Former SEIU Secretary-Treasure and civil rights activist Eliseo Medina offer words of encouragement to the fasters.
By Odilia Mendez
On a hot July Tuesday, I went to Olvera Street in Los Angeles, California to support and report about the Children Over Politics campaign. The campaign is to support estranged children who are fleeing their country because they fear for their life, are in danger, starving, and have endured so many tragedies that fleeing to the U.S. is the only way they know to survive. But, when they get caught at the border, they are being detained in crowded, unsanitary conditions and being sent back home to violence and danger.
I got to meet seven young adults—part of the Children Over Politics campaign—who are fasting for five days in order to raise awareness of the situation at the border and the plight of these children.
“I want to create public consciousness of what’s going on with these children who are coming here. The kids crossing over are not animals. They are children and should be treated as such” says 18- year-old Yamilex Rustrian, one of the core fasters on this campaign.
Sungwon Hong “Sung,” age 21, is another core faster. Asked what response he hopes to elicit from congress or the president himself, he says “I would like for the president’s recognition on this topic and for him to do something in favor of the children in the detention facilities.”
“What I hope to accomplish from this fasting is to get help for the children because they are fleeing from home under dangerous situations. If I had the power to change things, I would make our government help the country and make it safe” says 14-year-old Kenya Castillo fasting for this noble cause.
Being in the presence the youth fasting and seeing support from parents and the community, I felt that the message being sent out from the youth was strong and the fight for this cause is truly noble. I feel like something needs to be done. I didn’t really know much about this crisis going on. I would only hear about it on the news. But, being out and talking to the fasters made me realize that there is much more going on then what the public actually is aware of.
By Chrystal Blow
Yesterday was a day I will never forget. Before today I was not aware of the tragedy going on. I met seven young people who are fasting to raise awareness for other children fleeing from their homeland to America because their lives are in danger. After meeting these amazing people, I was inspired. I had never known how much this affects people. It had me thinking: “what if that was my brother or sister trying to escape these dangers?” When I read about the children fleeing to the United States, I imagined the kids fearing for their life as they were journeying to cross the border. I think that the kids who cross over the border think that it’s a land of opportunities and freedom. I met one of the fasters and something he told me had me thinking more in-depth about the tragedies going on: “People think they are immigrants, people trying to take our jobs or criminals when in reality they are kids that don’t know what’s going on. We get really political and we don’t think, we forget that they are kids trying to escape poverty,” says 18-year-old Edgar, a core faster with the Children Over Politics campaign.
I also met Kawana Anderson, mother of one of the fasters there to support her daughter, and I asked her what she would do if she was one of the children fleeing from poverty. She said, “I would leave too, being a child seeing the things that they’ve seen I bet that they are so scared and the fact that they are scared is a crisis. As a mother, I am proud of my child because she is doing this not for herself but for someone else.” The fact that these people are putting their health on the line to raise awareness is one of the greatest things they can do.
Being a student activist and fighting to get something passed or calling public attention to an important issue, I can relate to what the Children Over Politics campaign is doing. It takes a lot of hard work and effort to inform the public of what we want to happen and how we would want their support so that the people who have “power” can listen to us and do something about what we want to happen. I understand their fright, their struggle, and their strength.
Learn more about the Children Over Politics Campaign and join the campaign
Also visit the Children Over Politics website to get the latest updates.
See photos from the fast:
