AMAE Association of Mexican-American Educators - Oxnard Chapter

Advocating for Yourself and Your Students

*Thursday, April 23rd, 2026 - 5 to 6 p.m. CST

*on Zoom

✅️Register HERE:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/advocating-for-yourself-and-your-students-tickets-1985752170196

Click on "Outside of KC Metro" at checkout if you are not in Kansas.

Courageous Conversations Summit Join Buen Vecino and Cal Lutheran for an evening of learning how to bridge differences and move from conflict to conversation.

Dolores Huerta says she stayed silent for decades to protect the farmworker movement. Now, after a New York Times investigation into Cesar Chavez, she is sharing her own experience of being r***d by Chavez in the 1960s. She describes pressure, power imbalance, and situations where she felt she could not say no. She says both encounters led to pregnancies that she kept private.
This is not rumor. This is her own statement. It is heartbreaking. And she is not the only one.

A reckoning is at the doorstep of our Chicano/a community that we cannot avoid. It is not about how we reconcile our thoughts and feelings about a "bigger than life" community leader, an icon of the Chicano community. The issue we face has nothing to do with working to "make sense" of the reprehensible actions of Chavez.

The real challenge to our community is how we support, love, encourage, and uplift the women who have been victimized by said leader, AND how we stop, once and for all, men from brutalizing women in our community. Men, we all must do better. We must make the stand against patriarchy. For far too long, our people and our social, labor, and political Movements have been dogged by sexism, by machismo. Men who abuse their power cannot be allowed any quarter. And, men must raise their voices, hearts, and understanding.
This is our moment. It is time. A reckoning is upon us. Let us rise to meet the challenge.

I stand with Dolores Huerta and the other victims. I bow to her grace, presence, and example of love, courage, integrity, faith, and perseverance. May we hold them all in our hearts and spirits as they heal.

"I can hold two truths at once. The farmworker movement mattered and changed lives. And harm can exist inside movements we respect. We cannot ignore survivors because of legacy. We also cannot erase the movement and the people it helped.
Accountability and truth can exist together."

Millions of U.S. families of Mexican descent have in their family history ancestors who crossed the border from present day Mexico. Some of us may also have some ancestors who originated in the U.S. Southwest when it was still part of Mexico. They didn't cross the border, the border crossed them.

In the case of my family, I was born here, as well as my parents. My two grandmothers were born here in the Southwest, too. My grandfathers were born in present day Mexico, and although one of them had a U.S. birth certificate, he had always insisted that he was born in Mexico.

The Border Patrol was not established until 1924. My grandfathers came to the U.S. before then. The border was open, both Americans and Mexicans frequently crossing, back and forth, without issue. My grandfathers crossed the border without legal immigration documents.
My grandfathers came from the poverty stricken post-Revolutionary War Mexico as laborers in the burgeoning agricultural industry and the building of the railroad in the U.S.
This work entailed migrating across the States of the U.S. Southwest to labor in the fields, orchards, farms, and ranches as they followed the planting and harvest seasons. They did this in order to provide for their children, their grandchildren, and for all those who followed.
I have very clear childhood memories of living in labor camps; my adult family members working under the hot sun; low wages; and enduring brutal working conditions. We had to move all the time.

From those meager beginnings, my grandparents provided me, and all of their other descendants, an opportunity to have a better life than the one that might have been ours instead.
I am grateful. I will never forget. I will always honor them.

Unfortunately, too many of our people, do forget.

Too many of our people support the deporting of immigrants, forgetting where they come from, who they come from. They say to themselves, "I'm in. I got mine. Now, close the door behind me!" They have moved on. In fact, many now look down on the immigrant as inferior. They forget their roots. They deny their origins and their heritage and in doing so, they dishonor their ancestors. They, in fact, dishonor themselves.
It saddens me, angers me, and hurts me to see it.

So, yeah, the ICE raids... it's personal.

✨Join the California Central Coast First-Gen Thrive Summit,✨️a full day created by first-gen voices for first-gen students from Ventura County to Monterey County.

This summit is more than an event; it’s a community. 💛
● Inspiring workshops
●Real talk panels with first-gen leaders and allies
●Tools for self-advocacy, confidence, leadership, and academic success
●A space where your story, culture, and journey are celebrated

📲 Register now—scan the QR code! ( Link in Bio)

Sunday is International Women’s Day! The community is gathering for a rally at the Ventura County Government Center from 12-2 to gather strength together and do good things.

What: Bring your protest signs (signs of women’s alliance are particularly appreciated) and wear purple and/or white, and if you can, items from the list on the flyer to help our neighbors.

Who: All are welcome, regardless of gender, who believe in equality and justice for all.

Register/More Info: (https://action.womensmarch.com/events/ventura-international-women-s-day-weekend-of-action-rally)

One week to apply to ITOC 2026-27! Applications are due this Sunday, March 8th!

We are thrilled to announce that our keynote speakers for this summer's conference will be Dr. Kēhaulani Vaughn of the University of California, Riverside, Dr. Laura Emiko Soltis of Freedom University, and Restoring our Roots, a Minnesota based teacher collective.
Please note that we are accepting applications for both our in-person conference this summer at the University of California, Riverside, and for our 2026-27 virtual yearlong programming. You may apply to one or both of these options when you submit your application.

We hope to see many familiar faces, and are looking forward to meeting new fellows! Share widely with your networks and learn more at: www.tinyurl.com/ITOC2026