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Theme
"Hacia Un Futuro Sin Fronteras"
After many generations in this country, Chicanos still find themselves at the lowest rung of the social ladder. Rising unemployment rates, high dropout rates and increasing gang violence are too often associated with our community. Many may argue that our communities lack initiative and cannot succeed without the help of government agencies. As we near the eve of the twenty-first century, a spirit of pride and unity must be rekindled to break traditional borders that have kept us from attaining our goals.
The future that lies ahead of us is one of great expectations and our communities must be well prepared, particularly our youth. Our youth has been plagued by an inferiority complex that feeds upon failure. Our job as community members, students and leaders is not just to instruct but to inspire our youth. This is why we adopted this year's theme: Hacia Un Futuro Sin Fronteras. The borders of language, color, class and ignorance have long deterred us from self-determination.
We plan to ameliorate our situation by contesting traditional models. For too long we have used political and economic models imposed upon us; yet, we have come to the realization that those models only benefit those who preach them. It is time we use models our indigenous ancestors used; those that involved participatory decision-making and sustainability. It consists of making decisions that will benefit our community today and in the future. The only way we will realize this is by coming to grips with who we are.
A self-assessment of our community's history and indigenous reality will bring us one step closer to consciously breaking those walls we have built for ourselves. We may not be responsible for our failures; yet, we are responsible for our success. We are in a state of emergency and the way we will succeed is through an understanding of ourselves, not to become bitter but better.