Bridges Digital Archive: Audio and Video Recordings
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Document Type
Oral History
Publication Date
9-10-2020
Abstract
Denise Spencer was born in Greenville, South Carolina in 1953. A few years after her birth, her parents relocated to an Air Force Base in Riverside, then migrated to France and then to New York. Spencer remarks her most prominent memories of her childhood were her idyllic memories of France. When Denise Spencer's family moved to Rialto in 1968, she experienced culture shock through racism and internalized racism. After graduating high school, Denise Spencer attended UC Santa Barbara as a Political Science major, where she lived with an amazing group of people who positively impacted her life. While at USCB, Spenser got hired as a research assistant with the Santa Barbara School District teaching Ethnic Studies. After the research assistant position, Denise Spencer got hired at a marketing firm where she would travel and take photos of different merchandise. After receiving a phone call from one of her good friends who was suffering with AIDS, she moved back to Rialto to take care of him. Denise Spencer assumed the role of caregiver; first for her friend, then her father, then her grandparents, and currently for her mother. While being back in the Inland Empire and having some time on her hands, she went back to school at the University of Redlands, where her father went, to get multiple degrees. At the University of Redlands, Denise Spencer enjoyed the opportunities for advertising, marketing, and sales, being an academic support for programs, the proximity to learning opportunities, and being a support for students who asked for her guidance. Despite her challenging experiences at the university, with racism and inclusion, she was grateful for the members of the university who saw her talent and she ultimately sees the university moving in a positive direction from its past.
Recommended Citation
Interview conducted by Natalie Carlson
