Social Issues Speaker Series: Maria Valera

Maria Valera became a community organizer in 1962, when she joined the Student Non Violent Coordinating Committee, and had been one ever since. Not satisfied with the literacy materials of the time, she was a pioneer in using alternative media such as photos to train community leaders and teach literacy.

In 1967, she moved to New Mexico to organize rural communities there and the Southwest to create sustainable enterprises to achieve "economical and cultural self-determination." For her excellent work there, she won a MacArthur Fellowship.

In the Social Issues Speaker Series, she talked about the differences between the Silent Generation of the 1960s, and the Millennium Generation of present. Both generations had much similarities in terms of creating movements and making the changes they felt were necessary. However, there were also many differences.

The Silent Generation was the one which brought about huge movements such as the Chicano Movement, which asked for equal rights towards Mexican-Americans. They were apathetic about the economic future, and more concerned with human rights.

The Millennium Generation also brought about mass movements of change such as the Occupy, and the Arab Spring movement. However, unlike the Silent Generation, they used a lot of mass media and networking tools (e.g. Facebook, twitter) to mobilize their movements. Unlike the Silent Generation which placed much emphasis on organization - gathering and rallying people to the cause in a sweeping movement-, the Millennium Generation focused on mobilization, which was empowering individuals to start mass movements wherever they were, by themselves. Only because of advancements in technology has this become possible.

"Whenever there is oppression, there is resistance."

Maria believed that people cannot be controlled and dictated to follow rules they do not agree with, or it will ultimately lead to them rebelling to ask for their rights. It is imperative that governing bodies address these issues once their existence is realized, for if they are ignored, they will only materialize in damaging forms, such as riots, rebellions and even war.