Former Migrant Farmworker goes from Salinas Fields to Space
Articles by Angel Luna and Justin Collins // Audio by Mr.David Madrid and Madd

Jose Hernandez, a former field worker, is set to launch in early September. The NASA astronaut did not learn to speak English until he was 12 years old.

“Thank you Jose, and See You in the Moon Soon”
By Angel Luna

As immigrants, they always tell us to dream and to strive for greatness -- like being the store manager of a Safeway, being the owner of a small business or becoming a member of the arm forces. There’s nothing wrong with these choices that we are presented with, but sometimes practicality is not the way to go.

Jose Hernandez, from migrant farmworker to astronaut, proved that we can aim higher. And in his journey to space, a message has been sent to young Latinos all across this country.

When you don’t speak English, traditional America tells us that one of our biggest achievements may be getting through high school and getting a 9 to 5 for the rest of our days. And the truth is some teachers don’t even have this hope for immigrant kids. Another thing that concerns me is that the immigration status prevents a lot of my countrymen to continue with higher education and the possibility of becoming the next astronaut, or the next Steve Jobs, fades away just because they don’t have the immigration status to continue their path. It is sad that in a country founded by immigrants we hate on the immigrants and we antagonize them with nonsensical laws and stereotypes.

Being an immigrant is more difficult than what people expect. Dreaming of a better future is hard because a lot times when we try to share our aspirations with our parents they are so tired from their long hours at work that we get pushed away and this makes us feel like they don’t care. And is not that they don’t care it is just that the living is hard and if they don’t work they can provided the basic needs, so their lack of interest is not intentional. A lot times the way that they try to motivate the immigrant youth is by telling them to be something other then a gang member – that it doesn’t matter what you do, as long as you don’t become a victim of the system.

Living la vida East Side is tough and a lot a times is not easy to dare to dream and persue your true calling. Sometimes our parents support us, but the answer to all their worries is to get that safety net and the need of a trade. I appreciated the concerns about our future but I am always brought to the same question – what if? What if they would push us to become doctors, lawyers or even loftier goals, like space explorers? I wonder what conversations Jose Hernandez had with his parents growing up/

That’s why I want to applaud and congratulate this brother for raising the bar for all of us. There’s nothing impossible at this point in this young century. So hey young world, please make it happened and take off to where the wildest dreams are. Thank you Jose, and see you in the moon soon.

 

A Migrant Farmworker Reaches Beyond the Skies, and the People’s Struggle Can Too
By Justin Collins

Somebody has taken “breaking the glass ceiling” to a whole new level. Black women, one of the most oppressed minorities in the nation have made great strides. A Latina is now on the Supreme Court. And now, one of the great invisible groups, the often mistreated and even hated communities, who strangely fuels our states farm infastructure -- the migrant worker – has risen.

Jose Hernandez, a child of these people lost in a dream land that takes all the wretched of the earth, accept the indigenous peoples from the pesky third world a stones throw away, has made it to America’s most difficult institutions to break into --NASA.

Everybody has seen "The Right Stuff" and we all know how difficult it is to become an astronaut. One has to be super fit, high scoring Air Force space ace, and that usually meant white and male until the 1980's when women made the cut, and the 1990's when minorities started being a part of the magic of space flight. But the story of Hernandez is the most remarkable.

Think of it, going from the most oppressed populations, the ones gleefully kicked around by racist good old boys, hard workers exploited and paid less than most sweatshops, a job that guarantee’s back problems and exposure to large amounts of direct sun, than to work your way to an institution that is the worlds dream -- space flight. And not just the activity, the home of secret agendas and millionaire playboy endeavors.

Yet despite this tremendous accomplishment, that a migrant farmer can reach space, I think it is important that we do not put away our revolutionary feelings, but rather take this time to make our expectations for change reach such heights. We all need to be very direct and very clear the abuses of the system and that token/cosmetic changes do not quell, dreams of guillotines and tribunals. We are still shot down by police, our elders are going uncared for and our children remain at risk while after school funding is being revoked, our schools are in dire need, our veterans are still being lied to and kept against their will over seas and migrant workers continue to be exploited. Congratulations to our brother in NASA, but things need a deeper level of compassion before we lay down our criticism of the system.