Quotes | Dr. Martin Guevara Urbina

In Search for Meaning

“In the twenty-first century, human minds, and to a lesser extent, human hearts can work like well calibrated precision instruments, but who can write the universal manual on imagination?”
—Martin Guevara Urbina in Latino Access to Higher Education: Ethnic Realities and New Directions for the Twenty-First Century (2016)

“Learning about freedom, for . . . the very essence of human existence, knowledge, as the mind is an element that enables us to shift the winds of luck, re-shape the forces of fate or destiny, and, ultimately, empower us to become free authors of our own lives, for the true art of human expression is the ability to express our dreams, thoughts, and emotions as we feel them or as they come to mind, as we search for universal equality, justice, peace, love, truth, and reality.”
—Martin Guevara Urbina in Twenty-First Century Dynamics of Multiculturalism: Beyond Post-Racial America (2014)

“When the experts’ scientific knowledge is legitimated in terms of being rational, logical, efficient, educated, progressive, modern, and enlightened, what analogies can other segments of society . . . utilize to challenge them?”
—Martin Guevara Urbina in “The Quest and Application of Historical Knowledge in Modern Times” (2003)

“Invariably, knowledge dictates life, liberty, and death, but those who have historically occupied the seats of power not only dictate what is defined as knowledge but also dictate what’s included, what’s excluded, and how it is filtered to society vis-à-vis America’s major institutions . . . particularly the educational system; ultimately, shaping the very essence of life.”
—Martin Guevara Urbina in Latino Access to Higher Education: Ethnic Realities and New Directions for the Twenty-First Century (2016)

“Perhaps more than ever, in a highly globalized world, we must recognize that multiculturalism is not simply understanding ethnic/racial histories or the mere appreciation of cultural “difference,” but accepting that multiculturalism spreads across the very inner core of America’s institutions, and ingrained in the very essence of life, for multicultural perspectives, ideas, and ideologies empower us to elevate the multicultural discourse to a higher level of social transformation—ultimately, universal equality, justice, respect, and human dignity for all, in all facets of human existence.”
—Martin Guevara Urbina in Twenty-First Century Dynamics of Multiculturalism: Beyond Post-Racial America (2014)

“Reflective learning provokes critical thinking, enabling us to pose relevant questions, revealing the profound oceans of ignorance that surround even the most learned scholars in our fields of modern knowledge, invoking us to be active participants in the crusade for equality, representation, and social justice.
—Martin Guevara Urbina in Latino Access to Higher Education: Ethnic Realities and New Directions for the Twenty-First Century (2016)

“Over the years, I’ve discovered that as time goes by, sometimes we are energized and enlighten and sometimes we are demoralized and disheartened to realize that in some situations our beginning is our end and in others our end is our beginning.”
—Martin Guevara Urbina in Mi Vida: Between the Wind and the Rain, I Looked up and Wept (forthcoming)

“I look forward to seeing you in the “jungle” as our warriors meet and join the battle drum that calls for unity in the struggle for breaking the chains of modern slavery—like the butterflies flying the skies and the birds over the seas, all are welcomed for both ear and eye—promises of victory are high, for even if unattainable today, tomorrow still holds the torch and dream, like fire of paradise, glory of life, glory of eternity!”
—Martin Guevara Urbina in Twenty-First Century Dynamics of Multiculturalism: Beyond Post-Racial America (2014)