Loading

TABLE OF CONTENTS

  • 01. Looking Forward
  • 02. Mental Health Awareness
  • 03. Hispanic Heritage Month
  • 04. LGBTQIA+ History Month
  • 05. Spotify Playlist
  • 06. October Birthdays

LOOKING FORWARD

HIRAM UPWARD BOUND

  • Grade Checks: Every Wednesday from 9-5 in room 200
  • Community Service: Every Thursday from 3:45-4:45 in room 200
  • Community Cleanup Party: 10/22

POLK UPWARD BOUND

  • Wellness Wednesday at CHS: 10/12
  • Community Cleanup Party: 10/22

EAST PAULDING UBMS

  • Group Advising: 10/20
  • Community Cleanup Party: 10/22

Mental Health Awareness Month

Happy October, KSU TRIO Family!

We are so excited to start another year with you all, and we cannot wait for you to see all the awesome opportunities awaiting you!

In the midst of getting in the groove of things, we thought it would be helpful to remind you of our scope for 2022. It is our goal to help you all become as well-rounded as possible, and the first step on any journey you face in life is to get your perspective right.

Mental Health is one of the most important aspects to our quality of life, and if we feel off, it impacts everything. Remember to take care of yourself and ask for help when needed. KSU TRIO has a few Mental Health Workshops on the schedule this fall, please make sure to take advantage of them!

In a 2017 survey, over 40% of more than 700 parents and guardians said they did not discuss the potential for either anxiety or depression when helping their teenagers prepare for their postsecondary plans. In addition, most of the caregivers said mental health services on campus were not a priority when choosing a school. Source

But we know from experience that a large number of teenagers are potentially struggling. According to the CDC, more than 1 in 3 high school students experienced persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness in 2019, representing a 40% increase since 2009. Source

The good news is that you can receive help and begin your journey to reach a better place now! If you find yourself experiencing anything that feels like you might need help, or even if you just need someone to talk to, we are here for you. Reach out to a staff member, and we would be happy to talk it out and point you in the right direction! We really do care about you all, and we hope that you know that we will always be here for you to lean on.

If you or someone you know is experiencing suicidal thoughts and you need someone to speak to, call 988 on your phone. The Lifeline provides 24/7, free and confidential support for people in distress and provides information on prevention and crisis resources for you or your loved ones.

Remember, you are loved and valued by each and every one of us. We are so excited for you to be a part of our family, and we want the best for you!

Hispanic Heritage Month Profile: Cesar Chavez

KSU TRIO is proud to celebrate and recognize the impact and contributions of all the Hispanic and Latinx people in our lives and our history. October gives us a chance to remember their successes and hardships, and thank those who have helped to affect change in our world.

Cesar Chavez is one of the most prolific examples of an American hero, using his life to expand civil rights, be a loved spiritual figure, better his community, and champion important social change that still has an effect on us today.

Cesar Chavez was born on March 31, 1927 to an immigrant family from Mexico. Cesar finished his formal education after the eighth grade when his family lost their small farm to the Great Depression. In order to help feed his family, he worked the fields full-time throughout his youth and into adulthood. Cesar traveled the migrant streams throughout California laboring in the fields, orchards, and vineyards where he was exposed to the hardships and injustices of farm worker life.

Cesar’s career in community organizing began in 1952 after his time in the US Navy. Cesar's life changed when he was introduced and subsequently recruited by the legendary Fred Ross, who was forming the San Jose chapter of the Community Service Organization, the most prominent Latino civil rights group of its time. Cesar spent 10 years with the CSO, coordinating voter registration and get-out-the-vote drives, leading campaigns against racial and economic discrimination and organizing new CSO chapters across California.

Yet Cesar’s dream was to organize a union that would protect and serve the farm workers whose poverty and powerlessness he had shared. He knew that for 100 years, many others with much better educations and more resources than he possessed had tried, and failed, to organize farm workers. He knew the experts said organizing farm workers was impossible. But he wasn't afraid to try his hand at it himself.

Chavez resigned from the CSO in 1962, after other members refused to support his efforts to form a labor union for farm workers. That same year, he used his life savings to found the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA) in Delano, California. Alongside fellow organizer Dolores Huerta, Chavez traveled encouraging workers and fighting for their right to unionize. His goal was to help laborers who were not covered by minimum wage laws, many making as little as 40 cents an hour, and did not qualify for unemployment insurance.

In September 1965, the NFWA launched a strike against California’s grape growers alongside the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee (AWOC), a Filipino-American labor group. The strike lasted five years and expanded into a nationwide boycott of California grapes. The boycott drew widespread support, thanks to the highly visible campaign headed by Chavez, who led a 340-mile march from Delano to Sacramento in 1966 and undertook a well-publicized 25-day hunger strike in 1968.

The grape strike and boycott ended in 1970, with the farm workers reaching a collective bargaining agreement with major grape growers that increased the workers’ pay and gave them the right to unionize. Throughout the rest of his life, Chavez continued leading the union’s efforts to win labor contracts for farm workers across the agricultural industry, employing the same techniques of strikes and boycotts.

“I am convinced that the truest act of courage, the strongest act of manliness, is to sacrifice ourselves for others in a totally non-violent struggle for justice.” - Cesar Chavez

Cesar’s motto, “Si se puede!” (“Yes, it can be done!”), embodies the uncommon legacy he left for people around the world. In 1994, President Clinton posthumously awarded Cesar the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.

As a common man with an uncommon vision, Cesar Chavez stood for equality, justice and dignity for all Americans. His universal principals remain as relevant and inspiring today as they were when he first began his movement.

LGBTQIA+ History Month Profile: Harvey Milk

This LGBTQIA+ History Month, KSU TRIO would like to take this time to celebrate the legacy of Harvey Milk and remember his groundbreaking activism and work as an agent for change.

“I know you can't live on hope alone. But without hope, life is not worth living. So you, and you and you: You got to give them hope. You got to give them hope!” - Harvey Milk

Harvey Milk was born May 22, 1930 in Long Island, where life would take him on a wild ride that would result in him being the first American politician who was openly gay, cementing him as one of the most well-remembered gay-rights activists.

After graduating from the New York State College for Teachers in Albany in 1951, Harvey served in the US Navy during the Korean War and received an “other than honorable” discharge in 1955 for practicing homosexuality with other enlisted men. Reeling from this injustice, he moved to San Francisco in 1972, where he opened a camera store and soon gained a following as a leader in the gay community. His popularity grew when he challenged the city’s leadership, which he thought was too conservative in its attempts to gain greater political rights for homosexuals.

Wishing to see tangible change in his city, Harvey ran for a seat on the city’s Board of Supervisors in 1973 but was defeated. After getting up the courage to run again in 1976, he lost again. At this point, Harvey started to worry that society would never see him as a legitimate member, but with encouragement from those who loved him, he decided to try one more time. In 1977 he was elected, becoming one of the first openly gay elected officials in US history.

"All men are created equal. No matter how hard they try, they can never erase those words. That is what America is about." - Harvey Milk

As many people who exist within the confines of marginalized groups know, every win makes some waves. Less than one year after Harvey's election, Harvey was assassinated in City Hall by Dan White, a conservative former city supervisor.

At White’s murder trial, his attorneys successfully argued that his judgment had been impaired by a prolonged period of clinical depression, one symptom of which was the former health enthusiast’s consumption of junk food. The attorneys’ argument, was derided as the “Twinkie defense” by the satirist Paul Krassner while reporting on the trial for the San Francisco Bay Guardian. White’s conviction on the lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter sparked an uproar in the city that was subsequently termed the “White Night Riot.”

Harvey's life and too-soon death changed the course of American politics forever. While his death was the moment that many Americans had to come face-to-face with the catastrophic effects of homophobia, his life of service and love for his community shines through as an example of what a champion of human rights really is.

This month's playlist was curated by Ms. Jennifer!

  • 10/7 - Jaden Arocho
  • 10/7 - Alaya Murray
  • 10/13 - Hillary Zelaya
  • 10/14 - Kandi Haney
  • 10/15 - Ms. Jennifer Craton
  • 10/16 - Desi Ferrell
  • 10/18 - Ahhabya Davis
  • 10/18 - Ms. Krystina Leverett
  • 10/20 - Uzya Alexis
  • 10/23 - Dylan Williams
  • 10/26 - Katie Pizano
  • 10/28 - Rianna Liggons