CSRC Newsletter - Fall Quarter 2022

As 2022 comes to a close, I am grateful for the meaningful partnerships that have enabled the CSRC to engage in research and programming that advances awareness about Latinx and other diverse populations in California and beyond. We have had a busy year and can celebrate our collective accomplishments.

Here at UCLA, the CSRC has continued to play an important role in advancing Latinx scholarship, faculty hiring, and community building as our university prepares to become a Hispanic Serving Institution. There is much work for us to do, especially in STEM (Science Technology, Engineering, and Math) fields, as evidenced by the UCLA HSI Task Force Report, which offers recommendations for recruiting and ensuring the academic success of Latinx students. UCLA is fortunate to have a chancellor, Gene Block, who has made historic investments in the success of Latinx students on our campus. He recently appointed Darnell Hunt as executive vice chancellor and provost. Hunt, former director of the Bunche Center for African American Studies, has a strong track record of addressing issues of diversity and equity on campus and beyond. At the CSRC, our committed Faculty Advisory Committee is working on faculty hiring, selecting and supporting postdoctoral scholars, administering research funds, and developing a strategy to support the success and growth of Latinx scholars in STEM fields on our campus. Faculty also provide invaluable guidance and support for the CSRC Library as it expands its collections and maintains a local and national presence. Importantly, Charlene Villaseñor Black continues her leadership as editor of Aztlán, the flagship journal in Chicano studies, which is published by CSRC Press. Meanwhile Chon Noriega, former CSRC director, continues his visionary work through the A Ver: Revisioning Art History book series and serves in a guiding role as a special advisor to the chancellor on Latinx affairs, alongside Sylvia Hurtado, professor of education.

With many thanks to the Latino Policy and Politics Institute for its pathbreaking work and to the California State Legislature for its investment of 15 million dollars, the CSRC has embarked on a new project, the Latina Futures, 2050 Lab, which will investigate Latinas’ experiences in the labor market, their participation in civic leadership, and their well-being. This work is driven in part by the fact that Latinas experience a significant wage gap and also remain extremely underrepresented in critical fields that will determine the future of our state, our country, and our planet. We are also aware that Latinas make up a growing number of K-12 teachers and administrators, are the majority of child-care workers in California, and are the mothers of over half the children in the state. Hence, our intersectional research for the Latina Futures project will involve a wide range of invested partners and will aim to have lasting implications for Latinas, women of color more broadly, and all children and youth.

As director of the CSRC, I have prioritized research and programming that centers the needs of younger populations who are coming of age in an era marked by growing economic inequality, increasing political polarization, and an intensifying climate crisis. As part of this work, alongside the Institute of American Culture's other ethnic studies research centers, the CSRC launched the California Freedom Summer Participatory Action Research Project. In 2022, the Freedom Summer program offered coursework and training on civic engagement, organizing, and research to more than one hundred young leaders from UC’s nine undergraduate campuses, plus some community colleges.  Freedom Summer participants reached out to their peers throughout California in the months before the 2022 midterm elections, registering more than five thousand potential young voters while promoting and inspiring civic engagement in low-income communities in the state. These inspiring student leaders hosted conferences, concerts, and other events across the state, not only to promote civic engagement but also to provide information about college access and to discuss the multiple issues that young people face today as further shown in a short video about the program. Jose Orellana from Delano’s Loud 4 Tomorrow; Kennedy McIntyre, a UCLA undergraduate; and I shared Freedom Summer’s many successes at an invited presentation at the UC Regents meeting on November 16. This project also allowed the CSRC and UCLA affiliates to forge important links with institutions and organizations across the state. Project advisors included faculty partners from the nine UC undergraduate campuses and select community colleges and high schools, plus community partners from thirty-two nonprofit organizations. Essential guidance and grassroots infrastructure support was furnished by YO! California, Power California, and Future Leaders of America. In addition, philanthropic partners and individual donors provided generous financial assistance. The CSRC plans to continue these partnerships through ongoing participatory action research that will address community concerns and promote the inclusion of ethnic studies curricula in California high schools. We will also work to increase access to four-year colleges and universities for students from California’s underserved communities.

As we look forward to 2023, I hope to deepen and expand the CSRC’s valuable partnerships. Our communities, especially our Latina residents and our youth, have a lot at stake. It is my belief that through collective efforts, the CSRC will continue to succeed in its mission to advance research and programming that advances equity and inclusivity.    

Happy Holidays!