INTERVIEWED BY SARAH DECARO-RINCON.
Photographed by Sarah DeCaro-Rincon
VALERIE GOMEZ, NOMINEE OF COMM. MARGARITA GUZMAN OF WEST NEW YORK, NJ
Women’s Issue that is most near and dear to her: As I just turned 23, I've really grown into my womanhood more. I've realized more things that seem very unfair. And I think the top of that list is the pay gap between men and women. Recently, I was just reading and looking into it more. Everyone already knows that women are obviously still discriminated against in the workplace. I remember reading that Hispanic and Latino earn about 54 cents to the dollar compared to white men in the workplace. And I see that now, more than ever myself, as a woman in the workplace. As a teacher, I see the work that we do as caretakers, and as people that put their emotions into their work. And even then it's not appreciated, and even then we still don't have fair pay. So I think that is definitely one of the most important women's issues that I relate to every day
“We do the work. We put the 110% effort.”
Her background: I was born and raised in low income communities. Again, born and raised in Hudson County. Being Hispanic, coming from two parents that came to this country at a very young age, all those things play into who I am. I find myself almost always saying the answer to the question “Hey, where are you from?” is almost always: I'm Salvadoran because I do very readily identify with my parents ethnicity. That is my cultural background. That is the pride that I have. And I bring that everywhere with me. Being from a low income community makes me aware, makes me very aware of my place in society or where we've been placed, and it also makes me aware of in equality and justice, right. I had that experience and I keep that in my back pocket every single day. Now, more than ever, as a teacher, my background plays a part every single day because my kids are mostly black students, black students in a very low income community. And even then, as much as I can relate, our experiences are very different. But it does help me to be empathetic towards my students, empathetic towards my cause and why I do my job every day
“I wanted a challenge.”