2008 New Leaders Summer Interns
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Eduardo Garcia
Hometown: Anaheim, CA
Age: 20
School: Cal State University Fullerton
Interests: Working for social change on the weekdays and sleeping in on the weekends. Making art for the magazine I co-created.
Internship: United States Student Association
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Eduardo is majoring in Psychology and American Studies at California State University, Fullerton. He is active in the Nonviolent Youth Leadership Alliance in Orange County which works to emphasize the importance of peace (even in the absence of war) through community outreach. Next year, he will be a facilitator for an educational and cultural enrichment program which provides a space for students of all backgrounds to learn about and discuss issues of race, sex, class and sexual orientation.
Eduardo is the co-creator of his school's first progressive publication, which exhibits student art, creative writing, and journalism. He is originally from Anaheim, California and is proud of his Mexican-Peruvian heritage. |
"It’s my turn to get others to see themselves for who they truly are as opposed to what society would rather have them be."
- Eduardo Garcia,
2008 New Leaders Summer Intern |
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| More about Eduardo |
What are you most passionate about?
I am most passionate about seeing all people living in safe and supportive communities in which they are able to do work that is valuable to them regardless of their race, age, sex, class, legal status, sexual orientation and gender expression.
You're stranded on a deserted island. What is one book or album that you can't live without?
I don't buy albums, so I would probably have to go out and actually buy KALA by M.I.A. The book I would take would be Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States so I could finally try to get through it.
What do you hope to take away from your experience as a CPL New Leader?
Even with some general understanding of the unleveled playing field, it is all too easy to personalize these differences and interpret them as your own failures and shortcomings. This is where disempowerment really begins. It’s the internalization of what you feel when your people are practically exploited for their labor with no promise of ever reaching a higher platform. Or the powerlessness you feel when your brothers and sisters are unfairly put through meeting educational standards implemented by a public education system that still does not understand how to assess their learning skills. I have had to identify with being poor, with being a “wetback,” with being a “faggot,” as opposed to a working-class, gay Mexican-American. Now it’s my turn to get others to see themselves for who they truly are as opposed to what society would rather have them be.
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