Hello dreamers, activistas and visionaries,

I just wanted to write a quick note saying how proud I am for what you are doing and how you are going about it, in the face of some nasty moves from our very own allies in arms, and that makes it all the more difficult. But nonetheless, your actions and words have been inspiring, I know for me to watch, and I know they must be for so many others. You are doing the work that so many of us have been unwilling to do and for that I thank you but also can no longer just stand back and watch.

This debate about whether or not we should be moving Dream forward as stand-alone or stick to the all or nothing approach can get very nasty, but I do stand with you on the need to move this movement in a different direction, at the very least this bill, which does not deserve to be held up any longer. The larger movement has nothing to gain from it, if it does, except further disappointment. Unfortunately, some leaders seem to think this is a good thing, fearing that winning anything for anyone will somehow reduce our morale and determination to win even more! Granted, some people may get what they want and bail (or at least take a nice long, well-deserved break!), but more people will see what you've done and want to fight even harder. Yes, in sheer numbers, we may lose some of the undocumented population (not like we aren't losing them already with deportations!), but in sheer determination and heart, we'll be gaining even more. We'll be learning how to confront our fear of deportation, and how in doing this we tap into a kind of power we didn't even think we were capable of just four or five years ago. And in doing this, you guys are at the forefront of the kinds of civil disobedience that are available to undocumented people.

Since history comes up sometimes in these discussions and now with a hunger strike, you guys have invoked Cesar Chavez, I started looking him up. Here's what he says on the issue of power and money:

"Money is not going to organize the disadvantaged, the powerless, or the poor. We need other weapons. That's why the War on Poverty is such a miserable failure. You put out a big pot of money, and all you do is fight over it. Then you run out of money and you run out of troops. It's just like those revolutions. If you haven't got the money, you haven't got the troops." (Cesar Chavez: An Organizer's Tale, 128)

Nothing against revolutions, but I just wish the Mr. Noorani's and Mr. Moneybags of this movement would understand something about this. They want to go for the big, easy money, instead of organizing the middle-class and the poor, the people who are really going to support our movement in the end. All that other money is eventually going to run out. That's what Chavez says, and I think that in this instance at least, we should listen to him.

But I didn't just want to give my two cents on that; what I really wanted to give, was this:

"When you sacrifice, you force others to sacrifice. It's an extremely powerful weapon. When somebody stops eating for a week or ten days, people come and want to be part of that experience. Someone goes to jail and people want to help him. You don't buy that with money. That doesn't have a price in terms of dollars."

Those who are willing to sacrifice and be of service have very little difficulty with people. They know what they are all about. People can't help but want to be near them--to help them and work with them. That's what love is all about. It starts with you and radiates out. You can't phony it. It just doesn't go. When you work and sacrifice more than anyone else around you, you put others on the spot and they have to do at least a bit more than they've been doing. And that's what puts it together." (129)

When I read that, I realized, damn, that's what you guys did to me. I had stopped paying attention, but with that hunger strike, I could no longer just push this out of my mind. So many of us could not. We were faced to choose between doing more or just going on with our lives. I've chosen to do more and I know, in my gut, that many thousands have as well.

In that sense, you are absolutely right, your hunger strike has already been a success. Not only that, many of you are already living in your dream. You are uplifting a movement, you are making history. What a bigger dream is there than that? So, aside from all that, all I really wanted to say was that this is our movement, this is our Causa! Let's embrace it. And even if we do win the Dream Act this summer like so many of us want, let's not forget about our families and our communities!

Let's dream forward. Let's keep up the fight!

Much love from Ithaca, NY
Orlando Lara
Undocumented at Heart