M »rtuiiary 9, 2008 a r iin L uther K in g J r . Page B J 200<S special ecfiiion Civil Rights Begin with Education Immigrants learn solidarity makes a citizen by R aymond R endi . eman T he P ort land O bserver Martin Luther King Jr. wanted one aspeet of the eivil-rights movement soon eradicated, but never forgotten , the socalledCitizenship Schools that he and Septima Clark made to flourish throughout the Deep South, where segregation ists had forced aspiring African-American vot ers to demonstrate “constitutional interpreta tion” capabilities before they were allowed to cast ballots. Inhumanity of this magnitude has disappeared with revised laws, but parallels remain. Antonio Gonzalez, an academic support coor dinator for the Oregon Council for Hispanic Advancement, echoes the spiritual and legal emancipation that Martin Luther King Jr. and othercivil-rights leaders envisioned coming with education. “The more you learn, the freer you are,” Gonzalez says. Citing census statistics that show two out of five Hispanics over 25 have not graduated from high school, the council endeavors to develop mentoring relationships with young people and create opportunities for their families' life-skill development. By sending folks like Gonzalez to schools citywide, the organization provides English classes, help in improving academic achieve ment, preventive health-care information and job-interview preparation. In addition to four weekly after-school ses sions lasting two hours, Gonzalez keeps a caseload of Latino students that have been identified as struggling. He sees parental con nection as the most important factor in deter mining student success, so he tries to split time evenly among homework issues, acculturation and learning about Hispanic heritage. Being an AfroCuban in the U.S. puts Gonzalez. photo in R aymond R i m i i . eman /T hi - P ortland O bserver Anfon/'o Gonzalez, academic support coordinator for the Oregon Council for Hispanic Advancement, works with families in Portland Public Schools. in a unique position to address civil-rights and solidarity issues. Experiencing racism here has surprised him since he considers himself “from a country where the color of your skin really doesn't matter.” He finds that his ethnic background some times triggers a barrier with black Americans. and that even though his skin is black, he can relate to Hispanic people more. He combines his Cuban background with work here to create his own way of thinking. “In Cuba, as long as you have the IQ and the grades, you will move forward,” he says, ac knowledging flaw s in the Cuban system. "I love my country because I was born there, but it has issues like anywhere else.” Gonzalez tries to pacify competing political forces by integrating values of respected Ameri can organizers with the likes of Jose Marti, who earned status as a Cuban national hero by leading its independence movement. “ Marti and MLK have a lot o f ideas in com m on,” he says.