“I had a 19-year-old girl come up to me and say ‘Miss Barbie, do you think I can go to college? That, someday, I could be a fine lady like you?’ I told her ‘Be better than me. You can do it through hard work and perseverance. But nobody’s gonna give it to you.’”
“ I remember what it was like living in those situations where you had no hope. I grew up during the time when crack was really big. In my neighborhood, people would get jumped for their sneakers and bomber jackets. I lived that. I lived through going to bed hungry. And watching my mother weep because she didn’t have the money to provide a meal.”
“I saw so many people with success stories that I said I could do it, too.”
“Some young people say there’s no way they can do it because they got pregnant. Guess what? I was a teen mom. And it took me 12 years to graduate from college – but I did it and it’s something no one can take away from me.”
“You can do it. But we have to get out of our comfort zone and our ivory towers and come down to be that little voice of encouragement for those who are downtrodden. Sometimes, all it takes is somebody to say ‘you can do this.’”
“When I do speaking engagements, I tell the audience I’m going to make them uncomfortable. They need to get out of their comfort zones. Then I ask them – ’what are you doing other than complaining?’ and ‘are you willing to go where the need is?’”
“Because I go to Compton. I go to East LA. I go to Santa Ana – because that’s where the need is. I grew up like that and I wish to God that I had somebody or an organization that could have inspired me for more.”
“I look for mentors, people who are willing to come into these communities but, most of the time, it is just my family. People like to give you stuff to give to people, but my goal is to get people to come with me. I try to invite people to come to Popeyes for lunch. It’s always in the hood – and it’s my favorite. But, if we don’t support these communities and show up in these communities, then how are they not going to have a disparaging opinion of conservatives? So, let’s show up.”
“But don’t tell me you don’t have the time to do it. If it’s important enough, you will find time to do it.”
‘But anyone who does show up is a person who is on the road to making changes that are going to affect society in a positive way. It’s worth it. But, we have to lead by example. Unless we get up off our chairs and say, ‘Hey, let’s do this. Let’s change things.’ nothing is going to change.”
“But now, with Blexit, Lexit and being on the board of California Hispanic Republicans, I’m doing it. Here in the city of Newport Beach, after many years of trying, I am the first person of color ever appointed to a commission or a committee. An Afro-Latina woman in Newport Beach.”
“I did that all through hard work and perseverance. Nobody gave it to me. I earned it.”
Barbie George
Newport Beach, California
Barbie George mentors others to get out of their comfort zones to forge connections that will create change. As an Afro-Latina woman, she is the first person of color ever appointed to a commission or committee in Newport Beach, California.
