Zulmalee Rivera
Zulmalee’s passion for social justice was ignited when she moved back home with her parents after separating from her daughter’s father.” I would go back to the parks, where I grew up, and they were in horrible conditions.” She wanted her daughter to go to the same school that raised her, but many of the programs no longer existed. In coming back to her neighborhood, she realized there was no one really stepping up to speak for our communities- “this falls on our hands now.”
What do you envision for Springfield?
Zulmalee envisions a community that will be involved in the decisions made about their lives that directly impact them on a day-to-day basis. "...because if our representatives don't have people actually holding them accountable, not just calling them out, but calling them in, then we're just gonna keep continuing this cycle that's never worked for us. There are many gaps from food insecurity, to transportation, to the school-to-prison pipeline. The school system is just out there providing education that, to some degree, is not all going to be useful when kids graduate. In the city of Springfield, the people just want to live, the opportunity to provide a safe home for their families, be able to provide for themselves, and that can manifest in many different ways."
What advice would you give to others who want to start getting involved?
"Start making those connections with the things that you all are going through, and keep having those conversations. And that could be made through community gatherings, a meeting. Create a platform. All it takes is really two, maybe three people to start organizing and learning how to do it. I wouldn't go straight to the politicians, because the truth is, they don't know all the issues in our community. I truly believe that we are the ones to save ourselves. And we can only do that by having those conversations about what we're experiencing."
What issues concern you the most?
"My main concerns are related to housing, our education system, how we will get along so that we can move forward together while understanding that we are all different. We all have value and bring something to the table. I'm concerned about the future of our youth, the elderly, and the disabled. I feel they're being left behind. I'm also concerned about single parent families as well as the working class."
How do you stay involved in advocating even when life is already full of challenges?
“You need find to that balance, and as you continue learning and having these deep conversations, you become clearer on the spaces are that you need to be in. There are times when you can get overwhelmed in some of these spaces because you want to learn about intersections and how they all connect. It's all in the learning process. Once you keep having the conversations and people around you question your decisions without there being any friction, you start to get clearer on who it is you want to be, where it is that you want to go, and what it is that you need to do."