{"id":5450,"date":"2017-11-07T22:35:39","date_gmt":"2017-11-07T22:35:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cucsj.org\/?p=5450"},"modified":"2017-11-07T22:35:39","modified_gmt":"2017-11-07T22:35:39","slug":"dario-lerma-sustainability-superhero","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cucsj.org\/pt\/2017\/11\/07\/dario-lerma-sustainability-superhero\/","title":{"rendered":"Dario Lerma, Sustainability Superhero"},"content":{"rendered":"
Author: Katherine Cushing<\/span><\/h6>\n

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“For overwhelming numbers of Latinos in the U.S., protecting the environment . . . is a matter of protecting families and the health of loved ones, safeguarding communities\u2019 way of life, and taking responsibility for the future. It\u2019s a matter of safe jobs and neighborhoods. It\u2019s about being true to one\u2019s core values.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

2012 Sierra Club and La Raza focus group analysis<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Dario Lerma is a 69-year old retired, great-grandfather who has lived in San Jose since 1969. Prior to retirement, Dario, a college graduate from San Jos\u00e9 State University<\/a>, was a Santa Clara County employee for 30 years. Telling his personal story, he recounts his humble family background and his agricultural roots. \u201cMy dad was a farm worker. I grew up doing field work\u2014I picked cotton, tomatoes. There wasn\u2019t any Little League\u2014working in the fields was our \u2018summer camp\u2019. When you started back at school in the fall, your knees and hands would be all messed up from working in the fields, from picking tomatoes.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Lerma was the second oldest in a family of 9 children. As he describes it, \u201cWe were a poor Mexican family; everyone was poor in our neighborhood. Everyone shared things. A lot of times, we didn\u2019t pay for things with money. My family paid our barber for haircuts with food.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Bonita-McKinley neighborhood cleanup with Mayor Sam Liccardo (photo credit: @sliccardo<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Franklin-McKinley area of San Jose is a set of neighborhoods characterized by a large Latino population with many working-class first-generation immigrants. Dario and his wife, Ramona, have been strong community leaders \u00a0for over a decade, focusing on a variety of sustainability issues ranging from creek pollution to community education fairs. As leaders, they help organize neighborhood events including litter pickups and CommUniverCity San Jos\u00e9\u2019s annual Safe & Green Halloween fair. Dario estimates that he and his wife have mobilized thousands of volunteers and recruited ten or more people into community leadership positions over the years.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Like many community activists, Dario\u2019s interest in community service began as a general interest in strengthening his neighborhood. He remembers being recruited by a fellow neighborhood leader. Says Lermas, \u201cAbout ten years ago, I asked myself, \u2018What am I going to do now that I\u2019m retired?\u2019 When you stop working, it really opens your eyes to what\u2019s out there. You see what\u2019s happening and wonder why nobody\u2019s doing anything about it. Then you start going to meetings.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

For Dario, an important motivating factor for his activism has been the Latino value of \u2018family first.\u2019 \u201cWithout family, what do you have? Working on all these community issues, we become friends\u2014when you go to their house, you become friends. They bring you food, like a big old bowl of salsa or serrano chiles. Then you do the same for them. Our community members are part of my extended family.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The community needs to know what climate change is and what’s going to happen.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

When asked what\u2019s needed to engage the U.S. Latino community more in sustainability issues, Lerma cites awareness and having Latino mentors in the field as critical pieces of the activation puzzle. \u201cThere\u2019s interest [in sustainability issues], but there needs to be more awareness. I don\u2019t think, in our community, that they are aware of dramatic change that climate change is going to have on their community. There needs to be more awareness and workshops to show people what\u2019s going on. The community needs to know what climate change is and what\u2019s going to happen.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Lerma feels that children are interested in what they\u2019re exposed to and things that affect them personally. \u00a0For example, one time he took a group of neighborhood kids on a trip to a beach in San Francisco. Once there, the kids expressed concerns about ocean pollution and water quality. \u201cWhen we took them to the ocean, some of them didn\u2019t understand why there was so much trash in the ocean. They asked if the fish eat it and how it affects them. For one kid, the crab season got cancelled [due to toxic algae]. She was upset because her dad was going to take her crabbing, but because of the pollution, they couldn\u2019t go.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

It’s not just about picking up litter, it’s about getting the kids to converse back and forth with you.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

As a final piece of advice to aspiring Latino civic leaders, Dario offer the following advice: \u201cIt\u2019s not just about picking up litter, it\u2019s about getting the kids to converse back and forth with you. When they come to a community meeting and see how the process works, it\u2019s going to affect them tremendously. Many of us think \u2018If doesn\u2019t concern me, I don\u2019t want to get involved\u2019. But if we all do nothing, we\u2019re in big trouble. I don\u2019t want my children or my grandkids to be like that. If you can get two or three kids to get a feel for volunteering, and they become involved in environmental issues within their community–it will hook them for life.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Author: Katherine Cushing   “For overwhelming numbers of Latinos in the U.S., protecting the environment . . . is a matter of protecting families and the health of loved ones, 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