New movement

By: Kristen SchorschA sterile church basement might not be a typical weekend hangout for most college students, but that didn’t stop Juan C. Cruz from spending a recent Friday evening at Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church, 3253 W. Wilson Ave.

Cruz was among the largely Latino audience of about 35 people, listening intently to a panel of seven experts discuss the state of health care in America.

But the 19-year-old freshman at Northeastern Illinois University was more than just listening. As the panelists spoke, Cruz was entrusted with the task of translating their comments into Spanish.

To be sure, his task for the event was more than just translating.

Cruz was one of two organizers who put together the forum for the Albany Park Neighborhood Council, a nonprofit that serves the Northwest Side community through focusing on issues like health care and education. In the days leading up to the forum, he spent many hours making fliers, securing a meeting space and booking the panel members.

Set aside his casual beige shirt and a jade-rock necklace, and Cruz could have passed for a veteran community activist that night. But it would be closer to describe him as something of a poster child for a new generation of young community organizers who have begun to emerge in recent years.

Raul Botello, lead organizer at the council, says he has observed this trend. He says young people have been energized by recent movements such as immigration reform and the the Iraq war. “I have noticed that there’s been a transformation over a period of the past five years,” Botello said. “There’s been a lot of catalysts. Some of the younger activists are now taking a broader look at how they could be effective in communities and on college campuses.”

But there is nothing in Cruz’s background that suggests a pedigree in progressive activism.

Born in Mexico City, Cruz moved to the United States with his family when he was 11, knowing only a few words of English. Neither of his parents has ever been involved in activism; his father has been working for a construction company, while his mother is a stay-at-home mom.

But an unlikely inspiration came from underground Latino hip-hop stars like Control Machete and Molotov, whose music is laced with potent political messages. Reading about historical figures like Ernesto “Che” Guevara also had a profound impact on Cruz.

Then, when he was 15, Cruz performed 40 hours of public service at the council to fulfill a graduation requirement for Roosevelt High School, 3436 W. Wilson Ave.

He worked on campaigns for a new youth center and helped build support for a state bill that made undocumented immigrants eligible for in-state college tuition. “What I learned here is that education, immigration, health care, affordable housing---everything is related,” Cruz said.

He has volunteered for the council ever since.

Cruz recently sat down with The Chicago Reporter to talk about his experiences.

What keeps you motivated to continue organizing?
When I walk in the streets, I see the community. I see my young cousins struggle through school. I drive by the school grounds and I see young people on the corners throwing out gang signs. Then I come here, and I receive a call from a lady. She just went to the hospital, and she doesn’t have insurance, and they’re charging her thousands of dollars. Then I’ll go back my house, and I see all new condominiums getting built. Then I turn on the news, and you hear about a senator enacting another bill.

That’s what keeps me going, trying to change all this stuff.

How important do you think activism is for young people?
It’s important for young people to be involved in activism because they get taken seriously. Many folks, when they see young people, think, ‘They’re growing up. They still don’t know what’s going on.’ But they start getting involved in activism and organizing, especially through organizations like [Albany Park Neighborhood Council], and you not only learn what the issues are, but you learn how to build power and move it strategically.

Many times, you just get out there and protest, but you really do not know where to go---how to go about after that protest is over. It just sends the message that there is an issue, but it does not solve it. But, through organizing, you are going to get it because you’re going to move slowly but strategically to reach that goal, to make that change.

Do you think that young people make an impact?
Oh, definitely. In this organization, you have an example. For elections, we were trying to move people to the polls. Before that, poll officials did not have much respect for this organization. But I think we moved 300 people to the polls. I forgot how many people we registered, but we did register a lot of people. After the elections, we received a call from the alderman, telling us, ‘Hello, what can I do for you?’ And most of that work was done by us---part of the Youth Project.

You start building that power, and it gives more power to not only the organization but to the community itself.

Are more young people like you getting out there and becoming involved in various causes?
Yeah, you can see that now. If you look at the news, with all the stuff that’s going on with immigration, you see a lot of young people.

With the issue of immigration, children of undocumented immigrants---they see how their parents struggled to get a job or just to get around, right? Then they hear about bills such as [a border security bill, sponsored by U.S. Rep. James F. Sensenbrenner Jr. of Wisconsin]. It’s not going to affect them, but it’s going to affect their parents more, right? So, they probably feel like, ‘I should go out. My parents are afraid, so I’ll go out.’ And the other issues, like violence, it’s most of us who are affected by it.

Do you consider yourself a voice for young people?
I guess I consider myself a voice not only for young people but for my community.

When I was in high school, I had the ideas. I had the energy, the soul of an organizer, an activist. But what would have happened if I didn’t get involved with [Albany Park Neighborhood Council]? I’d still have the same passion for this.

I’m pretty sure there’s a lot of young people in schools that have these ideas, but they don’t find a way to work on them.

Do you think you are making an impact?
Yeah, definitely. It’s not only me. I’m still making an impact, but now it’s more. I want to involve more people to also make that impact.

I guess my whole ideology has changed. Before, I’d just go outside and do this. I was kind of more radical, but I’m learning here how to be a better organizer. I evolved from a leader here to an organizer.

I see my friends---they’re doing different stuff, like going out and going to parties. I guess I’ve lost interest in that. I just got really so … I don’t know---it’s like I skipped two years of my life. When I was 17, it was like I was 20. What happened to my 18 and 19? I guess it was through my involvement here, the way I think---everything. The way I participate in my [college] classes. Before, I was more aggressive toward the information that was given to me. And now, when I make comments, it’s different.