Wide-eyed and curious, young Jesus Tarin sat Saturday in a remote classroom at the Auraria campus as the pony- tailed man described this part of the country as “Aztlan.”
Tarin, 16, a student at Palisade High School in Mesa County, listened to more about his culture and learned about the struggles of his ancestors. He was proud.
“They teach us here that we’re more valuable than we might think we are,” Tarin said.
He was among 1,500 teens from throughout the state who came to Denver for Saturday’s 14th annual La Raza Youth Leadership Conference to learn that leadership, self-respect and self-worth are rooted in understanding culture.
“La cultura cura (your culture cures),” ethnic studies professor Arturo “Bones” Rodri guez told the classroom of students. “You practice culture, and you’re practicing love, love for yourself and for your family and the people around you. You practice culture, and you’re practicing dreaming and going after your dreams.
“You are living in our ancestral land, a place we call Aztlan,” he said.
The conference, started by Denver-area civil rights leaders such as the late Corky Gonzales, provided the youth workshops on topics ranging from building leadership to making tortillas. It also gave the kids the opportunity to meet with college recruiters and discuss careers.
“These conferences taught me to get more involved in school and to stand out,” said Yaneth Gutierrez, 18, who is a senior at Grand Junction High School.
When she attended her first La Raza conference in the ninth grade, she was a shy kid who followed crowds. Now she’s doing much better at her school, where she was chosen as head girl.
Shirley Otero was the conference’s keynote speaker and is an ethnic studies teacher at Grand Junction High. She’s co-founder and president of the Land Rights Council in Chama in the San Luis Valley.
Otero said that by learning about their past, the students have a better chance at a successful future.
“It’s important because these kids are the recipients of the rewards reaped from the Chicano movement and civil rights movement,” Otero said.
Staff writer Manny Gonzales can be reached at 303-820-1190 or mgonzales@denverpost.com.
