James Martinez is used to being the first. He was the first member of his family to go to college. He was the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in Fresno County.
Although he’s been a pioneer, he hasn’t gone it alone. To get to his present position as Vice President of the county Board of Education, he’s depended on other trailblazers: from professional mentors to his mother.
“I know I stand on the shoulders of others,” he said. “If they hadn’t paved the way, removed barriers, and created a path for young people, I don’t think I would be where I am today.”
For that reason, Hispanic Latinx Heritage Month has special meaning to Martinez. It connects him to his culture and to people who inspired him, like his grandmother.
“Her food was famous in our family,” he said. “She cooked from memory, scratch, and love. Till this day, no one has successfully made her albondigas soup the same way. Like many areas of the Latinx experience, food tells our story and brings our people together.”
Parental Inspiration
Of the many who paved his way, Martinez gives special credit to his mother. She was a second-generation Latinx who left school after sixth grade to work in the fields. Later, when she raised him as a single parent, she provided home care for older clients.
“I witnessed her day in and day out, doing back-breaking work for others and sacrificing her own needs in order to provide for me,” he recalled. “She wanted a better life for me, so she encouraged me to go to college.”
Crucially, she found two programs — the nonprofit AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) and the federal Upward Bound — which help low-income students prepare for and apply to college. “If she had not enrolled me in either program, I would have never known how to fill out a college application, let alone step foot on a college campus,” he said.
The desire to help others find such opportunities led Martinez into politics. He worked as a staff assistant to a city council member and then got a bachelor’s degree in political science from Fresno State — while working as a barista at Starbucks.
College also opened his eyes to a world of Latinx role models and mentors. “Growing up, I had never met a physician, a lawyer, or any other professional before that looked like me,” he recalled. “It was because of them that I can now serve in my respective capacity.”
Uncharted Paths
As a graduate, Martinez worked as a staff assistant for U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer, taking time off to direct a city council campaign.
At a cousin’s suggestion, he went back to school. Reasoning that communication is central to politics, he earned an Online Master of Communication Management degree from USC.
Taking all his classes remotely allowed him to care for his mother while also working in the office of U.S. Senator — and now Vice President — Kamala Harris.
His mother’s death inspired him to run for the Board of Education, to help provide other teens the kinds of assistance he had gotten. “One of the central tenets of my campaign was to ensure others’ paths and experience were easier for them than it was for me,” he said.
His campaign experience was anything but easy. “Running as an out and proud LGBTQIA2+ and Latinx candidate, I had to chart my own path in one of the most conservative parts of the state,” said Martinez.
For guidance, he drew on the Latinx network he’d cultivated since college, while he cultivated a parallel network of LGBTQIA2+ advisers. Through the efforts of both groups, he calls his election a “rainbow victory.”
Honoring His Heritage
Central to Martinez’s philosophy of public service, he said, is that “Public servants should look, speak, or share the lived experience of the community they represent. When I ran for office, I knew the constituency I’d be representing, many of whom had a similar life story to mine.”
Part of that experience is reclaiming his cultural heritage. “My parents never taught me to speak Spanish, and they were never allowed to speak it growing up, in order to acclimate to American culture,” he said. “It wasn’t until I began applying to college that I fully began to realize the extent of my family’s Latinx experience.”
That’s why he considers Hispanic Latinx Heritage Month important. “It provides an opportunity for our community to showcase the history of Latinx contributions through art and education while recognizing the Latinx journey to gaining independence,” Martinez said.
Part of that journey, he believes, is for older generations to assist younger ones. Whatever career a Latinx student aspires to, he said, “Don’t do it alone. There. Find a group of people to counsel, guide, and mentor you along the way.”
Martinez himself guides students, not only from his elected position but in his day job. He’s Director of Operations for Associated Students, Inc., a nonprofit that serves the student body at Fresno State.
He also advises students to pursue flexible degrees like communication management, which can lead to diverse communication careers.
“I've spent most of my career as a political legislative aide and now as an elected official,” Martinez said. “Earning a degree in communication was one of the best decisions for my career because it’s applicable to almost anything I do.”
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