This course was unlike any I’ve ever taken before. I had conducted a formally structured interview, but not one which I had completely created the questions for. It was nerve-wracking to decide what I wanted to learn from my interviewee, but with the progression of campus tensions to student protestors, I knew I wanted to focus my interview on student activism and community building.
By structuring my interview around current events I was able to get advice for what to do now, as an aspiring student activist, and what to expect moving forward. It was very interesting to talk with Edwina Welch about cycles she has seen student activist groups fall in and how we can productively move through them. Doing this while also being able to look at the history of MEChA’s student activism assured me that student activism can never be stopped. It gave me hope that our current efforts to fight for the liberation of Palestine and divestment from the zionist regime are all apart of a greater movement.
Taking this course right now has been very insightful and inspiring. I am inspired by all of the student activism and community building done by MEChA in the past and will continue to carry the lessons learned as I move forward at UCSD. I will take the lessons learned through the archives to continue the fight for liberation in creative ways as students before me have.We as students have a unique and powerful role in the worldwide movement for liberation.
