Humbled to Speak the Truth

Daniel "Nane" Alejandrez was the executive director of the National Coalition to End Barrio Warfare in Santa Cruz, California when this interview appeared. Created in 1992, the coalition worked on strategies to heal the Latino community and empower youth to become "Barrio Warriors" in the struggle for positive social change. Nane was co-chair of the Gang Summit, and he was interviewed there by Jim Wallis.

- The Editors

Jim Wallis: We just got out of the prayer circle. How are you feeling about the whole summit?

Nane Alejandrez: We've been up most of the night trying to get everything together. We're feeling tired, but the circle, the peace pipes, and the beautiful people here give you energy--energy that we need to go out and talk to young brothers and sisters about peace.

Wallis: This is really the first major coming together of Latino Americans and African Americans in a significant way. It's a historic event.

Alejandrez: That's how we see it. We've dealt with the same kind of violence as African Americans, so we have a lot in common. That's what made it come together. Our ghettos are hurting, and we need to create some change.

We need to develop new leadership because the traditional leadership has not reached us. It's significant to see brothers and sisters reaching out to people they don't even know, but who have the same pain--to see the respect they have for each other.

Wallis: Some people will be surprised at how spiritual this gathering was. Spiritual transformation and political transformation seemed to go hand in hand.

Alejandrez: The spirituality of this gathering had a lot to to with the presence of our great leader César Chávez, who also was respected in the African-American community. That brought us together.

This is a spiritual movement. We need to heal ourselves. We need to embrace each other. We need to humble ourselves to go out and speak the truth.

Wallis: You've been a humble facilitator during many critical moments in this whole process. What's on your mind when things are tense? How do you keep yourself together in moments like that? A thousand forces and pressures were against this summit occurring. How did you find the strength to keep going with it?

Alejandrez: I have to look real deep...[choking back emotion].... I get by through the spirit of my brothers and my faith. And I learn to shut up and think. I think that's it. Sometimes we get into situations where we have to take a deep breath and look at the situation, because there's a lot of pain out there. Even though we're trying to create peace, when it's not going our way, we sometimes try to be heard.

I have been given this role of speaking for a lot of people, so I have to be very conscious of what I say. I think about what everybody else is trying to come up with. I admire César Chávez's speeches in times of difficulty; he was humble in just saying what he thought.

Wallis: What kind of configuration do you think will emerge from this?

Alejandrez: It's a network, and it's individuals and relationships. There are forces out there that will turn it around, pick at the negative, and send out the wrong message. But many people are represented here, and we'll take the real message back.

Nane Alejandrez was the director of the National Coalition to End Barrio Warfare in Santa Cruz when this interview appeared. Jim Wallis is the editor-in-chief of Sojourners.