Jonathan "el dreamer" Perez

Name: Jonathan "el dreamer" Perez Location: Montebello, CA I am QUEER, Undocumented and Unafraid. I organize to live and live to organize. Never in the shadows never in the dark. I hope my coming out can show people that they can do it too!!

A little about me

I came from colombia at the age of 3 with my family to seek political asylum, it was denied now i am undocumented but that won't stop me i've organized for educational justice since high school and continue to dedicate my life to organize for a better world

I would describe myself as a

offline activitst

Why I deserve a Netroots Nation Scholarship

There are not many queer & undocumented people that are out, i want to help build that awareness of the intersections of those and other identities and feel we should be represented in Netroots Nation and build a movement that addresses the needs of all oppressed people.

What first inspired me to get involved

when I was a student in one of the most overcrowded school in the country with no motivation because they told me and my siblings that undocumented people can't go to college. I was inspired by the staff of InnerCity Struggle, they showed me a way to change my reality and that college was an option for me. Seeing young people organizing inspired me to change myself to educate and politicize people so they can change the realities in their communities.

How I've gotten others involved

Through high school presentations and workshops, door to door, even facebook. But as an organizer i try to talk to anyone that goes to events and get them more involved even if it's their first time i make sure i build a relationship with them.

The blog post I am most proud of

http://www.truth-out.org/dream-movement-challenges-with-social-justice-elites-military-option-arguments-and-immigration-refo

Why I think participation in the blogosphere is important

It give regular people the opportunity to create our own media but also express ourselves in a system that is built to silence us and create ignorance.

More about my volunteer work

I recently founded the San Gabriel Valley Dream Team to fight for the rights of undocumented students. Our first campaign the passage of the California Dream act.

My Twitter manifesto on online activism

Online you have access to huge amounts of people where you can inform through songs, videos, blogs, articles and eventually bring them out from the online world to take action offline as well. Also it is critical that we engage in online guerilla tactics

My suggested bumper sticker slogan

Is your child queer, undocumented and unafraid?

My idea for a cool new online action

my fab online action would be to get everyone to do tweet/facebook blitz at certain times of the day tweeting in support of a cause. We send messages telling people the times and what to tweet/facebook culminating in a online action at the end in someones page like a celebrity, politician, opposition groups etc.