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Chicano/Latino Native American Cultural Center 25th anniversary celebration, December 14, 1996
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And that is what this center is all about as it embodies the understanding that in all of our diversity, we must come together and learn how to negotiate across the borders of our differences. We cannot allow what we choose to call ourselves to divide us. As Pat Mora, Chicana writer and activist said, "If we lack the courage to unite we will diminish our power, the power to participate in creating a more just world." Some time ago I had the opportunity to meet a man of inspiration, who also spoke here once. A man who moved his vision beyond the circumstances of his life and took hold of a dream that transformed his life, which in turn touched and transformed the lives of others. Tomas Rivera grew up the son of migrant workers. Through the richness of where he came from, and his tenacity for meeting the challenges in the difficulty of that life, he changed his life. He completed his education and ultimately became Chancellor of the University of California system. I had the opportunity to meet this man at a dinner in Washington, D.C. at an education conference. I had no idea who he was. When we introduced ourselves he took an interest in me because I had mentioned I was from Iowa, He told me that Iowa brought back many memories as a young boy working in the fields. Each year he said that when he and his family returned to Iowa from Texas to work, a librarian in Newton, Iowa would be waiting for him with a stack of books for him to read. 14
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And that is what this center is all about as it embodies the understanding that in all of our diversity, we must come together and learn how to negotiate across the borders of our differences. We cannot allow what we choose to call ourselves to divide us. As Pat Mora, Chicana writer and activist said, "If we lack the courage to unite we will diminish our power, the power to participate in creating a more just world." Some time ago I had the opportunity to meet a man of inspiration, who also spoke here once. A man who moved his vision beyond the circumstances of his life and took hold of a dream that transformed his life, which in turn touched and transformed the lives of others. Tomas Rivera grew up the son of migrant workers. Through the richness of where he came from, and his tenacity for meeting the challenges in the difficulty of that life, he changed his life. He completed his education and ultimately became Chancellor of the University of California system. I had the opportunity to meet this man at a dinner in Washington, D.C. at an education conference. I had no idea who he was. When we introduced ourselves he took an interest in me because I had mentioned I was from Iowa, He told me that Iowa brought back many memories as a young boy working in the fields. Each year he said that when he and his family returned to Iowa from Texas to work, a librarian in Newton, Iowa would be waiting for him with a stack of books for him to read. 14
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