¡Soy Unica! ¡Soy Latina! Rally
Testimonials
These are some of the comments and feedback we have received from parents, guardians and other people related to the rally, expressing their sentiments about this past event.
We wanted to share them with you...
"Hola Daisy. I just wanted you to know how much 'my' two girls enjoyed Saturday's event. This is the third year that I have taken my little Mireya* and our very close family friend, Carmen*.
All the events have been wonderful but this one as they stated was "the bomb!". They both left there with an incredible sense of pride and a desire to share that with the world. Going back home in the car they were practicing their Spanish, moving to the Spanish beat and chanting "Soy Unica, Soy Latina!!"
Mireya is the only Latina in her school and unfortunately she has already experienced ignorant and derogative remarks about her skin color, hair texture and race. My sister and the rest of the family have done a wonderful job in teaching her about the beauty of her culture and because of this Mireya can handle herself 'out there' with the strength and pride of a beautiful little Latina, but it is being among her peers and shouting it out with them that brings that pride full circle!! :-) "
Mireya's Aunt.
"Great job to all of you!!
Ditto about the workshop. It was a wonderful and moving experience for me and made me appreciate my parents even more for the wonderful job that they did in allowing me to assimilate without ever loosing my culture. As I stated there, the workshop in itself could have lent itself to a support group. No one comes to this country with a manual and to many it is a culture shock.
The workshop provided an opportunity to discuss the similarities that many have faced, the challenges and the hope in knowing that raising bicultural children could be accomplished without comprising the values and the rich heritage that we are so proud of. It was great to talk about this so openly there!"
Y.T.
"Daisy,
You have worked diligently to continue this wonderful event for our young Latinas. I know you are going to say, it's team work and yes, you are correct, but it takes a leader to lead the group. It's so important to provide opportunities of this nature for our girls who face many challenges on a day to day basis. This rally reaffirms the need to be proud of who we are as a people without any apologies. It also reaffirms the sense of "identity" and cultural awareness that many of our girls do not experience due to circumstances not of their doing. The lack of embracing cultural differences in our community has been reaffirmed through the Rally. Most importantly, our girls need to be able to make contact with "role models" Gladys Santiago, Norma Holland, Marisol Lopez, the agency representatives, the college students... And the list goes on... also to witness their own parents taking advantage of the parent workshop. That is powerful! The workshops provide an opportunity for our girls to be exposed to pertinent information and topics of interest that most likely will not occur in schools.
Daisy, we appreciate your vision to keep this alive and well! next year!!!!!!!!"
N.P.R.
"Daisy you are the ROCK!! Thank you for your dedication... you have been steadfast with SUSL. Your leadership is extremely valuable. I love you.
By the way, I had a BALL on Saturday!! I felt like a kid again. Thank you for allowing me to participate with such a prestigious group of women. You make me proud to be LATINA!"
M.L.
"This is a wonderful testimonial about the impact the rally can have in young Latina girls, and it fills my heart with joy. Every body in the organizing committee and volunteers did a great job, and feedback like these are a great motivator to for us to keep working to make it grow even more for the next years!"
K.M.
* Names have been changed to protect the privacy of the participants.