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Menjivar grew up in San Fernanco Valley, where her mother cleaned private homes and her father worked as a waiter at a Studio City country club. Menjivar recalled attending Encino Charter Elementary School, a public school in the high-priced suburb of Encino, CA. She immediately felt out of place, she said. “I was going to an affluent school where my classmate’s homes were big and they had big screen TVs,” Menjivar said. “That’s when I started [wondering] why my classmates had so many cool things, big houses, expensive things and we didn’t? As a kid, you don’t know what all that means. You just know that the inequity doesn’t feel right.”
Author Archives: Brenda Fernanda Verano
Brenda Fernanda Verano is a journalist from South Central LA. At Caló News, Verano covers social justice, health care, and education. She is a senior at California State University, Dominguez Hills, and Editor in Chief of the campus newspaper, The Bulletin. Verano is also an intern reporter for EdSource and a two-time award winner in the California College Media Association. Outside of journalism, she enjoys gardening and poetry. If you have questions, concerns or corrections related to this story, please contact brenda@latinomedia.org.
