ELEVATING VOICES FROM SCHOOL LEADERS OF COLOR
Opportunity Gaps Need a Systemwide Redo for Cultural Responsiveness “Bridging gaps will get easier if we work together” By Dr. Jessica Garcia, Rochester School Board Member
My Story
Dr. Jessica Garcia Author’s Note Having been asked to write an article for this series, I feel both honored and guarded. Guarded because BIPOC folx can often be left wondering if we’re being recognized or tokenized when asked to write or speak on issues about our communities. That means I’m hoping readers bring their open hearts and minds. Your BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color) colleagues, educators, and students need you to read this perspective and all those that come after it in the series so our voices are not just elevated, but regarded as important, necessary, and worthy. Even if I only reach one person with my message, it will feel worth it. If all you took away from this is that BIPOC electees – no matter how successful they are in their own right – are made to struggle in places of power and privilege because that is the way systems are designed, this will have been a success.
I am a clinical psychologist by training and work full time at a forensic mental health hospital. The day I filed to run for local office was almost two months after COVID-19 put the United States on lockdown, a few days after my 34th birthday, and less than a week before the murder of George Floyd. Despite all the ways the world was changing at the time, since I had been out of school for a few years, like any other person who is a glutton for punishment, I felt the need to put all my extra time and energy toward a worthy cause: bringing my expertise to public education. While campaigning I was open about being a queer woman of color, a millennial, and a transplant to Minnesota. Many of those things made people uncomfortable, but there were plenty of others who were excited enough to believe in my message. I made it through election night with a big win on my very first campaign. That excitement was short-lived as it was rivaled by news from my doctor that I was being diagnosed with a medical disability in the form of an autoimmune disorder. The intersectionality of my existence kept growing and I decided to bury myself in unapologetically representing the voices of community members of color and especially of those with intersecting social identities which combine to create additional layers of complex discrimination and disadvantage against them. I was living it and I wanted others to feel they were represented by my voice on the school board. Now, it would be remiss of me to not also acknowledge my privileges. My primary privilege is that my appearance does not necessarily automatically announce my differences or minoritized identities. As a result, I am defaulted into the “majority” group by most. This is often described as me being White presenting, straight presenting, and able-bodied presenting. It affords me the ability to move more easily about the world and gain access to places not typically reserved for people like me. Also, despite growing up in a continued on page 8
JOURNAL | MINNESOTA SCHOOL BOARDS ASSOCIATION
JULY–AUGUST 2021
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