In the last couple of years, some friends and some family members have asked me to act my age.
They suggest that I tone down my human rights activity and travels; especially my work with immigrant shelters along the border with Mexico, which involves a lot of travel by auto and, most of the time, by myself.

And yes, I have had serious auto issues on the road, including the ruin of the motor of my van in Mexico, where there is no Triple AAA auto service. But knowing I can drive and be on the open road, helping activists and encouraging others to do more and do it better, fills my heart with joy.

There are many older citizens in our communities who have a lot to offer our cities and country. After all, they have survived some truly amazing times and, in most cases, can offer good and solid advice.

I don’t golf or fish or do long walks or other such wonderful activities as some older individuals do. And then there are those who are able to travel now in ways they couldn’t while raising their families or pursuing their careers. And I am glad that they are doing what they want to do. But for many out there, they want and need to be involved. There is a great pool of people who are resources for our communities and who can do work either half or full time, often from their homes.

Some of them are close to the President’s age or beyond. For example, María García, a Purépecha woman married to a Tohono O’odham man, is 95 and is the founder of La Indita restaurant in Tucson and of the Himdag Ki School in Magdalena, Mexico. Dolores Huerta, co-founder of the United Farm Workers Union along with César Chávez and founder of the amazing Dolores Huerta Foundation, is also 95. María Boswell, 90, of Santa Maria, California, continues to push for human rights and is a strong voice for immigrant rights. There is also Sister Helen Prejean, 86 years old, author of Dead Man Walking, who continues to work to abolish the death penalty. I mention these women since too often people forget about the voices of women.

Many of our friends live in assisted communities where they often welcome involvement in political campaigns and in learning more about the world we are trying to save.

When people urge citizens of an older age to act their age, they are asking them to be quiet and fade into the dark shadows of society. They want to bury us above ground years before our death, putting us out to pasture like an old racehorse or into an assisted living home where we will not be a nuisance. And we also do this to folks with serious disabilities—we bury them above ground when they still have so much to offer.

Many of us had been critical of people who were older until one day we woke up and had a hard look at the mirror. And we saw someone who looked a bit like us, but much older.

Our Congress and state houses are filled with too many men and women whose long lives and political ambitions have helped them stay elected, even though many of their ideas are still filled with fear of the future and hold on to racist and sexist attitudes. We are lucky that among these older elected officials, there are people who remember that we have a Constitution and a rule of law, and who do not fear new Americans.

As a child born to immigrant parents, I did not realize how much they had suffered to keep us alive and how much knowledge they had to offer until I learned to speak in their first language.

There are amazing individuals living close to us whom we should meet and perhaps, in the process, learn something about ourselves by listening to them.

We must stop burying good people above the ground when they have so much to offer.