As the United State approaches\u00a0the 250th anniversary of\u00a0its\u00a0founding on July 4,\u00a0Hispanas\u00a0Organized for Political Equality (HOPE) is reimagining the\u00a0Bill of Rights.<\/p>\n
The nonprofit, which is\u00a0led by and advocates for Latinas,\u00a0is\u00a0examining\u00a0the first 10 amendments of the U.S. Constitution\u00a0and asking how they can be supplemented\u00a0in\u00a0a country that is much more diverse\u00a0than the\u00a0one\u00a0known\u00a0by the Founding Fathers.<\/p>\n
HOPE\u00a0tasked\u00a0a diverse group of\u00a0Latinas to view the Bill of Rights\u00a0through a 21st-century lens\u00a0and\u00a0produce\u00a011\u2014not 10\u2014amendments that would\u00a0address\u00a0key issues the nation faces in\u00a0the\u00a0present day.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, March 5, Cal State LA hosted HOPE for\u00a0the\u00a035th Annual Latina History Day VIP Salon at the University-Student Union Theatre and provided the nonprofit\u00a0with\u00a0a platform to soft launch its upcoming multidisciplinary art project, \u201cA Bill of Rights for Our Future.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLatinas weren\u2019t at the table at that\u00a0time, but we are today,\u201d said HOPE Chief Executive Officer Helen Torres. \u201cThat was the genesis for the idea of\u00a0\u2018A\u00a0Bill of Rights for\u00a0Our\u00a0Future.\u2019\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0really centered on the concept of what\u00a0our community\u00a0needs\u00a0today.\u00a0We are building on the rights that are currently there but\u00a0thinking futuristically, and asking, how do we protect those rights?\u201d<\/p>\n
The\u00a0event at Cal State LA\u00a0highlighted the university\u2019s strong\u00a0ties\u00a0with\u00a0HOPE. More than 200\u00a0Cal State LA students and\u00a0distinguished thought leaders\u00a0from around Los Angeles\u00a0attended\u00a0\u201cThe Future We Claim: Leadership and a Bill of Rights for Our Future\u201d salon.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt Cal State LA,\u00a0we have many first-generation students,\u201d\u00a0said\u00a0President Berenecea Johnson Eanes in her welcoming remarks.\u00a0\u201cMany are working while earning their degrees. Many are\u00a0the\u00a0first in their families to step into spaces like\u00a0this. This room is filled with women who look\u00a0[like them].\u00a0That\u2019s\u00a0why\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0important for us to do this. We are proud to host you tonight.\u00a0This is your home. We are proud to be your partner;\u00a0we are proud to be the university that serves as the civic home for these conversations.\u201d<\/p>\n
HOPE is a nonpartisan organization committed to ensuring political and economic parity for Latinas through leadership, advocacy, and education to\u00a0benefit\u00a0all communities and the status of women. Its programs and educational events are open to all individuals who support Latina leadership to strengthen democracy and advance economic mobility.<\/p>\n
More than 350 Cal State\u00a0LA\u00a0alumni, including Associate\u00a0Vice President for\u00a0University Advancement Luisa Acosta,\u00a0are proud members of HOPE.<\/p>\n
\u201cTonight, I see the intersection of access and advocacy, education and empowerment, opportunity\u00a0and responsibility, and I am simply grateful\u00a0as an alum and as a HOPE sister\u00a0to witness\u00a0two powerful\u00a0forces\u00a0come together,\u201d\u00a0Acosta\u00a0said. \u201cWhen education and leadership development align, when access means advocacy, when we invest in women who invest in others, we\u00a0don\u2019t just host events, we build legacies.\u201d<\/p>\n
The salon featured an esteemed panel that\u00a0included\u00a0Gabrielle Clark, Cal State LA professor of political science; Sonja Diaz,\u00a0civil rights\u00a0attorney\u00a0and\u00a0founder of\u00a0Unseen; and Grisel Ruiz, senior managing attorney with the Immigrant Legal Resource Center. Telemundo host Silvana Effio served as the moderator.<\/p>\n
Much of the discussion centered around how to preserve individual rights. The panelists\u00a0provided hope,\u00a0pointing out that progress\u00a0over\u00a0the\u00a0United States\u2019\u00a0250 years\u00a0has not come in a straight, continuous line.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re moving away from established rights for women, marginalized communities, immigrants, etc.,\u201d Clark said. \u201cSo, what can students take from this? The Constitution is vague and indeterminate. That can be good and bad, so keep investing in the good. While the moment right now is not the most propitious for realizing a particular goal, your time will come again. I want to have hope that the pendulum will swing and students, as they invest in\u00a0their ideas for social progress, will be vindicated. I see it\u00a0every day\u00a0in my classroom at Cal State LA.\u201d<\/p>\n
Said Diaz: \u201cWhat gives me hope is the anger, the rage, the engagement.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0the way that people are opening their eyes\u00a0and getting activated.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0the youth who are staging walkouts in their schools. All of that is what truly gives me hope.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ruiz\u00a0and Diaz\u00a0were two of the\u00a0participants\u00a0in\u00a0the\u00a0\u201cA Bill of Rights for Our Future\u201d art project, which will officially launch online in April.\u00a0Over several months in 2025, they looked to build upon the original\u00a0amendments\u2019 enduring principles by offering bold proposals that reaffirm\u00a0their original promises while extending their vision for the future.<\/p>\n
Diaz explored the right to universal health care, while Ruiz tackled the right to thrive as a human being. The other topics covered in\u00a0the\u00a0project\u00a0are\u00a0real opportunity, food, equal education,\u00a0equal pay,\u00a0equitable\u00a0infrastructure,\u00a0the\u00a0pursuit of economic opportunity, financial independence, compensation\u00a0for\u00a0digital labor and data, and full and meaningful participation.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe project revolves around these Latina voices,\u00a0but it\u2019s\u00a0designed to have everyone be engaged,\u201d Torres said. \u201cThe\u00a0Bill of Rights\u00a0is\u00a0strong. Those rights\u00a0need to be protected and defended, but our project\u00a0explores what needs to be added to them, knowing what we know today with the experiences that we have today.\u201d<\/p>\n
The\u00a0salon, which was\u00a0co-sponsored\u00a0by\u00a0the\u00a0Public Relations Student Society of America,\u00a0was\u00a0preceded\u00a0by a reception at the University Club.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are here to celebrate who we are, our culture, our experiences,\u201d said California State University (CSU) Trustee\u00a0and HOPE\u00a0\u00a0member\u00a0Yammilette\u00a0Rodriguez.\u00a0\u201cBeing at Cal\u00a0State LA is so meaningful. So many women have earned their degrees from\u00a0the\u00a0CSU. We\u2019ve\u00a0empowered them through their CSU education, and now they make sure communities across the state are\u00a0lifted up.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As the United State approaches\u00a0the 250th anniversary of\u00a0its\u00a0founding on July 4,\u00a0Hispanas\u00a0Organized for Political Equality (HOPE) is reimagining the\u00a0Bill…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":517585,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[23,3,21,19,22,20,25,24],"class_list":["post-517584","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-states","tag-america","tag-news","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/517584","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=517584"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/517584\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/517585"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=517584"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=517584"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=517584"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}