By Alfonso Sierra / El Popular
In this second term of Donald Trump’s presidency there has been a legendary increase in Hispanic leaders, especially on the right (Republicans), such examples are Marco Rubio and the “influencer”, Tony Delgado, who consider themselves Republicans and who are more conservative, striving to negotiate and shouting their loudest voice and who prioritize their rhetoric over immigration, thus supporting those who desire a presidency with greater economic empowerment over their liberal and traditional leadership.
However, during this second term, Donald Trump is also creating community leaders, who not only want to be heard, but also want to fight for the civil and constitutional rights of their families and all immigrants. These leaders look much younger than ever, whether they are high school or middle school students. Such leaders as Hector Hernandez, who, at age 17, led students not only from Mira Monte High School in Bakersfield, but also students from nearly every high school in Bakersfield, forming the first student protest against the illegal acts of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
“What motivated me was what was happening, especially with DOGE, which wanted to remove Article 1,” Hernandez told El Popular. “By removing Article 1, it would cause an economic deficiency in schools that would affect many Hispanic students”
Another reason why Hector has dedicated himself to these protests is the actions taken by the Department of Customs and Immigration towards primarily Hispanic people, he said that the arrests of Hispanic people by ICE are mostly because of the color of their skin.
Leaders are born out of necessity
Hispanic leaders have excelled in this country since the 1960s with Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta, however, there are organizations, such as the National Latino Coalition that marched to the Capitol in Washington D.C. to make demands for accountability on behalf of the Trump Administration for what they described as actions such as dangerous policies, government overreach, attacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).
And what are examples of these actions:
- Cuts to programs
- Mass deportations
- Economic Harm to Latino Communities
- Elimination of the DEI program
When these actions happen, the community faces lack of resources, discrimination, economic problems, security issues and political changes, and that is why people stand up because “someone has to do it” and that is why this type of leadership is formed under necessity and not ambition.
These new leaders identify with their community because they respect and represent it, they want to protect their culture, they challenge stereotypes and they want to create opportunities for the new generation.”
“I’m proud of my younger brother because he sees things that a lot of the adults don’t see and if you show them the way, they’ll walk,” Hernandez said, since his brother participated in the last student protest last January in front of the Kern County Superior Courthouse.
Hernandez, with the knowledge of his father Hector, who is the president of the Benito Juarez Unit in Bakersfield, has learned how to organize young people and thus create the Organizing for a Better Change along with six other friends from the school, who push for improvements in education and immigration for a bright future for their communities. They can be reached by Instagram at @organizingforabetterchange.
Let us remember that most of our leaders have been trained at:
- Natural disasters
- Political changes
- Immigration Matters
- Conflicts between the community and schools
Hernandez indicated that he has a couple of heroes that he has always included in his life. One is his father, Héctor Hernández, who since he was a child has taught him the difference between taking advantage of and organizing the community, the person who gives him advice and is there during his heaviest moments. Second was Malcolm X, an African-American leader who emerged in the 60s and became a great defender of the civil rights movement and who decreed “We are all equal, no one has the right and much less the authority to intimidate you”
The use of technology in movement
In the old days, it took time to organize people, many using telephone banks, others walking around neighborhoods dropping off pamphlets and talking to neighbors. Now that times have changed, the use of technology surpasses these ways of organizing people. The use of Facebook, Instagram and TikTok have increased the dissemination of information and maximum visualization in a form of minutes, since the information in their content is audiovisual, fast and direct.
Their impact is almost immediate since they allow you to connect with peers of similar interests, they offer a space for self-expression and creativity of your content while giving the user a much faster way to access information and see by a large number of people in minutes, these people can also send this information to other people as well, making the chain much bigger and interacting in a greater way with many more people.
Finally, today’s young people have the tools, knowledge and know-how to be able to organize themselves much better than in the old days, they just want to be heard, since they are the first to respond when there are illegal activities and use their strong voice to help those who need their help to live peacefully in the community. .
