Mid-City CAN was excited to join San Diego Mesa College on February 5, 2025 for an inspiring Black History Month celebration honoring Rosa Parks! Lupe and Karely from the Improving Transportation in City Heights (ITCH) team participated in the Silent March to pay tribute to Parks' enduring legacy.

The event was made even more special when it was announced that the City of San Diego has proclaimed February 4 as Rosa Parks Transit Equity Day. This proclamation was presented during the celebration and we’re grateful to the councilmembers for making it happen.

Our Transportation Justice Organizer Lupe was honored to speak at the event. Below is a transcript of her speech:

Hello everyone,  

My name is Guadalupe and I am a community organizer with Mid-City CAN. It is an absolute honor to be here celebrating with you all the life of Rosa Parks – who also left her mark at Rosa Parks Elementary in City Heights.

As a transportation advocate, I have had the opportunity to see the challenges and the inequalities that community members continue to see with the current public transportation system.

Growing up, I took transportation for granted, until I had to get to my college campus on my own.

I still remember how difficult it was having to collect 10 quarters every night to pay for my bus fares to get to school and back home – the following day.

Twelve years ago, I wished I could ride the bus for free, but I didn’t know how to do so or if such a wish was even possible.

Little did I know that 112 miles away, a group of community members including parents, grandparents, and youth were advocating for the Youth Opportunity Pass program (YOP for short) – a program that would allow all youth 18 and under, in the county to ride public transportation at no cost.  

It took a little over a decade for YOP to become a reality, but our community advocates never gave up. They saw value in the program and their community.

Like one of our community advocates, Briseyda Cisneros said, “We want our children to go to schools of their choice. To have access to better opportunities, so that they can go to college and have decent jobs. We want to see them thrive.”  

For the past three years YOP has helped close the achievement gap by getting more youth to school, work, and other early career opportunities – and not just that but it has expanded their horizons by giving them access to more activities and places they had never gone to before.  

Transportation should not be an impediment, but a basic right.  

It makes me happy to know that Mid-City CAN is not alone in this. That there are other advocates and communities who wish to see a transit system that is the BEST way to get around in San Diego that is efficient, transparent, accessible, affordable, and safe, especially for low-income communities and communities of color.  

We should all be able to get to our jobs, school, any destination SAFELY, regardless of our race, legal, and socioeconomic status.  

We are now living some difficult times.

People are now living in fear – unable to practice their daily activities or express themselves as they want.

That is why I am happy to be in solidarity with you all today.

Not just to elevate transportation justice, but to continue to recognize and celebrate Black History Month – even when those at the federal level are refusing to do so.

We are all worthy of greatness. Of being recognized for our struggles.

So let’s continue to be courageous and combat the challenges that are to come.

I am happy to be in community with you all.

Thank you all for your time.

View photos from the celebration by clicking here.