2018 Paso High Grads - Still Dreaming Big - 023

People of Faith for Justice

We hope you were able to listen to last month’s conversation with Geoffrey Land, Social Studies teacher at Paso High, along with two of his current students who shared their process of becoming scholar activists, learning to speak out for justice and inclusion.

We are excited this month to have Beatriz Lopez as our guest! Beatriz was also a student of Geof Land while at Paso Robles High School. In 2018 she participated in a community forum in which Beatriz and eight other undocumented students at PRHS came from the shadows to share their stories openly. Following the forum, Mr. Land encouraged them to write a Viewpoint for the Tribune explaining why they had decided to come forward and speak out. We hope you will read that powerful, open and honest Viewpoint which is linked in our Show Notes.

Today, four years later, several of these young people have now graduated from college. We’ll find out how Beatriz has fared since graduation and her courageous announcement of her Dreamer status; we’ll discuss her experiences in college, her dreams for the future now that she has graduated, and how her immigration status and US policies around immigration continue to affect her and her family’s lives. Join us for a conversation with Beatriz Lopez, a Paso Robles High School graduate who continues to Dream Big!

RELEVANT LINKS

• PFJ
• Unitarian Universalists San Luis Obispo (UUSLO)
• United Church of Christ (Congregational) of San Luis Obispo (UCC)
• Paso Robles High School
• M.E.Ch.A.
• AVID Program
• These Paso High seniors are bound for college, if they’re allowed to stay in the U.S. Viewpoint, Tribune, 4-25-2018
• Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)
• National Immigration Law Center (NILC)
• National Immigration Forum
• DREAM Act (Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act)

MORE ABOUT OUR GUEST

Beatriz López Isidro was born in Uruapan, Michoacán and raised in Paso Robles, CA. Beatriz is a proud daughter of immigrants whose parents come from San Juan Nuevo, Michoacán, México. She is a recent college graduate from UC Merced with a Bachelors of Science in Biological Science with an emphasis in Human Biology.

Throughout her time at UC Merced, she received constant support and mentorship from the Services for Undocumented Students. For the 2021-2022 school year, she was given the opportunity to collaborate with the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs and the Office for Services for Undocumented Students to represent undergraduate undocumented students at UC Merced. Most recently, she was given the opportunity to participate as a CDC Undergraduate Public Health Scholar through the UCLA Public Health Scholars Training Program and paired with Promesa Boyle Heights as a summer intern.

Beatriz emphasizes the importance of fighting for the “original dreamers” (dreamer’s parents) and all the 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States because DACA is not enough; there needs to be bipartisan Congressional immigration reform!

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People of Faith for Justice is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

CREDITS

The People of Faith for Justice Podcast is produced and edited by Jeff Manildi

Music for the People of Faith for Justice Podcast is provided by Andrew Gorman