Having grown up a homosexual African American youth in 1980s Los Angeles, Richard Bell understands the importance of having a voice, a way to advocate for your rights.
Bell has been an advocate for gay rights through his work with nonprofits like the Santa Fe Human Rights Alliance/Pride, and he sees higher education as a way of strengthening his voice.
“I think you need something behind that name of yours to get you a voice,” he said. “When those who are educated and have a degree speak up, people are more inclined to listen. So I wanted that. When I’m fighting for gay rights, when I’m speaking out against police brutality, I feel like my voice is stronger when there’s a degree behind my name.”
While this has been a strong motivation for Bell in obtaining his degree, the path to graduation has not been an easy one.
It was hard for Bell to receive the support he needed while growing up amidst the violence of Los Angeles.
“It was a caustic environment,” Bell said. “It was difficult to focus on education.”
Though he was supported by teachers and made the honor roll until 8th grade, once he hit junior high, Bell was bussed out to the San Fernando valley as a means of desegregation, where he attended a school in a predominately white community.
“I believe the thinking behind this was that it would provide us with an opportunity to have a better education. But the truth of it was that unless you were an athlete, once you were in the valley you were pretty much ignored,” he said. “No one addressed your situation, your needs. They weren’t aware of how difficult it was.”
Bell recalls his teacher standing before the class and reading out the names of the students whose grades were struggling.
“It was humiliating,” he said. “This was in the 9th grade. It was an environment that did not encourage young black children to go to school or college. It didn’t provide opportunities or at least make us aware of the opportunities.”
Bell’s education was impacted negatively when he was separated from the support he received in the inner city. The general lack of resources, community and financial support kept him from completing a degree for over two decades.
Bell left Los Angeles in 1992, soon after the L.A. Riots.
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“I didn’t realize at the time but I think I was traumatized by that,” he said, “I mean, in 1992, I was 21 and living in my own apartment in South Central L.A. This was a very scary, confusing and frustrating time.”
From Los Angeles, Bell moved to Mississippi, where he lived through another hardship, Hurricane Katrina. It was at this point that he decided it was time to come out as gay.
“I decided there was no reason to not accept who I was anymore,” Bell said. “Anything can be taken away from you at any moment. There was no reason to live in fear anymore.”
Bell currently lives in Santa Fe with his husband. He transferred from community college to UNM in 2013 at 42 years old.
“Of course there were other challenges of going back to school in your 40s, while running a business and a nonprofit organization all at the same time,” Bell said.
The key difference this time was the support he received.
“I was invested in my education, my husband was invested in my education and I felt like it was achievable,” Bell said.
Graduating this semester with a Bachelor’s in liberal arts with honors, he has been accepted to the UNM Masters of Health Administration program and hopes to bring this education to his work in the nonprofit sector.
“I understand the challenges involved in getting an education,” Bell said. “Whether it’s the time to do it, or the money to do it. But there is so much out there to help people to overcome those obstacles. I would say that if it’s important to you to get an education, keep searching for the opportunities, because it’s rewarding, and it’s so satisfying to get a degree.”
Hannah Eisenberg is a news reporter at the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at news@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @DailyLobo.
