Takeaways from Jose Antonio Vargas UW Visit

On Monday, May 7, Pulitzer Prize winning Jose-Antonio Vargas visited the UW to talk about immigration.

Jose-Antonio is a remarkable individual who put himself through coming out of the close twice in the name of justice and equality; and he did it  by revealing with the World that he is undocumented and gay.

His presentation at the UW was unique in the sense that brought laughter to a serious topic, quoting @davismadeline on her article for The Daily of the University of Washington.

Hate E-Mail, Genius!

Jose-Antonio shared a hate e-mail with his audience of over 300 people, and people couldn't help to laugh (I'm glad they did).

The content was so ignorant that it was hilarious, but at the same time taught us something -- the battle against ignorance will never end, so we must keep fighting and educating others.

WHO are we talking to VS WHO we need to talk to

Another VERY important point that Jose-Antonio brought was that the majority of current supporters of the Dream Act and Immigration Reform are Hispanic and Asian.

He calls for the need to get other groups involved for a better more realistic coverage about Immigration. which is what Jose-Antonio is attempting to do with his new media campaign #DefineAmerican.

Jose-Antonio is truly an inspirational story for all of us here at WDAC and it was great that some of us had the opportunity to hear from him in person.

Below are some of the reactions on Twitter of Jose-Antonio's visit to the UW: 



Now how about a brainstorming session. What are some of the things that we can do here in Washington to reach a different audience about the Dream Act and Immigration Reform? 

12 Student Activists fly accross the Nation for a DREAM

During the past month, Dream Activists have been organizing for a mass mobilization of students from all over the country for three days of action in support of the DREAM Act, which begin today in Washington, D.C.

The other Washington, the state, is sending 12 students from the Washington Dream Act Coalition, which I am a member of, across the country to join their comrades. It has been a big challenge for these students to fund this expensive trip but through the pursue of making their Dreams a reality, they managed to collect the funds they needed to fly to DC. Many hours of reaching out to other organizations for donations and creative fundraisers prove the amount of talent and discipline these students have, some of only 18 years of age like Carlos Padilla, and Carlos Ganz, who coordinated the challenging project.

Organizing for America - Let's Pass the DREAM Act

Two months ago I wrote about my disappointment with Organizing for America (OFA) for not including immigration on their agenda, even after President Obama reaffirmed his commitment to pass comprehensive immigration reform. Now that the debate on immigration has heated up thanks to the controversial law in Arizona, the upcoming political pressure from the Partnership for a New American Economy, and the recent President's address on immigration, OFA has finally added immigration in their Agenda.