Ernesto Rocha
Community Coalition For Substance Abuse Prevention And Treatment
Los Angeles, CA
Ernesto Rocha (undocubae) is an organizer, storyteller, transformational coach, TEDx speaker, and presenter. He currently serves as the Director of Membership at Community Coalition, a non-profit organization dedicated to help transform the social and economic conditions in South LA that foster addiction, crime, violence and poverty by building a permanent institution that involves thousands to create influence and change public policy. Ernesto uses the power of story to explore identity formation as a process of personal empowerment and liberation. He is a sought-after speaker at universities and conferences serving as keynote speaker and performer. His stories have reached notable platforms including TEDx, Jubilee Media and KPCC’s Unheard LA. His most recent venture was co-creating “Loose Accents”, an original podcast that celebrates the brilliance and struggle of growing up undocumented in the United States. He is a graduate of UCLA with a Bachelors in Political Science and Chicana/o Studies.
What does it mean to you to be a social justice leader?
Being a social justice leader means that I am an observer of the emergent conditions in our communities and a predictor of what is to come. I must have a good handle on history while at the same time work day-in and day-out to manifest the visions of our future. As a leader, my role is to learn from the wisdom of the communities I serve. I am in service to their lived experiences; I am a translator of their dreams and hopes. I help to concretize their hopes in strategic, tangible campaigns that provide guided paths towards achieving more justice, more equity and liberation. At times this process produces monumental change, but more often than not the change we create is small; but that depends on who’s measuring. To a monolingual-Spanish speaker mother of 4, the act of speaking up at an LA City Council meeting about police brutality, can seem impossible. This is a small act in the long arc towards justice, but not to this mother. This is an awesome act. Silvia will always remember the time she stood in front of city council to share her son’s story. She will always remember coming to the small, black microphone and with strong conviction saying, “Ramon esta presente, Ramon is here” . She lifted the name of her slain son to the chamber. She will remember the faces of the council members who listened to her intently, just as she will remember those who looked away. She will remember her sweaty palms that held on to the wooden podium as she spoke. She will remember the timbre and shrill of her voice. This is power, this is empowerment. Silvia can always count on this one moment to offer her courage in times she doubts herself. This, after all, is just one moment. My role as a social justice leader is to multiply and magnify this type of experience a thousand more times, and then some. Just like Silvia, there are other women, men and youth waiting to discover their power. I can only hope to have a small role in their discovery. I am a leader because Silvia is one too.