Dr. Eduardo Lara

“thank you for helping me change my name,” exclaimed a Long Beach Pride parade attendee as The Center marched onto Ocean and Junipero. 🏳️‍⚧️

I was moved by this act of gratitude for the staff and services The Center offers, including our name and gender change petition clinic. 👩🏿‍⚖️

to borrow from this person’s words of appreciation, I’m grateful to be part of this organization that provides a sense of home for our LGBTQ+ familia. ❤️

happy Long Beach Pride! 🏝️ 🌈 🦄

as always, Dr. .ladsonbillings dropped some knowledge with a side of humor at the national . 👩🏾‍🏫

some gems from her keynote, Residencies as Reset: Rethinking Teacher Preparation 💎:

“you can’t change practice until you change theory.”

“pilots don’t tolerate bad apples in their profession. we can’t have bad apples in the teaching profession either.”

“here’s where residencies come in — relationships matter because they build relational trust.”

“learning must be a constant in our profession and let time be the variable, not the other way around.”

indeed, its time for a Reset. thank you GLB for your wisdom and inspiration to spark change to revolutionize how we prepare teachers. 💥

good time reuniting with fellow Bruin at the Black Student Achievement Initiative Symposium. she dropped knowledge including this gem of truth, “The power of disruption lies in schools.” ✊🏽 🐻 💙 💛

awesome work today supporting the National Center for Teacher Residencies with hosting and HBCUs to learn how a teacher residency is built and the positive impact it can have in its community. see link in bio for more info on NCTR. 🧑🏾‍🏫 👨🏽‍🏫 👩🏿‍🏫 🍎

written in his Letter from Birmingham Jail, Dr. King, Jr. blessed us with his words, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” ⚖️

and I proudly wear these sage words on our respective and collective sleeves through our community work with , , & . ✊🏽

may we all continue the hard work of carrying out Dr. King’s legacy while in remembrance and celebration of his Holiday. ❤️

in service,

siempre en zona to speak + equality and justice while reppin’ . 🏳️‍⚧️ 🏳️‍🌈

had a Golden time with the , friends and fellow Board Members at ’s annual Black & White Ball. 💛

congratulations to this year’s Honorees, , and Emily Grijalva for their service and advocacy to + communities. 🏳️‍⚧️ 🏳️‍🌈

much appreciation to staff, volunteers, guests and sponsors for supporting The Center. special shout out to Table Quince: Councilwoman , Reps from councilmember , , and . so much fun at our table! 🙏🏾