What I Do
Christy McGill, Art Teacher - Divide Elementary School, Lookout, WV.
Christy McGill, Art Teacher - Divide Elementary School, Lookout, WV.
Thank you, Greg [Cendana], for your kind introduction and for your inspired and inspiring leadership.
And I’d like to thank you all for coming this evening to support APALA, and to welcome you to the House of Labor to celebrate Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. It's great to see all of you, and to be here with you.
Before I begin, I’d like to recognize a special young leader among us -- a DREAMer and a member of APALA’s young leaders’ council. I’m talking about Catherine Eusebio, who was honored earlier today by the White House as a Champion of Change. Please join me in a round of applause for Catherine.
Sisters and brothers, standing with all of you before this beautiful mural in this sturdy and well-built building, it can be easy to forget that our labor movement is defined, not by any object or structure, but by the people who gather here, and the values we hold dear.
You see, we may come from different parts of this country, or other parts of the globe, but we share a common vision of a world that works for working people. We share a basic desire for the American Dream, a dream that all of us -- if we work hard and play by the rules -- can earn a decent share of the good things in life: fair pay, good benefits and a secure retirement, and a chance to give our kids a better life. That’s all we want, and it’s not too much to ask.
This year, the labor movement in America is neck-deep in a struggle for commonsense immigration policies with a true and workable path to citizenship, so 11 million people, who are American in every single way but on paper, can have a crack at the American Dream.
We’re going to have to work very, very hard to get the law we need – a law that lives up to our dreams and honors every worker’s rights – and we’re going to need the help of every one of you.
When we win the reform we need -- that America needs -- our whole country will be better off for it, and particularly Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, who are our fastest growing immigrant community.
And we will win this reform, we will make it happen, if we keep up the pressure, keep pushing.
And yet immigration reform is only one item on our to-do list. We’re busy these days, I can promise you.
We’re looking at new ways for workers to have a voice, new ways that workers are organizing for collective action. We’re building and revamping our infrastructure for running campaigns, and we’re developing our political independence, so we can build power for working people -- not political parties.
Let me tell you, we’ve got a lot of work to do, and I’m glad to be partnering with APALA and the other organizations I see represented here. I’m proud to be building a better, stronger movement with all of you.
Thank you. God bless you, for all you do, and for all you will do.
