Name of Interviewer:
Xavier Reyes
Position of Interviewee:
Head of Security; Football Coach at WHS
MORALS
If I were to give my interview with Paul Broxterman a name, it would be Morals. In my interview, Broxterman mentioned his morals countless times. He often said things related to color and difference and included them with things like “We all put our pants on the same way”. Broxterman is very moral and sincere and genuine regarding his feelings for people. This was shown in my interview when Broxterman told me about how he went to prom with an African American woman and the adversities that came with such a thing. His community disliked that he was doing this, and he lost friends, and his father even questioned him about this situation. Broxterman simply explained that he was interested in this girl, and what color she was didn't matter to him.
In our African American & Latino Studies class, we made it a prominent point to speak on social change that includes riots, sit-ins, protests, and fighting for the overall betterment of the community. Paul Broxterman and his associates did just that; he and one of his biggest known associates, Cesar Chavez, were huge organizers and gathered people of the Latino community for meetings in places like churches to spread awareness and messages. The Grape Farmers strike is also a huge movement for social justice, which was so prominently discussed in our classroom.
A main point I took from this was that non-violent protests and actions could provide some of the most effective solutions and give some of the best results. Broxterman mostly participated in things of nonviolence. I believe that it is a lot more effective than violence, I believe that violence can make a very prominent point very misleading and can be taken the wrong way. Using violence can shift the public's viewpoint on the group looking for a change, shift the course of their movement, and make the public not want to become involved.
Another main point from my interview was the strong presence of cross-racial solidarity. Broxterman is a white man working in a movement that fought for the rights of largely Mexican and Filipino people Despite this difference in upbringing, he still decided to become a significant activist in this time period.
Mr. Broxtermans' story is an essential contribution to the historical record because the ways he acted for change can be passed down with time and influence future generations to use similar methods to stand up to injustice. When Broxterman was participating in activism, he did things like handing out papers about the Grape Workers Strike and was a big person handling spreading information. Nowadays, people have evolved and can use the idea of spreading information and take it to places like social media, where everyone is right now, and effectively make a dent in the fight for change.
Name of Interviewers:
Khalid Harris and Luis Collazo
Position of Interviewee:
Founder of Waterbury Strong
WATERBURY STRONG
The person I interviewed was Demetre Coles. He is the leader of an organization called “Waterbury Strong”. His main goal is to strengthen the black community and cause black owned businesses to flourish and increase in income. I believe that there are three reasons as to why this interview that was conducted is very important to preserve. Because it presents a perfect example of what organizations/companies can do to help certain communities, because it could be used to bring more people into activism, and because it could be used as an example to make future leaders.
The first reason as to why this interview is important to preserve is because it shows a good example of what organizations/companies should be doing when they claim to have the intention of helping any kind of group of minorities. During the interview Demetre says that he plans to feed children in need, plan many parades, and even his original occupation allows him to help people in need because his job is to provide housing for the homeless. Even though his organization only has a couple people in it, he does a perfect job of showing what should be done to help the black community
The second reason as to why this interview is important to preserve is because it could bring more people into activism. Seeing Demetre’s drive could possibly begin fighting for certain things because of listening to his interview. This ties back into our learning because our class learned about many instances where communities fought for something. For example, the East L.A. walkouts. The East L.A. walkouts were about primarily Mexican populated schools in Los Angeles and the kids inside this school were being treated unfairly compared to other schools that weren’t primarily chicano. To the point where they were being punished for speaking spanish. And once all of the students had enough of the rotten and discriminatory treatment, they decided to walk out of school and demand equal treatment. People listening to the interview might want to fight for justice/equality after hearing about all the things Demetre is doing to better the conditions of Waterbury’s black community. Even if people aren’t willing to join the activism route, they could still find out where to donate money/items by listening to certain causes.
The third reason as to why this interview is important to preserve is because it can be used to make future leaders. People could look at the fact Demetre is in an organization with only three people and is managing to get closer and closer to his goal of strengthening Waterbury, the fact that he ran for office and even though he lost he put himself into another position where he can still help people, or they can look at the fact that his only real objective is to help people. With such a perfect example of what a good leader is, people could take inspiration from him.
In conclusion, Demetre’s interview should definitely be preserved/saved because there are many reasons as to why it could help people and create future activists and leaders.
Name of Interviewers:
Aubrey Buxton and Anvhanay Scott
Position of Interviewee:
Students for Educational Justice
A STORY WITHIN STORIES
Everyone can fight for the same thing, but it does not mean it is for the same reason. I learned this fact from a beautiful Black Woman, Jacqueline Dohna, who leads activism for students and Black/Latinx class requirements in Connecticut. Her story is the definition of a story within stories. Jacqueline’s story represents Black communities and what we have experienced from then until now. During our informative interview, she had different examples that discussed her issues with society today, how they match up with the past, and how we can look better into the future. Jacqueline taught me a very special tip: everyone has a story to tell, no matter who you are or where you come from.
To start off, her story is a story within stories. Her story is relatable to many Black Women going through discrimination or being bullied for having a different skin color. For instance, around 24:47 in our interview, we related many situations and problems that Black Women would have to go through because we’re ‘different’ because of our hair, eye color, or skin complexion. At 11:03, I asked Jacqueline what personal experiences connected her to her activism now. Jacqueline then starts to identify different examples of microaggressions and discrimination against her, but instead of snapping back with words, she snapped back with her actions. At 13:00, she states, “I’m going to show up with the biggest hoop earrings I have. I’m going to show up with my head wrap…I decided to start taking up space.” This discussion was especially important because, throughout history and the present day, Black/Latinx people are constantly being put down for ‘not being Black enough’, or ‘not being Latina enough.’ But instead of Jacqueline instantly snapping back every time someone said any microaggression-related statement, she took up more and more space with confidence. She took up space by being herself. Being true to herself, it led to clear visions of the ways she wanted to build the SEJ community.
Just like Black feminists in Black Panthers, since she revolved around Men, she felt trapped in different ways and could not speak up at first. Then, when she started to take her own plans into action, it turned into a plan to take action. Just like Black feminists in the Black Panthers, at first, they could not speak up as easily since they were Women, but once they took matters into their own hands, created their own organizations, and showed activism how they wanted to, people would listen. Jacqueline and these Black feminists from the 1980s made their own narrative that took action by showing enough confidence to stride for what they wanted or still want.
Jacqueline’s visions for SEJ are clear and directed toward how she wants to carry SEJ’s future. She is focused on building student communities to be better and stronger. This is most important to me because as I am only a Freshman in High School as an AfroLatina, her story is incredibly relatable no matter our age. Her story should be preserved as her activism makes a better difference bit by bit in our world today. Jacqueline Donna's story will continue to be a story within stories.
Name of Interviewers:
Sa'de Arnold and Jorel Camacho
Position of Interviewee:
Founder of Ungroup Society
THE RISING OF THE UNGROUP SOCIETY
Warren Leach is an important individual in our community. Everyday he strives to build his community and uplifts others. Interviewing Mr. Leach was important because he has taught Jorel and I to inspire others. Warren Leach born in Waterbury Connecticut 1960 who is 62 years old works two jobs and one of them is called The Ungroup Society in which he founded works to help their community in different ways. Not only is he a part of this group but in his early years of life at the age of 21 years old he was a firefighter. Warren is a strong man who has overcome addiction who has been clean and sober for 13 years. Struggling with this addiction he found the help he needed in which opened his eyes and helped others who needed help just like he did. His exact words were “I have been through some trouble so I started to see people who were in trouble who needed things in a different light.” Warren and his team provide different things for the community. They provide youth literacy classes,youth latin/afro studies, and social Emotional learning: afro–centric (SEL). Not only does he provide these classes but he does prom dress giveaways and music festivals in his community.
Warren proves that you don’t have to come together with other groups to be successful. It can make a bigger impact and difference but sometimes it won’t work because groups don’t have common goals. This connects back to the 60's. Individuals didn't feel heard in groups. For example women in the Black Panthers were only seen as people who brought tea and coffee when they had bright ideas just like the men. Another example could be when the White Panthers wanted to join forces with the Black Panthers and they sent them off and told them to make their own group.
Throughout the interview with Warren I love how he was openly honest with me and my partner. I Have learned that helping your community can be generational. He told us that every snow day growing up in the projects he always knew to not only plow his lawn but the elders in his neighborhood and that's because his mom taught him that. His mom took care of the neighborhood. Every morning the neighborhood mothers would go to his house just to have coffee and chat.Growing up and watching his mother made him the activist he is today. This relates to the Oral history Grape Worker Strike. Rebbeca Saldana fathers was a Mexican immigrant and he worked his way to the U.S. Rebecca’s dad worked with crops. As Rebecca saw her dad work hard she followed his legacy and became active in farm worker solidarity campaigns. Both Warren and Rebecca followed their parents footsteps and made something bigger out of it.
Warren said something to me that I will take with me for the rest of my life and that is “You can get there, you can win and don’t let anybody stop you.” He encouraged me to believe in myself don’t give up even if there are bumps down the road. Hearing his story not only impacted me but I know will impact others. Thank you Warren for helping our community and being a great person!!!
Name of Interviewers:
Ethan Naughton Young
Position of Interviewee:
Substitute Teacher - Windsor High School
INSIDE AN ACTIVIST'S HEAD:
Robert E. Cooper and His Experiences With Race
Robert E. Cooper, who you might know as Mr. Cooper, is currently an employee at Windsor High School and can be frequently seen substituting in classes when teachers are in need; however, what you may not have known about him is the fact that he was an activist for the Social Justice Movement in the sixties and seventies.
Born on December 30th, 1951, in Detroit, Michigan, Mr. Cooper had grown up during a time of high racial conflict, and due to this, Cooper was inspired to take action and try to make a change too. Cooper fought to bring about change through journalism as the Circulations Manager for the Michigan Westside News. Westside News wasn’t national, but it was known throughout the area. Each Issue of the news focused on informing the reader about events going on, where and where not to shop, issues in the Black community, information about important Black figures, charity events, educational events, stories by the community, and poems and art by the community.
After finding out more about the Newspaper that Mr.Cooper was a part of, I figured that interviewing him would be a good experience due to his growing up and seeing many impactful events involving the Black community. I also was interested in his being an activist himself and having a large amount of experience and knowledge when it came to fighting for equality.
The interview starts off with Mr. Cooper describing his upbringing in Michigan. Cooper states that he had grown up in a working-class environment, and during (Timestamp: 1:43)1 minute and 43 seconds, he describes his younger years by saying, “When you’re young, you don’t recognize it. When you’re young, you play with boys who live in your neighborhood…you weren’t too aware of it until you reached your teen years``. This quote describes when Cooper began to notice race and its effect on his life. This quote is important because it ties back to the our first unit in African American & Latino Studies on race not being biological, as Mr. Cooper, at one point in his life, did not even see race.
Mr. Cooper continued discussing how things changed for him once he left Detroit to visit Lansing, MI. It was in Lansing where Cooper would see race, racism, and different groups of people being unable to get along. Cooper also spoke about the events during this time, for example, Rosa Parks refusing to give up her seat. Cooper explains what led to him being an activist, and he states (Timestamp:3:25), “As you start to watch television and observe the world around you, you start to realize that there are things that aren't fair. You begin to realize that there is racism against you for being a black person and not knowing why. But it existed. And as such, you responded. In what I call the very reactionary way you reacted to it, you didn't have any plans. You just knew that white boys don't like you. So I'm not going to like white boys”.
This quote is important because it relates back to the dangers of a single story. Mr. Cooper was constantly being fed information and shown examples of how white people mistreated his people, leading to the assumption that all white people were out to get him. Cooper later states at (Timestamp:5;46) “that this didn’t last long because he had begun to think that “all white people aren't bad. It can't be that way. I see some of these students in school. I know they're not bad people. I know a whole race cannot be evil”. Cooper would also state(Timestamp:26:25) that when asked what he would change if he could do it again, he would understand that “Not all white people are that way. Now, I see differently. I wish that I could have been a little more accepting of those who were”. Cooper said this realization led to him trying to be a real activist instead of just fighting white kids in the streets.
As the interview continued, I asked Mr.Cooper more about his experiences. One thing Cooper informed me about was the division in the Black community during this time, specifically between those who wanted to take more rash approaches to fight back and those who preferred to be more physical. The youth and new upcoming activists were the people who mainly wanted to take on more physical causes, and the reasoning behind this, Cooper says, was due to them having so much energy. Eventually, our conversation further turned more away from division and more towards unity, and then we came to the question of whether there was unity amongst other races. Cooper had stated that where he lived (Lansing, Mi), a big Mexican population lived more towards the north side of town. Cooper stated at 13:48, “When you talk about racism and prejudice, it affects them too, and by having a chance also to use our newspaper to send messages in Spanish, it sort of broadens the appeal. Not on everything, not on everything, but there were times we would come together for protest demonstrations”. This quote was important because it showed how races could unite and help each other during these times.
Ending the interview, I asked what he thought was the best way of activism, and he answered with what he’s doing now. Mr. Cooper (Timestamp:27:53) claims, "Educating people to know what is right and wrong and having the courage to do it. To stand up for your beliefs and not continue to do something that you know is not proper, not right and try to share ideas with people to help them understand that there's so much more that we have in common than that divides us, and we should try to move in the same general direction. Because we're only here for a short time, you don't want to spend what time we have here needlessly fighting when you don't have to fight”. This quote is highly impactful due to it not just telling us how Mr. Cooper is fighting for social justice today and advising all of us.
Mr. Cooper’s story is important to the historical record because it’s a story that’s rich with major historical experiences. Mr. Cooper can tell us about major historical events using Ethos because he lived through them. His personal experience being a part of the Social justice movement also extends how important his story is. Having someone whose life is filled with history roam our school almost every day and not having their story in the historical record would be unacceptable.
Name of Interviewers:
Gabriella Elwood and Nathalia Astacio
Position of Interviewee:
Recovery for All
NORMA'S STORY
Norma Martinez HoSang was born in 1973 in Mexico. She started activism at a very young age(18). She works for Recovery For All. Recovery for all is a statewide coalition of faith, community and labor organizations representing thousands of people- brown, black and white. If you still don't know who Norma is, in February of 2020 she wrote a letter for Senator Kusher, representative Porter, and for members of the labor and public employees committee and read it at a hearing. She talked about how documented and undocumented low-income workers of color and that many of them struggle to find work and when they do find work they are taken advantage of all because of their immigration status and constantly see their rights being violated. I was able to interview her and ask her about the work she does. She talks about how she started activism, her struggles during it, what were her goals etc.
One of the things that Norma fights for is paid sick days. At first when I found out about it I was very confused because I didn't know exactly what she's fighting for. In my eyes I thought paid sick days were good. Until I learned that she's basically fighting that a lot of businesses only give their co-workers 3 paid sick days and that's just not enough. She used teachers as an example that they only have a limited amount of sick days. Her goal is to try and change those conditions for workers. She mentioned that if someone owns a business and they have more than 25 employees they are required to give at least 3 paid sick days. Lets say your child gets sick and you need to stay home and take care of them, you would only have 3 days to take care of them and a child cant be cured in 3 days. Then when you get sick you have to go to work regardless because you have already used your sick days. My mom is a teacher and I never see her use her sick days at all because she only has a limited amount. Although all her children are older now even when she's sick she still goes and I think it's really unfair out of the whole year that some people only get 3 sick days.
Norma's strategy to activism is talking about the government and making sure laws are changed. Her strategy is effective because when things are taken to the government that you know it's serious and people will actually take you seriously and when it's actually changed, it will make a difference in the workplace. Her story is important because she's not only fighting for paid sick days, but also for women's working conditions. My interview with Norma was an opportunity for me to learn more about activism and that being an activist comes more than just fighting for change.
Norma's story is important because she fights for things that people don't think about fighting for. They think that the conditions they work in or the amount of sick days you get won't change or cannot be changed. People need more than just 3 sick days and women need better working conditions and stop being treated as if they're lesser than men.
REBUILDING A BETTER CONNECTICUT
Oral history is a tool that helps us understand the past. Hearing someone’s story helps all of us further understand a significant event or even a time period. In my African American and Latino Studies class, we interviewed with different activists that are working towards positive change in their communities. The activist I interviewed with my classmate, Nathalia Astacio, was Norma Martinez Hosang. Norma works with Recovery For All, which is a coalition of other organizations that work towards eliminating systemic inequalities and rebuilding a better Connecticut. Creating a coalition can be good because there is more power in numbers but it can also be a difficult thing when beliefs clash. However, Recovery For All has persevered through those challenges. They’ve made strides in creating legislation to fix many issues in Connecticut.
Some of the ongoing issues regarding worker’s rights are unpredictable work schedules. Many workers aren’t given a guaranteed or predicted work schedule. For example, if someone is given a work schedule they could have a one day off but their boss might end up calling them into the work on the day they have no work or they could dismiss the worker from coming into work because they don’t need them. And in the quotes of Norma Martinez Hosang “If you don’t work, you don’t get paid.”. As you can see, unpredictable work schedules are unfair and create difficulties for workers with families, especially single mothers.
Another issue that is present regarding work is paid sick days. Only three days out of the year do some workers get sick days. For those with families and a sick child this becomes difficult. For some workers, they don’t have the grantee of sick days or vacation days. Workers deserve the guarantee that they have paid sick days if they have a sick child or family member or if they are sick themselves. Three sick days aren’t enough out of the whole year. This is something that Norma is trying to change.
When not advocating and working to improve worker’s rights, Norma is trying to get funding for public schools and higher education for colleges. She is currently trying to pass a law to tax the wealthy so those funds can go towards education. Billionaires only pay 5-7% of their income in taxes while low income and middle income households pay 20-25% of their income. If billionaires are required by law to pay taxes then there can be more funding going to public education.
Advocating for new legislation is the method Recovery For All uses to create change. Legislation can be a good thing because it makes it a requirement, like requiring workers to have a guaranteed work schedule. However, it's difficult because sometimes the law doesn’t even pass. In Norma’s experience there have been laws that Recovery For All has tried to pass but it never made into a law, which can be a very disappointing blow to the change they are trying to make.
Norma’s story is important to remember because this is someone who fights for workers rights and funding for higher education. These are issues that are often ignored by the public, especially by those in positions of power. Though these are still ongoing issues in Connecticut it is important to acknowledge the work of someone who cares about these issues and works to fix these issues.
Name of Interviewers:
Damela Seal
Position of Interviewee:
Program Outreach Coordinator for Connecticut Black and Brown Student Union
RECONSTRUCTING THE COMMUNITY
Oral History is a technique for preserving original historically significant information because it is a form of primary source with recorded sources. In African American Latino Studies we are working with activism
for the different communities. The activist I had to interview was Andrianna Milner, an outreach
coordinator for the Black Brown Student Union. This program reaches out for a safe and comfortable environment in a school and home environment. New education programs include learning about different cultures but also removing resource officers from schools. Removing the officers because people are already being policed on the street then coming back to school and also being policed. The interview in the African American course was to learn more about preserving stories but also focusing on different broad topics ideas including mental health in minority communities, housing, police brutality, and immigration.
The Oral History interview focuses on the importance of generational trauma and overcoming that problem that has been affecting one's mental health. Andrianna spoke about the passing of bills to include African American Latino studies courses in school. Passing the bill for this course aligns with Mental Health because students will be able to learn what is the problem, why it occurred, and how they can overcome what happened. Learning in the course will open their mind to new information about their culture and society and with that everyone would be able to hear stories and the values of others. This interview can connect back to many topics in the African American course and two topics that can be connected to my interview are the generational trauma and narratives and counter-narratives of telling a story. Generational Trauma is the transference of traumatic experiences or stressors from one generation to the next. In the interview, we focused on the stemming of mental health in the community and we said these problems stem from family trauma with slavery or family problems. Also, another issue was that men have more ongoing mental issues in the black community. The idea of men don’t cry or if you cry you are showing a sign of weakness, this has a strain on the black men's mental health because they don’t seek help and many fought in combat and haven't recovered from the problems they faced during the difficult times. In African American Latino Studies we focused on how to break the generational trauma and how as a community we can overcome all the problems that have affected the black society.
The interview also focuses on the narratives and counter-narratives of stories because while interviewing Andrianna she told many stories that are not being heard in society and that changes my idea on many things that occur in different communities. Some of the ideas that changed for her was, everyone has different problems but when she looked at the black community and talked to them it all stemmed from one big idea- RACISM. Also the idea of activism and being a young black woman that has this wonderful mindset about historical information about all the minority communities. Being a young black woman in the activism field is very commended because not many are represented or shown and at times you don’t know their name or stories.
Many important or interesting ideas stemmed from my interview but two important time stamps are (1:50) because this focuses on passing the bill for the African American Latinos Studies course of inclusion in the High School curriculum. Another important time stamp was (3:34- 4:07) which focuses on men with generational trauma and what they are doing to recover but also needed more black representation in the therapy field. Andrianna's counter-narrative is very essential to a historical record because the stories she shares have an impact on the different communities that are working hard to become better mentally, physically, socially, and economically in society.
Andrianna is a Windsor High School alumni, who took pride in her work and education to better herself and her community where improvement is needed. Her story is important to remember because her work started at Windsor High School , when it wasn’t very diverse and she had only one teacher that inspired her to go out and reconstruct the black community. Being a young black woman in activism is very difficult because there is not much representation and telling her story will inspire others to work and promote good deeds for their community.
