On  December 16, a presentation by Mr. Christian and a group of Lincoln alumni who took the Latino Literature class touched on their experiences as colored people in the modern educational system. Mr. Christian´s fifth period was able to learn more about these challenges during this special presentation. The group introduced words they associated with their experiences to the class, words such as micro aggression and caste-ism. Mr. Christian, the Latino Lit. teacher, made sure he gave me a full explanation of what the panel was in between his students´ final presentation.

¨I wanted to find the connection between between high and low  achieving students that felt out of place because of their color,¨ he said. He went into further detail about those experiences saying, ¨Some people who spoke had an extremely hard time in high school because of their race, a few almost didn’t even graduate but in time gained the strength to go back and advance their education¨. 

Angelie Lopez was one of the speakers on the panel as well as a staff member here at Lincoln. Angelie is one of the two DCAC (Destination College Advising Corps) advisers in our College and Career Center, a corporation that has a mission to make college accessible regardless of the student´s background. Angelie graduated Lincoln in the class of ´08, afterwards she took a year off to further her work experience. Ultimately, Angelie graduated from San Francisco State University with a double major in Latin American studies and history. Angelie´s face was bright but fierce with passion and pride as she spoke about her treasured ethnicity. ¨It was very validating to speak to kids at Lincoln about racial injustices in our educational system, as well as empower our colored community at Lincoln to further their education despite the adversities that they may face.¨  

Angelie´s co-adviser for DCAC, Marisol Jimenez, also spoke on the panel. Marisol graduated with the class of 2012 and then attended UCSB ( UC Santa Barbara). Marisol graduated in 2016 with a double major in Sociology and Education. Marisol was equally enthused, with the same twinkle of pride in her eye, as she said ¨It was great to see other Lincoln students open up about the struggles they face because of their ethnicity and learn how to articulate it with words such as micro-aggression¨.  

One of our own reporters, Brandon Sullivan, attended the presentation saying with a small smile on his face, ¨It was interesting, it was something I would watch again.¨We are very impressed with the clear talent produced by our Latino and Black student population and we take deep pride in our amount of student diversity.