Happy 3rd Blogiversary to Latino Político

Well, well, well. Another July 1st has arrived and with it, the third blogiversary/birthday for Latino Político.

Things have been quiet here lately due to a confluence of events in my 3D World but with Netroots Nation on the horizon, I see a near future that has a larger reserve of motivation and commitment to what I've been trying to do here over the past three years. In the beginning, it read something like this:

I started this site to get my voice down on "paper". I don't really care if I get five or 500 hits in a day. I'm doing this because I care about my country. I yearn for the days when we can again proudly live up to this inscription that can be found on the Statue of Liberty:

"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me.
I lift my lamp beside the golden door."

Since the last blogiversary post, a lot has happened in the world, real and virtual. Those of us who tend to blog more on ideological discussions rather than partisan have seen a different party take over Congress only to find little change or improvement. A piece of it is that the Democrats only have a bare majority of influence in the Senate with Junior Caligula still doing his Decider thing in the White House, but I would be lying if I didn't confess that I have felt more disappointment than accomplishment lately. Call me a purity troll, if you must, but I'm being honest. jejeje

The background to all of this, of course, has been the primaries and the recently-started general election to elect the next Decider. It seems like it has all succeeded in flipping on the crazy-gene switch online, and it gets exhausting when you're someone like me who doesn't care for it in any reality. So there's the monsoon cloud in a nutshell, but I can also happily report that silver linings abound.

The pro-migrant blogosphere is growing stronger everyday thanks to the passion and unshakeable commitment to human rights by emerging voices to this medium. After all that's happened (and perhaps more important, not happened) in the political realm with regards to the lives and livelihood of undocumented workers, activists need to know that we're not alone nor crazy. Well, some of us might be crazy, but that's a different post altogether ;-)

With the recentish launch of The Sanctuary, an avenue has opened up for many of us to come together. We're coordinating in ways that makes the efforts of grassroots activists more potent through sharing information with netroots activists. Blogging by itself does very little, but when we are able to translate our words into political power, it makes it worth it to do this, in my humble opinion. There's still a long way to go, but I have noticed forward-movement over the past year.

Some opportunities that I'm thankful for include the Blogger Summit that I attended in March in Washington, DC thanks to the crew at the New Organizing Institute; also really looking forward to going to Netroots Nation thanks to a scholarship through Democracy for America where finally, after three years of interacting online, I'll get to meet blog compadres XP and Duke1676. Watch out, world!

I say that, because this big ball of tierra is always going to improve as long as human beings gather together and remember things like this:

It is not enough to teach our young people to be successful...so they can realize their ambitions, so they can earn good livings, so they can accumulate the material things that this society bestows. Those are worthwhile goals. But it is not enough to progress as individuals while our friends and neighbors are left behind." - César E. Chávez

And not just remember, but strengthen each other in a way that we live the ideals that declares that our hermanos y hermanas are our shared responsibility. There will always be low and high tides in energy, but sitting at this keyboard today, knowing that there are friends and allies across the world who recognize the humanity in everyone gives me hope. This may be a political blog, but I've found that the true power lies in each of us willing to engage and empower those around us to bring about a better life.

To all that visit this humble casita in the barrio, either through clicking on a link or via RSS, thanks for being you.

paz