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What
is this site?
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A new understanding of citizenship:
Through Valley Interfaith, leaders are provided with
a new framework for understanding their role as citizens. The civic skills
of speaking, of advocating, of organizing, are predicated on the notion
that in a democracy, public representatives in fact work for the citizens.
| "At the very, very beginning,
my very first meeting going to Austin for the water board meeting
. . . I wanted to sit in the very back. And then the organizer said,
'Sit in the front' And I said, 'No, no. That's where the mayor and
the city manager sit.' I thought that they sit in the front . . .
we would sit in the backŠ And she said, 'No you sit in the front because
you are the one that are the taxpayers and you are the ones that are
paying for their salary.' I was so embarrassed. . . I said, 'I feel
so guilty seeing them sitting behind me.' But now it is very different.
We go there and we sit in the front....I get a paper and pencil and
I don't know how to write, but they don't know I don't know, and I
write. I'm using my poor spelling, I spell it out so that I understand....I
carry my things and I lift my face. I lift my head. You people are
going to have to respect people. Before it was just like, humbling
yourself. But it's not that way anymore and it doesn't have to be
that way." |
| "My understanding also has changed because being a citizen
is more than just sitting at home and watching the elections. It's
more than just sitting at home and reading the newspaper... It's actually
going out there and making your voice heard and being involved in
the process...We need to bring them more accountable of what they
do. And, you know, some of my friends say, 'Well they're already elected.
To go ahead and do their job.' I said, 'It doesn't work that way.'
You have to present your needs. Otherwise they're not going to go
out there, go visit your area and ask you what is it that affecting
you. We've got to bring them. We've got to talk to them. We've got
to be in relationship with them. You know, let them know what¹s going
on." |
click on Nidia Torres' picture to
watch her speak.
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"Well, it's important to know, what they're (the politicians)
are doing for you, what you can do for yourself, for your city. I
didn't know how to relate to people, I didn't even know the names
of the people that spend our money or why you paid money for taxesŠI
was very ignorant of everything. I think it's the responsibility of
all of us because the government is us. I think that we are the ones
that have to educate ourselves and come together as a strong voice
so they listen to us. And so they send us funds, Šlike for education,
for training, so that people can educated themselves, so that students
don't have to leave the Valley. They can earn the same here as they
do there." |
| "I understood that politics meant that the politician
came and we had to be at his service because he was the politician.
But now no. Valley Interfaith taught me that the politician is my
servant, and I am his boss. |
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