Written By: Jasmine Ramos, Staff Writer
EMPOWERING: The Hispanic community comes together to fight for their right to live in this country.
A powerful movement strikes down after many families feel the oppression of I.C.E. raids in homes, hospitals, and even schools. On February 1st, the Instagram page, semillas.inlandempire, posted the date, time, and location of where the protest will take place. With over 2,000 followers, that post was able to encourage many people to take action and support human rights.
At this peaceful protest, they took up a saying: Immigrant Rights are Human Rights was the motto for this movement. It was 10:00 am, and people from all over the Inland Empire showed up and took on the four corners of Magnolia St. by Tyler Mall. People showed up with flags from countries in Latin America and with posters that had phrases like, “Don’t Bite Off The Hands That Feed You,” “La Raza Unida Jamas Sera Vencida,” “No More I.C.E Raids,” and “No One is Illegal on Stolen Land.” For more than four hours, people were chanting and crossing the street lights over and over again, holding their flags up high and proud, while also waving at the cars that were honking and playing music on full blast to show their support. Not only were the people supportive by chanting, but many others showed up with offerings that were nice to have that morning; “It was the people dropping off cases of water bottles […] people offering us snacks and stuff; that was nice,” said Jacklin Baez-Salgado, a senior here at Poly. You could feel the warmth and the love of the people towards their community.
Although these types of situations may seem intimidating to some people, there was something about the multitude that made everything so much easier. “Getting there and seeing all of those people was crazy!” exclaimed Jacklin. People were ready to show up and stand for what they believe is right for all people. “We cannot be silenced by the people who don’t want us to be here.” Everyone stood their ground and made as much noise as possible, speaking out on the truth and demanding change, making it clear that “we care, we are here.”
Towards the end of the protest, at around 2:00 pm, everyone gathered around the Bank of America parking lot and said some last words. Some people gave speeches, and others prayed for the entire group. It was especially important to acknowledge at that moment how crucial it is to keep protests as peaceful as possible. A new level of determination was acquired in those moments as everyone knew that there was a long journey ahead of us and ahead of all the communities impacted by recent events to get the change we all needed.