Akil and Hong welcome Noel, Chelsea, Christina, and Ish from EOPS to talk about the program and how they're able to hone in and help economically and educationally disadvantaged students. From there, they discuss food on their mind (mole, milanesa, molletes, and rice), and also the cultural activities that have had a big impact on their lives, from riding bikes, to reading, to listening to podcasts, with a touch of baked pumpkin cookies to boot.
Mentioned in this episode:
EOPS - https://www.sbcc.edu/eopscare/
Guardian Scholars - https://www.sbcc.edu/guardianscholars/
CalWORKS - https://www.sbcc.edu/calworks/
SPARC (Single Parents Arriving Ready for College) - https://www.sbcc.edu/eopscare/sparc.php
Running Start - https://www.sbcc.edu/eopscare/runningstart.php
Mole Ranchero - https://hispanickitchen.com/recipes/mole-ranchero-de-costillita/
Milanesa - https://www.mexicoinmykitchen.com/milanesa-recipe/
Cesar's Place - https://www.yelp.com/biz/cesars-place-santa-barbara
Mexican Rice - https://tastesbetterfromscratch.com/authentic-mexican-rice/
Molletes - https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/molletes-51138200
El Sitio - https://www.elsitiorestaurantsb.com/
Bicycling - https://santabarbaraca.com/itinerary/popular-bike-trails-in-santa-barbara/
Strava - https://www.strava.com/
Water Dancer - https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/550171/the-water-dancer-by-ta-nehisi-coates/
Ta-Nehisi Coates' Black Panther - https://ta-nehisicoates.com/graphic-novels/
Between the World and Me (Show) - https://www.hbo.com/specials/between-the-world-and-me
El Centro - https://sites.google.com/view/elcentrosb/home
Pod Save the People - https://crooked.com/podcast-series/pod-save-the-people/
Nice White Parents - https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/30/podcasts/nice-white-parents-serial.html
Pumpkin Cookies - https://lovelylittlekitchen.com/soft-pumpkin-cookies/
Captions Provided by Zoom
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Hong Lieu: Hello and welcome to another episode of SPC the cato voices a podcast highlighting the voices that comprise our campus culture and how we're all working together to serve our students in the community at large, as usual. I'm joined by my co host to kill
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Hong Lieu: Everybody and today we are honored to welcome we have quite a few guests Noel Gomez Christina O'Malley Chelsea Lancaster and ish yo from LPS welcome, y'all. Thank you for coming on the show.
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Akil: Let's go.
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Hong Lieu: All right.
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Akil: Let's go.
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Hong Lieu: Yeah, as, as someone who sees the name ups everywhere and might not have a great idea about what it is that you all do it and and the types of students who serve etc etc. Do you want to give us the the overarching breakdown of ups to start
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Noel Gomez: So I want to make sure I capture everything that we do. Because there's a lot of aspects to our program and the students we serve.
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Noel Gomez: And the hope is that Chelsea Christina and ish could also talk about the their role and their contributions to the programs that we have, but just in general ups. We have about our low income students, students that are educationally and financially.
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Noel Gomez: Disadvantaged and the intent of our program is to provide above and beyond academic and financial services to all our students that are eligible, so they can meet their educational goals, whether it is to get a vocational degree to transfer to another.
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Noel Gomez: UC Kelsey it or private university we we help students and data.
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Noel Gomez: With those goals. Basically the LPs there's so much under our, our program. We have Cal works. We have care. We have transitions. We have our garden. Scholars Program. We also have our documents, a student programs where we ish helps with that Christina house the garden scholars
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Noel Gomez: Chelsea, does the cow works and the care program also aside from ups but we we have quite a range of students that we serve. So
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Noel Gomez: I can, I can talk a little bit first about transitions and then hopefully Chelsea Christina ish could talk about their responsibilities. The programs, but
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Noel Gomez: Part of what I have done with ups is I work with our formerly incarcerated students. So I've worked with transitions.
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Noel Gomez: We've expanded from just an on campus program to now where we actually help students inside our county jail also
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Noel Gomez: So we were one of the first colleges to offer a transitional Summer Bridge Program for formerly incarcerated women and men, not only at just on our campus but
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Noel Gomez: Eventually we expanded in 2015 to start offering classes inside our county jail. So now we have women and men taking classes inside the county jail in hopes to prepare them to transfer or not transfer, but to create that smooth transition from the county jail to to our campus.
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Noel Gomez: I'm looking at the screen here. So like
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Hong Lieu: Yeah, and and you know my, my wife's dad does some work at the LA County with incarcerated.
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Hong Lieu: In maize and stuff like that and receipt of anti recidivism programs and the educational component of it is very important. You know, they
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Hong Lieu: They're always looking for something to do you know so. So whether it's reading or writing or just taking classes, it helps them a lot. And they like kind of it is kind of the nice Camila atmosphere so
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Hong Lieu: Having that extra bridge where you're going. Actually going in the gels and offering classes. Now, to get folks started. That's kind of that's really neat. Really cool.
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Akil: And also I'm thinking about the transformation that you probably have the the opportunity to actually witness from when you walked into the jail on the first day versus when you walk on your last day and seeing the transformation that occurs within
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Akil: The inmates and and so I I'm kind of curious if you could speak, maybe a little bit about that. Like what what that looks like.
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Noel Gomez: It's, you know, it's not your it's not your traditional classroom setting, you know, part of what I've been asked over the last few semesters is, is it a
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Noel Gomez: Is it a challenging experience. The, the process to to enroll students is the most challenging, but once you once were in there and I'm talking pre coven 19 days right we're actually inside the jail in the classroom. Um,
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Noel Gomez: It's it's every student is reading everything they're reading their their their textbooks there, you know, turning in the assignments. They're doing the work. There are no distractions or Arnold cell phones, you know, it's everyone is their focus right and
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Noel Gomez: I call it like an instructor's dream. Just because everyone's doing the work, and everyone is engaged and also they see it as a a
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Noel Gomez: Like a, like a good deed, right, like there were going inside there and we're not judging them for whatever reason they're in there for. And they're actually in this opportunity to to start making that transformational
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Noel Gomez: Or that trend transition in their own personal life to just start improving right and
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Noel Gomez: Just to see that transition from the first day I meet them where we're starting the enrollment process and you're filling out the applications.
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Noel Gomez: To actually coming to campus and coming into ups and start enrolling for the following semester it's a it's something you can't you can't describe. It's like you really just have to be a part of it. Right.
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Hong Lieu: And it's one of those things where you kind of have to ask it, say, Is there, is there a way to kind of reach them before that point because for for some folks, you know,
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Hong Lieu: Talking to my wife dad to work that he does for a lot of folks that are in there and like they they are more willing to do the work, because it's kind of
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Hong Lieu: It's giving them a chance to reflect it's given them a chance to kind of, it's kind of for some of them is the first call they've had in their life because their lives. There's so much going on in their lives, that there's all this stuff going on.
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Hong Lieu: So it's a chance to reflect the chance to just have calm around them and then then they kind of reflect and okay then they're willing to do some work.
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Hong Lieu: Is there a way to get get there before that point before you're incarcerated to be like, Okay, you know, you have your life, do what you gotta do, but then
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Hong Lieu: Have that you know like how do we bring that reflection and calm to folks to give them opportunities.
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Hong Lieu: Before they get to that precipice, where it's like, Okay, you have a choice. Now you have to make this choice. Please make the choice the correct choice.
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Hong Lieu: You know, like it's a question that has no answer, really, because if we could answer that question right now, then the world would be
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Hong Lieu: A much better place, but it's something I think about all the time because I know from friends, my friends from talking my wife's dad who worked with with inmates and do an anti recidivism stuff and it's just how you know like I mean I'm just talking
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Noel Gomez: But yeah, absolutely. Like that. The issue is so complex. I mean, we can. It's a we could talk about mass incarceration, we can talk about the moment from I don't even call it from a rest because for, you know, for example, some students and people of color. It's from that.
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Noel Gomez: Surveillance right now we're talking about, you know, we want to go into
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Noel Gomez: Talking about law. It's a there's always this presumption of innocence, but there's been a lot of research on the presumption of guilt like for some men of color, for example.
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Noel Gomez: There were already assumed guilty, just by by appearance. Right. And how does that facilitate the process of incarceration for women and men, right. So it's the issue is so complex, but to be part of the actual
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Noel Gomez: Solution force. Not everybody right before. For some, it's a it's, it makes it makes the work we do at City College just much, much more. I put this
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Noel Gomez: It's beneficial.
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Akil: You. Yeah, yeah, that question I think is just so loaded right Hong
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And thinking about like how do we how do we prevent them from getting there.
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I had that question posed to me about foster youth and so right away. My mind started going to just systems of oppression. Right.
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System systematic racism how real this is. And so I think we really have to. That's a totally deeper dive that we got to start talking about, frankly, and not just talking but doing about two
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Hong Lieu: Yeah, because it does, it does go on both sides. It's not just how to keep getting in there. How do we keep people from putting people in there that might not necessarily that might not be the best route in terms of, you know, on their on their redemptive path, so to speak.
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Hong Lieu: So, so you're kind of touched that picture in different ways, because I'm looking at the broad mandate is just to kind of
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Hong Lieu: People that are educationally and economically disadvantaged. So that's just a very simple like four words but it's probably such a such a broad huge immense swath of kind of outreach that you have to do.
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Hong Lieu: So, so in terms of Christina you focus more on foster youth, you said, or is it their specific focus in trouble, your work with ups.
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Christina Lomeli: And yeah, so Guardian scholars is a program that exists at
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Most, if not all community colleges and California throughout the US as well and
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Christina Lomeli: University levels as well. So you'll find them called different things at our college. It's called guardian scholars
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Other colleges, you'll hear the word NEXT STEP program hope. Scholars Program.
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They tend to vary depending on the funding, but here we're called guardian scholars and Guardian scholars is a program that's for current and former foster youth.
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Christina Lomeli: So many times, like most of your students guardian scholars current and former foster youth don't have the resources at home right to kind of help guide them.
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Christina Lomeli: And transition them over from high school to college. So with the Guardian Scholars Program. The intent of it is just just sort of wrap around these youth with their specific needs based on their unique experiences that they've had
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Christina Lomeli: Primarily the their experiences have been.
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Seen in abuse, neglect situations.
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Christina Lomeli: And, you know, thinking back to where I was before this program. Actually, before I came over to Santa Barbara City College. I was a former social worker for CW s and Santa Barbara County. So I was a child abuse investigator and
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Christina Lomeli: The common thread and a lot of the homes that I was in was just sort of the lack of opportunities for education. Right. They didn't have folks in their homes to help
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Sort of instill the value of education and
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Christina Lomeli: I was always put in the situation and these homes in a reactive sort of moment right after the damage had already been done.
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Christina Lomeli: Within these families and the pains have already been caused and just sort of seeing that historical trauma ran through
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Christina Lomeli: The different generations in these homes and the common thread was always sort of just the lack of opportunity for an education. So that was when I decided to make the switch over to Santa Barbara City College and education in general.
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Christina Lomeli: Was to just sort of have a more proactive role in these youths lives and full circle. Now, you know, I just recently became the Guardian scholars advisor.
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Christina Lomeli: I was always
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Christina Lomeli: Sort of consulting with whoever was in The Guardian scholars position just because of my historical
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Career.
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experiences that I've had and different community resources that I was already connected with and some I'm just really grateful now to sort of be back in
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Hong Lieu: With working with the current and former foster youth and helping them along their educational trajectory
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Hong Lieu: And and foster youth around that around the age, you know, when you be going to City College or just getting out of high school that's that's a tumultuous time because you know when they're 18 they're technically they become their own kind of independent entity, as it were.
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Hong Lieu: They're no longer bound by the system officially so it's it's a very interesting transition time and it can be tough.
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Hong Lieu: For some folks. So in terms of the students that you serve. I mean, I can imagine just kind of the broad swath of emotions and feelings that you just kind of
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Hong Lieu: Kind of having to navigate and kind of help them to cut to. Now, just ground themselves in an educational setting and get working on their degree certification whatever they're going for as well. So it's definitely great service and but it can be real tough. I imagine
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Christina Lomeli: Yeah well and tougher than the average student right i mean these students are
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Christina Lomeli: Whether it's fortunate or unfortunately exited from their homes and from the system at a certain age, thankfully, there's no legislation in place to where students can
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Christina Lomeli: By choice remain in the system until the age of 21
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Because what we've been seeing a lot is at 18 years old. They're designated as emancipated from the system. Right. What does that mean that basically means you're cut off from
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Christina Lomeli: Financial support family support which would be foster family or group home support and we were finding that a lot of these youth are becoming homeless. Unfortunately, a lot of the foster parents would simply say, Okay, I'm not getting a paycheck anymore for you after the age of 18
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You need to go find your own place to live. Now, and
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Christina Lomeli: Especially right now. During these times holidays. Right. And a lot of our youth actually have somewhere to go for Thanksgiving meal.
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Christina Lomeli: Foster Youth traditionally do not they do not have a place to go. They don't some of them. Thankfully do maintain a really healthy relationship with their foster families and are able to go back there, but
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Christina Lomeli: It's not just one foster family right these youth are moved from home to home. I think the average transition and a foster home I think was 13 times in the lifetime of one foster youth who had been in the system until the age of 18
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Christina Lomeli: So it's it's it's quite harsh and pretty sad. So I tried my best to sort of create as much as I can have a family environment. Any ups. I think we all organically already just simply do that.
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Christina Lomeli: And which is why when we are in person. You walk into our office and you just see students lounging they're there. It's their home. We have couches and they feel safe and
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Trying to create that in a more intimate environment for The Guardian scholars students as well.
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It's tough. But, you know,
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Christina Lomeli: Where who they have where their family.
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Akil: Yeah, I have to definitely echo that sentiment. I mean, I worked on in the missions, but you know I've run up to LPS or LPS but a lot of the time, and I see students
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Akil: Hanging out the energy is great in the LPs it feels like, you know, everyone is connected so
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Akil: It's really special. I can't
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Akil: Thank you guys enough for the work that you guys are committed to and changing
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Akil: The lives of our students. And these are the stories that we need to center, a little bit more, you know, just listening to you, Christina and talk about what students go through and these are stories of really true triumph foot so
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Akil: I think it's, it's a great place to be if once we returned back on campus to all the listeners, just take Do yourself a favor and walk through the ups and see the work that
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Akil: They all are doing. It's amazing work.
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Hong Lieu: At that age, no feedback is the best feedback if they're just chillin on the couch.
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Hong Lieu: That's a good thing.
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Hong Lieu: Because if they wanted something they would tell you what they needed something from you, they would tell you, but if they don't, if they live to actually happy, then you don't hear much and that's that's really nice.
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Hong Lieu: Alright, so, Chelsea. Do you want to kind of talk about what would kind of what audience you serve it ups or what, what kind of what your what your working environment, day to day is like
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Yes.
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Chelsea Lancaster: So I also want to name that when we talk about LPS we have to remember that LPS was born of the civil rights movement.
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Chelsea Lancaster: Especially in this moment of civil unrest right where we're experiencing sort of a second, a second
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Chelsea Lancaster: Life of that when more folks took to the streets than any other movement in our lifetime.
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Chelsea Lancaster: So when I think about the students that we serve. I really think about not coming from a deficit perspective, but really thinking about educational debt.
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Chelsea Lancaster: Thinking about the ways in which students of color, low income students, students coming out of jails and prisons foster youth and the population that I serve
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Chelsea Lancaster: Single parents have really been left behind by systems, right. We know we don't have equal access to opportunity in our K through 12 system. We know we don't have equal access to to housing.
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Chelsea Lancaster: To all the privileges that other folks have been able to enjoy because of systemic any qualities. So I really think about repaying those educational debts. That's what that above and beyond service at LPS looks like.
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Chelsea Lancaster: I was a teen mom and a single parent student at have ups and Karen Cal works myself. So when you talk about like passion and purpose. This is really
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Chelsea Lancaster: Everything that we're talking about. For me, we can break these cycles by empowering loving and supporting our parents, right. A lot of the single parents that I serve
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Chelsea Lancaster: Came out of foster systems they came out of jails and prisons or their parents themselves are coming out of those systems. Their parents are undocumented
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Chelsea Lancaster: The trauma is really at the root of all the things that we experience in Ethiopia, all the challenges the students experience.
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Chelsea Lancaster: It's really routed back to trauma and systemic any qualities. So for me, my work is really about loving and empowering single parents, especially if we're talking about the spark program which is similar to running start, and transitions our summer bridge program that program is is
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Chelsea Lancaster: Really focused, of course on preparing students for academia, but for me it's so much more right it's dismantling personal shame.
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Chelsea Lancaster: It's reframing single mothers, and this is where I'm I might cuss a little bit, but I tell the spark mom's day one, like you are the baddest bitches on earth and nobody will tell you that because look at all the things that you carry
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Chelsea Lancaster: Look at all the things that you've been through, and you're still here.
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Chelsea Lancaster: You know, they're bringing their children to campus because we want to demystify those spaces. We want our the children of our students to know that these spaces belong to you and you belong here.
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Chelsea Lancaster: So, so much of my work is about creating loving support systems communities of support that these women hold each other down
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Chelsea Lancaster: They still their community organizers. Now they're your nurses there your doctors. They're your teachers.
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Chelsea Lancaster: And they're out there, breaking cycles of trauma breaking cycles of harm and creating new cycles of empowerment, sort of a different set of expectations for our lives. So for me the work
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Chelsea Lancaster: It's really meaningful, it's, it's kind of what I what I live eat and breathe is like dreaming about creating better support systems. I'm always disappointed.
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Chelsea Lancaster: That single parents have been left out of the equity conversation at the state level and every other level, Frank.
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Chelsea Lancaster: Frankly, because when you look at all the research single parents, single mothers in particular are trying to pursue
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Chelsea Lancaster: Higher Education and overwhelming rates, but they're not succeeding at alarming rates because they don't have the support necessary to thrive.
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Chelsea Lancaster: Single parents need childcare, we do that in Ethiopia. We provide that service and LPS Karen callbacks programs at Santa Barbara City College. But what if you're a single parent student that you don't qualify for any of those services.
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Chelsea Lancaster: Why is that not a universal sort of understanding on our campus that that in order to go to school, you need childcare.
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Chelsea Lancaster: So that's kind of where I come from, just really trying to to empower them to understand that that it's possible, it's possible for them to get degrees, it's possible for them to, again, sort of change the cycles that they come from change the expectations for their lives.
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Chelsea Lancaster: So I really love it. I'm privileged to be able to do this work. I'm privileged to work with the team that's like, again, it really is a family environment Neo PS. There's so much love and support there.
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Chelsea Lancaster: And we still get those calls and I got a call because one of my students partners was taken by ice, you know, a week and a half ago and they know that they can call me and I'll show up for them.
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Chelsea Lancaster: In any way that they need. And that's what LPS does when we say above and beyond. We're talking about like holistically.
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Chelsea Lancaster: meeting the needs and material conditions of our students in any way that we possibly can. It's not just about getting them through school. It's about getting them through life, and we're still mentoring those students, you know, years later, we're still the people that they count on.
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Chelsea Lancaster: So it's a really beautiful. It's a beautiful space. It's a privilege to do it and yeah I'm excited to be talking to you all today and
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Hong Lieu: And that's really the key, the key of it is, it's impossible to really
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Hong Lieu: Do this work and be invested in
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Hong Lieu: People's lives like this without without getting that connection and really kind of, you know, gaining gaining trying to gain the trust of these folks who are not easily trusting because
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Hong Lieu: They've gone through systems and gone through life and in situations where trust is not easy to come by. So so finding people that they can trust and learning to build those trust mechanics. I mean, that's
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Hong Lieu: That's a key part to becoming a quote unquote adult as it were so, so that service is awesome and also that the point you make about trauma. I mean, that is probably the most
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Hong Lieu: The thing that that is equal among all of us has all of the trauma that we all have to kind of go through digest and and how that manifests that people is so unique because we are all individuals and we all, you know,
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Hong Lieu: Are evaluating things differently. So, so just being aware of that ready and able to deal with it like to the level that you all guys are doing is is unbelievable really great work. I mean, I will say that
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Hong Lieu: As a parent, an older parent who was 2032 and my son was born. It was hard for me. So, I mean, I grew up in East LA people were having that conversation.
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Hong Lieu: You know, Junior High 12 or 13 you'd have someone in class, talk about, like, you know, I don't know what to do. I need to talk to somebody
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Hong Lieu: And they end up talking to the teacher, and then they go down the path of becoming a single parent student
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Hong Lieu: And it's, it's one of those things where you don't really. I mean, I don't know why people don't understand how hard it is, but
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Hong Lieu: Even me, as an older parent not going to school and just working it was unbelievably hard. So I just think back to all those times when I was growing up, and someone be like okay
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Hong Lieu: I'm going to this. I didn't know what to do. I don't know what's going on. And a lot of times they can't go to their parent, you know at that age. I mean, now at this age, maybe a little different but
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Hong Lieu: At that age, they could not go to the parents because their parents were not. You're not listening to them or not involved enough to
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Hong Lieu: Keep them out of that situation. To begin with, so to speak, in terms of certain things. But just having someone to go to, you know, go into teachers and go into friends. I mean, it's hard. So it's, I mean, I
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Hong Lieu: I would you know I'm not a religious man, but I've sainthood for all single parents out there that are doing doing the thing and doing the best they can, because
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Hong Lieu: It is very hard. I mean, and it's trying to try to bathe yourself in any environment is hard, but as a single parent and trying to get through all the rigmarole that life throws at you. I mean commendable. Awesome work.
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Akil: Interesting. How long have you been working at the college i think i don't think that he brought that up.
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Chelsea Lancaster: Or so, are we going into how we came to the college I was gonna
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Chelsea Lancaster: Say that
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Hong Lieu: We can blend it. Yeah, we can play
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Akil: blended it
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Chelsea Lancaster: I've, uh, I've been there 13 years full time but I started as a student worker. I started as a peer mentor and the cow works program.
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Chelsea Lancaster: And Cal works for those who don't know, it's always kind of been like the redheaded stepchild of Santa Barbara City College.
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Chelsea Lancaster: That is for parenting students who are receiving cash aid, which is formerly known as welfare from Department of Social Services and it's, that's a really complex system that frankly
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Chelsea Lancaster: We we've been fighting for years just to have cow works allow folks to come to school because it's such a work first program.
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Chelsea Lancaster: So they're like, go get a job. And so, you know, but if you don't have
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Chelsea Lancaster: Those skills you haven't healed. Your house list. You've got three kids like you go and get that job at McDonald's and you're stuck in poverty for the rest of your life. And we continue those cycles.
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Chelsea Lancaster: Going to fight. That's why these programs exist because the community college system has to incentivize
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Chelsea Lancaster: Having Department of Social Services refer folks to get an education. So we've got a work study program and all these other programs.
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Chelsea Lancaster: To be able to do that. So I was a student worker and Cal works single mom myself came back. So I became a mom at 17 had came to school bombed just like first page of my transcript is all F's. So I tell my students that story all the time, right.
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Chelsea Lancaster: Because of the ways in which we come into these systems. We already believe. We don't belong in them. So if we don't succeed, initially we feel like we failed. And yeah, this isn't for me. It's that self fulfilling prophecy
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Chelsea Lancaster: So I just had to go out in the working world for a little bit. I had to learn that glass ceiling myself. Ever After having a bunch of mediocre bosses and being like, Damn, I'm not going to be able to get that job, unless I get this degree. I need to go back to school.
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Chelsea Lancaster: So we were, we ended up at storyteller, which is a place for homeless women and children and they encouraged me to go back to school because they thought I was smart, so
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Chelsea Lancaster: I came back to school at 26 and I was a peer mentor in Cal works, working with other single parents transfer DCS, he was able to stay on to that position as an hourly worker and then as soon as I was graduating some stuff went down with my boss.
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Chelsea Lancaster: I came in as the interim spa and then got the the permanent position. So that was 13 years ago was moved up that was Kyle works only was moved up to PS combine two full time positions that no one. And that was how I came into that family so yeah feel feels like a long ass time
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Hong Lieu: I mean it is right, especially in today's world, because, I mean, modern kids are kind of like
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Hong Lieu: They're kind of taught like okay within like three to five years, you should be looking for someone else and I and and I'm an old school. I'm the person that
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Hong Lieu: Believes in career like you know the guy. THE NEW STORY AT THE END OF THE NEWS IS LIKE been working at the post office for
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Hong Lieu: 65 years retiring today. Those are the ones that warmed my heart because, as someone whose parents like my dad worked in restaurants, so
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Hong Lieu: You never knew if he came home one day be like okay I lost my job. I got the job. Don't worry guys, you know, we got three days of savings, I can float. This
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Hong Lieu: And playing games like that. Like I don't love those games. So the I've always loved that stability.
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Hong Lieu: That's something that the public sector has provided me that I've been able to, you know, be like, Hey, I just work here. I love you know
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Hong Lieu: I do the work and they keep me around because seeing that juggle was was not cool but but today's kids are the opposite like
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Hong Lieu: If you save some for too long you quote unquote lack ambition or your this and that's like, no, I just, I mean, you know, like, Well, you know, I don't know if that's a different conversation to
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Hong Lieu: Like is your working life is your working life, etc, etc, yada, yada. What do you, what is your career really mean but yeah
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Akil: You just try and get the calipers, man. You ain't front.
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Hong Lieu: I mean,
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Hong Lieu: I mean, I mean that's that's the truth of it is, the benefits are sweet, but at the same time. Yeah, that's stability is number one. To me, it did you gave me no benefits. But you said I could work as long as I did the work. He told me to do.
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Hong Lieu: I need nothing else because I've been in plenty of jobs where I do the work I'm supposed to do. And it's like, yeah, but and those tablets will just take little pieces of you at a time and then they've kind of build up and it's like, Okay, I gotta get it but so yeah and then
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Hong Lieu: Alright, if
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Hong Lieu: You could take us home what you bring what you bring it
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Ismael Paredes Ulloa (He/Him/His/El): I am fortunate to, I don't know. I think they made this tradition, especially, especially for me. I get to work with our recent high school graduates that are iOS eligible
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Ismael Paredes Ulloa (He/Him/His/El): I've been working in the high schools, the junior High's basically since I left to UCSB a million years ago, and I get to work with them now run the running manage the running start program. I'm actually going to start recruiting for next summer already
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Ismael Paredes Ulloa (He/Him/His/El): And I able to work with these beautiful people, and so many more beautiful people behind the scenes to put together a six week program to really transitioning these high school students who again are financially and educationally disadvantaged in some way to get them ready for college.
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Ismael Paredes Ulloa (He/Him/His/El): You know, I came to SBC right after high school and I didn't really think much of it, I was like, well,
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Ismael Paredes Ulloa (He/Him/His/El): I'm not that smart. So I guess I'll go to CC and just see like what happens at some point, not understanding, like what a
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Ismael Paredes Ulloa (He/Him/His/El): badass like resource SPC is and and what's there and what's not. And you know how people can be supported. So part of my job is making sure that folks understand that, you know, come into it. This last year we did our first virtual
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Ismael Paredes Ulloa (He/Him/His/El): Running START program and running start started in 2001. So this is the first one that we've ever had to do online. It was my first one ever
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Ismael Paredes Ulloa (He/Him/His/El): Which was nice trial by fire.
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Ismael Paredes Ulloa (He/Him/His/El): But definitely get to support them as the year goes on. I've actually also adopted some of the
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Ismael Paredes Ulloa (He/Him/His/El): Some of the running start students from previous years. So being able to work with them has just been an absolute joy I I also work with are undocumented and 8540 students I separate them because not every student that I work with is at 540 eligible
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Ismael Paredes Ulloa (He/Him/His/El): So not everyone is able to get the promise I'm not the promise. Excuse me.
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Ismael Paredes Ulloa (He/Him/His/El): The CCP eg
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Ismael Paredes Ulloa (He/Him/His/El): That able to be dreamers etc but also work with those 8540 students as well.
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Ismael Paredes Ulloa (He/Him/His/El): I support them in any way I can
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Ismael Paredes Ulloa (He/Him/His/El): When I first came on, there was a conversation on whether they needed to be centralized with one person and I fought tooth and nail to make sure that that happened because
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Ismael Paredes Ulloa (He/Him/His/El): Coming as a child of immigrants, you know, like, I understand that there are a lot of fears, a lot of myths about what we can and cannot do or what our kids can and cannot do.
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Ismael Paredes Ulloa (He/Him/His/El): So working with young folks, especially our 16 1718 year olds who really are facing have faced in over the last four years, probably some of the most dire situations for them.
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Ismael Paredes Ulloa (He/Him/His/El): You know, there's a whole generation of SPC students right now who are not part of deca for perfectly eligible for but can't submit an application.
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Ismael Paredes Ulloa (He/Him/His/El): And so are are left out in the cold on so many different resources. So I get to use my experience my connections and just my drive to try to connect them to whatever I can. I'm so lucky that there's huge support from the community college
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Ismael Paredes Ulloa (He/Him/His/El): System in California, to be able to support these books. But let's be real.
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Ismael Paredes Ulloa (He/Him/His/El): You know, kill noses really well and Oreos family knows this really well, but
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Ismael Paredes Ulloa (He/Him/His/El): A lot of us just kind of do it because we'd love it because those are the folks, we want to help. There's really nothing constant concerted NSPCC like we don't have a dream center.
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Ismael Paredes Ulloa (He/Him/His/El): We don't have a designated and docu liaison who who that's their job. It's basically like a bunch of us kind of working towards the similar goals importing these students
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Ismael Paredes Ulloa (He/Him/His/El): So yeah, I mean that's that's what I get to do. And again, it's, it's about helping those students who who are eligible for caches, who are not eligible to be guardian scholars who may have come here without parents who are living with aunts, uncles, complete strangers, trying to make it
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Ismael Paredes Ulloa (He/Him/His/El): So it's, it's been a complete blessing again coming from immigrant parents like, you know, I feel like I'm really just kind of
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Ismael Paredes Ulloa (He/Him/His/El): Trying to pay them back. You know, like I wouldn't be here without their lot of all their sacrifices all things they have to go through their immigrant stories or immigrant story to tell. But, you know, being privy to the details like it makes you want to fight for it every single day.
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Hong Lieu: And it also makes the guilt that the shower on you when they make you want to do they want you to do stuff for them. Like, you can't go against it. Like, no matter what my mom wants me to do something. I'm doing it.
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Ismael Paredes Ulloa (He/Him/His/El): Like
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Hong Lieu: I came from. I came from Vietnam. It took my house they shot him me for this. You're going to me like that. I'm like, Fine, I'll take out the garbage. Geez.
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Hong Lieu: Yeah, so I mean I had
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Ismael Paredes Ulloa (He/Him/His/El): A question for you in terms of your
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Hong Lieu: Your Premier, he said 16 to 18 year old.
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Ismael Paredes Ulloa (He/Him/His/El): Well, I'm a student
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Ismael Paredes Ulloa (He/Him/His/El): Well,
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Ismael Paredes Ulloa (He/Him/His/El): I mean, depending on your student, you know, like, yeah. The Graduate, so to be running start, you have to be LPS but you have to be starting
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Ismael Paredes Ulloa (He/Him/His/El): At us BCC after the beginning. After the at the beginning of fall, basically. So even if you're a meteor grab like we have here at Santa Barbara Unified School District.
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Ismael Paredes Ulloa (He/Him/His/El): If you're a graduate in December, but you don't attend SP CC in the spring, you're automatically eligible to fall into running start, or apply for running start, if you're going to start with us in the fall. So it's specifically for students coming in to SPC
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Hong Lieu: In terms of, are there any tips or anything that you think that students might want to look into, or think about in in that age range as they
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Hong Lieu: As they prepare for college. If they're not doing now, or something where
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Hong Lieu: You, you notice a trend where certain folks have you did this, it would be easier if you have that or I mean, is it just so it really is every case so different that it's hard to kind of pinpoint
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Hong Lieu: I'm trying to see if there's any kind of things you know when you grow up as a high school student you like oh do this to your applications, but for certain that's that doesn't apply it all. It has nothing to do with what your path is higher education.
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Hong Lieu: So folks who are know they're going SPC are definitely there's coming. They should be thinking about are doing to prepare
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Ismael Paredes Ulloa (He/Him/His/El): I mean, I think the situation, like you said, is is really different from from person to person.
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Ismael Paredes Ulloa (He/Him/His/El): But I think you know if you're lucky enough to be able to identify an ally on campus, whether
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Ismael Paredes Ulloa (He/Him/His/El): That's the secretary. The, the teacher, the counselor, dude. I mean even the janitors on campus like have so many resources so many connects like if you can identify that ally.
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Ismael Paredes Ulloa (He/Him/His/El): And get connected like I think one of the best things about being born in Santa Barbara being raised in Santa Barbara, is the fact that there's like two degrees of separation.
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Ismael Paredes Ulloa (He/Him/His/El): You know, and being able to see like how you can connect to folks.
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Ismael Paredes Ulloa (He/Him/His/El): But honestly, you know, it's, I always tell our students do the best do the best you can.
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Ismael Paredes Ulloa (He/Him/His/El): Not every situation is in your control. But again, if you can find those allies, you know, hopefully they can get you the resources and get you get you connected
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Ismael Paredes Ulloa (He/Him/His/El): But that's what SPC is also here for like I've, I've heard other folks and I believe 100% NSPCC is a new start, you know, it is where you control your own destiny. You know, like you didn't do that well in high school. Okay.
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Ismael Paredes Ulloa (He/Him/His/El): Come to us BCC you'll do better because you want to do better.
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Ismael Paredes Ulloa (He/Him/His/El): You know, not because we're here to force you to do better, because we're here to support you like Chelsea and Christina knew all have done.
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Ismael Paredes Ulloa (He/Him/His/El): With the populations, they work with. We don't force them to do anything. You know, do we nag them every now and again to make sure that they're getting their appointments in are staying on their work. Absolutely. But we're here to support them in what they're what they want to do.
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I think that's so important, which you just mentioned about those allies. I was just thinking about my own sort of path to college and what that look like and how fortunate I am that I was connected with that one person.
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Who convinced me to apply to just about every single University in the state of California or you see at least and
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I wouldn't have done that. And that was at Santa Barbara High School in the Career and College center at the time.
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And at the time, actually, ironically, it was the college counselors at that time were track and Lopez, who
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Is the director of Casa de La Raza. And actually, my brother Reuben Gill, who is now an academic counselor and ups. They were the ones that pushed me in my group of friends to apply and I was thankfully connected to a running start program.
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Similar to what we do here at the UC system at UC San Diego through the oasis program and I
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I cannot tell you I can't even put into words how transformational that six weeks. Summer Bridge Program was for me. It's an outgoing high school student, not knowing
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You know where I was headed what I was doing. What, what, what even did a university offer what what's a major what's you know all these things. I just really didn't have access to knowing
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Because similar to a lot of us, I think, was first generation college student. So I was that typical Ethiopia student right
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Where my parents, you know, had a second grade and fifth grade education and don't fault them for not knowing you know how to guide me, but thankfully I had those key people at the high school that transition to be over to higher education and
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I go really credit that running start program to a lot of where I've gone and what I've become which then deplete leading to a bachelor's and
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A master's degree as well and
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Akil: So yeah, the register are changing lives. And how long have you been at the college
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Christina Lomeli: I have been at the college now for 15 years
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Yeah so started my first 10 years as a financial aid advisor.
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Christina Lomeli: is beautiful. I seriously felt like I was a philanthropist in my past life. So just being able to connect students to their money, right, that they work so hard for.
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was beautiful and then transition temporarily over to the dual enrollment program and then this guardian scholars position opened up and it was full circle from my prior career back to what I'm doing now.
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Akil: She's going for those calipers man, she's going for.
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Those
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Hong Lieu: Yeah and that that classic helpers, that's sweet.
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Akil: And then. No, I don't think we know well didn't really
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Akil: Kind of, yeah. Talk a little bit what how long he's been at the college and, you know,
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Noel Gomez: Yeah, so I call it since April 2007 so 13 years, literally, more than 30 years
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Akil: Come through what the cow purse.
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Noel Gomez: Yeah. And yeah, interesting enough, like, you know, Hong seen about, um, you know,
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Noel Gomez: You're at a job for like four or five years and you're, you know, you're not ambitious, if you want to, you're not moving on. Right. I, I had that mentality, like how I ended up in Santa Barbara. After, after I finished my master's degree was
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Noel Gomez: I don't know, my life is interesting, sometimes, but I ended up in in Santa Barbara in 2006 and then I
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Noel Gomez: I, I saw this opportunity with ups right at the college and as soon as I got the job opportunity.
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Noel Gomez: And you know in my head. I was saying, Okay, I'll do this for two, three years. And just to get experiencing the college level and then apply for peace. These and then I'll move on.
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Noel Gomez: And then in 2008 that's when we started the transitions programs that we had
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Noel Gomez: A student of ours and UPS his knees Martine labor. He was a formerly incarcerated student had just gotten released from Chino state prison.
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Noel Gomez: And he he started seeing people on campus that he saw at the parole office right when he was doing check ins and mandatory testing.
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Noel Gomez: And he approached Marcia, right, who was a director at the time and myself and decided to start this
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Noel Gomez: Support Group for formerly incarcerated students. And we did that for a while and eventually
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Noel Gomez: Sort of what we do in ups. If we see there's a gap with our students. So there's a service. We're not providing we somehow find a way to provide that service, but that's what we do. That's what we say we go above and beyond.
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Noel Gomez: It's not written in our job description. It's not an expectation of the college has of us is just, we know it's the right thing to do.
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Noel Gomez: So we say let's go ahead and do this opportunity for forming incarcerated students. It turned into a six week summer bridge program.
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Noel Gomez: We had spark, which is our single parents arriving ready for college program. Already we had the success of running start, so we modeled it after that.
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Noel Gomez: So, it kept me, it kept me for a year and I and I said, You know, I really like this. This is its new program.
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Noel Gomez: I want to see maybe two other community colleges in California, we're offering a program like that for formerly incarcerated women and men.
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Noel Gomez: And so I said, Okay, I'll do this for two, three more years, then I'll move on. And the program started getting larger.
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Noel Gomez: We were selected for the rice and diversity, equity award in 2012. I said, all right, I'll save a couple more years.
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Noel Gomez: And program expanding the county jail. Aside from everything we're doing and ups and, you know, here we are 2020 I haven't left and that just speaks volumes that
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Noel Gomez: SPC is just a, it's a, it's a great place to be, obviously, every place has its it's a, you know, negative attributes, of course, it's everywhere we go but
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Noel Gomez: You know everything that we do in our office it outweighs all of that, like every time we hold our
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Noel Gomez: Graduation Ceremony or end of the year. Summer Bridge Program celebrations where we recognize every student that's been through the program we look at each other.
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Noel Gomez: And we're like, the seat. That's why we're here. This is why we're here. This is why we keep doing what we do, even through all the BS that we see sometimes on campus, like, it's like, this is why we're here. And it's, you know, in our students need us. Honestly, and to be there for them.
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Noel Gomez: And if I can be here another 20 years, you know, hopefully, we can do that like
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Chelsea Lancaster: Slow down, Noel, slow down.
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Akil: I hear you on that point, though, because I really believe and I firmly believe that the type of work that you guys do the institution.
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Akil: Needs this right because what happens is I see that you know we talked about mission statements and and why we're here to support all the students, but if you don't have the right people in place.
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Akil: Then you're not really going to truly support the students. And what I'm hearing from you guys is that or y'all is that
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Akil: You guys are doing things outside of your job description that will then enable the students to continue to come back and continue to have the success in the areas that they choose to, so to speak, so
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Akil: Like, I'm a believer that I meant that LPS the institution owes it to ups to continue to support them and it's this great work. Man, Israel, you have any coppers coming your way. How, how long have you been
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Akil: I gotta get this off the way so everyone
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Ismael Paredes Ulloa (He/Him/His/El): I just hit five years in in November.
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Akil: There. Let's go.
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Akil: Let's go.
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Hong Lieu: And there's no there's no like helpers. Click Gemma people and so you're good, you're good to go read
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Akil: This my was in there, man.
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Hong Lieu: Yeah, and I do want to say that in terms of like we talked about the
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Hong Lieu: Supporting the program. I mean, in that moment when you were building up the transition stuff and that support manifested itself is
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Hong Lieu: Just letting you figure out what was going on, you know, figure out what you want to do, figure out how to build a program, figure out what you're doing.
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Hong Lieu: And then come around and support from that way. So just having that opportunity to be able to kind of
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Hong Lieu: Like not freestyle but like kind of figure out what your program was at that point and to see that you were able to do that. And then, and then they come around and support the other and
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Hong Lieu: That's I mean right there would have been my, my little ticket my head like maybe I don't want to go anywhere because not every job is like that. You never know when when some random supervisor can be like, what are you working on
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Hong Lieu: Oh really, let me just run that up the chain and then you just get stuck. You know, so
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Hong Lieu: So I would. That's it. That's a big shout out right there that they allow you to kind of build it build it. How was and then came back around and then supported you and that kind of was like the
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Hong Lieu: Support you need it. That's exactly what you do in that moment. So, so, yeah. Terms of I gotta, I gotta give a real crazy there that that they let you work and then you were able to manifest that give give give her all the way through and get that sweet scalpers clicking
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Hong Lieu: Okay, so
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Chelsea Lancaster: You're going to be more support.
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Hong Lieu: Always
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Hong Lieu: And, and, like, like a
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Chelsea Lancaster: Lot more support for
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Chelsea Lancaster: The students and for these initiatives. I'm just going to name it.
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Chelsea Lancaster: These needs to be institutional commitments to this work to these students
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Chelsea Lancaster: And we frankly need to pay people for their labor when they do mad above and beyond equity focused anti racist work all that stuff. Sorry, I just got to be a person, all the time, but I have to name it like this is LPS
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Chelsea Lancaster: And when we talk about our mission statements and we talked about how those are living, breathing things. I think part of what happens in academia is people get to in their heads about the work
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Chelsea Lancaster: And we like to draft really wordy statements and we like to talk about it. But when it comes to being about it like this is what it looks like and
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Chelsea Lancaster: There's a lot of barriers to us doing this work because of the way that these systems were designed. They're not broken. They're working exactly as they were designed
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Yeah.
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Chelsea Lancaster: I think that LPS is something that we would love to expand, at least in terms of the way that we do the work.
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Chelsea Lancaster: And that we need to have some continue to have those messy conversations at the college about the barriers and about the ways in which we have created and maintained systems that are oppressive and
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Chelsea Lancaster: Frankly, you know, our barriers to success for the very students that we're talking about in this room today.
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Chelsea Lancaster: Right, is to be honest about all that stuff because this is the field. Good work, and people love to tout it but like in terms of the messiness of what the work actually looks like. And the way it needs to be done is a place that we're not out yet. Frankly, I'm just gonna say it. Yeah.
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That's
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Christina Lomeli: That just real quick. I'm just going to piggyback on that. I mean, I definitely felt that right we classified staff members have the opportunity to do every classification
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Christina Lomeli: Once a year, and I think it's just offered because it's in the MO you they have to offer it whether they honor it acknowledge it and appreciate that process is another story, but just simply seeing the language and that reclassification
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Process was just pretty. It was disheartening to say the least, right where it says that you are a spa.
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Akil: And you are supposed to do what's in this box. Anything you do above and beyond outside of that.
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Christina Lomeli: You really shouldn't be doing. First of all, because you're doing that of your own free will. Right. And so just seeing that language and talking about the systems.
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Christina Lomeli: That are well I guess as chase Chelsea said they're not really broken. Right, I guess. So this is how they're meant to work. But how do we sort of change that culture and
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Not, not putting these positions in these boxes and saying this is what you should be doing. You should not be going outside of that because of your classified status.
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Is just doing a disservice to our students in a big way, a really big way.
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Akil: So I was like, we need to bring Liz aka class on
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Noel Gomez: What I wanted to see to was, you know, with any any program and development is, you know, we especially if you're being innovative in education, for the most part I think ups SPC has been
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Noel Gomez: In some regard and, you know, we started a program. But then we step back and just because we offer a service, for example, just an awesome weekend. Just do transitions in 2008 just because we're open
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Noel Gomez: Institution and access to from incarcerated students didn't necessarily mean that everything we were doing was right.
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Noel Gomez: We had a step back a few years later and say, Okay, let's let's assess this program. What are we doing wrong, what do we need to improve on. And if we need to improve in all aspects of it. We need the resources to provide that access because in the program must be tied to student and achievement.
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Noel Gomez: Yeah, as if their students are not successfully moving towards their educational goals, then we're doing something wrong. We have to honor that too. Right, so it becomes a it becomes a challenge. Right. Yes.
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Noel Gomez: Go ahead.
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Akil: I just feel you on that. I'm just, I'm just filling you on on that statement.
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Hong Lieu: And and it's a conversation that is is evolving right now as we speak, and we hope that that the work that y'all done the experience that y'all have doing this work.
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Hong Lieu: Is something that when the college, you know, takes up this mandate completely and begins to devote some resources to actively kind of improving enhancing
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Hong Lieu: You know, doing more stuff in that regard that they look to ups and say, hey, we know y'all have been here, y'all doing the work, you'll have the context and community.
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Hong Lieu: Let's, let's go. You know, like, so that's, I mean you know it's it's got to be one of the natural kind of branches of what
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Hong Lieu: This conversation is leading to is additional resources to do that kind of work because y'all are doing the work. You all have been doing the work and y'all will continue to do the work at a high you know level. So thank you all very much.
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Hong Lieu: All right, on that note, now we get a segue a little bit into kind of fleshing out all y'all a little bit food and culture. Does anyone want to kick this off start
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Hong Lieu: Ish. I know, I know, I heard you're talking about something earlier that you eaten, so maybe
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Ismael Paredes Ulloa (He/Him/His/El): Sure, sure, pick on the new guy.
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Ismael Paredes Ulloa (He/Him/His/El): The food when I was thinking about that.
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Ismael Paredes Ulloa (He/Him/His/El): You know, something that I love that. My mom would make was kind of a comfort food for me. She, she's bedridden now so she can't really coach is, you know, in a wheelchair and so like
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Ismael Paredes Ulloa (He/Him/His/El): It, you know, the longer the further away you get from from these memories. The more you kind of, they kind of feel takes root in my heart.
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Ismael Paredes Ulloa (He/Him/His/El): Is just her more later and shadow, like if you've had Mahler with chocolate. You've not had malaria and channel like malaria and Cheryl.
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Ismael Paredes Ulloa (He/Him/His/El): Just doesn't even know chocolate is just like this beautiful like ocean of spice that put anything you want in there and it's just going to be amazing. My mom would do for lunch she would do these little
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Ismael Paredes Ulloa (He/Him/His/El): Shrimp patties like she would take should take powder tramp make little patties and those what are
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Ismael Paredes Ulloa (He/Him/His/El): Those like I met on regular, you know, rest of the year with chicken and just that mala was just like, I even just I hit her up the other day for the recipe. And I was like, I just need to like
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Ismael Paredes Ulloa (He/Him/His/El): Get in my kitchen and just start making and see if I can get close to it, but that's that's my big. I mean, that's just that's, yeah.
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Hong Lieu: And and modeling is like a very, I mean, there's, there's, there's certain good ground rules, but everyone can put their own spin on it. So it's like almost like a chili recipe in a way where everyone's got their own little twist so
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Hong Lieu: There's not one Moly that taste exact like another, you know, per se, but that's a little twist there. Have you found any Malays in town in terms of dental scratch and each at all when you're craving. If you don't want to cook it yourself, or is it just No touching. It's
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Ismael Paredes Ulloa (He/Him/His/El): Again, growing up with a modern channel you like everything else like anywhere I go any restaurant, no matter how nice or whatever or authentic. It's always malo with drop a lot. Then I'm just like, This is nice. This is cute. Okay, like let me let me do it burn. Let me feel it will eat it.
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Ismael Paredes Ulloa (He/Him/His/El): Yeah, but now there's some great spots in town. But now, I mean, you know, same thing with like my mom's at us. You know, like, she'll make red rice. It's like no one makes it, it's, it's, you know, whatever mom makes that's that's the end all be all
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Hong Lieu: That's a good one. That's a good choice Malays like super comfort food even for someone who came from. It came just eating at friends houses like it was just so nice.
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Ismael Paredes Ulloa (He/Him/His/El): Like, and it's my understanding, it's indigenous food too. So it's like paying back to, to our Nala are my Chica backgrounds, you know, taking from the earth and making these blends is beautiful marriages and unions of
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Ismael Paredes Ulloa (He/Him/His/El): Just different flavors. It's nice to kind of feel your route out in your food here, right.
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Hong Lieu: Oh, yeah.
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Akil: The Malaya ammonium pretty good. I don't know if you guys have tried their Molly Monet's but that's pretty. That's the spot that if you I think a couple of people.
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Akil: Guess who came on that talked about Monet's but that's a spot. You know, I don't know if you've tried it, but it's it's it's good, but I know it's it's made from chocolate. So, you know,
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Hong Lieu: And there's nothing. Nothing wrong with chocolate. It's just one type of molding so
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Akil: Yeah yeah yeah
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Hong Lieu: Like it's like getting into the greens and reds all the call.
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Yeah.
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Hong Lieu: You know, like it's it's just hitting all those all the different types like this expanding expand the reach. It's like if someone came to me talk about noodles. The only want to email me and it's like fun Shanghai rice cakes.
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Hong Lieu: It's just a start, you know they they mostly just like you know this is the spice spice blends looks like the magic, you can make with that that nuance in terms of we talked about individual experiences. Let the individual breathe, let them do the work. You know, so
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Yeah yeah
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Akil: All right, let's see who's next who's next.
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Noel Gomez: Oh, go ahead. I'm, I'm, I think, while doing this whole you know pandemic as a some restaurants are starting to open up a little bit more. Right. But I'm a I've always been a big fan of meal at NASA. If you all
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Noel Gomez: Are trying, but so it. I discovered it when I was in Mexico City. So I was visiting family out there, years ago, it must have been years ago.
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Noel Gomez: But my mom's from Mexico City, and she took me to one of my aunt's place and she made this meal and Nessa
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Noel Gomez: And I didn't know what it was. And from then to this day. I'm still hooked on that. Like I don't eat it every day. I don't need every week, but
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Noel Gomez: If I ever go to a Mexican restaurant. For example, I like going to assess house plays on purpose.
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Noel Gomez: And I'll get there Mila Nessa for what you pay for the portion you get. It's a lot of food and I don't know if you can tell that there's another place in town that has better Mila Nessa, let me know. I'll try. So I've been on this quest to find the best meal at NASA and enchiladas.
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Noel Gomez: enchilada, as I can eat almost every day.
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Noel Gomez: Is it something I just any know a lot of it too. It just reminds me by my mom is it. Those are like the best dishes Houston name.
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Noel Gomez: Either you know when she would make me laugh. Nessa or enchiladas. It was a special day.
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Noel Gomez: And to this day, if I ever go visitor. So, you know, do you want something for me personally. Yeah, of course. Me line. So let's get it.
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Noel Gomez: Yeah.
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Noel Gomez: What are my two favorite dishes that I like to look out for.
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Hong Lieu: assessors plays on purpose is like, it's very underrated because they you know they build themselves like a seafood place but anything. Everything on that menu is good. You can't really go wrong. It says place. I mean,
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Noel Gomez: It's I sometimes like I get surprised, like, you know, if you're listening, the increase the prices.
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Noel Gomez: Oh no, it's
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Noel Gomez: Because there's other Mexican restaurants in town that are really expensive. Yeah, they're they're reasonable
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Akil: So we'll put will put a link to successors, so that way we can support local businesses that has done a great job at doing that. So I'm curious to get down there and try to try that in a while so
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Hong Lieu: Yeah, the feces good but everything there. I've never had a bad dish there and it's all it is all like bountiful yeah the plates are big.
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Chelsea Lancaster: Me to get a bowl.
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Akil: All right, who's next we got trust Chelsea and
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Hong Lieu: Christina. Christina. Christina radius all the unmute so
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Christina Lomeli: Oh, no.
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Christina Lomeli: So I unmuted, because actually I was gonna give Noah Wyle props for turning me on to the meal and NASA pass from Drumline P. S.
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Christina Lomeli: S or oh
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Christina Lomeli: Man Oh, PS before he had. I don't remember what it was. I think he went out to it, you're like, Hey, I'm gonna go grab
407
00:59:53.640 --> 01:00:05.730
Christina Lomeli: Lunch and pick some lunch up. Anybody want anything. And so he had he was raving about the store us the Millennials are taught us and ever since then. Oh, well I have been hooked. So I feel you on that.
408
01:00:06.420 --> 01:00:07.740
Noel Gomez: There are no longer
409
01:00:07.770 --> 01:00:09.240
Hong Lieu: No longer with us. Sadly,
410
01:00:10.260 --> 01:00:11.760
Noel Gomez: We have a truck, though, I think that, oh,
411
01:00:11.760 --> 01:00:12.210
Hong Lieu: They do.
412
01:00:15.240 --> 01:00:19.050
Hong Lieu: I know, I know, I used to see him parked outside Andrews, but I wasn't sure if they saw the truck. Because yeah, they
413
01:00:19.110 --> 01:00:29.160
Hong Lieu: They always got that right because they were the spot where we want to go to you after hidden states, you'd ever put the food was good when you get to our chapter the little bits of fruit in it and everything like yes oh yeah yeah
414
01:00:29.190 --> 01:00:35.940
Christina Lomeli: But I don't know, I feel like I mean I hate to brag, but I don't know if you saw the little guy walking around in the background.
415
01:00:40.200 --> 01:00:44.550
Hong Lieu: Oh man, that is it. That is a pretty that's right there when you got mom still
416
01:00:48.090 --> 01:00:48.750
Christina Lomeli: Grandma.
417
01:00:49.950 --> 01:00:50.880
Christina Lomeli: She's my kids, Grandma.
418
01:01:00.300 --> 01:01:12.570
Christina Lomeli: So so regarding call me that I'm very spoiled. I have my mom, I have my mom here at home and ish. I think my mom can give your mom or run for her money on the rice.
419
01:01:17.910 --> 01:01:20.940
Christina Lomeli: compares to nothing like i don't i don't even
420
01:01:21.240 --> 01:01:22.260
Ismael Paredes Ulloa (He/Him/His/El): Fighting Words Christina.
421
01:01:24.390 --> 01:01:26.970
Hong Lieu: We don't want to start any family no family beeps here day every
422
01:01:29.760 --> 01:01:30.870
Chelsea Lancaster: Day. I can't wait.
423
01:01:32.220 --> 01:01:33.840
Christina Lomeli: She's saying I put fresh tomatoes.
424
01:01:35.100 --> 01:01:35.640
In
425
01:01:43.860 --> 01:01:44.730
Akil: Humans a trick.
426
01:01:45.960 --> 01:01:53.370
Akil: Teller. Teller. When we return, we will be hoping and praying for some rice from your, your mother.
427
01:01:53.760 --> 01:01:54.420
Yes.
428
01:01:55.440 --> 01:01:57.480
Christina Lomeli: We do, we do, we do drive by pickups.
429
01:01:57.540 --> 01:01:57.750
A
430
01:02:00.030 --> 01:02:01.230
Akil: Demo I'll demo or
431
01:02:01.380 --> 01:02:01.500
Akil: The
432
01:02:01.590 --> 01:02:05.490
Hong Lieu: The perfect the pop up. See, did you start a rice pop up, you know,
433
01:02:05.580 --> 01:02:06.300
Hong Lieu: Get on Insta
434
01:02:06.360 --> 01:02:12.120
Christina Lomeli: You good, yeah. Yeah, that's my contribution is my mom's rice. It's
435
01:02:14.490 --> 01:02:17.220
Hong Lieu: Comfort those comfort Staples or yeah they're definitely right there.
436
01:02:17.730 --> 01:02:19.320
Hong Lieu: There were there were talking about, for sure.
437
01:02:20.820 --> 01:02:21.270
Hong Lieu: Alright, so
438
01:02:21.450 --> 01:02:30.510
Chelsea Lancaster: Chelsea, I'll go next. So, um, my mom and grandmother. Also, both from Mexico City white dad, though, so it's what you get.
439
01:02:32.190 --> 01:02:42.090
Chelsea Lancaster: But I grew up with, with my mom's family. So it was all Mexican food all the time. And when I was a visiting in the bay. Recently, my mom made
440
01:02:43.110 --> 01:03:01.650
Chelsea Lancaster: More yet this which is like you get a polio, like a piece of bread and you toast it and then you put like black beans like black reified beans cheese and then some some seat that has to be homemade Southside and then whatever else you know you can put avocado on a you fancy
441
01:03:02.820 --> 01:03:12.660
Chelsea Lancaster: But it was just, it was so I hadn't had them forever. My grandmother used to make them all the time. My theory my theory on boss Gus still makes them every morning. That's her breakfast every morning.
442
01:03:13.260 --> 01:03:20.400
Chelsea Lancaster: And it just reminded me of like the resilience and creativity of folks right like that started because
443
01:03:20.940 --> 01:03:33.450
Chelsea Lancaster: If you're Berlioz which are the Mexican roles. If those are like a Dale, they're not that good. They get a little crusty. But if you toast them and you put all that delicious stuff on top, then it's like a whole nother meal right
444
01:03:33.870 --> 01:03:34.530
Akil: Yeah, I'm sorry.
445
01:03:34.710 --> 01:03:52.860
Chelsea Lancaster: About that. I think about like he like he lays where we'd have our like old tortilla chips that we would read fry with all that deliciousness and cover it and Gasol and and be and what do you call it eggs and everything else and salsa. So that, and that house is like my favorite food.
446
01:03:54.210 --> 01:04:02.010
Chelsea Lancaster: my absolute favorites. So when I'm I usually make them myself. But when I'm being lazy. I go to a CTA or has like bomb little
447
01:04:03.240 --> 01:04:20.760
Chelsea Lancaster: House for cheap and they have a breakfast burrito to our houses bomb. Get that shortly. So in there as well. So I'm really thinking comfort food lately, just with the pandemic and the weather now getting cooler. I was like, Oh, I gotta make some as well. And the guys this week, just like
448
01:04:20.790 --> 01:04:33.480
Chelsea Lancaster: Oh, food right that like food that food that feels like home. And I think about like LPS we always have food in our office like our students know you need if you need something you come to ups.
449
01:04:34.500 --> 01:04:44.310
Chelsea Lancaster: Because that's often a way that we connect and care for one another to is through food. I remember you Hong at our Juneteenth celebration Hong was there frying a
450
01:04:44.310 --> 01:04:53.100
Chelsea Lancaster: Turkey Juneteenth like last year and it was so beautiful. I was like, I'll just fried turkey, because it was a potluck.
451
01:04:53.880 --> 01:04:54.660
Hong Lieu: That that's a killer.
452
01:04:54.690 --> 01:04:55.920
Chelsea Lancaster: Mom right away.
453
01:04:56.280 --> 01:05:01.170
Hong Lieu: Accuse mom hooked it up hooked up the connection. They're like, hey, come on down for it. It's like, I can't say no, I can't.
454
01:05:02.850 --> 01:05:13.800
Hong Lieu: Yeah. But yeah, I mean that that connection between comfort food and I know there's nowhere to tell me even says more yet so there's no, like, so he goes places in town that do like little snacks and just like the little yeah so
455
01:05:14.580 --> 01:05:18.840
Hong Lieu: So got to find the recipe. This is just like making my mouth water, you know, that's
456
01:05:20.130 --> 01:05:27.090
Christina Lomeli: My mother in law or my mom say, oh, you know, what do you make it all come in on a porous food of the poor. I'm like,
457
01:05:28.350 --> 01:05:30.510
Christina Lomeli: That's the one. Like what Chelsea was just saying, like the
458
01:05:30.510 --> 01:05:31.980
Akil: One. Yeah, yeah.
459
01:05:32.820 --> 01:05:33.900
Christina Lomeli: You ain't got shit.
460
01:05:33.990 --> 01:05:34.560
Hong Lieu: And
461
01:05:34.620 --> 01:05:37.680
Christina Lomeli: It comes out to be the most delicious beautiful stuff.
462
01:05:38.040 --> 01:05:40.890
Hong Lieu: And if if you did like a food history. I bet you most of the
463
01:05:41.250 --> 01:05:48.120
Hong Lieu: Some of the best dishes in the world. Words like leftovers are things that people put together, you know, toss and trying to just
464
01:05:48.390 --> 01:05:54.840
Hong Lieu: Prolong and preserve. I mean all of canning and pickling is all about prolonging and preserving so just extension of that and i mean
465
01:05:55.440 --> 01:05:59.730
Hong Lieu: The food of the poor is is kind of the richest, most, the most people so
466
01:06:00.090 --> 01:06:09.990
Hong Lieu: That those are the most important recipes, kind of, because those are the ones that will help you maintain in the worst times. So, like, just think about the food. My mom would make and stuff. It's yeah it's easy comfort there.
467
01:06:10.290 --> 01:06:21.360
Hong Lieu: are way ahead of us in my house. Oh, I'm waiting to go on a taco crawl. There's so many spots in East LA that that are opened up to like they're doing like all the handmade tortillas and all this new stuff. So, you know, like
468
01:06:23.640 --> 01:06:29.490
Hong Lieu: Vidya with with a berry berry that go with the weekend spots that but no one day one.
469
01:06:29.520 --> 01:06:31.110
Chelsea Lancaster: Video ramen now.
470
01:06:31.830 --> 01:06:33.150
Hong Lieu: That's a cute. Cute hit me.
471
01:06:33.480 --> 01:06:37.110
Hong Lieu: Like, you got me hip to the video, Robin. I haven't tried it yet, but he's already there.
472
01:06:37.440 --> 01:06:38.280
Christina Lomeli: And Oxnard
473
01:06:40.260 --> 01:06:52.830
Akil: And it's looking like a two man THIS COVE. It is and not been nice man, I've been running the Ochsner I live in carbon running the Oxnard dang near like three times a week, supporting the local food trucks and it's showing man.
474
01:06:55.980 --> 01:06:56.760
Christina Lomeli: 20 is real.
475
01:06:57.090 --> 01:06:58.020
Akil: For real, for
476
01:06:58.140 --> 01:06:59.670
Chelsea Lancaster: Your winter coat on, you know,
477
01:06:59.700 --> 01:07:00.660
Akil: Yes shoe.
478
01:07:02.910 --> 01:07:17.130
Hong Lieu: Yeah. All right, moving right along. We're gonna head to our, uh, our culture segment, see if there's any, anything that kind of was, you know, resonates in your lives or that you just picked up recently that you're really into. So, and, you know, wants to lead us off.
479
01:07:20.580 --> 01:07:28.920
Akil: I have high expectations of no well though, because I know he's a DJ. And so I'm kind of I've been kind of waiting to see what he's bringing so don't disappoint me.
480
01:07:28.950 --> 01:07:30.390
Hong Lieu: But for some time. One lady.
481
01:07:31.980 --> 01:07:35.250
Akil: Not saying he has to go first. But I'm saying there's some expectation. I got going on.
482
01:07:36.030 --> 01:07:37.380
Akil: Man No. Well, right now, so
483
01:07:37.440 --> 01:07:42.510
Hong Lieu: And and if he wants to talk about a book or atomic a video games. Let me cultures, you know, like, yeah, what
484
01:07:43.230 --> 01:07:51.810
Noel Gomez: Part of this question is sort of like, you know, you have expectations and that's part of what I like to do is I love music and DJ. The art of it.
485
01:07:52.620 --> 01:08:02.070
Noel Gomez: The history of it too, which is a, you know, it's not too familiar to a lot of people, but I like to challenge myself. I like to take on new things. I haven't tried
486
01:08:02.550 --> 01:08:10.230
Noel Gomez: And, you know, Hong. I'm also from East LA. And I think if some of the people I grew up with found out that I just found load with cycling.
487
01:08:10.320 --> 01:08:11.070
Will be
488
01:08:13.620 --> 01:08:24.750
Noel Gomez: Talking about like I'm into it 100% like you know the aerodynamic shorts and top bicycle everything like I'm I'm fully in it. Right.
489
01:08:25.020 --> 01:08:38.790
Hong Lieu: And, you know, the thing is, if from East LA if you if you told me that people be riding in the street, all of a place like not a million years when I ride the streets in LA. Because, I mean, the danger from cars, but everybody rides on the street. Now it's ok we can remember them.
490
01:08:40.020 --> 01:08:52.260
Noel Gomez: But, you know, back in the day when I was younger, like I used to. I used to ride just the regular bicycle across Towns Right. Like, I grew up in Boyle Heights, I would write it to city terrorists, kind of like the general hospital area and to me those long distance
491
01:08:52.740 --> 01:09:07.830
Noel Gomez: But now with this, you know, new bike that I got. And like, I'm really into it, it's, it's almost fun and the mental escape, you take from everything that's happening in society. Now, don't say it in a selfish way but because we all need
492
01:09:08.730 --> 01:09:25.110
Noel Gomez: mental wellness right and and health. And it's, I love it. Like, I went on last night for, like, about an hour and I go and night to because I tell people in my office. If you ever see me on a bicycle. Just look away, you probably want to see me in this really close fitting clothes.
493
01:09:27.570 --> 01:09:29.400
Noel Gomez: Go, I go on night now right so
494
01:09:31.050 --> 01:09:37.080
Noel Gomez: But, uh, I'm not okay. Maybe I'll step back. I'm not 100% in it. Like, I'm like 90 95%
495
01:09:37.410 --> 01:09:39.420
Akil: Know you're 100% if you're wearing tight, homie.
496
01:09:39.480 --> 01:09:40.200
Hong Lieu: You guys don't even
497
01:09:40.770 --> 01:09:44.760
Akil: Don't even try to put on us right now if you want to type in your cycling you all in
498
01:09:45.630 --> 01:09:46.290
Hong Lieu: The era.
499
01:09:47.880 --> 01:09:49.920
Hong Lieu: Era era baggy jeans and
500
01:09:49.920 --> 01:09:50.430
Tim's
501
01:09:51.660 --> 01:09:53.310
Akil: And Dickies and Dickie
502
01:09:55.980 --> 01:10:01.170
Hong Lieu: If you're, if you're not if you're not starting that cycle like a Ben Davis, Jr. Don't ever then yeah I don't even know you.
503
01:10:03.150 --> 01:10:15.510
Noel Gomez: Know, right. But, uh, like I see people actually from campus that are I got the stronger app on my phone. So you kind of see how people are are doing in terms of riding the bicycle or running
504
01:10:15.930 --> 01:10:19.680
Noel Gomez: And you sort of started challenge with people you don't even know around town.
505
01:10:20.670 --> 01:10:30.000
Noel Gomez: So it's sort of like you're chasing each other for different segments and distances. It's fun, it's like, especially now with social distancing. You can do it.
506
01:10:30.870 --> 01:10:37.320
Noel Gomez: With a lot of people. I've seen people that are doing it at home and they have their iPads and there's like an app that they
507
01:10:37.680 --> 01:10:45.660
Noel Gomez: They do. They connect their bike to a trainer and they're they're cycling distances on this, you know, mobile interface.
508
01:10:46.260 --> 01:10:55.950
Noel Gomez: But I like to be out in the street. It's a lot of fun, so that's that's keeping me going, aside from DJ like it's now I'm thinking like, how do I read both of them together so
509
01:10:57.630 --> 01:10:58.440
Akil: We see the videos.
510
01:10:58.830 --> 01:11:01.590
Akil: The DJ and the cycling in class where they're all on the bikes.
511
01:11:02.880 --> 01:11:06.870
Hong Lieu: Yeah, you could definitely put down a mix for like a spin class. But yeah, in terms of DJ in the street.
512
01:11:07.170 --> 01:11:14.700
Hong Lieu: Unless you are you a vinyl guy if you're like vinyl only you definitely can. But if you're like an iPOD mixer, you could probably, you know, do a little thing here and there, but yeah.
513
01:11:15.330 --> 01:11:20.700
Hong Lieu: I mean everything's for for anyway. So the beat matching isn't what it used to be. Anyway, so I mean isn't like it's easy to kind of
514
01:11:21.600 --> 01:11:29.730
Hong Lieu: segue over now. But, I mean, I grew up. I was attached to a bike as a kid I would ride like mile because my mom will take me anywhere and she's working. So as long as
515
01:11:30.090 --> 01:11:33.420
Hong Lieu: I could check in every few hours, but like I didn't join a gang that I could just keep being out
516
01:11:33.690 --> 01:11:39.030
Hong Lieu: Around. So we would ride everywhere we had enough data, the kids around were so I love biking grown up.
517
01:11:39.300 --> 01:11:49.260
Hong Lieu: And I do want to get into more now, but I'm still afraid of riding in the street. I was a sidewalk writer for my whole life. And I'm sure people will swing me here and there, but I mean you could
518
01:11:49.560 --> 01:11:53.910
Hong Lieu: You could, like, Get out of the way. I just don't feel comfortable writing in the stream of cars yet.
519
01:11:53.970 --> 01:12:09.450
Noel Gomez: And I need to where it is and I'm sure it's across, across the world. But there's like a battle between drivers and people on bicycles. I don't know why, like, it's like a it's like you're fighting for the road, in some sense, but also I think it's just a
520
01:12:10.920 --> 01:12:16.410
Noel Gomez: You know, honestly, I don't know what the perception is but it is dangerous, like I've, I've seen in the morning.
521
01:12:16.770 --> 01:12:31.740
Noel Gomez: It gets dangerous because people are rushing to get to work. So they're rolling stops. They're not really looking for you, especially someone on the bicycle. If you think motorcycles are dangerous, like a road bike and you're going to high speeds to it's a it's pretty dangerous but
522
01:12:33.630 --> 01:12:40.890
Noel Gomez: I love it. Like, I know it's it's comes with the risk, but, uh, I love, I love it's keeping me sane. Right.
523
01:12:42.720 --> 01:12:49.410
Hong Lieu: Yeah, it's great exercise very low impact and in terms of giving you access to get to places you couldn't get to. Otherwise, you know,
524
01:12:49.710 --> 01:12:55.380
Hong Lieu: Unless you take the bus or just walk along way like that was, that was a release. For me, it was, it was my first taste of freedom as a kid.
525
01:12:55.710 --> 01:12:58.530
Hong Lieu: Kind of because my mom was never gonna drive and she couldn't even drive so yeah but
526
01:12:59.070 --> 01:13:03.360
Hong Lieu: Yeah, just being able to go places like friends want to go somewhere we all go together. We all come back like it was
527
01:13:03.750 --> 01:13:10.470
Hong Lieu: The journey. The adventure, you know, the means to an end. It was there's there's beauty in that and I could definitely see it being appealing to me but
528
01:13:10.800 --> 01:13:21.360
Hong Lieu: But I don't want to be the one grown man riding on the sidewalk, it will look at me crazy. So I'm still just kind of build up my psychological kind of, you know, ability to ride industry. I'll get there. But one day.
529
01:13:23.550 --> 01:13:25.050
Noel Gomez: You're gonna want to join long, let me know.
530
01:13:25.710 --> 01:13:29.040
Hong Lieu: Yeah, we'll start a critical mass ride group up here and have you be
531
01:13:31.500 --> 01:13:34.140
Noel Gomez: Right with anyone feels comfortable from the College.
532
01:13:34.530 --> 01:13:35.670
Hong Lieu: Yeah. Oh, that'd be cool.
533
01:13:37.740 --> 01:13:38.160
Hong Lieu: All right.
534
01:13:38.220 --> 01:13:38.700
All right.
535
01:13:40.980 --> 01:13:41.460
Hong Lieu: Anybody
536
01:13:42.180 --> 01:13:43.260
Hong Lieu: Is muted.
537
01:13:43.740 --> 01:13:48.720
Ismael Paredes Ulloa (He/Him/His/El): Oh, only because I want to call out hung up on how we first met many, many years ago.
538
01:13:50.310 --> 01:14:08.700
Ismael Paredes Ulloa (He/Him/His/El): So I've always loved reading. And so when I turned old enough, I was like, I want to work at comic book store. And so I worked at Metro for 10 years basically from like 16 to like 26 because my comic book addiction is no joke.
539
01:14:09.900 --> 01:14:21.960
Ismael Paredes Ulloa (He/Him/His/El): But that's where I'm at home. We were talking about before we started the podcast I think was a library event where they did a Fahrenheit 451 comic. And so I was out there, kind of, kind of sport and it's important
540
01:14:23.190 --> 01:14:24.690
Ismael Paredes Ulloa (He/Him/His/El): For right now, going back
541
01:14:26.130 --> 01:14:31.560
Ismael Paredes Ulloa (He/Him/His/El): Because it Kobe like reading, reading kind of keeps me kind of centered kind of grounded.
542
01:14:32.760 --> 01:14:47.700
Ismael Paredes Ulloa (He/Him/His/El): I'm in any way you can deliver literature like I'm doing it right now I've got audio books I've got digital books I've got physical books. I am the dude with like 10 books on his nightstand going I will read you. Let me just get
543
01:14:50.250 --> 01:14:51.270
Hong Lieu: The backlog deal
544
01:14:51.810 --> 01:14:59.220
Akil: What are you reading right now or what what's one book, in particular, you want to suggest to us that way we can put it in the notes for people to maybe possibly check it out.
545
01:14:59.670 --> 01:15:01.680
Ismael Paredes Ulloa (He/Him/His/El): I mean, right now, especially, I mean,
546
01:15:02.760 --> 01:15:06.180
Ismael Paredes Ulloa (He/Him/His/El): ESPECIALLY RECENTLY like anything by Tallahassee coats.
547
01:15:06.240 --> 01:15:07.170
Akil: Is just yes
548
01:15:07.350 --> 01:15:09.870
Ismael Paredes Ulloa (He/Him/His/El): Is just like air to me like
549
01:15:11.160 --> 01:15:13.080
Ismael Paredes Ulloa (He/Him/His/El): James Baldwin, I just
550
01:15:13.500 --> 01:15:13.740
Akil: You know,
551
01:15:13.800 --> 01:15:24.360
Ismael Paredes Ulloa (He/Him/His/El): It's like those are like, I love writers I love my fiction, but I love writers who can put words to things that you've experienced day in and day out, and you've just like
552
01:15:24.780 --> 01:15:38.550
Ismael Paredes Ulloa (He/Him/His/El): Have always been just kind of like on the on the outer edge of your ability to kind of wrap your arms around and I think those two are just freaking amazing water dancer. I'm in the middle of right now. Yeah.
553
01:15:40.560 --> 01:15:46.290
Ismael Paredes Ulloa (He/Him/His/El): They're making a movie out of it. I'm my, my mind is going to explode. And then there's a TV series of between the World and Me.
554
01:15:46.620 --> 01:15:47.070
Akil: Yep, that's
555
01:15:47.250 --> 01:15:48.480
20 21st
556
01:15:50.610 --> 01:15:57.780
Hong Lieu: And even Tom coats run a Black Panther, they can get that integrated into the cinematic universe that would be very exciting. Indeed.
557
01:15:58.050 --> 01:16:06.690
Ismael Paredes Ulloa (He/Him/His/El): A lot of the concepts and this is my nerd side, a lot of the concepts that he actually brought in were put into the into the comic into the movie. Excuse me.
558
01:16:07.890 --> 01:16:13.440
Ismael Paredes Ulloa (He/Him/His/El): And so I love anything he writes, like it's just automatically. The first thing in my heart.
559
01:16:13.890 --> 01:16:20.370
Ismael Paredes Ulloa (He/Him/His/El): He's ready. He's writing Captain America right now. And even though I'm not huge Captain America fan like I had to pick it up, you know,
560
01:16:21.000 --> 01:16:28.200
Ismael Paredes Ulloa (He/Him/His/El): Now he's he's amazing, I mean, but yeah it's stuff like that. And again, just like my my regular comic books, you know, I'm very old school like
561
01:16:28.920 --> 01:16:33.240
Ismael Paredes Ulloa (He/Him/His/El): You know, if, if you know there's something you need to do to help somebody, you need to do it. And that's kind of like
562
01:16:33.720 --> 01:16:45.780
Ismael Paredes Ulloa (He/Him/His/El): Why kind of go back to superheroes and I'm going to give you a hot take right now on on a superhero that I grew up not liking Superman. I know he's totally white bread and
563
01:16:47.640 --> 01:16:59.670
Ismael Paredes Ulloa (He/Him/His/El): But if you think about it, especially right now with the political climate Superman Clark Kent isn't on documented worker who's been working with false papers, since he got to this planet.
564
01:17:01.290 --> 01:17:03.240
Hong Lieu: And and the stress.
565
01:17:03.540 --> 01:17:08.730
Hong Lieu: And the stress, the stress that places on his life having to lead these multiple lives this do out, you know,
566
01:17:09.840 --> 01:17:23.040
Ismael Paredes Ulloa (He/Him/His/El): Yeah, it's his adoptive parents got him spoils papers his soldiers in real life. He's been working for ever, like you love Superman. Dude, my family like made Superman. Come on.
567
01:17:25.170 --> 01:17:31.740
Hong Lieu: Yeah, and then the little lies that he has to tell in order to maintain both. Besides, I mean I there definitely are some some definitely pieces there.
568
01:17:31.920 --> 01:17:39.120
Hong Lieu: I definitely can relate to you, growing up at a comics are saying with different like 16 to 26 when you have that neighborhood shop and you go there regularly.
569
01:17:39.510 --> 01:17:46.170
Hong Lieu: Like it is it is like a bar scene for for young kids because everyone knows you, they know what you like, you know, they, you can
570
01:17:46.500 --> 01:17:54.450
Hong Lieu: Hang out in browsers have random you need conversations, if you want. I mean, you have to punch sugar instead of alcohol, but it's the same difference. It still goes to the same places, you know,
571
01:17:54.810 --> 01:17:56.460
Ismael Paredes Ulloa (He/Him/His/El): And like legit. That's kind of where like
572
01:17:56.460 --> 01:18:11.280
Ismael Paredes Ulloa (He/Him/His/El): My love for education kind of came from like talking to like these younger kids like yes I taught them how to play Pokemon and but you know what education is education, man. You know, like being able to talk to kids and talk to adults and kind of like, yeah, that's a good spot.
573
01:18:11.700 --> 01:18:16.110
Hong Lieu: Being able to care about other people's kids their disposition. That's, that's a big that's a, that's a skill that's not
574
01:18:16.680 --> 01:18:28.260
Hong Lieu: It's not, it has to be, you know, learn and condition and built. So yeah, definitely, definitely. Shout out to that because especially playing games with kids, they're always trying to achieve. So I was trying to get crazy playing for keeps. Like all that early Gamblin stuff. Yeah.
575
01:18:30.660 --> 01:18:32.970
Hong Lieu: Yeah, there's a shop at my neighbor Tomic heaven.
576
01:18:33.570 --> 01:18:40.320
Hong Lieu: Dan and john they're they're big in the industry in terms of they have. It's one of the largest collections of silver. Silver Golden Age stuff out there.
577
01:18:40.500 --> 01:18:44.370
Hong Lieu: I still remember one time he pulled me the back and show me like a Batman number one out of his vault and it was like
578
01:18:44.700 --> 01:18:55.020
Hong Lieu: Oh, but those kind of moments where you are. You just like you. You take a chance on someone and say, hey, I want you to see this. I want you just know that this kind of if you want this in your life, you can make it happen. We have to work for it, you know.
579
01:18:55.380 --> 01:18:57.810
Hong Lieu: Kind of thing like those those kind of moments and
580
01:18:58.380 --> 01:19:08.010
Hong Lieu: And reading comics and being involved in that scene, some way. I mean, it helped me later and also help me later because like when I got into punk. When I got to hip hop. It was all the same stuff. It was always gatekeepers of the top be like
581
01:19:08.280 --> 01:19:10.530
Hong Lieu: Do you know about this. Do you know about this, and if not to be like
582
01:19:10.950 --> 01:19:16.380
Hong Lieu: poser. Get out of here. But if you do, like, Okay, come in here. Let me show you this. Like, you don't get that the extra tastes.
583
01:19:16.680 --> 01:19:25.620
Hong Lieu: Until you get that until you can pass like the first test like like Noel talking about hip hop like people asked me, like, do you know what the four elements of hip hop. Are you know about Africa bots and the Zulu nation. It's like
584
01:19:26.580 --> 01:19:36.900
Hong Lieu: I do now, because you go home and I mean I'm pre Google, you don't. You can just Google, you're actually asked somebody that knew and the guy. Okay. Hip Hop MC, you know, a B. Boy, you know, the B boy MC DJ
585
01:19:37.470 --> 01:19:44.640
Hong Lieu: Graph, you know, like, four elements. Boom. Okay. Next, what do you, what else do you need to know. Okay, okay, okay. All right, I'm gonna get the funk. All right. Yes.
586
01:19:45.750 --> 01:19:56.610
Hong Lieu: So, and comics in the same way. But did you okay you know i Superman and Batman. What about dark horse, you know about the Star Wars Expanded Universe. Did you read the books and the comics ok ok ok up it's too much after a while.
587
01:19:56.940 --> 01:20:01.710
Hong Lieu: And then punk rock, the same way like okay hardcore but you know DC hardcore hardcore Boston
588
01:20:03.270 --> 01:20:05.250
Hong Lieu: But it, but it was it did help
589
01:20:05.760 --> 01:20:14.880
Ismael Paredes Ulloa (He/Him/His/El): And the legit literature that comes out of comics like no lie like everyone's like, oh, it's all superhero stuff but like read something by Neil Gaiman read something by
590
01:20:15.300 --> 01:20:23.700
Ismael Paredes Ulloa (He/Him/His/El): You know, Frank Miller, or, you know, Grant Morrison or Alan Moore and like these are like heady things that you're reading and you're just like,
591
01:20:24.030 --> 01:20:32.460
Ismael Paredes Ulloa (He/Him/His/El): Well, it's a comic book so it's fine for my 13 year olds. Like, do your 13 year olds is reading about like freakin Norse mythology, or talking about like
592
01:20:33.210 --> 01:20:42.780
Ismael Paredes Ulloa (He/Him/His/El): Learning about gender identity or, you know, racism or, you know, patriotism populism, like you're like, holy crap like you're being exposed to all these ideas out of nowhere.
593
01:20:44.790 --> 01:20:54.090
Hong Lieu: And that's why the culture aspect is so important to us here on the show because, I mean, you never know what you're going to get from something and you never know that it might lead you to things outside of that work.
594
01:20:54.480 --> 01:21:02.550
Hong Lieu: Like say you read a book and you don't know that much about the back end social constructs of something. So you do the additional research and learn about the store contacts, you know, this and that.
595
01:21:02.790 --> 01:21:05.970
Hong Lieu: And that and that just flushes out, you will get makes you a better person in the grand scheme of things.
596
01:21:06.240 --> 01:21:17.880
Ismael Paredes Ulloa (He/Him/His/El): I legitimately oh my literacy to comics, because I went from being behind in third grade to being to 12th grade reading level. By the time I got to sixth grade because I was reading like a madman, so
597
01:21:19.170 --> 01:21:20.370
Ismael Paredes Ulloa (He/Him/His/El): comics have a place to be.
598
01:21:20.730 --> 01:21:27.630
Hong Lieu: For me comics were very accessible because I mean even books at the time. Where's or five six bucks. And when your mom is giving you $3 a week.
599
01:21:27.930 --> 01:21:33.600
Hong Lieu: You can't afford a book. So you can go to library get books, of course. But if you actually want to buy something and own it and bring it home.
600
01:21:34.050 --> 01:21:43.290
Hong Lieu: It's comics. That's to comics right there, but three bucks or I get one comic and go the candy store, buy soda or whatever. So, and it was. And there was one thing that my mom do by myself. I could ride my bike or the store.
601
01:21:43.740 --> 01:21:52.230
Hong Lieu: And then come back after a while. So that was the start of my independence do. So there's a lot of little things like that that in the moment you don't think about it like that. But in the grand scheme of things, you know, so
602
01:21:54.090 --> 01:21:59.940
Hong Lieu: Thank you, that was so nice. Let me talk about my let me vent about my early, you know,
603
01:22:00.630 --> 01:22:02.940
Akil: That's another podcast is
604
01:22:03.180 --> 01:22:04.770
Akil: That sounds like that sounds like another five
605
01:22:04.770 --> 01:22:05.820
Hong Lieu: Podcast. So
606
01:22:05.820 --> 01:22:08.760
Hong Lieu: Maybe gatekeepers keepers in all cultures don't don't
607
01:22:09.960 --> 01:22:12.630
Hong Lieu: Just be about nerds. This is me about gatekeeper like it.
608
01:22:12.810 --> 01:22:14.940
Hong Lieu: Like if you want. If you want someone to know about something.
609
01:22:15.180 --> 01:22:24.030
Hong Lieu: Don't hold it against them teach them bring them in, you know, don't hold it against it. So you don't know that you whack you know like that that's that's not a good way to end the conversation with your whack because you don't know this.
610
01:22:24.210 --> 01:22:31.290
Hong Lieu: If you're interested, let me let me let me teach you about it. And if you're if you really are engaged, then that means that you're down you're down for the culture.
611
01:22:31.590 --> 01:22:38.670
Hong Lieu: If you're not engaged and then you're wack. See, give me that give me that chance and then make me what you know they'll just look at me right away. This Kelvin. So
612
01:22:38.730 --> 01:22:42.750
Akil: Now, I'm sorry, man. I'm gonna be, I'm gonna pull straight whack. If you don't know you just
613
01:22:44.490 --> 01:22:45.870
Akil: laid it out and feel good stuff.
614
01:22:47.730 --> 01:22:50.520
Akil: Alright, so I got tomorrow. We got two more. We got two more.
615
01:22:51.810 --> 01:22:52.830
Akil: Who's next who's next.
616
01:22:53.520 --> 01:23:10.770
Chelsea Lancaster: Oh, okay. I'm just gonna be really honest, I'm really bad with hobbies, I need to do better about self care because I'm really engaged in Community Care stuff. And so I guess what I'm really loving right now is Dorking out about mutual aid.
617
01:23:12.900 --> 01:23:21.870
Chelsea Lancaster: Through El Centro and just like imagining like looking at other cities basically like models and other spaces and just responding right now.
618
01:23:22.350 --> 01:23:30.690
Chelsea Lancaster: We have a community, a new community garden. So just like taking all that in and being able to go walk through it and look at all the
619
01:23:31.260 --> 01:23:38.790
Chelsea Lancaster: We talk about like planting seeds right like seeds of knowledge sees have changed, but like actually watching people like plant seeds. It's all
620
01:23:39.150 --> 01:23:45.870
Chelsea Lancaster: folks of color indigenous folks queer folks running this community garden and that doesn't exist in Santa Barbara.
621
01:23:46.470 --> 01:23:54.180
Chelsea Lancaster: So really bringing in like ethnic studies curriculum and D colonial practices and just like I'm just kind of absorbing all that right now and
622
01:23:54.540 --> 01:24:06.390
Chelsea Lancaster: reminding myself of the world that we could live in on the other side of this if we could actually be honest about white supremacy and capitalism and colonialism and all that stuff, but
623
01:24:07.380 --> 01:24:24.390
Chelsea Lancaster: That's just kind of my imagination, like my brain never shuts off so imagining a different community excites me I have ADHD. So it's hard for me to actually read a book, but I listened to podcasts, a lot. And just like taking in webinars and things like that.
624
01:24:25.890 --> 01:24:31.770
Chelsea Lancaster: So those are the things I'm kind of Dorking out on my daughter and I got roller skates. So we're trying to get on this roller skating tip.
625
01:24:33.480 --> 01:24:34.800
Chelsea Lancaster: My bust my ass.
626
01:24:34.830 --> 01:24:35.430
It's definitely
627
01:24:36.750 --> 01:24:37.530
Hong Lieu: Oh, yeah.
628
01:24:38.010 --> 01:24:47.760
Chelsea Lancaster: And then my mom gave me a halfway decent bikes. I gotta get on Noel's tip so I could ride and go get some ROM and that ramen hits different when you rode your bike to go get it from
629
01:24:49.170 --> 01:24:52.320
Chelsea Lancaster: And then you can take a nap and ride your bike home.
630
01:24:53.820 --> 01:24:57.120
Chelsea Lancaster: I'm here for that life. So those are the things that are kind of happening for
631
01:24:58.080 --> 01:25:06.300
Akil: Me podcast shots out you like you think that's good for an analyst, Mr possibly listen to, or what you find you kind of gravitating towards
632
01:25:06.810 --> 01:25:08.580
Chelsea Lancaster: I love pod save the people
633
01:25:09.600 --> 01:25:15.240
Chelsea Lancaster: Are actually turned me on to it. It's all black lead black centered and they talk about everything.
634
01:25:15.540 --> 01:25:20.820
Chelsea Lancaster: Like on one like I can't. Again, I can't get this out of my mind on one episode, they were talking about sheriff's
635
01:25:21.150 --> 01:25:25.500
Chelsea Lancaster: And some of y'all know we're doing all this work around police oversight in Santa Barbara.
636
01:25:25.800 --> 01:25:38.520
Chelsea Lancaster: And all these demands will be brought forward and but always thinking about the sheriff, right, like if some shit happens in your community and you're in a state of emergency. The sheriff is in charge, the sheriff's department is in charge. And if y'all know who our Sheriff is
637
01:25:38.970 --> 01:25:54.900
Chelsea Lancaster: It's a little scary right so they on one episode, they were talking about like rethinking sheriff's like I want a social worker for my share. Why does it always have to be law enforcement, why can't it be all these other people right all these other professions, all these other backgrounds.
638
01:25:55.950 --> 01:26:08.370
Chelsea Lancaster: So like thinking about stuff like that. So I really like pod SAVE THE PEOPLE MY DAUGHTER introduced me to she listens to podcasts, all the time. And then the like crime real crime ones are also pretty fascinating.
639
01:26:09.750 --> 01:26:16.020
Chelsea Lancaster: And I need to expand that if you're white, and your parent. Listen to that nice white parents podcast.
640
01:26:17.190 --> 01:26:23.340
Chelsea Lancaster: Because Santa Barbara is like literally a prototype for what that looks like.
641
01:26:24.420 --> 01:26:32.940
Chelsea Lancaster: So nice white parents. I definitely recommend for folks that are trying to lean into some more anti racist ways of being and now
642
01:26:33.180 --> 01:26:35.130
Hong Lieu: Shut up. So Christine I know I'm glad.
643
01:26:35.790 --> 01:26:42.840
Hong Lieu: El Centro to because I wanted to get more info about about those central and you actually have a physical space. Yeah, like a building.
644
01:26:43.290 --> 01:26:49.020
Hong Lieu: So if you want to do like shows and stuff, because I know I get I used to do some DIY like punk shows with the library.
645
01:26:49.500 --> 01:26:54.990
Hong Lieu: And folks have been looking for spaces. I mean, not now, of course, but in, you know, once we get around on the other side of this
646
01:26:55.320 --> 01:27:07.650
Hong Lieu: Folks are always looking for spaces in town and those opportunities that we know that mean we we I have PA equipment. I have all the equipment needed to make it happen. We just need to space. That would be willing to host those kind of events. So definitely have to link up and
647
01:27:07.800 --> 01:27:14.760
Hong Lieu: Yeah yeah for sure because there aren't as many spaces. There used to be and you know even placing an IV where people always go
648
01:27:15.090 --> 01:27:20.340
Hong Lieu: It's nice to have a place in Santa Barbara. So you can say, you know, this is Santa Barbara's DIY scene as opposed to just
649
01:27:20.640 --> 01:27:30.120
Hong Lieu: Saying IV or deleted like every, you know, the more the merrier. Especially when artists are coming through from other states and stuff. I just need to place a crash and play a show, so excellent cool
650
01:27:31.890 --> 01:27:32.460
Hong Lieu: All right.
651
01:27:32.550 --> 01:27:33.810
Akil: All right, Christina bring us home.
652
01:27:35.190 --> 01:27:37.500
Christina Lomeli: Yeah what Chelsea said about
653
01:27:39.390 --> 01:27:44.880
Christina Lomeli: Time like trying to find a hobby and trying to have time for a hobby. Like, that ain't gonna happen in my life.
654
01:27:47.040 --> 01:27:54.690
Christina Lomeli: Being a caretaker, I think, you know, mothers, especially, you know, wife, a mother caretaker my elderly mom.
655
01:27:56.010 --> 01:28:03.690
Christina Lomeli: It's, it's tough. Right. So what would we normally do here in my home. I think we, we obviously go back to what my mom taught us is that
656
01:28:06.180 --> 01:28:11.910
Christina Lomeli: Real coup de connections, everything happens in the kitchen for us. And I having my mom here.
657
01:28:13.440 --> 01:28:15.720
Has just kind of reminded me of that and
658
01:28:16.800 --> 01:28:27.060
Christina Lomeli: When it's centered around that and I'm baking with my daughter baking with my mom cooking with my mom. It's not laborious in any way for me.
659
01:28:27.870 --> 01:28:45.840
Christina Lomeli: It's quite beautiful. And so, bacon, bacon is real in my household right now. Y'all know that cookie Baker in the in the group and pumpkin season is upon us. So we are bacon pumpkin cookies like no one's business right now. And no, well, it's not even his head.
660
01:28:45.840 --> 01:28:46.140
Hong Lieu: He's
661
01:28:47.130 --> 01:28:48.180
Hong Lieu: So he's facing him.
662
01:28:50.580 --> 01:28:54.180
Christina Lomeli: I'm gonna have to start charging for these he's already given me a business idea.
663
01:28:54.870 --> 01:28:56.850
Akil: To drop the address in the chat. I'm coming through.
664
01:28:57.270 --> 01:29:00.210
Hong Lieu: Instagram pop ups. It's for pop ups are no joke.
665
01:29:00.360 --> 01:29:01.650
Akil: I'm pulling up like Pampers
666
01:29:04.320 --> 01:29:06.480
Christina Lomeli: You will love pumpkin cookies.
667
01:29:07.980 --> 01:29:14.310
Christina Lomeli: So yeah, just kind of centering just being together trying to appreciate one another and and and
668
01:29:15.990 --> 01:29:26.310
Christina Lomeli: Learn about each other like it like you don't realize how much you don't know until you're forced to just really just sit and be with yourself with one another and
669
01:29:28.230 --> 01:29:43.230
I think it's just a good time for us to kind of force ourselves to do that and just be in the kitchen and create yummy comforting things and feeding each other and feeding the community. I mean, I'm literally feeding the community taking cookies and different people.
670
01:29:44.730 --> 01:29:47.040
Hong Lieu: That's just blows me away. Didn't lift them up.
671
01:29:47.820 --> 01:29:57.600
Hong Lieu: Yeah, and that's and that's what we're saying culture manifest in many different ways. Some people like oh just books just movies or TV just music because video games, whatever you do baking. I mean, that's absolutely
672
01:29:58.050 --> 01:30:04.140
Hong Lieu: Valid. I mean, and it's the people building and you're learning more about like different types. Other people while you're doing it.
673
01:30:04.650 --> 01:30:14.070
Hong Lieu: Or why whatever you're doing. That's all that matters because there are so I mean we are all individuals and the perspectives are also different. So you really should, you know, take the time to
674
01:30:14.430 --> 01:30:23.520
Hong Lieu: kind of try to take in as much as you can have what the varying perspectives are where they come from, what they're doing. I mean, you definitely do that with the work you do in the UPS, but also
675
01:30:23.880 --> 01:30:29.970
Hong Lieu: When you're when we're talking about, you know, the cultural aspects of what you're doing for yourself. That's, that's definitely important.
676
01:30:30.870 --> 01:30:40.950
Hong Lieu: I will also say that I knew about pumpkin spice and pumpkin, you know, for fall for a long time. I just had my first pumpkin spice latte. The other day and it was excellent. Like I
677
01:30:41.280 --> 01:30:53.910
Hong Lieu: I thought it was a joke. I thought it was like you know everyone's like, just like like it was just one of those things like OH IT'S PUMPKIN SPICE again all man, you know, but know that that is legit. Good. Okay. I haven't had a bad pumpkin spice but I only had a couple now.
678
01:31:04.470 --> 01:31:04.950
Akil: Right now.
679
01:31:13.980 --> 01:31:24.720
Christina Lomeli: Those poor, you know, poor people thing. I mean, my mom, you know, every year, you know, when we would get pumpkins, just because there were given to us by, you know, community center back when I was younger. Right.
680
01:31:25.590 --> 01:31:32.160
Christina Lomeli: Or at school. My mom would turn that pumpkin into pumped into empanada Cala Bassa oh
681
01:31:32.520 --> 01:31:33.390
Akil: That sounds good.
682
01:31:34.290 --> 01:31:40.140
Christina Lomeli: So I still to this day go and buy a pumpkin. I'm just so my mom can make pumpkin and bananas.
683
01:31:40.740 --> 01:31:44.580
Hong Lieu: And if you get the squash blossoms all those those cases the squash blossoms.
684
01:31:48.330 --> 01:31:51.000
Hong Lieu: Yeah so absolutely valid cultural personalized
685
01:31:51.630 --> 01:31:52.170
Christina Lomeli: Again here.
686
01:31:52.350 --> 01:32:01.800
Hong Lieu: No, no, and food is such a big part of everything that you know definitely bring that looping that into the cultural segment is relevant and absolutely needs to happen.
687
01:32:02.010 --> 01:32:02.940
Akil: Absolutely it is.
688
01:32:04.200 --> 01:32:04.710
Hong Lieu: Alright.
689
01:32:04.980 --> 01:32:05.640
Akil: Alright guys,
690
01:32:05.850 --> 01:32:10.950
Hong Lieu: We made it. And, you know, like I wasn't sure how it would go with this many guests. But I think, I think we
691
01:32:12.000 --> 01:32:12.450
Hong Lieu: did good.
692
01:32:13.260 --> 01:32:14.190
Christina Lomeli: Podcast probably
693
01:32:15.210 --> 01:32:18.900
Hong Lieu: Yeah but but the content was good, you know, like it was, it was really good.
694
01:32:20.340 --> 01:32:24.360
Akil: I just wanted. We want to definitely thank you guys for coming on and sharing us a little bit
695
01:32:25.740 --> 01:32:37.170
Akil: About what you guys do in up and ups and like I said earlier, man. It's such a privilege to an honor to have you guys on the show and the work that you guys do you guys are making a difference and
696
01:32:37.860 --> 01:32:46.020
Akil: You know, I feel a little bit motivated from some of the this listen to you guys speak. So hopefully, uh, you know, I can, you know, be a little bit more
697
01:32:46.530 --> 01:32:53.490
Akil: Proactive and other areas in my own life based upon the aspiration that you guys basically just gave me so I really appreciate you guys being here.
698
01:32:55.320 --> 01:32:56.160
Hong Lieu: Oh, go ahead. Oh.
699
01:32:56.310 --> 01:33:06.930
Noel Gomez: I just also wanted to give a shout out to the rest of the staff in our office to because it's just not us, that does all the work. Like there's so much that goes into us or academic counselors, we have ANA
700
01:33:07.740 --> 01:33:17.550
Noel Gomez: We have Camilla. We have Eli, we have Rubin all our tutors that are also integral to our program. Yeah. Danny Garcia with financial aid.
701
01:33:18.390 --> 01:33:18.840
On our side.
702
01:33:21.270 --> 01:33:23.460
Noel Gomez: Leslie Alicia, Tim.
703
01:33:24.840 --> 01:33:31.680
Noel Gomez: Hope. I'm not missing Aaron. I think that's everybody there. But yes, it's, it's a group effort and we do what we do. Yeah.
704
01:33:32.400 --> 01:33:45.540
Akil: Again, shout out to the listeners. If you guys want we return back on campus. Take a moment, treat yourself spin through ups to see how they do what they do up and up. So make some time for that. When we return back onto campus.
705
01:33:46.110 --> 01:33:53.790
Hong Lieu: Yeah. Just, just that I did a simple idea we you help economically and educationally disadvantaged students a simple simple sentence right on. It's on the surface, but
706
01:33:54.450 --> 01:34:04.500
Hong Lieu: Just, just we only scratched the surface with with the what we've talked about today. I mean, the it's so varied and so just, I mean some vital and important to the college
707
01:34:05.010 --> 01:34:14.940
Hong Lieu: And it just it. It's just almost this discounting what y'all do just to put it so simply but I mean really take take the time to get to know ups, get to know the folks that work at ups.
708
01:34:15.240 --> 01:34:21.000
Hong Lieu: And just see the magic. They do the miracles. They worked on a day to day basis. And you know that make the college a better place.
709
01:34:22.080 --> 01:34:25.410
Hong Lieu: Thank you all very much for taking the time it was an honor to have this conversation.
710
01:34:25.830 --> 01:34:27.420
Ismael Paredes Ulloa (He/Him/His/El): Yes, thank you.
711
01:34:28.140 --> 01:34:31.800
Hong Lieu: And we'll see everyone next time, take care.