- The Esther Madriz
Diversity Scholars Program,
wow, on one hand it's the program
that it was always created to be.
And on the other hand,
it's a program that's
continually getting better.
And so what drew me in was this idea
of spending a year with students,
traveling with students
and really understanding
how oppression, inequality
and power works.
And what I mean by that is that the bones
that were put in place,
having students do a
class on social problems
and how we actually can work to change
and create a more socially just world.
And by the end of time together,
they're actually able to
take that passion and desire
and put it into practice,
so they know how to organize,
to be a community organizer.
They know how to make change,
both at the small scale, maybe at USF,
maybe at the local level,
we look at San Francisco.
But they also know how to
get involved and get engaged
on big issues that are
impacting the world around us.
One thing that holds all cohorts
at Esther Madriz together
is their passion.
Each student applies to
be a part of this program.
That's, I think, one of the most profound
and exciting things that I see
with students in the program.
- [Student 1] Growing
up was very interesting
because I had to deal with--
- [Student 2] Five of us
in a two bedroom apartment.
- [Student 3] Pretty low-income area,
you really had to adapt
to really survive there
and to thrive there.
- Being a queer person
and living in a community
that is super heteronormative
and super classist
was really difficult for me.
- Don't get into it with the wrong people,
don't look at anybody wrong,
there is low key rules that you knew.
- Immigrant experiences,
a lot of people around me,
I feel like didn't experience so much.
- I feel like EMDS is that transition
from thinking about making
change to actually doing it.
- For me it opened up the idea
of so many different identities.
- [Aundraya] I learned from that program
how to be a leader, how to be thoughtful.
And discovered throughout the program
how I had both oppressive
and oppressed identities.
And just to
question the status quo.
Also
I've never had a class
that talked about hip-hop.
- It was a way that
validated a form of music
that I was interested in and that I liked
and validating that in the academic realm.
- Using something that I enjoy
and something that I'm passionate about
towards making change
and possibly contributing
to the community.
- And so I learned about social issues
and hip-hop as a way to frame,
as a commentary on what
people are experiencing.
- My mom always said that
actions speak louder than words
and this is the perfect way
to transition those words to action.
- Esther was a feminist, was a mother,
was a sister, was a teacher,
was a person who really
worked for social justice.
Esther had two children, one
Carlos, like we call Calique
and another Brigida that we call Tuti.
We grow up in Caracas, Venezuela.
My name is Carmen Madriz.
I am the sister of the Esther Madriz.
When Esther was living in Venezuela
she worked for the Minister of Justice.
And she worked in a women's program
and she always was very concerned
about the rights from women.
She moved to Nashville, Tennessee
and she went to Vanderbilt, the school
and she graduated from a PhD.
When she moved to San Francisco,
she was involved with a group
of some grass root organization,
one working for food for
the poor, also for womens.
She always was very concerned
it's about how people interact,
how different race interact,
how people respect each other.
I think this program, like it's,
I really feel like it's fantastic program,
give the opportunity to
young people to interact
with difference, be more
tolerant, understand each other,
work together, fight
together, enjoy together.
(gentle big band melody)