Loida Ginocchio-Silva (right), an undocumented North Carolinian, is embraced by the NC NAACP president Rev. William Barber during the fifth annual Historic Thousands on Jones Street rally Saturday in Raleigh. Ginocchio-Silva delivered an impassioned address to the hundreds in attendance about the 'unjust' nature of the state's immigration laws. (photo by Keith T. Barber)
Loida Ginnocchio-Silva, an undocumented North Carolinian and activist for immigration reform, openly criticized state law which requires undocumented students to pay out-of-state tuition rates at community colleges and state-supported universities during the fifth annual Historic Thousands on Jones Street march and rally in Raleigh on Feb. 12.
For the complete article in this week's edition of YES! Weekly, visit: http://www.yesweekly.com/triad/article-11534-hundreds-march-on-jones-street-for-economic-and-social-justice.html
The following is a transcript of Ginocchio-Silva's remarks:
“My name is Loida Ginocchio-Silva and I’m an undocumented North Carolinian. Some of you may know me as an illegal alien.
“I moved to Kernersville, NC, 10 years ago because my family was barely able to put food in the refrigerator. It’s 2011 now, and I have embraced this state as my home. I eat, speak, and think in two languages. I love North Carolina barbeque.
“I graduated with honors from East Forsyth High School and attended Alamance Community College while working full-time. Now, at UNC-Asheville, I can barely pay for the one single class I am taking. I have yet to pay the tuition for that one three-credit class for this semester while trying to save whatever I can on minimum wage.
“Changing diapers and cleaning tables is not enough for the out-of-state tuition I am required to pay because I lack a Social Security number. The federal government issues me a number to pay my income taxes yet I’m not afforded the same rights as any other citizen. That’s right! I pay my taxes! Most importantly, I’m a human being. Like many of you, every day I wake up and it seems like I have to prove it again and again to North Carolina. I am a human being and no human can be illegal.
“Our elected officials tell you that simply by my existence on this ground, on this stage that I am breaking the law. But I say, an unjust law is no law at all!
“We know that the [slavery] laws and Jim Crow laws were also [unjust] laws in this country. An unjust law is no law at all!
“I’m here to represent the hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants in North Carolina whose humanity is currently being criminalized. I’m here to say, ‘No more,’ to living under the shadows; ‘no’ to taxing our labor on one hand and deporting our loved ones with the other; ‘no’ to denying us access to higher education resources and equal protection under the law.
“No to House Bill 11, a bill that would deny equal access to higher education. So here we are, immigrants and non-immigrants alike, hand in hand, shoulder to shoulder fighting together for justice. And I’m here to say, I’m tired of being treated like a second-class citizen!
“We’re all North Carolinians and we’re here to stay! My name is Loida Ginocchio-Silva; I’m undocumented and unafraid, undocumented and unashamed.”
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