LULAC COUNCIL 4568 CELEBRATES 30 YEARS – PART DOS
- 3 days ago
- 4 min read
By A. Govea
LULAC Council 4568 has reached an important milestone—30 years of service, advocacy, and community leadership. In Part 1, I shared how our Youth Council began and why it became such a necessary part of our mission. What I didn’t mention is that, in many ways, I felt I had no choice but to start it.
Working for the Tarrant County Advocate, I got to know many neighborhood kids. When they saw me picking up my clients for activities—activities that always included a social component—other kids took notice. Soon they were asking if they could join our program too.
The only answer I could give was, “Sorry, you have to be on probation to be in our program.” Most kids shrugged and said, “Too bad.” But the next time they saw me, they asked, “So… how do I get on probation?”
That question hit me hard. I tried to explain that probation was not something they wanted. They looked disappointed, and I began to understand why they were asking. They simply wanted to be part of something—anything—that would get them out of the neighborhood and into new experiences.
That realization became another reason to start the LULAC Youth Council. Telling kids they needed to be on probation to participate was the wrong message. Many had working parents, and during the summer they were desperate for something to do. Without supervision, that can lead to trouble.
Most of these kids had never been outside their inner‑city Fort Worth neighborhood. I’ll never forget taking them to Northeast Mall in North Richland Hills and hearing, “I’ve never seen so many White people in my life!”
Next, I want to share the story I teased earlier—our first out‑of‑town trip, which I jokingly call “The Trip from Hell.”
On the morning of the trip, I was nervous, though I tried to hide it from my wife and the three other adult chaperones. The trip had been my idea, and the others agreed to it because they trusted me.
We had twelve kids—five girls and six or seven boys. Most of the boys were involved in one gang or another. The girls were simply excited to be going out of town, something many had never experienced. Looking back, teenage boys and girls together on a trip may not have been the best idea for our first outing.
Our first stop was Austin. We planned to visit the Capitol and meet with staff from the Austin Youth Advocate Program to learn about their success with local youth. Our kids also had the chance to meet theirs, and overall, it went well.
We had booked hotel rooms for the night before heading to San Antonio for the final leg of our Cinco de Mayo Unity Trip. That evening, we took the kids to see Mi Familia, which had just been released in 1995. As the movie ended, I heard some back‑and‑forth between our kids and another group. I figured we’d get everyone to the van quickly and avoid trouble.
Almost made it.
One of the Austin kids grabbed one of ours, and a fight broke out. Police were called, and one of our boys was taken to the Austin Juvenile Center. A lot happened that night, but eventually the police released him to me.
The next morning, we headed to San Antonio—thankful, humbled, and a little wiser.
We had planned to attend an outdoor Cinco de Mayo event, but after the Austin incident, that plan was canceled. Instead, we visited the offices of the Southwest Voter Project, founded by the late Willie Velásquez. Both kids and adults learned about the organization’s history and its role in empowering Latino voters. They heard firsthand how civic participation can reshape the narrative for our community in Texas.
We visited the Alamo and the River Walk. The only incident came when one of the boys decided it was okay to light a cigarette in the van. For lunch, we stopped at a café known for its chicken‑fried steak. To my surprise, most of the kids had never eaten it—and some had never even heard of it.
We also toured a local historical museum. It was informative, even for the kids, though one of them climbed into an exhibit and nearly got us kicked out.
Our final stop was Fiesta Texas. We knew it would be impossible to keep everyone together, so we gave them check‑in times and meeting points. To our surprise, they all followed the rules, and we ended the day watching fireworks together.
After three long days, we were all relieved to head home. It wasn’t a perfect trip—far from it. But as I listened to the kids laughing and talking about everything they had experienced, I realized we had achieved something important.
When the trip began, the kids were divided—gang‑affiliated kids on one side, non‑gang kids on the other. On the way back, that separation had melted away. They were just kids. Some even asked for more information about what they had learned.
As for the adults, we were wiser. At least one said, “Never again.” But I found myself thinking about what else we could do to keep that goodwill going.
Earlier, I said I wanted to keep this anniversary article to two parts. But I’ve only covered the first year. So next week—Part 3—where I’ll summarize the other twenty‑nine years of LULAC Council 4568.
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