YahairaC

Name: YahairaC Location: Kansas City, MO Undocumented, Unafraid, Queer rebel-rouser & community organizer w/ a nerdy twist. Independent mujer workin hard, kickin ass & takin names.

A little about me

I'm mostly an offline activist that blogs from time to time. I work mostly on immigrant rights & LGBT rights but also care about a host of other issues. I read too much news for my own good but it makes me feel smart. My purpose as an organizer is to continue to grow as a person but also help young people find and hone their inner leadership skills. I like pushing boundaries, trying new things and believe more than one tactic is needed to affect change. I have three tattoos which are 1) pretty awesome and 2) define to a tee the things I care about, where I come from, how I view myself, my experiences and how I view life, as well as what I want to see in the world. Yeah, it is that deep. I've been in college for 8 years not because I'm lazy or don't want to grow up but, rather, because I've taken the scenic, rebel-rousing route to a bachelor's degree. I believe it's made me a better person. I look sweet & innocent in that picture...don't let it fool ya.

I would describe myself as a

offline activitst

Why I deserve a Netroots Nation Scholarship

Although I attended Netroots last year, I want to continue connecting with progressives on issues that matter to me and my community. While there was more diversity than I expected to see (which doesn't say much because, to be honest, my expectation were kind of low on this), I realized that my community's voice is not as represented as it should be considering our population and electoral power. As a Queer, undocumented Latina, I am certain voices like mine are few and far between in these sort of spaces and that needs to change. I am an efficient and effective organizer and, while I have a lot of tools already, I know that there is a lot more I can learn so that I may be even more effective. I hope to make connections at Netroots that will help me obtain some of the tools and advice that I need. Additionally, I feel like we don't have much representation from the Heartland states, much less when it comes to issues regarding immigrant and/or LGBT rights; I hope to be one of those representatives.

I manage these blogs

Kansas/Missouri Dream Alliance

The blogs I use most are

Colorlines
Clutch

What first inspired me to get involved

As an undocumented young person, I faced some tough hurdles when trying to finish high school then trying to attend college. A few years after starting college though, I began working with high school youth and realized they were facing some of the same hurdles I had faced earlier. I realized that there had to be a better way to connect undocumented young people with high education so, I began organizing. Shortly after, I learned about the DREAM Act and began my journey as an activist. A couple of years after that, and after coming out as Queer, I began working on LGBT rights. Upon getting a website for our organization - the Kansas/Missouri Dream Alliance - I began to look more critically at how to best use this tool. I began blogging and have been working to better do that in the last year. It was a very natural, one-thing-leads-to-another activist evolution.

How I've gotten others involved

Once I decided to make change, I began talking to individual groups in the Kansas City metro area about undocumented youth and their needs in order to access higher education. I spoke in classrooms, to counselors, to teachers, in churches, at various organizations and so on. I connected with people 1:1. I established KSMODA in early 2009 with hopes that other young people would join. By late 2009/early 2010, a number of young people in the bi-state (Kansas and Missouri) area came together - almost organically - and became part of KSMODA and have been doing some amazing things. Since coming together, they have participated and testified at hearing at the State Legislature level, have organized events, rallies, phone banks, petition drives, etc. They also began empowering other young people. They took risks beyond what people expected and engaged in civil disobedience. KSMODA is now seen as one of the premier immigrant rights organizations as well as a premier youth organization in the Kansas City metro area. It takes a certain kind of young person to do the types of things this group does and even more so to do it with the passion and dedication they have; I feel honored to be a part of their work and to have established a foundation that they were able to come into, take a hold of and do amazing things with.

The blog post I am most proud of

http://ksmoda.org/2011/03/07/hb237/

Why I think participation in the blogosphere is important

In an age where hateful and, many times, illogical rhetoric is thrown about like candy on Halloween, sane voices need to be out there talking about the issues as well. Be it vlogging, blogging, creating petitions, etc., it all is needed. People only become active when they know what's going on so, we need people to be out in the blogosphere sharing what's going on. Plus, national media can only be trusted so much, it's necessary to have critical thinkers - outside of mainstream media - covering issues from various lenses.

My Twitter manifesto on online activism

My tweets are to slactivism what books are to your lack of knowledge. Read 'em. Click 'em. Take action. Then we'll talk.

My suggested bumper sticker slogan

Rebel-rousing: it's not for the faint of heart but does require a healthy dose of cynicism