Belen CarrascoBelen Carrasco has been teaching for 23 years and is currently a middle school English Language Arts educator in Bakersfield, CA. She engages students by employing Ethnic Studies principles, practices, and pedagogies in her teaching and believes all students are also educators, possessing the cultural capital for self and community love, empowerment, and transformation.
Originally from Garden Grove, CA, Belen grew up unaware of her own racialized identity, often wondering why she was treated differently in mostly white schools. In college and in her first Chicana/o Studies course, she discovered her history, her family story, and her passion and love for her people and our struggle. She earned her Bachelor’s degree with a double major in Chicana/o Studies and in English Literature. After college, she worked for the United Farm Workers as a community organizer in their public action department. This landed her in Bakersfield, CA where she pursued her teaching career while building her family and continuing her activism for social justice. She is co-founder of the Kern County Educators for Ethnic Studies and is currently pursuing a dream of earning her masters degree in Chicana/o Studies from Cal State Northridge. She is also a proud member of Mutualista Sociedad Juarez. She is a proud mother of 4 amazing and socially conscious daughters. |
|