The Changing Face of Power

Claudia Alarco Alarco

• Publisher: New Degree Press
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9781636760865
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Scienze sociali
• Subtopic: Studi ispano-americani

The Changing Face of Power explores the power, influence, and visibility of the new generation of Latinx leaders and their profound impact on the trajectory of the United States. It examines the contributions of Millennial and Generation Z Latinx leaders to our collective future.

Claudia Alarco Alarco focuses on education, voice, and action in her in-depth interviews with Latinx trendsetters and leaders who have overcome obstacles in their lifetimes and who have used these moments to spur change in their communities and beyond. She opens the door for a conversation that confronts bias and anti-Blackness within the Latinx community and highlights the new generation of Latinx leaders at the forefront of combatting these divisions as they form a more inclusive, progressive identity.

Claudia Alarco Alarco's voice and capacity to share her interviewees' experiences is relatable, impactful, and motivational. The Changing Face of Power marks the beginning of a conversation about the undeniable power and influence that young, dynamic Latinx leaders hold in American society today and for the many years to come.

Part 1

Education

“I don’t give advice to Millennials and Gen Z Latinos, I get advice from them.”

- Antonio Tijerino, CEO of the Hispanic Heritage Foundation

Chapter 1

Marisol Samayoa

In 2010, in the midst of a deep nationwide recession, in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Boyle Heights, Marisol Samayoa embarked on a journey that led her to an unthinkable and unimaginable path toward change.

When I first spoke to Marisol in March 2020, I instantly felt that this person would be different than anyone else I interviewed. She had just finished serving as Deputy National Press Secretary for Pete Buttigieg’s presidential campaign and there was just something about her. Her story made me feel so grateful to have had the pleasure of coming across her and made me feel so immeasurably excited to have a vessel to share her story.

I had never met Marisol before, but we did have a few mutual friends. She was warm and generous: made me feel welcome, which was something that up until that point no one had really transmitted so effectively the way that Marisol did.

I was, after all, a complete stranger to all of the people whose stories you see showcased in this book. And I made that decision purposefully. I trusted that this book would lead me to the people that I was truly meant to meet.

I still remember the jitters that I would feel when I looked at the clock and knew that it was time to physically pick up the phone and conduct an interview. I was so subtly and radiantly jumping straight out of my comfort zone. In the beginning, I had no idea what to expect. Here I was, a complete stranger who had come across their work and their story and had reached out to them to be a part of this. They didn’t know who I was, where I came from, or how deeply I felt about this book. Yet, they agreed to hop on the phone with me and share a piece of themselves, share a piece of their story—even amid the COVID-19 global pandemic. That, to me, was and will forever be the most sacred gift I’ve received on this journey.

As I carefully listened to Marisol share her story with me, I felt moved by the way she described every single element of it. You could hear by the tone of her voice that recalling these details and re-opening these memories of her past moved her as much as it moved me.

Marisol was born and raised in one of Los Angeles’s most historic and vibrant Latinx neighborhoods. Located East of the Los Angeles River and known for its bustling Latinx enclave, Boyle Heights provided Marisol an upbringing that was infused with a rich and omnipresent Mexican American heritage and a robust history of community activism.

Boyle Heights’ beauty and richness are undeniable. The old brick workshops, soot-stained buildings, mesmerizing gilded murals, rumbling freeways, combined with the warmth of its people and the unrelenting desire for a better life makes Boyle Heights an unequaled enclave.

And while Boyle Heights’ incomparable worth, value, and power stems from the resilience, cultural affluence, and strength in advocacy of its community members, it has also witnessed an unprecedented amount of under-investment from its local government.

With its long-standing history of community activism dating back to the Chicano movement in the 1960s, Boyle Heights is no stranger to fighting against racially unjust policies in regards to education, housing, urban development, transportation, and environmental health outcomes.

When Marisol was seventeen years old, she got a taste of just how important the fight for the improvement and advancement of her community would be.

From the moment she stepped foot in Woodrow Wilson High School, she began to get involved with InnerCity Struggle. InnerCity Struggle, founded in 1994, began when a small group of residents from Boyle Heights joined forces to find solutions in the face of a crisis of violence and crime in their community. With an overwhelming amount of neighborhood violence and crime at an all-time high, they refused to stand by idly. The founders decided to form an organization on the premise and spirit of the civil rights movement—one that fundamentally relied on the vision and service of its own residents for the development of a stronger Boyle Heights.3

It began with an investment in grassroots leadership. It began with the empowerment of progressive and powerful voices—both young and old. And most of all, it was rooted in the belief that every single person in Boyle Heights deserved for their community to be a stronger, equitable, and more thriving place.

Instead of seeking and investing in archaic, run-of-the-mill solutions, InnerCity Struggle opted for solutions that were forward-thinking, inclusive, and centered around the dignity and worth of every single community member.

Throughout their twenty-five-year history, they’ve empowered, trained, and developed thousands of leaders and Marisol Samayoa was one of them.

On June 22, 2010, Marisol was prepared to testify in front of the Board of Education of the City of Los Angeles as part of a concerted movement to advocate against incessant budget cuts present all throughout the high schools in the Eastside of Los Angeles.

In preparation for this day, Marisol along with a dozen other student organizers across the LA school system surveyed about 2,500 of their peers regarding their experiences with the impact of the decreasing investment and staff layoffs in their schools. To make matters worse and intensify the need for community advocacy, there was also a lack of fully credentialed teachers and counselors—factors that greatly contributed to the pervasive difficulties in the schools.

InnerCity Struggle equipped their students with knowledge during after school programs and in-school learning sessions. Through the staff and student-led sessions, Marisol learned how to structure effective arguments, cater to your specific audience, how language impacts speech, etc. She was also educated on racism, classism, sexism, and colorism.

During the day, she was involved with InnerCity Struggle’s flagship leadership program called United Students where she would be trained to become an expert community organizer through education, community building, and participation in direct action campaigns. Through this training, Marisol understood the history behind community organizing—from national to local movements. She knew that youth organizing was strategically focused on putting your solutions at the forefront of the public debate, and it was her hope that her testimony to the governing Board of Education would be just that.

The brightly lit board room accommodated around fifty people, with the school board members on one side and the students on the other. Once the majority of the audience had been seated, the board members began to enter the room.

Marisol remembers seven of them and one very important member in particular, the president of the board, Mónica García. Mónica was the only Latina on that side of the room and a familiar face to all of the students. She had previous involvement with the students and staff at InnerCity, and they were certain that they had an ally in her.

At 1:13 p.m., the meeting was called to order and the Pledge of Allegiance was recited promptly after.

After several action items were decided on by the board, it was finally time for the public to comment on the proposed budget for the following year.

Luckily for Marisol, she had time before she was scheduled to speak. Three adult advocates from several different organizations were scheduled to testify before her. She was scheduled to be the first student of five to address the board afterward.

Marisol, at seventeen, was taller than your average teenage girl. She was slim, and like most girls at that age, she carried herself with the slightest bit of awkwardness.

With her long black hair falling naturally to her waist, she tried to hide the white letters on her black short-sleeved shirt. It wasn’t th...