ThePower

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isPeople

Cristina showed me the power of community

Cristina was an immigrant who overcame many barriers to raise her family and continue her education. She completed her Bachelors and Masters degrees and taught students in Pomona Unified School District (PUSD) for over 20 years. After becoming a leader in the community, the members of her community found comfort in seeking her guidance and support. Christina’s leadership led her to run for city council where she served as a council member for 23 years after she retired from PUSD. During her time as a council member, she became the voice of minorities, immigrants, parents, and people of color. She led efforts to decrease fear and establish policy to help protect all of Pomona’s residents regardless of their immigration status. She built new leaders and taught the city council how to connect with all of the community. She has continued to help our community grow and improve. As a woman of color, to see her accomplish so much and stand up for the community, I was inspired. She is a wise woman who speaks with power. Her leadership has brought a lot to the Latinx community of Pomona. Her story has inspired many to challenge themselves, and to be vocal when it comes down to what is best for the community.  – Submitted by Melissa Ayala

Over the years, Cristina, in the spirit of farmworker and civil rights leaders Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta, has espoused the need for young people to use their lives in service to others. In that tradition, Cristina has inspired me by getting students involved in creating murals, cleaning up parks, supporting an annual pilgrimage that gives scholarships to students who have been involved in community engagement, ensuring that immigrant families are treated with dignity, and helping students graduate and go on to higher education. In the spirit of introducing parents and students to the achievements of Cesar Chavez, Dolores Huerta, Helen Chavez, and Mexican-American and Filipino-American farmworkers, Cristina inspired me to work alongside her to raise funds to take a bus full of parents and students from Pomona to the historical site where Cesar and Helen Chavez are buried and where there is a national historic museum dedicated to the farmworkers and their families (La Paz in Keene, CA and 40 Acres in Delano, CA.) That effort inspired me to continue taking students and parents to the historic sites every year and to encourage the parents and students to use their lives to build examples of spaces and places that place the quality of life and the unity of our diverse community in the forefront. – Submitted by Jose Calderon