Biographies of the Delegates
Top L-R Ardiel Soeker groundWork, Khalida Smalls ACE, Delma Bennett MEAN, Hilton Kelley CIDA Inc., Bottom L-R Ravi Dixit groundWork USA, Jesus Torres CBE, Teresa Almaguer PODER
Khalida Smalls was born and raised in Boston, MA and is a single mother of an energetic eight-year-old son named Ziquelle. She was introduced to the non-profit world in 1996 as an Office Manager for Project Leadership Education & Employment Opportunities (LEEO), a non-profit educational and advocacy organization for young men of color. At age nineteen, Khalida joined the staff of Alternatives for Community & Environment (ACE) in 1997 and has changed roles from Office Director to community Organizer as her levels of skill, experience and commitment to the struggle for equality continued to grow. In 2000, Khalida became the Coordinator of the T Riders Union (TRU). TRU is a grassroots membership organization of MBTA riders fighting for better and equitable transportation service, housed at ACE. Now twenty-six years old, she is seeking a Bachelors of Science Degree in Human Services at Springfield College.
Delma Bennett is a member of Mossville Environmental Action Now (MEAN), a community organization that is working for environmental justice. Mr. Bennett was born in San Francisco, California in 1944, and spent his childhood in San Francisco and in Lake Charles, a city that is adjacent to the Mossville community in southwest Louisiana. Mossville is an unincorporated community in the State of Louisiana, USA that was founded in the 1800’s by African Americans with a vision of creating a place where their children could live and prosper in a safe haven from racial hostility. The natural environment allowed even the poorest families in Mossville to live well by fishing, farming, and hunting. Today, Mossville is a victim of environmental racism. The community is surrounded by a cluster of no less than 14 industrial facilities that include the largest number of vinyl production facilities in the US, a major oil refinery, and a coal-fired power plant. Mr. Bennet owns the African American Gift Shop and a lawn service. He has worked at the Firestone synthetic rubber plant and held jobs as an auto mechanic. He has lived in the Mossville community for many years. Mr. Bennet joined Mossville Environmental Action Now after he learned that Mossville residents have in their bodies high levels of dioxin, a cancer-causing chemical that is released by nearby facilities.
Hilton Kelley is originally from Port Arthur, Texas but lived in California for 22 years, working as an actor. He joined the Navy in 1980, became an electrician and was honorably discharged in 1984. After returning home to visit Port Arthur from California, Hilton was so shocked at the condition of his community, he decided to move back to Port Arthur to do something about it. In 2000, Hilton returned to Port Arthur intent on working to improve the condition of the West Side community, his old neighborhood in Port Arthur. Port Arthur is the home to an oil refinery partly owned by Shell Oil Company, which many residents feel is the source of much of the pollution and the subsequent health problems the community faces. Hilton founded the Community In-power Development Association (CIDA) and became the Southeast Texas Bucket Brigade Coordinator to help address the pressing problem of air pollution in Port Arthur.
Jesus Edgardo Torres was born on May 27, 1972 in Mexico City, Mexico. Jesus and his family moved to the United States in 1978 and now live in Wilmington, California. Jesus graduated from Narbonne High School in 1990 and then attended Harbor College where he received an AA degree in Liberal Arts. He then transferred to California State Polytechnic University at Pomona (Cal Poly Pomona) where he studied Urban and Regional Planning in the School of Environmental Design. While at Cal Poly Pomona, Jesus Torres was the recipient of various awards and scholarships including the National Hispanic Scholarship Fund in 1995 and 1996. He was also a recipient of the first annual Hilda Solis Scholarship Award in 1997 and of the Presidents Future Scholars Scholarship in 1998. Jesus is currently employed at Communities for a Better Environment (CBE-LA CAUSA) where he is a Community Organizer and is working in the communities of Santa Fe Springs, Pico Rivera and El Monte. Recently, Jesus was successful in defeating televangelist Pat Robertson’s efforts in restarting a refinery in a low income minority community. Jesus is also part of an art collective, Xicano Records and Film (XRF). XRF is a collective of artists that aim to raise the social-political consciousness of the indigenous people of this hemisphere and make connections to the similar experiences of oppressed people throughout mother earth. XRF is made up of musicians, theatre groups, graphic designers, photographers, and filmmakers.
Teresa (Tere) Almaguer was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, but her roots are in Lagos de Moreno, Mexico. She has been coordinating the Common Roots youth organizer program for the past three years. In collaboration with the Chinese Progressive Association this program brings together Latino and Chinese youth to develop leadership and community organizing skills to build the People Power needed to attain environmental and economic rights in our San Francisco communities. PODER (People Organizing to Demand Environmental & Economic Rights) is a grassroots, environmental justice organization based in San Francisco‚s Mission District. PODER‚s mission is to organize with Mission residents to work on local solutions to issues facing low income communities and communities of color. PODER believes that the solutions to community problems depend on the active participation of all people in decision-making processes. Improvements to our neighborhood must be made through collective social action to bring about social, economic and environmental justice.
Posted by Ravi at April 30, 2004 04:52 PM