The Brown Berets Salute Karina Garcia
by
Ernesto Cienfuegos
La Voz de Aztlan
Los Angeles, Alta California - August 23, 2007 - (ACN) Karina Garcia, President of the Chicano Caucus at Columbia University, who single-handedly knocked out the founder of the Minutemen vigilantes Jim Gilchrist at a widely televised debate, was the keynote speaker at the Brown Berets de Watsonville "Youth and Power Conference" on August 14, 2007. Karina is a courageous and articulate leader of the Immigration Rights Movement who is greatly respected by her peers.
She represents the greatly admired qualities of women in Mexican history like "La Adelita, "La Valentina" and "Sor Juana Ines de La Cruz" combined. Karina is today being compared to a modern day Emma Tenayuca also known as "La Pasionaria de Texas".
A "Youth and Power Conference" is held yearly by the Brown Berets de Watsonville. This year's 7th conference theme was "Immigration Behind Enemy Lines" and focused on the increasing terrorism, discrimination, and splitting up of families by the Federal Government's Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) that is targeting communities where Mexican-Americans, Mexican Nationals, Chicanos, and Latinos live. The conference took place prior to the callous arrest and deportation of Elvira Arellano by ICE outside "La Iglesia de Nuestra Seņora Reina de Los Angeles" at "La Placita" . The 32 year old undocumented mother had to leave her 8 year old US citizen son behind.
Karina Garcia also led an effort that successfully deported Jim Gilchrist and his vigilantes from Columbia University located in New York City. Gilchrist was scheduled to speak at the university's Roone Arledge Auditorium on October 4, 2006 but as he took the stage and uttered his first sentence on "the Mexicans at the border" most of the 350 students in the auditorium rose up and objected to Gilchrist's hateful invective. Some of the students stormed the stage and Gilchrist had to be escorted off the stage by security personnel. Unfortunately one of the vigilantes on the stage managed to brutally kick a student on the head before he ran. The savage act was caught on video tape by the Univision Television Network but the police did not arrest the vicious assailant.
Related La Voz de Aztlan reports:
Minuteman vigilante James Gilchrist "deported" from Columbia University
Minutemen Vigilantes Learn Some Lessons at Columbia University
Columbia Student Karina Garcia Shames Minuteman Vigilante James Gilchrist in Debate
Columbia University's two-tiered punishments: A case of racism
