This is For the Others
[Music]
so back in the 1960s
there was a song in central america that
was banned
caught in houses in that song
there’s a there’s a lyric that best
describes my speech
how sad my people look
this is for all those others
the outcasts the immigrants the
the ones from ghettos and poor people
this is to try to redefine the way they
we are seen talked about and judged
but first i want to tell you about me
when i was four years old a woman came
from
america and told my sister she was our
mother
now until that day we were raised
believing that the people raising us
were our parents they were really our
grandparents
two years later when our mother took us
away i cried
i knew i was never going to see my
grandparents again
i arrived in new york when i was 6 years
old i’m from central america i’m here
legally
i’m first generation immigrant
now before i go on there’s one thing to
know about my mother
you see she wasn’t home much but there
was a reason
she had two jobs she had two children
she was doing it by herself
you see we don’t have a father we don’t
even know who he is
i started school when i was six years
old i didn’t speak no english
i didn’t even know how to read or write
not even my own name
i was bullied because of who i was i’m
latino
and the way i dressed i had shabby
clothes and pales
shoes it took me about a year to learn
somewhat good english but even then i
was still bullied
i remember an incident i had when i was
nine years old we’re in the fourth grade
we’re doing the pledge of allegiance but
i had my head down i was mumbling
my teacher stopped she came right up to
my face and said
if you don’t know the pledge of
allegiance just stand there quietly i
was shocked
i started crying i started crying
because how embarrassing made me feel
and how angry i got at age nine also
happens to be when i started noticing
gangs
started they were riding up and down my
block joking and playing with each other
they looked like they belonged i didn’t
they were friends i didn’t have any not
even amongst my own latinos
i didn’t even know if i belonged it’s
not that they didn’t want me
that they weren’t there long enough for
me to know they would leave
transfer move because they were going
through the same situations i went
through
being bullied everybody kept moving
everybody but the gangs so what was i
supposed to do
i joined the gang and by age 13
the game was everything to me at 13
i caught my first assault charge because
of my gang
at age 14 because of my gang i was in a
group home
at age 15 and 16 i was in an upstate
juvenile facility because of my gang
and when i went home i went right back
to what i knew
the streets and the gang
and at age 18 i was rearrested
charged with murder and assault and
sentence 21 years to life
i’m 28 years old now ladies and
gentlemen and it took me
to come to prison and realize who your
true friends are because they guide you
in the right path
and they don’t abandon you my gang did
but the reason i’m telling you my story
though
because my story is not a unique one
many go through what i’ve been through
it’s not similar
to worse situations both here in america
and abroad
and hopefully by you hearing my story
i can open up your eyes your minds and
your hearts to these other individuals
these outcasts these young boys and
girls and girls
so we can start redefining their lives
making them better productive members of
society
so before you leave here today i want
you to ponder some questions amongst
yourselves
what can we do to redefine the lives of
these outcasts so we can
reintegrate or learn a new culture here
but more importantly what can we do
to redefine the life of these young men
or
girls stuck behind bars becoming more
violent
because violence is often off he’s known
so he doesn’t end up becoming another me
my name is alexander aguilar home and
i’m hoping
that my story could help everybody
redefine the lives of these other
individuals
thank you