“It’s time to create our own reality,” said Michael Reyes as he recited his poem to a crowd Monday night in the Sun Room of the Memorial Union.

Reyes, an artist of many forms and an activist for Latino multiculturalism, spoke in honor of Latino heritage month.

Jesus Rodriguez, president of Sigma Lambda Beta Fraternity and junior in constructional engineering, was excited to honor Latino heritage month with friends but also used the time to network and take his mind off his classwork.

“It’s a stress reliever [for] classes; it’s nice to come out and listen and relax. A lot of the things [Reyes] will be talking about I haven’t heard before,” Rodriguez said before Reyes took the podium.

Reyes said he grew up in an atmosphere of gangs, violence and drug addiction in Michigan before he moved to Chicago where he began his activist work. Reyes attempts to solve problems presented by poverty and racial issues with poetry.

“People sometimes are used to things moving fast, but when you’re an activist, you’re involved in justice [for] the long term fight. It’s a long term struggle,” Reyes said. “For me, there are longer term goals and this is just about planting those seeds of resistance because that’s what’s so important in our communities and campuses.”

Reyes, a self-identified Chicano/Mexicano, tours around the country to talk about Latino issues and history to youth communities. Reyes has been featured on HBO Latino’s “Habla Series,” Latin Nation and the PBS documentary, “Dream Makers.”

Reyes’ poem, “Plant the Seed,” about a hope for equality for all races hit home with Jonathan Avalos, sophomore, pre-business major, who moved to the United States from Mexico just eight years ago.

“We always ask ourselves ‘why are we here?’ and I think we should definitely start planting the seeds,” Avalos said.

Reyes encouraged students to stand up for themselves, their Latino heritage, and to make a difference for social equality.

“There are people out there that are willing to go to prison for you to be here. There are people that have been willing to die for you to be here,” Reyes said. “There are people that have been willing to put themselves out for you to be here, and at every moment we have to think, [to] what point are we willing to struggle to make things better?”