Stand and Deliver

Advocacy day had been a large mystery in my mind even after it had been explained to me several times; even the very night before I went to bed. Little did I know that it would be a day to jar the status quo of my viscera. I resigned myself to do what I’ve always done…go with the flow. The foggy morning that followed was filled with adrenaline and grunted phrases consisting of the words “need”, “coffee”, and “now”. And upon arriving in the capitol building the adrenaline feeling subsided and yielded itself to the deafening calm quiet before the storm.

After completely waking up and eating a humble breakfast; after paper sorting and moving into our groups; after awkward introductions and listing helpful tidbits and talking points the day finally picked up speed, and how! It was a race against time to navigate the crazy labyrinth that is the Harrisburg capitol building (and probably every other capitol building in the US) while arming youth with information that could perhaps sound convincing to some legislator that would hopefully be patient enough to listen to what has been effecting our neighborhoods and our hearts.

The first meeting was a no show…suddenly our representative had an important meeting to go to. The second was a little more hopeful. We arrived at the office of John Perzel and met with his friendly staff person John Zimmerman. Our third and final representative was an interesting experience, and somewhat uncomfortable. It was a moment that stayed with me the rest of the day, and even bled somewhat into the next. But the most important moment of all was in the Senate Gallery…

Our group was suddenly notified that Senator Tartaglione was nice enough to acknowledge us during the senate assembly. It was a gesture that I didn’t even think twice about: they say our name, we stand up, people who don’t know us look at us, we look at them we go home. It seemed that simple…it seemed mundane. But the moment we stood up I could see that ¾ of the seating was taken up by bodies in blue shirts; blue shirts all containing black letters printed on the back that said: “Si, se puede!”

We were standing up and it was impossible to be ignored. It was a great moment; it was simple, it was silent and uncomplicated and it was beautiful and best of all it was ours. Advocacy day had finally revealed it’s meaning.

…Si, se puede.

--Alayna Sands