Vol. 101, Issue 4

VIEWPOINTS

Farmworker advocate visits RCC

United Farm Workers Union co-founder Dolores Huerta continues her activism by empowering younger generations to fight for their beliefs through unity

JENNIPHER VASQUEZ EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Thekeynote speaker for Hispanic Heritage Month encouraged all in attendance in Landis Auditorium to hold hands as a sign of unity Oct. 4.

United Farm Workers Union co-founder Dolores Huerta, 92, encouraged young voters to take advantage of their democratic right to vote, citing the volatility amongst current political leaders.

Throughout the speech she shared memories from her early years as an activist alongside Cesar Chavez, how her experiences influenced her advocacy path and the backlash she as well as those around her suffered after she and Chavez co-founded the United Farm Workers Union.

“The power is in each and every one of us, we can change things,” Huerta said. “You cannot expect anybody to come in and do this for you, you have to do this for yourself.”

She discussed college tuition, abortion laws and immigrant rights, pushing students to pay close attention to what they vote on and advocate for.

Huerta said Chavez often reassured her that the farm workers needed her help because she had questioned whether or not she was capable.

“If they didn’t need your help they would have already been organized,” she quoted her collaborator in the struggle as saying.

The audience was allowed to ask Huerta questions following the speech, but most used the opportunity to praise her for her activism, the non-violent approach she and Chavez applied to their movement and her resilience through every hurdle.

Miguel Arias, RCC campus groundskeeper, approached the stage to applaud Huerta before

she exited the stage following a standing ovation by the audience.

Arias is a prominent presence at Cesar Chavez Day events that have been held on campus over the years, including back in 2019 when UFW President Teresa Romero delivered a speech to RCC as part of the celebrations.

“Ustedes cambiaron todo,” he said to Huerta as he stood before the stage. “Gracias por venir a RCC!”

Translation: “You all changed everything, thank you for coming to RCC!”

the trade

Men’s water polo breaks losing streak at Riverside Tournament

STEPHEN

Magic Scissors hair salon is a product of a mother’s love

News Briefs

Free Application For Student Aid is now available

Apply now at studentaid.gov.

For help completing the FAFSA, attend the Complete Me Workshop or Cash For College Workshop at the Welcome Center in the Kane Building. More information is available at rcc.edu on the campus events calendar.

Route to cafeteria closed

As of Oct. 11 the area near the Landis Performing Arts Building has been gated and closed off, stretching from the old Life Sciences building and around the MLK Building.

CORRECTION: In our previous issue volleyball player Katie Moore was misidentified as Paris Toaetola. The mistake was corrected online and reflects the correct name in the photo caption.

Campus

Crime Report

Vandalism - Damage to golf cart Date: 9/22/2022

Location: RCC

Battery on School Property, Battery Date: 9/22/2022

Location: Quadrangle Arrest made

Order to Vacate Date: 9/23/2022

Location: Digital Library

Vandalism - Damage to Window Date: 9/24/2022

Location: Center for Social Justice, 3801 Market Street

Domestic Battery, Battery on School Grounds, Committing a Hate Crime, Possession of a Controlled Substance; Violating a Restraining Order Date: 9/26/2022

Location: Wheelock Stadium Suspect Booked

Vehicle Tampering Date: 9/30/2022

Location: Cosmetology Building

Vandalism - Graffiti Date: 10/03/2022

Location: Math & Sciences Building

If you feel you or others’ safety is at risk, please contact the RCCD Police Department at 951-222-8171 for nonemergency calls, and in case of emergency, call 9-1-1.

To stay up to date on upcoming campus events, visit the Viewpoints calendar listed at viewpointsonline.org

If you have events happening on campus that you want featured on the calendar, send information about the event to viewpoints.

Resource center to the rescue

One stop shop for basic needs at RCC

ALYSSA VELASQUEZ STAFF REPORTER

Riverside City College has introduced a new resource center for students in need of day to day necessities.

The Basic Needs Resource Center on campus provides students with groceries, toiletries and prepaid food and gas cards every two weeks. RCC’s Food Pantry stocks its shelves with various groceries each week.

While all can benefit, first choice is given to students who are deemed most in need.

Benjamin Vargas Jr., supervisor of basic needs and wellness, said many students struggle to find these deemed “basic needs” daily.

“The idea is that you’re making meals (and) taking snack items that are going to get you through the day when you are hungry,” Vargas said.

He also encourages students to apply for the CalFresh Program.

In addition to the food pantry, meal tickets for RCC’s City Grill will soon be available. Based on the referral form students are required to fill out at the resource center, prepaid grocery and gas cards be picked up at the campus cashier’s office. The resource center is working with the cafeteria to provide eligible students with meal tickets.

Vargas’ goal with the meal tickets is to provide support to students by providing meals.

Mario Arce, a physics major, said the meal tickets will be beneficial to the students on-campus.

“I’ve gotten a food bag myself, and I think I may be getting meal tickets in the future,” Arce said.

He also said that gas cards are

very beneficial considering the recent fluctuation of gas prices.

RCC’s Basic Resource Center is also one out of 15 colleges to provide housing “pilot program” opportunities. This project is affiliated with the Homeless Housing Insecure Pilot (HHIP) program, which helps homeless students have a temporary place to live while pursuing an education.

“The goal is that we get students into our program and become independent by the end of our program,” Vargas said.

Though there are certain policies the students must follow, like being employed and paying a percentage of the lease, the idea is to get students “ back on their feet.”

Funds from the postsecondary education bill AB 132, which passed in 2021, provides the

Basic Resource Center’s with their supplies.

Compared to the students who currently attend RCC, many haven’t taken advantage of this program, but Vargas intends to partner up with other departments on campus to promote and spread awareness of the opportunities all students have.

Amel Abdelfatah, a student worker from the resource center,

ABOVE Shelves in the Basic Needs Resource Center stocked with groceries.

LEFT Toiletries are provided in addition to groceries, prepaid cards and other daily necessities.

said that all students at some point need some kind of assistance during the span of their education and thinks this center offers the students that support.

“We help students get their priorities straight while they focus on their studies,” Abdelfatah said.

The resource center is located in the Charles A. Kane building at RCC and is open Monday through Friday.

PHOTO COURTESY OF SUZETTE MENDOZA

Briefs

Baseball

Pitcher David Butler committed to the University of California Irvine with a full scholarship.

Kassey Murry, an outfielder for the Tigers, was able to earn an opportunity to visit New Mexico State.

Former RCC pitcher Jesse Chavez pitched in game one of the MLB National League Divisional Series for the Atlanta Braves.

Football Riverside City College football’s Jake Retzlaff has been named male RCC Athlete of the Month for September.

Jake Retzlaff, JJ Tucker, Reggie Retzlaff and DeMarco Moorer all received offers from New Mexico State, with Talib Salahuddin receiving an offer from San Jose State. Moorer also received an offer from the University of Hawaii.

Women’s Water Polo Riverside City College’s women’s water polo team earned two wins at the Cuesta Tournament on Oct.1 with one win against Long Beach and one win against Modesto.

Amber Nielson was named RCC female athlete of the month for September.

Women’s Volleyball

On Friday, Sept. 30 Riverside women’s volleyball team lost a game to Cypress with a score of 0-3.

Scan the QR code below & follow our social media where you can find live game updates and more information this fall!

Solid showing in San Diego Cross-country meets expectations, places fifth

PETER GIBBS STAFF

Even with poor terrain and delays in starting on time, goals were set and accomplished.

Both the Riverside City College men’s and women’s cross country teams competed at the Manny Bautista Invitational at NTC Park in San Diego Oct. 7.

With a large field of 18 teams competing, the men’s team had high expectations.

“The team has done a great job learning this season and getting better each day,” men’s head coach Jim McCarron said. “It was the deepest community college field so we set a goal of placing fifth as a team and we met that goal.”

After an airplane departed from the nearby San Diego Airport and caused a delay, it seemed that RCC would lose focus.

However, the Tigers were led by top runner Gavyn Condit, who placed fifth overall with a time of 20 minutes and 27 seconds.

“I wasn’t really affected because coach tells us to be prepared for anything,” Condit said. “I’ve learned to push through and keep going whether I have to reset or if I fall down at the start.”

Condit was joined by Kyle Reden and Ernesto Ruiz, who was competing in his first collegiate race.

Sophomore Raen Reyes fights through the pain on the second mile at the Manny Bautista Invitational.

Reden was able to move up through the field towards the last mile of the race to help push the

team toward its goal.

“I wanted to start off a bit slower and save my energy for the rest of the race,” Reden said. “My last few races I’ve been able to use the last of my strength and catch those in front of me.”

The women’s team placed eighth as early morning dew caused parts of the course to be muddy.

“I stumbled at the beginning of the race and it caused me to go out a bit faster,” sophomore runner Elani Huntley said. “There were times when I had to look down and make sure the terrain wasn’t muddy, which threw off my rhythm.”

Huntley was the teams’ top finisher, finishing in sixteenth place with a time of 20 minutes and six seconds.

Due to the conditions, the team chose to wear training shoes with better tread instead of the lighter race flats.

“Maybe I could have worn my flats,” Huntley said. “But they don’t really have much traction on them.”

The top three finishers for the women’s team were Huntley, Dakota Zamarripa and Lidia Barrios.

“This next race is what will catapult us into the playoffs,” McCarron said. “We have a really good chance of finishing on the podium at state.”

Both the men and women will be back in action for RCC on Oct. 21 in the John Elders Titan Invitational held at Cal State Fullerton.

Volleyball struggles, presses on Team looks to change losing stigma, aims to improve in practice

DALILA ROMERO STAFF REPORTER

The Riverside City College volleyball team loses its second match in a row after being outplayed by Mt. San Antonio College.

Even though the Tigers made it close in every set, they were still defeated 3-0.

The preparation for the battle began at practice where the Tigers had to put in work to contest the Mounties who were previously undefeated conference.

“We worked a lot on our defense, blocking a lot and our blocking did come into play today,” sophomore left back Mya Castro said. “Our offense just needs to

make sure we are hitting around the block, picking spots and we need to talk to our hitters.”

The Tigers were put into a rough situation after going down 2-0 in the opening sets.

“It was hard when we dug a hole for ourselves because of the block,” freshman setter Audrey Elias said. “We had to dig ourselves out, which got hard towards the end.”

This game was not only a physical game for Tigers as the players had prepared mentally for the match up.

“We focused a lot on our mental

game because we have all the players that we need. We just get into a mental wreck sometimes,” Elias aid. “So we just really focused on being there for each other and communicating a lot.”

The team believes that they can work on these issues in practice.

“Our biggest obstacle is definitely serve receiving, it’s something we definitely need to keep working on,” Castro said. “We just need to get it in our heads that we can pass.”

The Tigers will look to get back on the win column against Saddleback College on Oct.7.

To stay up to date on upcoming campus events, visit the Viewpoints calendar listed at viewpointsonline.org.

If you have events happening on campus that you want featured on the calendar, send information about the event to viewpoints.sports@ gmail.com.

HAYDEN KULICK | VIEWPOINTS

LEFT Mya Castro digs in under the ball to return the serve during the Tigers match against Mt. SAC Mounties. RIGHT Jessica Lepe slams the ball past the net defenders, Raeven Pugh (LEFT) and Allison Whiteman.

Tigers go 3-1 at Riverside Tournament

JAIR RAMIREZ STAFF REPORTER

Last second heroics by sophomore attacker Louis Grandi led Riverside City College men’s water polo team to victory.

With seven seconds left in the match in the final game of the Riverside Tournament, Grandi bounced the ball past Cerritos College Falcons goalie to score the deciding goal in the 12-11 RCC victory.

“It was a game winning goal but a team win,” said Grandi. “The win was the best, not my goal.”

It was a hard fought back and forth game against Cerritos until the closing minutes of the third quarter when RCC took the lead.

Goalie Seth Zarn made a key block on a penalty shot in the closing moments of the third quarter and took an 11-8 lead going into the fourth quarter.

“It felt great, it felt like I finally did something,” Zarn said about blocking the penalty shot.

The Falcons physical style of play got them back into the game early in the fourth quarter.

Once Cerritos tied the game at 11 RCC buckled down on defense and pulled off the victory.

Zarn made many important

saves to give RCC back the momentum of the game.

The Tigers’ fourth quarter meltdowns had been haunting them throughout the whole season, but they stepped it up and closed out games in the tournament to take three out of the four matches played.

“We needed to have a good tournament,” men’s water polo head coach Jason Northcott said. “We had a long stretch of playing four year schools or highly ranked community college teams and we’ve been coming out on the wrong end of it. We got three good wins in the tournament.”

“I think there’s a lot of teams we got close with,” Zarn said. “That we were just neck and neck (with) until the fourth quarter.”

The Tigers out muscled Palomar College and looked like they were on their way to an easy win in the first game of the tournament.

The Comets made it close in the fourth quarter and were within one point of tying the game. The Tigers took control of the match and went on a 4-1scoring run to close out the game beating Palomar 18-14.

Long Beach City College’s speed in the pool was too much for RCC to handle in the second

match. RCC ended up losing the match by four points.

The Tigers bounced back against Grossmont College on the second day of the tournament and took a commanding five to nothing lead to begin the game and never looked back. Defense was key against Grossmont and shut them out in the final quarter winning 12-8.

“Our conditioning propelled us to have a good weekend,” Northcott said. “But we need to work on our composure, learn how to control momentum.”

The Tigers feel like this tournament can be a turning point in the season and are thinking positively going forward.

“We have a result that shows that we are in the top ten in the state,” Northcott said. “We have a result that shows we belong in that area and that we can compete against the top five and we can win.”

Grandi led the way offensively and finished the tournament with 14 goals and five assists.

“I am proud of my team in this tournament, we improved a lot,” he said.

The Tigers will take a 7-14 record to the Long Beach Mini Tournament beginning Oct. 14.

PHOTOS BY STEPHEN DAY | VIEWPOINTS

Colin Tormey looks for the angle he needs to get the ball into the goal in the third match of the tournament during the match between the Tigers and Grossmont College Griffins.

Colin Tormey fires a pass around defending Grossmont College Griffin, Austin Wenzel, during the match between the Tigers and Griffins.

Reese Starkey rises up and takes his shot during the match between the Tigers and Palomar College Comets.

Starbucks continues union busting

Struggle continues amidst corporate pushback, deserves solidarity

day. I love the slowness of the store before the rush. It’s encouraging and puts a smile on my face watching people start their days.

However, respect is hard to come by as a Starbucks employee.

not a huge number considering there are 9,000 company operated stores nationwide but, that number gives hope and starts a movement.

MARIA ODENBAUGH OPINIONS EDITOR

I’ve been a Starbucks employee for nearly a year. This past year my confidence has risen immensely and I’ve learned to put myself out there gaining many great relationships.

I love my 4:30 a.m. opening shifts. I love the feeling of being one of the first people in someone’s

As much as I love helping others start their day, sometimes we are only seen as machines. Machines who struggle with earning the respect from not only customers but the high all mighty’s of the corporation system.

I praise my job to anyone who asks, but I am never praising the Starbucks brand. I may not be a part of a unionized store but I understand the need for collective bargaining.

Representation is crucial for pushing for higher wages, better benefits and scheduling.

Over the past two years, over 200 corporate stores in the United States voted to unionize. That’s

Instead of listening and helping their employees find their voice, Starbucks engaged in alleged illegal tactics to consistently bust up union attempts.

The National Labor Union Relations Board (NLRB) accused Starbucks of using suspect methods to eventually shut down their unionized stores. These strategies included raising wages, providing more benefits and closing stores.

Active organizing union stores were fully closed to threaten the workers. The temporary closing was deemed because of safety reasons but instead took away multiple labor hours from the baristas.

Starbucks never listened to its

partners, instead they induced a range of activities to abruptly stop the idea of employees making the important decisions. Decisions that directly impact the employees.

These tactics began at the first stores to petition to unionize in Buffalo, New York.

What Starbucks did to the Buffalo stores took away the hope the employees worked so hard for.

If Starbucks continues these reactions they leave no room for baristas to continue to enjoy and progress in their jobs.

They denied all accusations of union busting, however they continue to oppose unionization efforts.

Recently, Senators sent a letter to CEO Howard Schultz urging them to, “listen to the voices of your partners who are joining together to create a fairer and safer workplace for all Starbucks

employees by voluntarily recognizing unionization efforts and actively pursuing a nationwide agreement to provide coverage for all Starbucks employees.” If the U.S. Senate can acknowledge the movement, it’s time Schultz realizes he will be on the wrong side of a historic labor movement.

The corporation must be held accountable for the illegal tactics they use constantly put pressure on union employees. However, we can not rely on the NLRB to win this fight. Partners need to build unity, spread the word and plan more strikes.

I love my job but I am fearful I won’t have any representation without unionizing.

To all the union employees who worked so hard the past couple of years, you are heard and the hope you gave me and other baristas is still there.

District Phishing attacks run amok

brought up regarding Information Technology or cybersecurity at Board of Trustees meetings, with the latest mention of them at the BOT meeting occuring March 7 regarding a cybersecurity initiative.

The amount of attention they have put into cybersecurity has only led to many empty promises.

JOHN MICHAEL GUERRERO MULTIMEDIA EDITOR & SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER

Cybersecurity should be one of many priorities for the Riverside City College District.

We live in an age of technology, so proportionally, there should be an equal emphasis by the District to protect the interests and privacy of students, faculty and specialized workers. Very little is

If RCCD put more time and money into the Technological Support Services (TSS) Department, there would be less technological issues.

Many times they have stated issues with understaffing at various BOT meetings, which leads to a larger demand than they can properly offer and tackle.

Lately, there has been an increase in phishing and Personal Identifiable Information (PII) attacks.

Phishing emails aim to masquerade as a reputable company, business or institution,

like Riverside City College, to “farm” personal information. Many Outlook accounts continue to suffer from these phishing attacks, with the latest targeting many students in the District claiming, “We received a request from you to terminate your Office 365 email. This process has begun by our administrator.”

A link to “take action” and reverse this process was present. Although this issue was soon resolved via an

email to students by RCCD, it goes to show how vulnerable our district is cybersecurity-wise.

PII attacks are another common attack that many students may see on their Outlook email. These emails aim at being a trustworthy source that intends to “employ” a given target to a real-life company or business.

These attacks are particularly dangerous to vulnerable community college students, many of whom

survive financially week to week. This may lead many to take up the offers to turn a quick buck, and in turn lead them to complete various fraudulent transactions — leaving them in hot water with their bank.

In order to lower the risks of cybersecurity issues in the future the District should come together with the TSS to discuss ongoing technological issues and needed district-wide upgrades.

The District should also overhaul every non-upgraded device on all three campuses. More often than not, a computer may be running out-of-date software which leaves it vulnerable for multiple types of cyber attacks.

Just like how each department at a college is treated with importance in relation to the students, faculty and specialized faculty, TSS plays a huge role in protecting and securing our district.

STEPHEN

Starbucks on Market St. in Riverside. This location is not unionized. There are currently zero unionized Starbucks locations in Riverside County.

MARKUS SPISKE | UNSPLASH

E ditorial

Petitioners break district policy

Faculty and students feel harassed by solicitors

Harassing and deceiving people are not the same as advocating for change. Many petitioners found on-campus at Riverside City College clearly don’t get the difference.

Many movements — #MeToo, Black Lives Matter and Indigenous Peoples Visibility to name a few — have all helped push for more equality. Some began through simple movements such as door-to-door advocating, protests and petitioning.

There is a big difference between these petitioners who infiltrate RCC and those who are legitimately trying to make positive change in their communities.

All community colleges and University of California campuses are public properties, meaning anyone can walk onto them. However, petitioners are required to obtain a permit to collect signatures, and they also must disclose on the form if they are being paid according to California state law.

Lately, many petitioners on RCC campus have continued to be deceptive to students, show aggression to those who ignore them and begun spilling into spaces they are prohibited from entering and soliciting signatures from the Salvatore G. Rotella Digital Library and Learning Resource

Center (DL).

Faculty have complained about existing policies which protects select areas oncampus from random people like petitioners from soliciting and disturbing students. Other classified workers have voiced similar concerns, with one explaining a student worker witnessed a petitioner being particularly more aggressive with an elderly student at RCC to sign their papers.

Students, faculty and staff should not have to worry about aggressive solicitations every time they go to class, get an amazing cafeteria cheeseburger or are just finally strolling to their car after a long day of classes..

RCC already has an area for people to voice their concerns, express views and inform people called the “Free Speech” area which is located in between the Robert T. Dixon Planetarium and Ralph H. Bradshaw Building.

This is where the petitioners should be. This area ensures visibility and communication to all students and facilities without distributing the flow of school activities.

Students need to be informed and realize

what they are signing for. In some cases the petitioners are explaining the complete opposite , just to get signatures. If RCC is going to continue to be a safe place for all, students and staff need to be aware of what they’re signing for and challenge the misleading solicitors.

RCCD policy form No. 3550 thoroughly explains that any petitioner who wishes to push these public forms must check in with the Dean of Student Services.

How many know this and act upon this policy? It’s evident this code has not been enforced.

Most recently one of our editors was approached by “non-denominational Christians representing the Church of God,” who admitted to not having administrative permission.

These petitioners are coming to our school with no knowledge of what rules they need to follow.

RCCD administration has put these policies in place to prevent issues likes these from occurring. Yet security does little to nothing when students are being harassed by people who don’t have permission to be here.

STAFF

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Jennipher Vasquez

MANAGING

Cheetara Piry

ADVERTISING MANAGER viewpoints.advertising@gmail.com

NEWS EDITOR

Alondra Montes

ASSISTANT NEWS EDITORS

Laura Bautista, Jair Ramirez

LIFE EDITOR

Angie Escalante

gmail.com

ASSISTANT LIFE EDITORS

Julia Goldman

OPINIONS

Maria Odenbaugh

ASSISTANT OPINIONS

EDITOR

Darlene Dukelow-Burton

SPORTS EDITOR

Hayden Kulick viewpoints.sports@gmail.com

PHOTO EDITOR

Stephen Day viewpoints.photo@gmail.com

MULTIMEDIA EDITOR

John Michael Guerrero multimedia.viewpoints@gmail.com

SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER

John Michael Guerrero viewpoints.socialmedia@gmail.com

REPORTERS:

Carlos Ayala Santa Ana Arianna Cervantes

Jesus Coronel

Jazmyn Hope De Jesus Peter Gibbs

Vianney Morales

Leroy Orozco

Hannah Padilla-Estrella

Liv Pearson

Carlos Perez

Zach Reynosa Dalila Romero

William L.G. Stephens

Lindsey Tovar

Luis Trejo

Alyssa Velasquez

JOURNALISM SPECIALIST

Matt Schoenmann

matthew.schoenmann@rcc.edu

FACULTY ADVISERS

Angela Burrell

Matt Schoenmann

Letters to the editor should be kept to 250 words or less and include contact information. Email letters to viewpointseic@ gmail.com. Viewpoints reserves the right to edit letters for space and to reject libelous or obscene letters. Letters to the editor and columns represent the opinions of the individual writers and do not necessarily reflect those of the entire Viewpoints staff, Viewpoints faculty advisers, student faculty, administration or the Board of Trustees.

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Nayeli Cerano (right), a pre-nursing student at Riverside City College, tolerates a pair of self identified “Non-denominational Christians representing the Church of God” who, along with several others, have been all over the RCC campus Oct.11 approaching students and engaging in proselytization.

STEPHEN DAY | VIEWPOINTS

STUDENTS

“I will say in general I understand that it’s people doing their job, so I just politely decline.”

Convos ANGIE ESCALANTE LIFE EDITOR

Small business with a magic touch Latina owned salon cuts through barriers

what I want to do’.”

A mother’s love for hairstyling, that later inspired a career path for her daughter, sprouted family owned and operated Magic Scissors salon in Riverside.

The hair salon is managed by mother-daughter duo Elia Martinez and Elia Georgette Montes Martinez.

Elia Martinez is a licensed hair stylist of 28 years and has been set up in the shopping center known as the Brockton Arcade for 20 years.

Starting a business proved to be a challenge, even more so for Elia being a Latina and new to the United States.

The Martinezes wanted their salon to be all-inclusive and a place where anyone can get their hair done.

“I know that other shops around here only focus on young people,” Georgette said. “We run our shop so that we welcome everybody (of all ages).”

Both women are family-oriented and share a passion for hair. They run the salon through appointments only to allow for quality time with their family.

Elia greets each client with open arms, a smile and a warmhearted welcome.

She encourages others to open their own businesses because there’s room for everyone, especially in the styling industry. Brockton Arcade is the home to various hair salons aside from Magic Scissors.

“I feel like it’s not competition because there’s heads for everybody just like there’s room for everybody to grow,” Georgette said.

Looking back at her daughter’s time in high school Elia said that she’s glad there were ROP opportunities for students mainly because a lot of young people don’t know their passions yet.

“Those kinds of programs

have practically disappeared and it brings me sadness (to know) that all those opportunities have been lost,” she said. “I hope that they come back.”

The Martinezes said they are very blessed and grateful for everything that led them to be able to work side-by-side.

Elia had a word of advice for other Latinas running or starting a small business:

“It’s difficult to believe that we can do this. Maybe you come from a different country, maybe you don’t speak English well, but I believe (that) where there is will there’s a way,” she said. “Si se puede.”

“I mean it’s okay I guess, people approach you sometimes and they just try to get your response.”

“All the business owners around here are American,” Elia said. “I am the first Latina business owner in this shopping center.”

Elia arrived to the U.S. 34 years ago and became an American citizen in 2017.

“I love this country,” she said. “I am grateful for everything this country has given me.”

This is what has made Magic Scissors more than just another hair salon, each person that walks through the door is treated like family.

“I love having the opportunity of connecting with people and learning about so many different cultures,” Elia said.

“They haven’t really asked me too much or gone up to me, I have signed a few waivers (and petitions).”

She experienced difficulties running the salon at first because the clientele she was bringing in was not enough to meet the rent fees. Elia’s daughter, who goes by Georgette, joined alongside her mother one year after the shop’s opening.

Georgette attended John W. North High School where she obtained a certificate in cosmetology through a Regional Occupational Program.

She began working with her mother the summer after graduating high school. Up until then, the salon had originally been a backup plan if attending Riverside City College didn’t go as planned.

“That’s when I fell in love with the business,” Georgette said. “I fell in love with the environment (and) I stayed here, I didn’t go to school. I was like ‘okay, this is

Georgette said it’s important for every business owner to remember that all businesses have their obstacles, but owners should make every effort to keep their doors open.

“You always have to remember why you started it and what it means to you,” she said.

Like many other small businesses, the Martinezes worried for their shop’s future during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Their salon was so small that it did not qualify for any of the relief that was offered. Luckily for them, certain requirements for businesses changed and they were able to get help.

While they were not receiving aid, they did everything possible to stay afloat.

“We started selling products and doing raffles, you know, selling different packages, food. I even sold some of my plants,” Georgette said.

(TOP AND BOTTOM) Magic Scissors, a small salon in the Brockton Arcade, owned by mother-daughter duo Elia Martinez and Elia Georgette Montes Martinez

STEPHEN DAY | VIEWPOINTS

PHOTOS BY STEPHEN DAY | VIEWPOINTS

Elia Martinez and Elia Georgette Montes Martinez, stand below a neon sign that says “Hello Gorgeous” in their salon on Oct 9.

Antoine Price

Matthew Garcia

Interviews and photos by Lindsey Tovar & John Michael Guerrero

Perla Valenzuela

Juda Smith

Q: How do you feel about petitioners?

“It’s a little awkward when people come up asking you to sign stuff, but other than that not really.”

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