(October 11, 2002)

      Tonight, we are all meant to be here together, 30 years to the date when a group of people from vastly diverse backgrounds converged in an abandoned building on Beacon Hill, urgently needing to create the “beloved community” for the growing Latino population. Thirty years later El Centro de Ia Raza has flourished into a thriving and vibrant multi-cultural community dedicated to organizing, civil and human rights, early childhood education, youth leadership development and a vast array of human services.

      In this spirit of unity, let us first thank each and every one of you for all you gave to create with us this joyous occasion.

      Let us also thank the tens of thousands who have passed through our doors in these three decades who, each in her/his own way, helped us become the organization we were meant to be.

      And to the lifeblood of our entire 30-year history, the countless volunteers from every conceivable walk of life, nuestras más profundas “GRACIAS.”

      And we also extend the Board’s unending gracias to paid staff, both past and present who in the main have embraced the twelve glorious action principles of El Centro de la Raza leading to numerous and prestigious local, national and international awards.

      And finally, mil gracias to all past and present Board members who for 30 years have had the unenviable but highly rewarding task of guiding one of the most “non-traditional” community- based organizations in the country through the “best of times and the worst of times.”

      Tonight we culminate all this agony and ecstasy by honoring not “future” nor “emerging” leaders.. .but rather, present young leaders who by their selfless, thoughtful, elegant and courageous positive action exemplify the best of a great new generation of freedom fighters.

      All have directly or indirectly been touched by the work and the example of El Centro de la Raza - all have chosen the path of sacrifice and selflessness to help build Dr. King’s vision of the “beloved community.”

      All have dodged, escaped or circumvented the endless societal traps laid before them to embrace their oppressed communities and enrich them with hope, courage, creativity, love and tireless work.

      They have cared for the children, marched with the farmwork ers, given refuge to the homeless, rallied on the campuses, occupied buildings, eliminated demeaning symbols, changed diapers of the elderly, testified in the great halls of government, changed racist policies, inspired countless with their poetry and eloquence, stuffed envelopes, ran for office, swept the floors and washed the walls and some have even been arrested for demanding a fair education and challenging the secretive World Trade Organization.

      With the sweat and love of thousands we made a foreboding and uninhabitable building into a home for these young leaders. We gave them community in the midst of chaos. We replaced despair with hope, they flourished and tonight we give them a humble but deserving moment in the sun.

      Sen. Patty Murray has courageously helped these young leaders to now own their home, but the work of the “older” generation is not over.

      This “oasis of hope” we started to create that fateful day thirty years ago is still lacking, not in spirit, but in development.

      Our “twice” historic building is almost 100 years old and in critical need of the repair and renovation that has been neglected mostly because we haven’t owned our home until now.

      Therefore we will be asking this great broader community in the very near future to join the Board of Directors in the capital campaign to make the aged facility the legacy our young leaders deserve.. .a facility that truly reflects the spirit which these young leaders bring to the struggle for justice in these ever more dangerous times.