United by their ambitious “why not me” attitude, three Latinos in power positions educated and inspired the Cerritos College Community at the Latinos in Politics panel on Thursday, Oct. 8.
A Latino from South Central, a Latina from South Gate and a Hawaiian Gardens native educator all walked into the Teleconference Center to share their experiences.
California state senator Tony Mendoza, representative for Linda Sanchez Angelina Mancillas, and teacher Dr. Olga Rios were all part of the panel celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month.
Each spoke of the roadblocks laid out for them as members of a minority group and the socio-economic disadvantages that affected their journey.
Rios, a middle school teacher, visibly nervous, recounted definitive moments in her life, including joining the Upper Bound Program, which celebrates identity and instilled in her the idea to go to college.
She eventually went on to get her doctorate in education at Harvard.
“[…] I bought into that idea of ‘how am I going to know if I could get in if I don’t at least try?’ My whole idea was ‘I’m going to put myself out there and if it happens, it happens’ and it did,” Rios expressed.
She added, “You can’t sit back and only think ‘why not me’, but ‘if I don’t do it who would?'”
According to Rios, applying to Harvard was what helped her get in. How involved she was in her community and the programs she was a part of set her apart from other people.
Rios believes it is the responsibility of the community to get involved in some level.
In 2013, Rios joined a lawsuit against the Board of Trustees in the ABC District to make it more inclusive to Latinos who seek a seat on the board.
Angelina Mancillas, who is currently serving as the Director for Community Outreach at the office of Linda Sanchez began her career in Washington D.C. writing law.
The South Gate native is Cerritos College alum who saw her start in politics after obtaining a fellowship.
Mancillas, like Rios spoke of the culture shock she experienced when arriving at the nation’s capitol.
“It was such a culture shock because I came from South Gate and the University of California Riverside, which was pretty multicultural, and went to Washington D.C. where that’s not really the case especially when you’re working in the halls of congress, it has changed, it’s a little better now,” she noted.
She expressed that the goal of the organization that sent her to Washington D.C. is to diversify the federal government by bringing students from low-income communities.
“Students from South Gate, Lynwood and Huntington Park, they’re not necessarily in the position to be able to go across the country and work for nine months,” Mancillas stated.
“They have obligations, they have to work, they have to support their family, they have to go to school, and all these other things that were are kind of burdened with that other students don’t have.”
Mancillas stressed the importance of doing internships while in college and looking for opportunities even when it seems like there aren’t many.
She was the first in her family to attend college and she was dismissed from Cal Poly Pomona before successfully forming a career in politics.
Perseverance was also the story of Tony Mendoza, state senator, who gave up on college many times before successfully graduating from Cal State Long Beach.
The senator recently wrote legislation to require day care workers and volunteers to be vaccinated against measles and influenza.
Governor Jerry Brown signed the bill on Sunday, Oct. 11.
The panel, which highlighted these accomplishments, inspired students such as Joudie Villa, a social work major.
“I’m actually very inspired. I had Ms. Rios as a teacher in middle school, so seeing her get this far inspired me more. At first, I was here because I was offered extra credit, but now maybe I am thinking of getting involved in politics,” Villa said.
