STUDENT OF
COLOR CONFERENCE 2011
E.D.U.C.A.T.E.: Connecting Our Struggles
November 11-13, 2011
“Once social change begins, it cannot be reversed. You cannot uneducate the person who has learned to read. You cannot humiliate the person who feels pride. You cannot oppress the people who are not afraid anymore. We have seen the future, and the future is ours.” - Cesar Chavez
About the Student of Color Conference
The Student of Color Conference is a 23-year-old annual event that is hosted by a different University of California (UC) campus every year through the University of California Student Association. This conference is meant to serve as a space for all students, statewide, to gather together on one campus to discuss the issues and struggles that students of color face on individual campuses. Through various workshops, caucuses, break-outs and entertainment activities, students are given the chance to participate in community based knowledge sharing to develop a community of solidarity and alliance. The event provides a venue for students to gain the concepts and skills needed to identify issues related to race and ethnicity and also to get people thinking about the intersections of our own multiple dimensions of identity and how we can use this information to form action plans for positive change in our communities. In the end, we would like the students to leave with a new sense of awareness and an empowered state of mind.
Moreover, a lack of public support for policy endeavours such as the DREAM ACT and for AB540 undocumented students exacerbate these already seemingly harsh realities. The unequal and unjust distribution of resources among and the institutional discrimination common within marginalized communities, oblige us to consider more original solutions so as to address more adequately the wide array of issues that underrepresented communities face in the present time. We, at UC Davis, would like to provide the necessary space for such discussions and action planning to take place once again.
The planning committee for E.D.U.C.A.T.E. proposes to use this conference so as to explore the impact that the acceptance of the notion of students of color as culturally disadvantaged and less than achieving has caused while at the same time to gain an appreciation for our distinct histories, our capabilities and our future destinies. We will recognize the differences and similarities in our lives and struggles and will celebrate our peoplehood with the intention of working with each other to achieve our goals now and in the future. We propose that this year’s conference focus on our ability to E.D.U.C.A.T.E. and to be educated. As Nelson Mandela said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”
By hosting the 2011 Student of Color Conference at UC Davis we hope to discuss and to create ways in which to work with the youth of today and tomorrow that will concentrate on education and not incarceration. We ask for your support in this endeavor.
Sincerely,
Student of Color Conference Planning Committee, UC Davis 2011
aka the Sockeys!!
aka the Sockeys!!