Two days later...

Life is back to normal, we have all returned to our schools, our offices and our normal day to day. In some ways it seems like Advocacy Day was forever ago, but there are traces of it still lingering. Today we got a cover story in El Impacto, a Philadelphia spanish paper entitled: "Armadas de razones, Jovenes se tomaron Harrisburg." But still it feels like ... it's over.

And then I remind myself, that, as I've been telling everyone today, it's not just about showing up, it's about FOLLOWING UP. Wednesday was just the beginning. It was a kick off perhaps, to all the work we are about to begin.

For those of you who may not have been able to make it to Statewide Latino Advocacy Day, don't worry, there is much to do!

We've been to Harrisburg and we've talked to our legislators. They know how we feel about immigration legislation across the state. It is FIRST AND FOREMOST A FEDERAL ISSUE.

They now how we feel about the results of the Costing Out Study. MONEY MATTERS. We need our representatives to make a down payment on education, to pass HR 460 and SR 210 and act on the results of the study. Fix a broken system and make sure that our kids are getting an adequate education.

Now is the time to let them know we mean it.

We need to write letters and say thank you for meeting with us, what are you going to do about these issues?

We need to call offices and say "we came to meet with you in January. Now it's February, what have you done?"

We need to go to their district offices and say "We met with you in January, we called a few weeks ago. Here I am with a petition signed by 1,000 people in your district who feel the same way as me. What are you going to do about these issues?"

We need to work with fellow Latinos -- communities and organizations, schools and churches, to spread the word beyond those of us who made it to Harrisburg. Get them excited, get them to be vocal, make them take ownership of what you know -- only when we all can approach our legislators with the same voice will we make a difference. We need them to hear loud and clear that we WILL see change in immigration legislation, and we will NOT stand for poor quality education.

It is their job to listen, and it is our job to make sure that happens. They won't know how we feel unless we tell them.

So, although Advocacy Day is over, I am excited about the beginning of a new kind of Advocacy. A persistent presence, a persistent voice, united Latino voices, not just in Philadelphia, but across Pennsylvania.

We can do it. Si se puede.

--Sarah Cortes