Migrant rights resonate at North

Students thrilled to find themselves at center of local action

Katie Kerwin Mccrimmon, Rocky Mountain News

Published May 1, 2006 at midnight

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"Reading, Writing and Revolution" is the mantra of an HBO movie that inspired a group of North High School students to leap heart-first into Denver's roiling immigration debate.

Today, 50,000 or more demonstrators are expected to march from Viking Park at 29th Avenue and Federal Boulevard, directly across the street from North High, into downtown Denver. Similar rallies are set for cities across the U.S. today.

As many as 400 North students are expected to join the marchers. Nearly 90 percent of the school's 1,230 students are Hispanic.

Some are illegal immigrants themselves. Others are children of undocumented workers. And some come from activist families who have called Denver home for generations, but are passionate about immigrant rights.

Students at North are thrilled to find themselves at ground zero for the local immigrant rights movement, which has erupted this spring with hundreds of thousands of people taking to the streets in cities all over the country. Organizational meetings have been held right across the street at Escuela Tlatelolco, a school with many Latino activists and long ties to civil rights causes.

"The north side has always been a place with a lot of community involvement," said Ricardo Martinez of Padres Unidos, one of the groups organizing the march. "North High School is a very good starting point for going into town."

Josh Lucero was one of the organizers at North of a walkout April 19 that brought 2,500 students from around Denver to the state Capitol for a rally supporting immigrant rights.

Lucero said the idea evolved after he and some fellow students saw the HBO movie, Walkout, in a class. The film chronicles the 1968 walkout by Chicano students protesting the lack of educational opportunities at their East Los Angeles high schools.

"It immediately occurred to us how powerful a method it would be to get our message out," said Lucero, a 17-year-old junior.

About 20 students were involved in the planning. They spread the word across the city and inspired other students to walk miles for the cause.

"I was stunned," Lucero said. "I thought it was incredible. I was just so pleased that so many of us turned out to show our unity."

Despite the perception that teens are apathetic, Lucero believes young people have long had concerns about immigration issues. Now they have the perfect vehicle to act on their passions.

Lucero's father, now an artist, was active in Chicano protests in the 1970s. Another student organizer, Jacobo Gonzales, is the grandson of well-known Denver Hispanic activist Rodolfo "Corky" Gonzales.

"The immigration issue is close to a lot of people's hearts at North," Lucero said.

Lucero is concerned about missing school Monday and hadn't decided whether he'll participate in today's march.

"I've always tried to be a good student," he said. "I am concerned about missing too much school. But there are some situations where you have to take your priorities into account. This is something that's larger than me or any single person."

The decision to start the rally outside North High School is pure coincidence, rally organizers said. They said they favored the route because of its easy access to downtown.

For Principal Darlene LeDoux, that choice makes her life difficult. Her primary concern is keeping her students and staff safe, and she can do that best when they are all in school, she said.

Any student who misses school for the rally will not be allowed to make up work, LeDoux said, and the absence will be unexcused.

"We need to teach the entire day every day," LeDoux said. "On the other hand, it's a learning experience and, in the end, it's the decision of (the student's) family."

Some pro-immigrant activists and teachers at North are urging students to plan rallies on weekends so they don't give anti-immigration forces fodder for their side.

"The anti-immigration people are looking for any symbol they can find, whether it's the Mexican flag or students missing school," said Butch Montoya, former Denver manager of safety. "They'll say that students are failing because of these rallies."

Teacher Paul Domenick has several of the organizers in his classes. He expects he'll have few students today and wants the students to find a different way to express their activism.

"I would say that North is torn between two worlds," he said. "One world is filled with very scared immigrants, and the other is filled with students who don't understand the issue and who could care less."

Domenick said he knows a core group of students is committed to the cause. Others just want an excuse to ditch school.

"There are some students who have strong convictions who are going to march because they have strong convictions, but not very many," Domenick said. "I've been telling them that missing school is not showing well.

"I understand their plight. But, if they're not in school, that's all that (critics will) concentrate on."

mccrimmonk@RockyMountain News.com or 303-892-2502

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