Dear South Central LAMP Community,
June marks one year since ICE began targeting immigrant communities, particularly the Latine community.
June also marks a year of South Central LAMP and our community partners implementing additional support systems to help our families navigate these challenging times.
June marks a year of building new friendships, forging new alliances, and welcoming new supporters to our shared cause of social justice.
And June marks the end of an era of sorts. Sr. Cathy Garcia, RSHM, has retired from South Central LAMP after 19 years of dedicated service to this mission.
As we celebrated her contributions and lasting impact last week, we also had the opportunity to learn a little more about the birth of South Central LAMP. Sr. Cathy shared the reasons this organization was founded by the eight congregations of sisters: to serve a marginalized community where social justice was desperately needed. Today, given all that is happening in the world, that need is greater than ever.
Her words made me think more deeply about the work we do and about how long the struggle for social justice has existed in this community and so many others. It reminded me that the sisters, along with all those who came before us, have been planting the seeds of social justice for generations. And now, as our country and our world slowly awaken to the realities of the systems that determine who receives justice and equity and who does not—we are witnessing an expansion of the work they began so many years ago. Because once you see injustice, you cannot unsee it. Once you recognize inequity, it becomes increasingly difficult to disguise it with rhetoric or ignore the truth.
So, as we close out another school year—yet another milestone that June marks—I want to thank everyone who has been on this journey for social justice, not only here at South Central LAMP, but throughout the world. I want to thank those who came before us, who envisioned a better world long before we did. And I want to thank all those who continue to raise awareness, cultivate compassion, and bring light into the world.
Your efforts are moving us forward. It can be difficult to see at times, especially amid all the noise and uncertainty around us, but progress is happening. Every act of courage, every voice raised in solidarity, and every commitment to justice matters.
Together, we continue the work.
The Nobel Prize-winning poet, Rabindranath Tagore, wrote: “The one who plants trees, knowing that he will never sit in their shade, has at least started to understand the meaning of life.”
In gratitude,
Diana Z. Pinto
Executive Director