‘A lot of tears were shed’ in the name of unity

Signs of the city's thriving Punjabi Sikh population are visible all over southwest Bakersfield: Elders on their daily walks, families making the most of the recreation opportunities at neighborhood parks and the proliferation of gurdwaras, the religious and cultural centers that are at the heart of the community.

Yet one place that appeared off limits to this growing demographic was the dais of the Bakersfield City Council. And then, in 2022, an unlikely consortium of social justice advocates, business leaders and elected officials mobilized behind the "Unity Map," an inclusive blueprint that redrew City Council boundaries to give marginalized residents like the Punjabi Sikh families of southwest Bakersfield a voice in the future of the nation's 47th largest city.

"A lot of tears were shed, but it was joyous in the end," said local businesswoman and California State University Trustee Raji Brar, who helped mobilize the community behind the new boundaries.

Still, the historic campaign to reimagine Bakersfield's political map required more than people power.

A new book on the importance of mapping, data and technology in expanding opportunity in communities around the world includes a chapter on Bakersfield's push to adopt the transformational Unity Map. On Oct. 9, California State University, Bakersfield will present a panel discussion moderated by Brar that will explore the map's long journey to success. Author David Yarnold will sign copies of his book, "The Geography of Hope: Real-Life Stories of Optimists Mapping a Better Future." The event is free and open to the public, and free parking is available in Lot M.

"David will talk about the effects of this mapping tool and how it changes people's lives for the better," Brar said. "With the panel discussion, people will learn about the redistricting process, how it arose, the folks involved, and why it mattered. You have to have folks representing you who understand your community. We were dealing with the effects of gerrymandering, and that's why the city of Bakersfield had to do this."

The panel consists of Bakersfield City Councilwoman Manpreet Kaur, community advocate and attorney Lori Pesante and Sophia Garcia, an industry solution specialist for equity and civic nonprofits at Esri, a global company that works with communities and organizations in the use of geographic information system software and mapping.

Garcia is featured prominently in the book, along with her father, Jesus Garcia, who learned the intricacies of community mapping when he worked at the United States Census Bureau. In fact, the real work of building consensus for the Unity Map began two years before its adoption, with the 2020 Census, which took place during the most harrowing months of the COVID-19 pandemic. That ended face-to-face contact between census workers and residents and heightening fears that communities that are hard to count in the best of times would fall off the radar entirely. The census gathering was further complicated by a Trump administration proposal - ultimately unsuccessful - to add a citizenship question to the form.

"With state funding, the Dolores Huerta Foundation spent 18 months rallying the Latino community in Bakersfield to ensure they were counted," Yarnold writes in his book, which also describes the work of the Sikh-focused Jakarta Movement, a Central Valley-based nonprofit.

With the census completed, the work commenced to reshape Bakersfield's City Council wards, culminating in two competing options: The Unity Map and a map that "would have gotten the city sued and cost taxpayers millions of dollars," Brar said.

Much of the discussion in the months leading up to the Unity Map's adoption focused on Ward 7 in southwest Bakersfield, an area whose population is 60% Hispanic and the home to a growing number of Punjabi Sikh families. The representative at the time was City Councilman Chris Parlier, a former military policeman and law enforcement officer, who happens to be white. Yet in a rare demonstration of political sacrifice, and while battling a serious medical issue, Parlier showed up to the historic April 2022 council meeting to cast a vote against his own self-interest, siding with the majority to adopt the new boundaries and give the Hispanic and Punjabi Sikh families of his ward a stronger voting bloc.

"Well, this is called the Unity Map," Parlier said during the meeting, as quoted in The Bakersfield Californian. "You could call it the Punjabi map. You could easily call it the Chamber of Commerce map. Or the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce map. Or even the Associated Building and Contractors map."

Parlier's vote won him the everlasting gratitude of his constituents.

"That is why he's our hero," Brar said. "We joke with him, 'Chris, you're an honorary Sikh.'"

The new boundaries presented an opportunity for fresh leadership, and in 2022, Manpreet Kaur became the first Punjabi Sikh elected to the Bakersfield City Council, representing Ward 7.

"We are a very patriarchal community," Brar said of the Punjabi Sikh community. "Crossing those lines is hard, and as women, we have to be mindful of how we walk that path. For me, what I saw that I have never seen up close is little girls in my community just surrounding Manpreet everywhere she goes. They say, 'Mommy, there she is,' and take pictures with her. I don't care if Manpreet won or lost. That little girl seeing her run for office - that changed her."

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