.-Mexico War, and they don't fight in the Terror Wars. today, our military recruiters trick undocumented immigrants (mostly Latino, but some Irish still!) to sign up, with a fake offer of citizenship -- which only arrives if the soldier or marine gets killed (there's a sales pitch: if you want to be a citizen, die!).
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we never made it to the after-party that night. Amalia did wake up early, and we got her to work at 9am or something crazy. that counts as a st. patrick's day miracle, far as i'm concerned. with how far behind i was last week, the fact i've finished all but one of my class projects is another miracle. miracles are good. demos gracias a Dios. may i have another?

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