Antonia developed severe asthma at a young age, a medical condition that would shape her entire life. When Antonia was seven, a huge hurricane hit Puerto Rico and destroyed large portions of the island. Antonia was very lucky to attend school. Many children in Puerto Rico had to work to help support their families.
When Antonia graduated from eighth grade, her grandparents wanted her to work too. With the help of an uncle, she convinced her grandparents to allow her to go to high school. But Antonia was happy to be learning. And, after school, she worked. After graduation, Antonia moved in with her mother, who was now married.
Together, they saved enough money for Antonia to attend college. Following her graduation, Antonia took a job teaching in a one-room school in a remote rural community. She commuted by horseback and lived at the school Sunday to Friday. On the weekends, she returned home. Although Antonia loved her students, she was increasingly frustrated.
She and her mother fought about why Antonia was not married and never dated. Antonia resented that she was expected to financially support her mother and stepfather.
In , Antonia migrated to New York City. Antonia was part of a major migration. Between the s and the s, the population of Puerto Ricans living in the contiguous 48 states grew from 69, to , The majority of the migrants settled in New York City. Despite the fact that Puerto Ricans are American citizens, they faced severe racism in the United States.
Antonia first took a ship from Puerto Rico to Louisiana. The train she traveled on from Louisiana to New York was segregated. Antonia had never experienced anything like that before. She quickly understood that even though she was an American, she was not necessarily welcome in America. Life in New York City was not what she had imagined. People called her names on the street. And most jobs—including teaching jobs—were not open to her. Antonia shared an apartment with a high school friend and worked in a factory where she earned double her teaching salary in Puerto Rico.
Inspired by her grandfather, Antonia organized a union at her work and helped negotiate for better working conditions. They used their research to create community outreach initiatives that could address the inequities around them. Antonia supported this change because she wanted to acknowledge the unique experience of Puerto Ricans in New York. While helping to manage this advocacy group, Antonia continued her education. I started to get ideas as to the rights of people. Throughout the s, Antonia developed a special interest in educational equity.
She wondered why the dropout rate for Puerto Rican high school students was so high. After interviewing high school students, she learned about the unfair treatment Puerto Rican students faced. They were ridiculed for speaking Spanish and struggled in English-only classrooms. They sometimes felt ashamed to be Puerto Rican and were scared of being targeted by both gangs and the police.
Antonia determined that Puerto Rican teenagers needed a support system from within their own community. It empowered students and encouraged them to advocate for change. But Antonia disagreed.
She thought grassroots organizations were critical to bring about lasting change. Puerto Rican students needed to see leaders who looked like them. Leaders in the Democratic Party encouraged Antonia to run for office.
She refused because she enjoyed being a grassroots organizer and valued her privacy. Antonia had been hiding a particular secret for most of her adult life: she was a lesbian. She had been in relationships with women, but never publicly. She worried that a public campaign could result in a painful and unwelcome outing. Pantoja's dream, but was not the only organization she help build for the Puerto Rican community.
In fact, as early as , Dra. For health reasons, Dra. Pantoja moved to California in to become an Associate Professor at the School of Social Work, San Diego, an institution that served communities and neighborhoods throughout the nation.
She became the President of this organization, devoted to imparting people with knowledge and skills necessary for problem-solving and restoring their communities. In , Dr. In addition, the organization was able to create a Credit Union that help economic stability in the community.
Pantoja was involved in a variety of community and professional organizations, all working toward the goal of building stronger Puerto Rican and minority communities, including the Ford Foundation, the National Urban Coalition, the Museo del Barrio, the National Association of Social Workers, the Council on Social Work Education and several other groups and organizations. Today Dra. She is also working in the area of social work, health and with issues such as AIDS and violence.
In , Dra. Antonia Pantoja, legendary for her role in the education and leadership development of Puerto Rican Youth in the United State and Puerto Rico, received the highest honor the nation bestows on a civilian, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
According to Dra. Pantoja "education is always political, its methodology, its curriculum and the arrangements it uses to administer its product". Is use by ruling class or ruling powers. Antonia Pantoja is committed to the struggle to eliminate social, political and economic injustice. Social service institution that dedicated most of its resources to work with children in adoption, foster care and bilingual nursery. It also offers services for leadership development and works on women's issues.
Community development programs, including securing funds and loans to start small business in the community.
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