Fabiola Gonzalez: Transforming Santa Barbara from Within the Bubble

Image courtesy of Just Communities website

Michelle Pantoja

March 3, 2019

Though I had only worked with her briefly for about a month, this was the first time I had directly seen the impact she had impact in the community. As I looked around me, I saw hundreds of community members commending her, teary-eyed and full of pride. Fabiola Gonzalez walked gracefully yet powerfully across the large stage to claim her award, carefully taking each step. I saw the way she struck hope and inspiration in them, simply by standing at the podium, about to give a thank you speech. I had been invited to a Social Equity Summit put on by Just Communities, a local nonprofit. This summit included activists, nonprofit leaders, community members, and parents in one collective space to learn about different social issues and understand each other’s differences. After lunch and a keynote speaker, Fabiola became recognized by her community and prestigiously awarded The Amy Van Meter Courageous Conversations Award, in honor of her continuous achievements in the community of Santa Barbara. It was at this moment that I became increasingly interested in her work and decided to get to know more about her.

As an intern at Just Communities, I had been to the office in downtown Santa Barbara many times before, but something in the air felt different this afternoon. The office was still as I walked in and it seemed as though she was the only one in the office, working diligently and productively. After last seeing her in a large ballroom being applauded by an audience of supportive community members, the contrast was stark as I walked into the small, silent office. However, her energy still radiated throughout both spaces. I found Gonzalez designing a flyer for an upcoming community event that Just Communities was going to be hosting. Just Communities is a local nonprofit in Santa Barbara that focuses on dismantling all forms of oppression through their inclusive community programs and forums. Gonzalez currently works as the organization’s Development and Communications Specialist, distributing information about the nonprofit and working with donors and other community members as just some of her duties.

However, Gonzalez’s work stretches far beyond the four walls of her office at Just Communities. Gonzalez wears multiple hats in her community and while she works at this local nonprofit, she simultaneously works in other areas of her community. A prominent example of her multilayered work is the movement for the establishment of an ethnic studies requirement in schools, a ground-breaking standard that has the impact to substantially change students’ lives. As the founder of the Ethnic Studies Now movement in Santa Barbara, Gonzalez organized and mobilized members of her community to make an enormous change and impact for future generations. Since 2015, she has held community meetings and presentations, met with school district members, and created a strong and resilient coalition that has been fighting to create a new and necessary standard in public education. Ethnic studies is defined as the study of cultures, histories, and identities of different communities of color within and beyond the United States. According to the Ethnic Studies Now! website, “California has one of the largest and most diverse student populations in the nation. Ethnic minorities account for over 71 percent of the student population, with more than 90 languages spoken in District schools,” demonstrating the need for ethnic studies courses.

However, this inspiring movement did not come to life easily. Challenges within and outside of the coalition arose, such as divisive group dynamics and personal family issues. During the height of the movement, Gonzalez was commuting back and forth from UCLA, studying as a full-time student, and organizing a monumental movement in her hometown of Santa Barbara. Despite these challenges and downfalls, the community she had brought together has stuck by her side and supported her and one another through it all. Through perseverance and strength, the group has been able to accomplish a great feat for a small town. When speaking to her, her demeanor is very calm and welcoming, unlike the common image of a loud, revolutionary activist most think of when they hear the phrase “activist,” or “leader.” While Gonzalez now exudes natural leadership, she was not always the most outspoken one in a room.

Growing into Leadership

Gonzalez was born and raised in Santa Barbara by her parents who immigrated from Mexico. As we talked, she reminisced on growing up in this calm, small beach town. Gonzalez remembers being very conscious of feeling like she was in a bubble while living in Santa Barbara, feeling removed and apart from things that were going on outside of the oasis of the central coast. Because of this exclusion from “real-life” situations going on in the world, Gonzalez felt that her community and herself did not belong in activism or in those types of situations. At just Communities, there is a “mirrors and windows” concept that is explained many times at different presentations when explaining oppression and exclusion. With windows, individuals simply look out and see the world, but do not see themselves reflected. They feel like outsiders and do not feel apart of their own communities. Through mirrors, individuals are able to see themselves reflected back in the world and feel represented and included. Gonzalez felt like most of her childhood was like a window experience—whether it was in textbooks or simply being in Santa Barbara—and felt that she was often looking out into the world and not necessarily seeing herself being reflected.

As a reserved student, she flew through school, learning the rules of the game (called public education), just to pass and succeed. She recalls sitting in advanced placement classes, feeling out of place because no one in the room looked or spoke like her, and thinking this feeling of exclusion and discomfort was normal. She remembered thinking this was just the way things were and she just had to accept it to get through school. It was not until her older sister forced her to finally turn in an application to a summer leadership camp that she had found crumpled up at the bottom of Gonzalez’s backpack in the 8th grade that allowed her to step outside of this confined window. As she first entered at the campsite of the Future Leaders of America summer summit, she was instantly stunned. Expecting the camp to be surrounded by white students, she looked around and saw herself surrounded by people who actually looked like her. She was accompanied by brown students that looked and talked like her and came from her background that she could relate to. This was the first time she had seen a mirror in her education. It was at this camp that she began to unlearn her association to the word “leader.” Being a leader did not have to be synonymous with a white, male figure, as we see often in the news and in our textbooks. A leader could be anyone from anywhere, even a brown, Latina woman that looked like her.

After graduating high school, Gonzalez began taking classes at Santa Barbara City College (SBCC). As she took a seat in her first Chicano/a Studies class at SBCC, her heart nearly exploded, and an enormous smile stretched across her face. As the professor began to introduce the topics the class would cover in the syllabus, Gonzalez’s mind raced in a million directions. She could not believe that she was finally learning about her own culture, history, identity. She was in disbelief that material like this even existed. For her culture, history, and identity to be presented in an academic setting was earth-shattering. Almost immediately after, Gonzalez was overtaken by a sudden wave of anger. This anger stemmed from the realization that it had taken 19 years for her to be exposed to this type of education. She instantly thought of her brother, who had been pushed out of high school by the lack of support and engagement. If he had taken a class like this, she explains, he would have actually been interested to learn and stayed in school. If students are interested in the education they are learning, they will succeed. She began to think of the impact a class like this in high school would have made in his life, and how many other students’ lives it would significantly transform.

Image courtesy of Ethnic Studies Now SBUSD Facebook

It was this realization that sparked her passion in reforming the education system. She never believed that something like this could happen in a place like Santa Barbara. She searched for any slight whisper of a mention of an ethnic studies movement in the community, desperately waiting for the words to even be said. But finally, she realized she had to be the one to act. Gonzalez began by sending an email blast to community members she had known in her years of living in Santa Barbara—past teachers, fellow peers, neighbors, or anyone else she thought might have been slightly interested. She recalls, “I emailed them saying, ‘Hey there’s this coalition for ethnic studies meeting in Santa Barbara, come join!’ when the organization didn’t even exist yet. But I knew people wouldn’t show up if I had said ‘Hey, so I’m thinking of starting this thing...’ because people are interested in already established things.” To her surprise, around 40 community members showed up to the very first meeting in 2015 and has never slowed down since.

La Comunidad

Without having to explicitly tell me herself, I could see that community holds a very strong connection to Gonzalez. Through her triumphs and downfalls, her community has always been there to support her. Last week, I was able to see the bonds Gonzalez has to her community firsthand. I was invited to attend a Just Communities event in Santa Maria. As soon as we arrived to the event, I witnessed her warm, welcoming presence in the community as she hugged and greeted familiar community members, caringly talking to a 6-month old in her mother’s arms. Everyone knew her, and if they didn’t, they probably would by the end of the night. As she descriptively explained her organization’s missions to reporters and lesson plans to young children and their parents throughout the night, her confidence and positivity filled the room.

Maintaining a balanced group dynamic was one unexpected challenge that Gonzalez did not expect to come across. The ethnic studies coalition is an intergenerational group of members of all ages, races, genders, and more. Consequently, the group does not always get along perfectly. Gonzalez witnessed youth being silenced by the adults in the room, men speaking over others, and women having to do all of the work. She saw these divisions within the same room and was instantly reminded of all the past movements she had learned about in class, specifically the Chicano Movement in the late 1960s. Everyone looked towards Gonzalez to take action and alleviate the group’s tensions. Using what she had learned in her ethnic studies classes of movements like this one, she was able to refocus the group and empower them even further. Through building a horizontal leadership, where not one person has more power than the other, communication and understanding were able to grow more freely and comfortably in this space.

Gonzalez remembers struggling with how to build leadership, resorting to creating a post on Facebook asking “How do I build leadership?” She soon realized there was not a clear answer for this and ended up seeing leadership form during one of her hardest hardships. Even through personal challenges, her community has always had her back. Unfortunately, her father became diagnosed with cancer and passed away at the height of the movement, just as they were gaining the most momentum. With meetings of over 40 people being held, back and forth decisions between school boards, and commuting from Los Angeles, Gonzalez was under a lot of pressure. After keeping this news to herself, she finally decided to share it with her coalition and ask for extra help with tasks she had overseen. “It was hard because I’ve never lost anybody that close,” Gonzalez explains, “but also beautiful because I saw that when unexpected things happen, it’s what people need in order to step up. And maybe that’s part of the lesson. Maybe that needed to happen for leadership to grow.” She continues, “People either sink or swim, and our community swam. We’ve been swimming.”

Image courtesy of Ethnic Studies Now SBUSD Facebook

How to Survive in a Time of Hate

Though maybe not an environmentalist activist, Gonzalez does choose to conserve a type of energy—her own. Many people only see the glamorized, public side of activists and applaud their selflessness as they achieve huge changes in society. But not many know about how draining it is to fight against injustices and hate. In order to keep from burning out, Gonzalez tries to protect her positive energy as much as possible. Though working for her community, Gonzalez prioritizes her health and energy, and knows she must conserve it in order to keep her sanity and health. She knows it is not necessary, or healthy, to fight every single opposing force. She is aware that there are many people who oppose movements like this and do not understand its importance, but does not like wasting her time with people that are not willing to listen to different viewpoints. It is painful to do this work, so she ensures that she keeps herself as healthy and powerful as possible. Gonzalez explains, “There’s enough negativity in the world, I’m not going to get sucked into that.”

Instead of draining her energy, she focuses on growing and planting seeds within her community. By creating spaces for people of color to exist, organizing women’s circles, and leading programs to empower youth, she lovingly plants seeds of resilience, empowerment, and hope. She believes it is easy to become hopeless, especially in the world we live in. She explains, “I don’t think I’m ever going to win if I’m always trying to combat peoples mind.” Gonzalez chooses to better herself so that she can continue to use her energy and wisdom to be a mentor, leader, and activist, and continue to make change. “I’m doing all this with my heart because I care about it, no one’s paying me for it,” Gonzalez explains, “it’s been three years of my life, and it’s still going.” Not only is she creating revolutionary district-wide, changes that are visible to the public eye, but Gonzalez is changing the way youth view themselves, empowering other people of color, and supporting the community in order to give them to tools to survive and succeed.

The Need for Education Reform

Image courtesy of Ethnic Studies Now SBUSD Facebook

In November 2018, the Ethnic Studies Now Coalition’s hard work had finally paid off. With the help of her community now-turned family, the legislation was passed in Santa Barbara, requiring all high school students in the district to take at least one ethnic studies course in order to graduate. This standard has set a precedent in California and will continue to influence countless school districts in the nation to transform their curriculum.

The need for an educational curricula reform is as urgent now more than ever. Students from all different backgrounds are hungry to learn this new information that encompasses their neighbors and the evolving world around them. They are eager to consume this knowledge that takes them from out of their bubble and step outside of that window they’ve been daydreaming and staring out of for too many years. As young students make up a large portion of the Ethnic Studies Coalition in Santa Barbara, this demographic of support is also shown throughout the United States. Referencing Christine Sleeter’s work, Gonzalez explains how both students of color and white students benefit from this culturally relevant material. However, she argues that white students specifically benefit more from this. The push for an inclusive education does not lead to a unilateral impact but impacts all communities. This material is teaching people how to think, how to ask questions, how to challenge systems and ideas in a way that allow for growth and knowledge. She actually sees these differences at her movements, as lightbulbs visibly go off in white students’ heads and they get fired up because these injustices are not right. Students actively want to make a change and be allies to support their peers of color.

This inclusive education also impacts students of color, as they get to see historic figures that look like them and read about their ancestors. Although they may have their language, culture, and practices rooted in their identities from their homelife, learning about it at an academic institution is powerful and symbolic. This makes their experiences and cultures feel more validated and worthier, especially in a society that tends to reject different identities. Without the connection of the students’ home and school lives, their knowledge of their culture seems useless, as they are not using it in an academic setting. It becomes very easy to not see this knowledge as a benefit or strength or even meaningful. This generational knowledge is crucial for students to learn now and pass on, and we need to be intentional about this inclusion in academia, Gonzalez explains.

Boldly Moving Forward

Gonzalez believes that in order to continue progressing, we should not rely on government to start educational campaigns or pass bills on their own. Rather than waiting for something to simply happen, we must mobilize and begin advocating for the changes we wish to see. Transformational changes are dependent on individuals and communities uniting and mobilizing.

She continues to explain that although the spread and implementation of ethnic studies is important, what matters most is the quality and pedagogy of this education. It is necessary to have financial and social support for the training of staff, new curricula and textbooks, the hiring of teachers, and the necessary living wage for teachers. It may be one thing to pass legislation, but if there is no money attached, nothing will change. For there to be fundamental change, the government must make education a priority and adequately fund schools rather than taking away from the already scare amount of money they receive. Gonzalez further explains that teachers need to be supported in order to support students. We can support the students all we want, but if no one is supporting the teachers, it will really affect the quality of curriculum and development. It is more important to have the education be of quality, rather than simply being existent, so that it can be sustainable and continue to expand.

By organizing and forming coalitions, support groups, and movements, governments will be woken up to the reality that is the failing education system they are not funding. Gonzalez explains that there’s a million problems in the world, and often times people are just waiting for someone to say “Hey, we should do this,” or “Hey we’re doing this.” She says, “All it took was one email blast for me.” Gonzalez’s final piece of advice—"Don’t be afraid to be that person. We need to be that person, because people are just always ready.”

References

Communities, Just. About Us. n.d. <https://www.just-communities.org/about_us>.

Now!, Ethnic Studies. AB 331 Petition. n.d. <http://www.ethnicstudiesnow.com/ab331>.

SBUSD, Ethnic Studies Now. n.d. <https://www.facebook.com/EthnicStudiesNowSBUSD/>.