Yvette Walker
With 91.9 KVCR News, I'm Yvette Walker, this is IE Latino Voices where we invite representatives from Latino led and Latino serving organizations to share their stories and their impact in our region. We've invited Sabrina Gonzalez, inaugural Executive Director of the Civil Rights Institute to join us today. Thank you so much for being with us, Sabrina.
Sabrina Gonzalez
Awesome. Thank you. I really appreciate the opportunity.
Yvette
Please talk about the recent founding of the Civil Rights Institute.
Sabrina
So, the Civil Rights Institute of Inland Southern California actually has a longer history. We feel like it's more recent because our building is up in 2022, and we've opened to the public in 2023. But in 2006-2007, our visionaries, Lalit Acharya and Rose Mayes actually came together with this multi-use project idea, and then they championed it forward. They got board members, became a nonprofit in 2011-2012. And then they continued to champion the work and ensure that community was involved raising of money, and that's what built out this multi-use project, what we call Mission Heritage Plaza. And it is through a three part partnership with the Wakeland Housing & Development Corporation, the Fair Housing Council of Riverside County, and the Civil Rights Institute of Inland Southern California. And then about 16 months ago is when they found me, and I came on board as their inaugural Executive Director. Our mission is really to inspire people of all ages through lifting up the historic and ongoing civil rights stories of the region while fostering community advocacy, and building champions of tomorrow. Our values are embedded in inclusivity, collaboration and good trouble.
Yvette
Please share what you've seen in the last few months at the Civil Rights Institute in your new role.
Sabrina
So, in this multi-use project, Mission Heritage Plaza, we're three pronged. The Civil Rights Institute is comprised of the Riverside African American Historical Society’s Exhibition Center, we also have the M & L Hong Foundation Lobby, and Bank of America Diversity Center, and Altura Credit Union Media Center. And so those spaces have been really important to us. We've allowed ourselves to have our inaugural exhibit called Still I Rise: The Black IE Fight for Justice, and it's really telling the story of the black community and the work they've done. And that despite some of the harsh truths and things that have happened in our region, that they've been able to overcome, to be resilient, and to do such great work for our community. And so, we want to continue to share that story. We have the Jose Medina Atrium Space where we've had events and programming, where we highlight some of our donors. And the (Bank of America) Diversity Center is really where we're able to have programming.
Yvette
That's wonderful. Please talk about the programs you're developing.
Sabrina
Some of the programs that we have are to have these vital conversations. So, we're talking about discriminatory components. We have things like housing and affordable panels, we've had Latino Leads host a conversation about getting more Latinos on our board of directors, we've had a lift up your voice and praise conversation, healing circles, and conversations on banned books, and why it's important to discuss telling truths and history. And we do a Sunday series so that we can talk about faith and community. Our curator, Dr. Vince Moses, the advisory committee that came together, they were very informed, and they wanted to make the space interactive. So, there's QR codes around, there's, under the umbrella of Black Voice News, we had story maps built through the People's History of the IE, the Amina Carter Foundation Bridges That Carried Us Over and Mapping Black California. So we're really finding ways to be interactive, and we have people that are volunteering and looking to come back. And we hope to continue to expand on that.
Yvette
That is wonderful. What are you most excited about as you look into the future with the Civil Rights Institute?
Sabrina
So, I'm most excited about continuing to get people engaged. The more we can get people into the space, the more we can get people to understand our regional history, and to be proud, is that they'll stay in our region, they'll continue to uplifted. And so I'm excited to continue to develop programming, to switch out to our next exhibits - our goal is to have new exhibits every three to six months. When people come to us and say like, “When will our story be told?”
I'm happy to say it's coming up or next or here's another one, or here's a program that's going to support that. And so, although we're looking at the history and kind of this rear-view perspective, I'm really excited to also bring it to current, so that we can make sure that there are still issues and concerns and ongoing civil rights history that we are highlighting and conversing about. Our visionary, Rose Mayes as she says, “We can disagree without being disagreeable.”
And I like to say we can have discourse without disparaging, so that we humanize these topics, and we can continue to lift each other up in the region as a whole.
Yvette
Please, Sabrina, tell us how the community can connect with you and support your efforts with the Civil Rights Institute.
Sabrina
Come visit us. So we're located in Downtown Riverside. I say if you are leading with your belly, we're across the street from Tito's Tacos. If you lead with your mind, we’re diagonal from the main library. And if arts and culture are your thing, we're behind the Fox Theater. So come visit us, come check out the space. We are always looking for donations, and we'll do an end of year campaign. We want people to be able to build these stories, feel proud of us and come check us out. Our socials are @inlandcivrights. We are inlandcivilrights.org for our website, and we can be reached by phone at (951) 682-5307.
Yvette
Thank you so much for being with us here today, Sabrina.
Sabrina Gonzalez
Thank you. I really appreciate the opportunity.
Yvette Walker
Join us again next week for IE Latino Voices. You can find the story and others on our website at kvcrnews.org/ielatinovoices. IE Latino Voices is produced by KVCR Public Media and is funded by generous support from the CIELO fund at IECF, uplifting and investing in the IE’s Latino community. For KVCR News, I’m Yvette Walker.
