Alonso Zaragoza

Mr.Alonso Zaragoza talking to Kelvyn Park students about his work in the community

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

Not every hero has a costume, a cape or cool powers. But someone can simply see a person as a hero because of the things they do in their community, how the person strives to make a change for everybody’s own benefit, and also, they don't do these things because they have to, but they just do it for the better because they think people everywhere deserve better. Mr. Alonso Zaragoza is a great hero in the community of Logan Square; not only is he a librarian, but he is also a dedicated fighter to CPS schools and little by little he tries to make the future brighter for the youth of our country by trying to get them involved, fighting for better rights for poor public schools, and trying to leave things in a good spot so when the future comes, our youth can have a head start on creating a brighter future.

Everyone has their own opinion on a hero. According to Mr. Zaragoza to him, a hero is “somebody who does something to make a difference, that doesn't have to do it.” Mr. Zaragoza says the work he does isn't work because of the fact that he enjoys doing the things he does for multiple reasons. Some reasons are because he gets to meet new people and gets to sit in on very important conversations and decisions made for CPS schools. Mr. Zaragoza takes part in community “get togethers/meetings” so his community can work on making their community a safe and friendly environment. According to Mr. Zaragoza, one of the people he finds to be a hero would be Deborah McCoy from LSNA. “She’s showing she cares. She goes down to places and takes pictures to document it and people see, and they want to be apart of it, she’s giving people the opportunity to be involved.” I agree with Mr. Zaragoza. People do often get inspired from other “Heroes” when they display their hard work all over the social media around the world. Who said you needed a cape to soar high?

Being a source of inspiration can make many want to get involved. Everyone has someone who inspires them, it can be a family member, a best friend, even a teacher, or a librarian... Mr. Zaragoza says, “I'm inspired by a lot of things.” Mr. Zaragoza likes the development he sees going on in his community as well in others peoples’ communities. He says that he likes the support of teachers, parents, and students going out and supporting the fighting causes for the equalities of CPS schools. He also mentioned that he loved the involvement and commitment from the CPS teachers during the 2012 CPS teacher strike. He mentioned Mr. Skinner specifically because of the remarkable picture that was taken of him being arrested for showing support and fighting for the betterness that CPS schools deserve. But every great hero comes from somewhere.

Mr. Zaragoza is a librarian in the Logan Square community but he is not just a bookworm but he is also apart of the Local School Councils. Mr. Zaragoza says, “I don't call it work because its not like I'm getting paid for it, this is fun, I meet a lot of people and make changes. I love it, its fun.” You can see the devotion in his eyes and posture when this was said. Mr. Zaragoza is also the chair of the LSC, and he and the rest of the staff get together and try to fix or solve the problems in the community and the schools. Mr. Zaragoza said this all started when he was a young boy growing up in the Black Hawk Park neighborhood when the Aldermen decided to come and take down the basketball rims. This had an affect on all of the kids in the Black Hawk neighborhood, including Mr. Zaragoza, so he decided to do something about it. In his later years, he started joining organizations to help develop things that will help the community. Moreover, the things he was trying to bring up were for the youth. He says, “Once those rims whent down, the populations of gangs had an increase.” Mr. Zaragoza is trying to get the youth more involved with these meetings that way we as the future can start making changes as of now so when we get there, we are one step closer to our goals and making new changes for the upcoming youth.

Being apart of the LSC, Mr. Zaragoza plays a big role. “I wish we can do more, if we had more, we can be able to do more obviously.” Mr. Zaragoza talks about how the LSC has done so much work for the past 12 years that the biggest success they have had so far was getting all the Latino families documented and letting them know their rights so they have a better understanding of their community. Mr. Zaragoza asked if any of us have heard about student government and what it was about. Having the youth stand up now and getting involved is one step more powerful and one step more closer to the equalities for CPS schools and the development of our communities from all over the city.

When you walk through your neighborhood, always remember, the telemarketer can be fighting for the rights of African Americans, the ice cream man can be a local school council representative fighting for better funding for CPS schools, or even, your own librarian can be fighting to help make the place we live in much better for not only themselves, but for us, having a seat on the LSC to help our schools and students that deserve better. And maybe, just maybe, in their brief case, they might have a super hero costume.

Being able to have the opportunity to interview Mr. Zaragoza, he has opened my eyes even more to the issue of the inequalities of Chicago Public Schools. He also opened my eyes to see that the voice of youths can make a difference when it comes down to the changing of our schools. I have learned a lot from this man and the work he has done. He is a man of devotion and creativity for the lives and safety of the future that is waiting for us. And if you don't see him as a hero, you might want to look past the cape, costume, and cool super powers.