NEWS EDITOR – ASHTON JEFFERS
One of the first major events to kick off the start of St. Mary’s University Hispanic Heritage Month celebration was the Choco Meza Civic Engagement Initiative. In honor of voting rights activist and San Antonio West Side community advocate, María de Socorro González “Choco” Meza, the event invited students and faculty to participate in a series of events and workshops that went from noon to 5 p.m.
on Friday, Sept. 16. Set up in the University Center-A, students from all majors and interests showed up to attend the first event of the day, which included a catered lunch and an expert speaker panel of voting rights advocates.
When moving to enter the event room, attendees could receive buttons and stickers from Jolt Action, a Texas-based non-profit organization focused on empowering voters, especially Latinos, through voting information as well as resources for those who look into being involved with voter advocacy on campus. Attendees also received memorabilia of Choco Meza, a way to carry around the memory of her life and legacy. Not only were students and faculty encouraged to attend, but members of the greater San Antonio community came, including relatives of Choco Meza. The family expressed gratitude for the support of St. Mary’s University for helping put on this event to celebrate her legacy and work. While attendees were fling in, they were greeted by the sound of mariachi music from Mariachi Cascabel, a student music organization on campus open to all majors and classifications.
The panel was introduced by Dr. Betsy Smith, chair and associate professor of political science at St. Mary’s, which gave attendees a variety of experts in voting rights advocacy. The expert panel consisted of Charles Cotrell, Diego Bernal, Ivalis Meza-Gonzalez, Jenn Longoria, and Melanie Mendez-Gonzales and was moderated by Maria Belen Cervera; a senior political science undergraduate and work-study student.
The panelists responded to a series of questions concerning their experience with politics and how they were first introduced into this sphere of influence. For some of the panelists, practicing politics involved going to vote with their families on election day and hearing their relatives talk about making sure they did their duty as citizens. For speaker Diego Bernal, it was meeting Henry B. González as a child and talking with a representative focused on serving others in his community.
The practices of civic engagement ranged from the panelists’ experiences. Civic engagement practices included organizing voting drives on military bases or learning how to talk about voting with others who might have been taught that talking about it casually was almost “taboo.” Panelist Charles Cotrell took civic engagement to activism in the San Antonio area during his time as a student at St. Mary’s University. He spoke about his time as a student and how we worked
with groups of other young activists in the community, taking direct action and nonviolent approaches of protest to combat segregation in San Antonio. Cotrell shared about his and other students’ efforts to desegregate the Santikos theaters in San Antonio. Other efforts of civic engagement came in the form of blogging. It might not seem like something one would normally think of as civic engagement, but Melanie Mendez-Gonzales said that she wanted to share her story of being civically engaged through her blog as well as connecting with other Latina community leaders and uplifting their stories.
The speakers shared with the audience that politics are all around us, emphasizing how important it is to get involved and speak out. As the questions began to wrap up, they concluded the panel by commenting on the state of voting rights today and gave advice for those students who hope to go into a field where they can incorporate their values and desire to be civically engaged. A few of the speakers stressed the importance of understanding your rights when you go to the polls to cast your vote and knowing that those scrutinizing voter IDs might make it more difficult for those who are not entirely sure of the voting process or require accommodations. Still, the speakers were confident in the generation of young voters wanting to become more knowledgeable and engaged in voting and the community. They encouraged all attendees to bring someone along when they go to vote. Cotrell stated that faith also encourages one to become involved in the public square and care about what happens within their community.
Following a round of applause for the panel speakers and moderator, attendees were able to line up to receive a free t-shirt honoring Choco Meza and the events they participated in, with the Meza-Gonzalez
family having received their shirts first. There was a small break where attendees could speak with any of the panelists and prepare for the following civic engagement workshop led by students of the Texas Civic Ambassadors program.