Mar 5, 2020
Johanna López is the first Latina to be elected to the Orange County Florida School Board (home of the City of Orlando), where one-third of the population is Hispanic as well as 40% of the student body K-12. In this episode of I HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY, Johanna shares her journey of arrival to the U.S. mainland from Puerto Rico, and how she overcame feeling insecure about speaking English with a heavy accent, causing her to become underemployed even though she had a Master’s degree. After 15+ years as a teacher, today she is a leader that the Central Florida community looks up to for her intelligence, grit, hard work, authenticity and determination. This is a community that is currently demanding from the Orange County School Board that the one single standing public school STILL named after a Confederate General (and located in the predominantly Hispanic neighborhood of Azalea Park) be changed to Roberto Clemente Walker Middle School. Ms. López has become the hope and voice to win this fight.