Message from the Executive Director

In the past four and one- half years in this job I have been an enthusiastic student. I have learned a lot about immigration law, income taxes, and many other new things for me; I have observed the spirit of perseverance and optimism of individuals in daily life; and I have come to value a daily time of silence and meditation.

I want to share with you a passage that has held a deep significance for me in the last few months.

" To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness. What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times…when people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction. And if we do act, even in a small way, we don't have to wait for some utopian future….To live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is in itself a marvelous victory."- Howard Zinn