Kaliris Salas-Ramirez testifies on austerity
Dr. Kaliris Salas-Ramirez testifies about her family's history of public service in Puerto Rico and the impact of austerity measures. She calls for approving the resolutions to end colonization and austerity.
Okay, this is working.
Good afternoon.
My name is Dr.
Kaliri Salas Ramirez, pronouns she, her, ella, daughter of Dr.
Salvador Salas and Dr.
Doris Ramirez, both professors at the University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez campus.
I was born, raised, and educated on the island of Puerto Rico and came to New York City in December of 2007 and have devoted the last 16 years of my life
to racial and educational equity here in the most segregated education system in the country.
I do that because I lived on an island that was consistently told to come to America to live the dream.
I lived on an island where we all had to work really hard, and my sister devoted 23 years of her life to the public electrical company.
Every single person in my family has devoted their blood, sweat, and tears to education in Puerto Rico.
My cousin being a special education teacher.
My aunt devoting her life to Head Start.
My other aunt devoting her life to being a high school counselor.
My uncle being the mayor of San Sebastian, Puerto Rico, El Honorable Silverio Lello Salas.
My father, as Secretary of Natural Resources of the island of Puerto Rico, truly the first academician to be a political...
in Puerto Rico as Secretary of Natural Resources under Sila Calderón.
We have for a long time, the Salas family, has devoted their life to public service of Puerto Rico because of the austerity measures that exist in the corrupt
government that has been consistently perpetuating white supremacy on the island.
We have consistently have to be without allowing people like Julia Callagher to come and close half of our public schools in Puerto Rico and in turn allowing for charter schools to come and privatize public education.
Allowing the fiscal control board to close multiple...
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Resources towards the university system that has allowed my family to move in social mobility.
And so I wanted to come here today to be really personal about this.
Nobody was planning to stay here.
I was funded by the University of Puerto Rico to get my doctorate and come back.
To serve as an educator, and I have not been able to.
In order to be able to move our island forward, these resolutions have to be approved, and we must stand with our fellow Puerto Ricans, and we must end these austerity measures and this colonization that we are existing in,
both on the island and here.
Que viva Puerto Rico libre.