On the evening of December 14, 2015, Fabiola Gonzalez wasn’t sure how many people would come to the inaugural Santa Barbara Ethnic Studies Now! Coalition meeting. She had invited about 30 community members via email, asking them whether they would support integrating ethnic studies coursework into the curriculum at Santa Barbara Unified School District. Such coursework would aim to narrow the achievement gap between student minorities and their peers through the exploration of alternative historical and social perspectives. To her surprise, more than 40 people showed up to that first meeting, sparking a fervent movement that soon grew in numbers and momentum.
Three years later, members of the coalition sat through yet another meeting last Tuesday night, November 13. This time, they were waiting for ethnic studies to finally come to a vote before the school district’s five-member Board of Education. “You are part of this movement because you want a better future for our students, younger siblings, nieces, and nephews,” said Gonzalez, addressing the crowd, many wearing Ethnic Studies Now! t-shirts. The board’s decision was unanimous — Starting in 2023, the district’s high school curriculum will require ethnic studies coursework as a graduation prerequisite. The sustained enthusiasm in the room then erupted in cheers, laughter, and tears. Chumash community members closed the night in song.
Born and raised in Santa Barbara, Gonzalez was a self-described “typical good student.” She never received lower than a B in her coursework and was active in extracurricular activities on campus. In 2009, she graduated from Santa Barbara High School. Despite her strong academic record, Gonzalez, a first-generation Latina from a low-income household, found herself struggling in community college. “There was a moment where I could have easily gotten stuck or lost and given up,” she said. Then she took her first Chicana studies course, where for the first time in her academic career, her background and experience were reflected in her studies. “Those classes helped me look beyond my own life and barriers. They pushed me to work towards something greater than myself,” said Gonzalez. “But I was also frustrated that it took 19 years of my life to finally have access to an education about my own history, identity, experiences, and family.”
