Four longtime community leaders and activists will take part in an upcoming civil rights panel discussion organized by the Historical Society of Long Beach (HSLB) on April 24.
This event is an extension of HSLB’s ongoing “Represented at Last! The Transformation of Long Beach’s People and Politics” exhibition which dives into the development and evolution of the city’s disenfranchised communities. The panelists will discuss topics such as community organizations, activism and the growing presence of cultural and cross-cultural coalitions in local politics.
The following panelists will take part in the discussion:
- Ron Arias: For 50 years, Arias has been a prominent community and Chicano activist, stemming back to his time at California State University Long Beach. At CSULB, Arias was involved in student politics and the development of the Chicano studies department and in expanding Chicano education and services such as Educational Opportunity Programs on campus. He was also part of the United Farm Workers Movement and the Chicano student movement. From there, Arias became involved in the Centro de la Raza and became the Housing Project Director. He also has served as Director of the Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services, where he was responsible for the development of the Miller Family Health Education Center.
- Sharon Diggs-Jackson: Diggs-Jackson is a Long Beach native and was part of a pilot program which integrated schools in LBUSD. She attended the University of Southern California, worked in public service and has held positions at IBM and the City of Long Beach. She is a founding board member of the African American Cultural Center of Long Beach, a community organizer for the newly formed Historically Black Cultural District, and serves on the Long Beach Community Foundation board.
- Sithea San: San was an instrumental figure in the efforts to establish a Cambodia Town in Long Beach, and early advocate of the first Cambodian New Year Parade, and has been Chair of Cambodia Town since 2005. San is a survivor of the Cambodian Genocide orchestrated by the Khmer Rouge and she immigrated to the United States in 1981 with her surviving family members. She then attended California State University, Dominguez Hills and returned to Cambodia to aid in reconstruction efforts before returning to Long Beach in 2001.
- Tonia Reyes Uranga: A former Long Beach city councilmember, Uranga has long history of human rights activism and community organizing stemming from her time at the Centro de la Raza Escuelita and later as a student at the University of California, Los Angeles, where she joined the United Farm Workers Movement. Uranga began her political career as the President of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) and served on the Long Beach City Council from 2002 to 2010. She currently serves on the board for the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy (LAANE) and is President of the LULAC Long Beach Council #3309.
Represented at Last! Civil Rights Panel Discussion will take place Saturday, April 24 from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at Long Beach City College’s Liberal Arts Campus, located at 4901 E Carson St., in Room T1200. Tickets are $10 and admission is free for students with valid student identification.
