Hermanos Unidos/Brothers United (HUBU) held its first conference on Oct. 30 at City College with guest keynote speakers Dr. Edward Bush, Vice President of Student Services from Riverside City College and President of MiraCosta College Dr. Francisco Rodriguez.

This event was sponsored by TRIO.

HUBU is dedicated to helping African American and Latino male students succeed by: informing, motivating, and preparing them for success academically and personally.

Guests were welcomed by City’s President Dr. Terrence J. Burgess and San Diego Community College District Chancellor, Constance Carroll.

Following the opening ceremony was a powerful motivational speech by Bush addressing the graduating gap between African American and Latino male students compared to those from other cultures.’

The workshop that Bush ran, “Success and Selling Out,” generalized how people in the communities “that are being held down tend to hold their own down.”

He told the crowd that as a young man he had to deal with others seeing him as a sell out because he wanted to break the cycle and not be another stereotype.

“I’m not selling out, but moving ahead to be successful,” he said. Bush continued his workshop and stressed on how vital and important education is for young people, especially “people battling poverty and working to beat stereotypical cycles.”

Another workshop was “What it is to be a Man,” run by Macedonio Arteaga, education advocate with San Diego City Schools. He stressed on how students can overcome the mental take down of the African and Latin cultures and he also explained how decolonization ripped apart the great civilizations.

“I hope that we remember this conference as the day that Black and Brown started an educational revolution.” Rodriguez said during his closing speech.

The 2009 HUBU Planning Committee’s vision is to hold a conference every year and is working to make each meeting even larger by getting Latino, African American and other students to take part.