Correction: Angie Sanchez is the new programs manager for Healdsburg Corazon. Monday, June 15, was her first official day with the Corazon team.
In a June 16 Facebook Live conversation on race that will be the first of many with Healdsburg nonprofit Corazón Healdsburg and community panelists, people in Healdsburg’s Latinx community voiced their feelings and thoughts on racism, discrimination and the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement.
Corazón CEO Ariel Kelley said the aim of the event was to create a space for Spanish-speaking Healdsburg residents to participate in civic dialogue.
“Our goal is to convene members of the Latinx community to talk about important issues happening locally at a critical moment in time and to create space for Spanish-speaking Healdsburg residents to participate in this important civic dialogue. Topics include racial injustice, disparities in COVID-positive cases among our Latinx population, recent protests locally and nationally, the racism and art event in the plaza and understanding the Black Lives Matter movement,” Kelley said.
The talk was led by Corazon’s new programs manager, Angie Sanchez, and the senior program manager for the Latino Community Foundation, Amber Gonzales. Panelists included Corazón Programs Coordinator Lizbeth Perez; Noble Folk CEO and a democratic assembly delegate for District 2 Ozzy Jimenez; Healdsburg community members Jesus Guzman, Luci McClish and Yolanda Giron; and local activists Lupe Lopez and Cristal Perez. The panel also included an English interpreter.
Meeting participants spoke openly and candidly about their experiences with racism. Some of the takeaways from the discussion were that everyone needs to work on coming together, that the Latinx community stands with the BLM movement because “the fears they face are the fears we face” and the momentum of BLM needs to continue along with work at all government levels on making lasting change in equality.
It was also noted by several panelists that registering to vote and completing the 2020 census are important steps towards elevating the voice of the community.
Sanchez encouraged viewers to submit questions and comments via Zoom and Facebook Live and noted that the conversation was open to everyone.
The first question posed was, “What does the BLM movement mean to you and why is it important?
Lizbeth started by saying she thinks the movement is important because the Latinx community identifies with the Black community and what they have faced for years, since they too have experienced discrimination and racism.
“I think it is important for the Latino community because we identify with the movement in a way. We’ve experienced discrimination, racist comments. We think as Latinos we have that connection with that community, the Afro community. Speaking about Black communities is uncomfortable with Latinos because we don’t use the definition ‘black’ for a person. For me, it is a little bit not respectful to call a person ‘black.’ I’m from Mexico and Black communities is something that does not exist in our conversation and it is not respectful to call a person. There is also racism in Mexico, but what’s happening in this country is an observation of what has happened in history and the way we connect with the community and feel that empathy,” Lizbeth said. “We have to unite. It is time to talk about this, it is time to say it is enough.”
Giron echoed Lizbeth’s thoughts and said she comes from a community where there were Afro-Mexicans and the word “black” was not used. She said she did not see the prejudice there that she sees here in the United States.
Jimenez said with the BLM movement it’s important to remember that everyone is in this together.
“We’ve had years and years of (systemic) racism in our community and our community has said it is enough. Other times we’ve had conversations where Latinos are on this side and our Black community is on this side, so it is important to know that we are all together. And when we say we’re all together I also include the LGBTQ+ community,” Jimenez said.
Lizbeth noted that the institutions the community is built on are made to serve a group that does not include minorities and said that that is the case with Healdsburg.
“We see there are different policies that are taken in and we are here and put our voice out there and the difference is that some of us can’t vote. So, we have this voice, but we don’t have the vote … The system has limited us,” she said.
She added that with the BLM movement and creating spaces like Corazón’s community conversation are key in providing people who don’t have a vote the opportunity to share their feelings and experiences.
Sanchez reiterated the importance of voting and said this year there will be millions of Latinos eligible to vote, but in order to vote you have to register. Sanchez said if you’re eligible to vote and need assistance registering you can reach out to Corazón.
“Those who are eligible to vote, send us a message through Facebook and we’ll give you the instructions to make this happen. We know that it can be something very new for some people, but it is very important to register to vote and it is important to participate in the census. It’s something that happens every 10 years and we lose a lot of money and resources for our community when we don’t count. If you need any help with that census send us a message, give us a call,” Sanchez said.
The second question for panelists was “How do you feel and what are the fears that you want to share with the group and with the people who are watching and listening?”
Jimenez said currently his fear is how COVID-19 is disproportionately affecting the Latinx community.
“What I fear is how our community is being affected disproportionately with COVID-19 and this year has been a year. We have our issues with injustice in our community and issues with everything we’ve seen with COVID-19, and COVID-19 just makes it harder,” he said. He added that while elected officials are making change, he wants to see more.
Guzman said what the Afro community fears is what he fears and what the Latinx community fears.
“When a lot of us saw the video of George Floyd being assassinated and when we heard about Breonna Taylor when the police murdered her in her home and when Ahmaud Arbery was killed when he was jogging like any other person … it’s something we’ve also seen in the Hispanic community they have received police brutality,” Guzman said. “I still remember the years before we had drivers licenses — if you were undocumented and you were driving and you were stopped they would take your car and it would be $2,000 to take it out of the lot and the fear we had to drive without a license.”
He said with the current policies and laws, it’s a system designed to oppress, and that funds need to go toward better schools and housing rather than giving more to police departments.
“We don’t need more police, we don’t need to be criminalized,” Guzman said. “Related to the first question on ‘Why do we support BLM,’ it’s because what they fear is our fear.”
He continued saying that for his children he wants to see a world where everyone can prosper, instead of a world where only a certain group can prosper while others are left behind.
“We’re in the 21st century and the technology is way beyond our brain, it is not advanced. Everyone can be here on planet Earth and I don’t understand why a group wants to oppress the rest,” Giron said. “I’m very bothered with that. I’ve seen a lot of injustices since I started to work. There is a lot of discrimination and racism. The human race is one, just one. What is the problem? Why can’t we get along? We have to learn to get along.”
Gonzales said she’d like to know more about Lopez and Cristal Perez since the two have a “Very strong voice right now in this movement.”
“It is very important to educate ourselves and also our families and it is important to acknowledge that people of the Black community and Latinos have been through this for years and years … The BLM movement has given us that platform where you can get the attention of the country,” Cristal Perez said.
Cristal and Lopez organized an art installation in the Healdsburg Plaza last week where they invited community members to share their experiences with racism. The project received countless submissions and revealed troubling stories of blatant discrimination, stereotyping and racism throughout the community. Note cards were strung up around the Plaza bandstand where folks could view the written accounts.
The closing question for the evening was, “How do we move forward? What are our hopes? How do we change a system of racism?”
Guzman said the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) decision will be important. DACA is an immigration policy that allows some undocumented individuals who have been brought to the country as children to receive a renewable two-year period of deferred action from deportation and become eligible for a U.S. work permit.
Guzman said whatever happens with the decision, the community has to keep the fight, work in solidarity and findways to support one another. Thursday morning in a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court rejected President Donald Trump’s efforts to end DACA.
“I have a teenager. I’ve had to talk with my kid that you have a color that in this country, people will notice, and you have to be careful,” Lizbeth said.
She said racism is a difficult topic of conversation, but having that conversation is important. She also suggested training for the police department and more diversity in teachers with a multicultural view. Giron echoed the suggestion and said that housing is also a big issue in Healdsburg that needs to be addressed.
Cristal opined that more funding needs to go to schools, housing and social services and that funds from the police department should go towards those vital needs.
Gonzales said of the overall community discussion, “We have to appreciate everyone here having this conversation. It is not easy to talk about racism and color.”
To view the webinar in its entirety, visit Corazón’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/CorazonHealdsburg/.
