GABRIEL MIRAMONTES, ALUMNUS
Gabriel (Gabe) Miramontes was born in Tijuana, Mexico in 1961. His father, an automobile painter, and his stay-at-home mother, raised Gabe and his six other siblings in the suburbs of Tijuana. The deterioration of the Mexican economy in the late 1970s caused many Mexican families to leave the country and look to the United States for a new life. In 1976, Gabe and his family settled in San Diego, close to where Chicano Park is presently located. After graduating from San Diego High School, Gabe attended San Diego City College in the early 1980s. He earned an Associate degree in Liberal Arts and transferred to San Diego State University where he specialized in education for special needs children.
Gabe became an American citizen in 1986 and three years later in the spring of 1989 he married Maria Teresa Gonzalez. They have four children and live in Spring Valley (the essay author, Ana Miramontes, is his daughter and a City College student). Gabe works with students with disabilities in different schools throughout the San Diego Unified School District. His essay discusses the creation of bilingual programs and Gabe’s college experiences in the 1980s.
