Tino Garcia

More About Tino

I am an equity-minded educator and a poet. A child of the US-Mexico borderlands, I grew up near Santa Fe, New Mexico, the land of my father. I then attended high school and college in Minnesota, the land of my mother. In college, I fell in love with higher learning and languages while majoring in English and Spanish. After college, I taught English as a Second Language (ESL) in Mexico City for a year, where I fell in love with teaching and Mexico City. After Mexico, I moved to California for grad school, earning a Master’s degree in Philosophy and Religion and another one in English specializing in Rhetoric. 

After teaching ESL here in Santa Barbara, I transitioned to teaching English at Antelope Valley College (AVC). At AVC, I taught several composition and literature courses, including Latinx Literature and African-American Literature. I also proudly served as Umoja Faculty and Honors Faculty, and I co-advised a dope student club, the United Artists for Social Change. Finally, I had the honor of co-founding, co-coordinating, and teaching in the AVC Puente Program. The people and programs at AVC and I shared an exquisite mutuality borne of mentoring and co-creativity. I have found a similar mutuality here at SBCC through programs like Raíces and Umoja.

My teaching strives to weave a web between myself, the students, and the subject, connecting us as a community. I love to teach because, at its best, education helps people know, grow, love, and liberate themselves and others. I believe everyone should feel welcome and valued in our learning community, so I strive to create spaces and courses that value diversity, equity, inclusion, anti-racism, and equity. 

I dig hip-hop, travel, literature, basketball, and philosophy. I look forward to learning and building with you!