Human Rights Activist Shines at Redwood

By: Lily Mendes

The year of 2020 has been challenging for everyone in the Redwood High School family, consistently jumping hurdles through the Covid-19 pandemic. Through all the struggles that have surfaced, many Rangers have succeeded and remained positive, even during this trying time. One of those rangers is Neftaly Gonzalez ’21.

Gonzalez, throughout her high school career, has been an activist, fighting for equal rights and the expansion of opportunities among marginalized communities. As a Latina, culture has always played an important role in Gonzalez’s life, where she is also planning to be a second generation college graduate. Her passion thrives from “the importance of celebrating and remembering my family’s roots,” Gonzalez states. 

Neftaly’s father, Vice Principal Gonzalez, had this to say when asked how their culture has influenced the person she is today: “We always remind her about her proud Mexican heritage and the beautiful traditions that emphasize the value of family. I believe she takes her values to the society she is a part of by trying to build a community of togetherness.” One of the proudest moments Dr. Gonzalez mentioned he has of his daughter was “when she was selected to attend a statewide leadership conference that resulted in her founding the first Multicultural Club at Redwood high school.”

“Cultural background” is something Gonzalez believes helps her to value and “promote the contributions of other cultures in our community” alongside uplifting “the voices of  marginalized groups.” Her devotion to appreciating and accepting all different cultures within her community has led to the creation of the Multi-Cultural Appreciation (MCA) club, in which she is both the founder and President. 

Gonzalez claims that her club “helps students become more comfortable with their cultural identity and to take pride in their background.” Through the club she has helped fellow rangers find leadership opportunities and educational events involving their own interests with either their own culture or the cultures of others.

Members of MCA such as Xavier Martinez ’21 feels the club has helped him “understand the true importance of communication and connection within everyone from our school.” Martinez believes Gonzalez’s drive and involvement in the club has been a great motivation to him and others “to listen and digest everyone’s story and to push for what’s right for everyone.”

Juaquin Gonzalez ’23, Neftaly’s younger brother, is also a member of MCA, and continues to look up to all of his sister’s achievements. He believes he has learned a multitude of skills upon watching Neftaly’s high school career, including “how to lead groups of people, and how to be confident in myself and my abilities to do tasks,” he claims. Gonzalez also believes his sister is heavily involved with her community by “being a part of community rallies as well as protests” alongside reaching out to students from other “surrounding areas” to further affect and help with “their future academics and career choice.”

In summer of 2020 Gonzalez joined the Heal (Healing, Equity, Advocacy, Leadership) Project to further her activism regarding equal rights for Black and Latinx youth. She attended the first advocacy summit of the HEAL coalition, and learned that this organization was something she stood for. One of the main goals of the project is the prevention of the harmful impacts of tobacco and alcohol in her community. Within the HEAL Project, Gonzalez has had the opportunity to improve her “leadership abilities and collaborative working capacity,” along with “providing resources, programs, and support for students of Visalia.”

Currently, Gonzalez has an internship with the HEAL Project and is a coalition member, allowing her to “recruit members” like Jasmine Luna ‘22.  After hearing that there was “a nonprofit called Heal,” Luna joined the group, and feels as though it has helped her “during the pandemic not only spiritually but mental health wise.” Luna knows that if she had never met Gonzalez, she would not have found “so many amazing opportunities” like furthering her involvement as an intern for the organization as well. Most people would describe Gonzalez as a “motivating and go-getter gal” that works hard to inspire and help others make their voices heard on subjects that need to be addressed.

On September 5th of 2020, Gonzalez took a bigger and more personal step towards being an equal rights activist. She decided to shave her head in protest to the irrelevant and unattainable beauty standards placed on everyday women daily. To empower other women across the globe, she wanted to “free herself” from the unspoken standards of how a “woman should look or behave.” Gonzalez wanted to “challenge the social stigma” that women need to have long hair in order to be beautiful. She wants to show everyone that her “appearance” does not “define” her beauty or worth in the world. In doing so, Gonzalez has found more confidence and continues to be “unapologetically” herself, in hopes to inspire others to do what makes them happy.

Alongside being a human rights activist, Gonzalez is engaged in other worldly issues involving healthcare, LGBTQ+ rights, and climate change, making her an even more well rounded student. In the future, Gonzalez would like to major in political science at Columbia University to eventually “seek solutions to challenges and create safe environments” for future generations to live in. Her career goal is to “enact changes in policy at the government level” to create a better world for everyone.

Tags: human rights, Neftaly Gonzalez