Our Social Justice Academy trains people impacted by systemic inequities in advocacy skills and introduces them to lawmakers. One of the goals of the program is for our graduates to continue pursuing advocacy projects long after the Academy is over.
The program’s mission is to support people from marginalized communities in becoming powerful leaders. So we followed up with last year’s Social Justice Academy (SJA) graduate, Claudia Garcia, to see how she’s been putting her social justice skills to work since graduation. What we heard was inspiring.
The Background of San Francisco’s Successful Latina Activist
Claudia immigrated to the United States from El Salvador when she was just eighteen years old, because her father told her, “It’s safer in the United States.” She said, “It was hard at first. You don’t have anyone, you don’t have any family, you don’t know the language or understand the programs. But I started working and going to city college. I learned English, and I worked on my G.E.D.”
Despite Claudia’s now-fluent English, she often experiences anxiety about her language skills. GLIDE staff member Ian James worked with her to help her recognize that her lived experience and language background were assets to the Social Justice Academy. Today, her analysis of the power dynamics of language is astute.
The Importance of Empowering Immigrant Communities
“It’s so important for me to be an advocate,” Claudia said, “because so often, immigrant communities don’t have anyone speaking up for them. The people speaking up are often first-generation U.S. citizens—people whose parents are immigrants. They don’t have the same struggles with language and belonging. I’ve often felt like I’m not strong enough because I’m not from here. We need advocates speaking up for our immigrant communities who know what that feels like!”
Claudia has been working her way up in the hospitality industry since immigrating. When she started working for the Hotel Marriott, she joined the Unite Here Local 2 union. Claudia’s time in the Social Justice Academy prepared her to participate confidently in Local 2’s extended strike last winter.
“When I did the strike, it opened my eyes,” Claudia said. “I saw how unfairly they treated the employees. They just wanted to make money. They didn’t think about us or our families.”
A political awakening: “People are tired of being treated like garbage”
Claudia’s political activism extends beyond union activity. “I got involved with the Mission community. I started volunteering with DAHLIA to help people apply for low-income housing. I got involved with the Mission Neighborhood Center Children’s Services—I started helping them too. I was on the Board of Directors for Mission Neighborhood Center for two years. I learned a lot.” All of that gave her the confidence to apply for the Social Justice Academy.
Claudia loved participating in the Academy, particularly the Alabama Justice Pilgrimage. “It was so powerful for me when we went to the Selma bridge,” she said. “I got to feel the energy of Martin Luther King’s marchers. I felt the power of people who were tired of being treated like garbage, honestly. To cross that bridge felt like I was joining them.”
She also valued the relationships she built in the Academy. “I just loved it. People were so nice and welcoming to me—so patient with me too. We made really good connections!
In the Face of Anti-Immigrant Rhetoric, Cultivate Internal Power
When asked what she thought of today’s national politics, Claudia said, “It’s scary. I don’t know what to say. It’s scary for all the communities that Trump is trying to terrorize. He says that Latinos are terrorists, but that’s not true. We are not the problem. Latinos are singled out—there are immigrants from other countries too, but they don’t receive the same attention.”
“I fear for my kids,” she added. “But I want my kids to do the same things I’m doing. I don’t want them to give up or feel they aren’t good enough. I want them to fight for what they think is fair. That’s my motivation—to be strong for them.”
Claudia standing next to Kunal Modi, San Francisco’s Chief of Health, Homelessness, and Family Services
“People Need to Understand They Can’t Push Immigrants Around”
Claudia’s current work focuses on affordable housing, labor rights, and bullying in schools. “Housing is super hard,” she said. “We can do our best, but everything is designed for people who can pay—for rich people. For low-income people, it’s extra, extra hard, because the waiting list is really, really long.”
Claudia’s understanding of economic injustice is incisive. “When my coworkers and I were fighting for good benefits, I thought, ‘We deserve it.’ Rich companies always want to be more rich, but they want us to always be poor?! How is that fair?” She added, with great sincerity and emphasis, “ONE JOB SHOULD BE ENOUGH.” San Francisco is one of the nation’s most overworked cities. Claudia’s union won a victory for health insurance and wages through their strike.
Standing Up for Disability Rights in Schools
However, Claudia’s biggest focus right now is bullying in schools. “Many schools that serve immigrant communities don’t provide parents and children the quality services that our kids need. They believe because we’re immigrants, we’re stupid. We don’t know how to work the system. So they can do whatever they want with our kids. So I educate my community! I teach them that they have the right to I.L.P.s!”
I.L.P.s—Individual Learning Plans—are accommodations for students with special needs.
“I had a problem in my daughter’s school,” Claudia confided. “The principal retaliated against me for standing up for my daughter and her mental health after she was bullied. She expelled me from the school and threatened to send me to prison for three years if I didn’t do what she wanted — just to terrorize me so I’d leave. It’s a tactic she uses to scare immigrant families, and most of the time, she gets what she wants: to push them out. It made me cry. They were treating me like garbage. They tried to scare me– but I stood up to say, I think I’m doing the right things, and that’s why you guys are scared of ME. That made me feel strong. Standing up for disability rights helps me feel strong. Kids deserve a quality education
Never Give Up—People Are Counting on You
When asked if she had any words of inspiration, Claudia said: “Don’t give up. Even if you don’t speak the language, even if you don’t feel you are good enough—don’t give up. Your kids and your community are watching what you are doing.”
Claudia’s experience is echoed by other Social Justice Academy graduates. Research by Madeleine Smith showed, “The majority of our Social Justice Academy survey respondents felt confident advocating for their community at San Francisco City Hall, and the program helped them build a network of peers to lean on as community advocates, and to rely on the support they felt from the GLIDE community.”
You can follow Claudia’s small business and stay up to date on her advocacy work at @chula_sf—and help keep the love from GLIDE coming her way!