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Political and Civic Engagement

Stories with interview subjects from our Political and Civic Engagement collection. Browse all stories to see subjects across all Voces collections.

Displaying 1 - 50 of 82

Topic

Subject	Collection	Story	Interviewed by
José Aguilera	Political & Civic Engagement	By Brigit Benestante As a high school student in South Texas, José Aguilera participated in a six-week walkout that was ultimately unsuccessful and resulted in him leaving school. Yet he has no regrets: The experience defined him as... Read More	Raquel Garza
Ward Albro	Political & Civic Engagement	By: Voces Staff Born in San Antonio Texas, Albro spent most of his youth moving from place to place, leaving Texas to settle in Tennessee for most of his elementary years, then settling in San Angelo Texas where he attended San Angelo High... Read More	Ruben Paquian
Henry Alfaro	Political & Civic Engagement	By Jeffrey Kmiecinski, St. Bonaventure University When Henry Alfaro began his broadcasting career, he was one of very few Mexican-Americans in the industry. Decades later, his community work and trailblazing career led to him being named... Read More	Maggie Rivas-Rodriguez
Albert Alvarez	Political & Civic Engagement	By Dylan Nikoletopoulos Albert Alvarez did not have to make any compromises to become mayor of Pearsall, Texas. He knew exactly why he wanted to do it and had the background and name recognition to help get him elected. His father,... Read More	Dylan Nikoletopoulos
Adolfo Alvarez	Korean Conflict, Political & Civic Engagement	By Jacob Martella Coming back from the Korean War, Adolfo Alvarez knew he had to do something with his life. He had survived nine months along the 38th Parallel holding the line against the North Koreans, not knowing if he would... Read More	Dr. Maggie Rivas-Rodriguez
Felicita Munguia Arriaga	Political & Civic Engagement	By Hope Teel In 1959, Felicita Munguia Arriaga was a 12-year-old accompanying her mother to the polls, where the older woman planned to cast her vote for a man named Joe Hubenak. Very few Hispanics were voting during that time for... Read More	Hope Teel
Modesto Arriaga	Political & Civic Engagement	By Faith Daniel Modesto Arriaga was playing baseball with his church team, the Rosenberg Lions, when a police car pulled up and asked for one of his teammates to go with them. Later, the other boys would learn that the ballplayer’s older... Read More	Maggie Rivas-Rodriguez
Rachel Ayala	Political & Civic Engagement	For 45 years, Rachel Medina Ayala was an educator in Brownsville, Texas, working her way up from elementary school teacher to assistant superintendent. Ayala was born May 13, 1947, in Brownsville to Francisco Medina and Maria Torres Medina... Read More	Cecilia Gonzales
David Ayala	Political & Civic Engagement	Not getting an education was “not an option” for David Ayala and his three siblings. Ayala was born March 3, 1949, in Pharr, Texas, to Marcelino and Ana Maria (Guajardo) Ayala. After he graduated from high school in 1967, he attended Pan... Read More	Martin do Nasciemento
Gonzalo Barrientos	Political & Civic Engagement	By Ashley Mastervich As one of the first Mexican Americans to represent Travis County in the Texas House of Representatives and Senate, Gonzalo Barrientos Jr. was part of the first wave of Latino officials who led the way for minority... Read More	Ashley Mastervich
Antonio Becerra	World War II, Political & Civic Engagement	By Martin do Nascimento Antonio Becerra has always found a way to remain steadfast, persistent and determined in the face of adversity - first as a Mexican American growing up in rural Texas in the 1920s and '30s, then as a German prisoner... Read More	Martin Do Nascimento
Stanley Bittinger	Political & Civic Engagement	By: Voces Staff The main topic of this interview centered around professor Stanley Bittinger’s life during the chicano movement in South Texas, and the experiences he had working at Texas A&I University during this time as well. The... Read More	Alex Valdez
Norma Cantú	Political & Civic Engagement	By: Voces Staff Born and raised in Brownsville Texas, Norma Cantú excelled in school despite coming from poverty. Thanks to her families emphasis on early education, Cantú skipped many grades, graduating college at the age of 19. After... Read More	Mia Uhumwuangho
Arnoldo Cantu Jr.	Political & Civic Engagement	By: Voces Staff Judge Arnoldo Cantu Jr. recounts events in his life that impacted him and South Texas. The interview takes place in Brownsville, Tx located in the Rio Grande Valley where Cantu currently serves as judge in the Hidalgo... Read More	Yenibel Ruiz Mirabal
Joe David Casillas	World War II, Political & Civic Engagement	By Nora Ramirez World War II is over, but the fight against discrimination is far from finished for Joe Casillas, a WWII veteran who lives in San Diego. His father, Felix Ledesma Casillas, was a migrant worker who came from Jalisco,... Read More	Rene Zambrano
Maria del Rosario Castro	Political & Civic Engagement	At a young age, Rosie Castro was outspoken about racial, educational, housing and gender inequality. Despite facing pushback, she became a prominent political and civil rights activist. Castro was born in San Antonio on March 7, 1947. Her... Read More	Maggie Rivas-Rodriguez
Eddie Cavazos	Political & Civic Engagement	By: Voces Staff Cavazos grew up in housing projects as a young boy, he describes it as a tight knit community. Growing up in this environment allowed him to experience different people with various personalities. Cavazos then mentions his... Read More	Lynda Gonzalez
Paul Cedillo	Political & Civic Engagement	By Vinicio Sinta One evening during the early 1970s, a crowd much larger than the usual Latino activists who periodically met in Rosenberg, Texas, poured into the local A.W. Jackson Elementary School to listen to a speech by Congresswoman... Read More	Miguel Gutierrez
Adrienne Cervantez	Political & Civic Engagement	By Doug Waters Growing up in Dilley, Texas, Adrienne Cervantez (nee Garcia) hated two things: politics and fried cow intestines, or tripas. A lot of her childhood was spent campaigning for her parents, and backyard barbecues were a... Read More	Mr. Douglas Michael Waters
Jaime Chahin	Political & Civic Engagement	By: Voces Staff Jaime Chahin is an advocate for educational equality in Texas. He was the lead witness in the LULAC v Richards case in 1987 that dealt with educational inequality in the South Texas/Border region. He is now a Dean at Texas... Read More
Olga Tobías Charles	Political & Civic Engagement	By Voces Staff In the spring of 1970, Olga Charles was a senior at Uvalde High School in South Texas. With just a few weeks before graduation, she was preparing to follow her mother’s career advice: Go to business school and become a... Read More	Anna Casey
Francisco Cigarroa	Political & Civic Engagement	Growing up on the Texas-Mexico border, Francisco Cigarroa developed an understanding that would prepare him to become the first Latino chancellor of the University of Texas System, which allowed him to put into play the creation of the University... Read More	Yenibel Ruiz
Carmen Danna	Political & Civic Engagement	By: Voces Staff Carmen Danna was born in San Antonio, TX and grew up in Devine, TX. As a former elementary school teacher she experienced different forms of discrimination throughout her life. She reflects on her... Read More	Natalie Venegas
Hector De Leon	Political & Civic Engagement	Austin attorney Hector De Leon considers himself lucky to have been born in Austin and raised in East Austin. “Without being born in Austin, Texas, I wouldn’t have been able to go to college,” he said. He grew up not far from the... Read More	Maggie Rivas-Rodriguez
Hector De Peña	Political & Civic Engagement	By Anita Rice Hector De Peña never saw any action on the battlefield during World War II. He never stormed the beach at Normandy, never liberated the prisoners of Europe's concentration camps and never fired upon the Japanese or Germans.... Read More	Karla Gonzalez
Rosalio Rabbit Duran $Rosalio\Rabbit\"Duran"$	Korean Conflict, Political & Civic Engagement	By Katy Lutz Rabbit's Lounge was a dimly-lit, tiny bar that boycotted Budweiser while serving up some of the coldest beer in Austin, Texas. It might have seemed a very unlikely candidate for the Austin hub of Chicano politics in the early... Read More	Katy Lutz
Charlie Ericksen	Korean Conflict, Political & Civic Engagement	By Jordan Strassner Charlie Ericksen spent most of his adult life creating a strong bond with Mexican-Americans, writing news stories and columns about them, and advocating for better treatment for that community. During his... Read More	Frank Trejo
Mark Escamilla	Political & Civic Engagement	By: Voces Staff Mark Escamilla, who is the current President of Del Mar Community College grew up in Corpus Christi and attended college there himself. When he was of college age, the court case LULAC v. Richards was in progress and... Read More	Elizabeth Quinn Phelan
Mary Espiritu	World War II, Political & Civic Engagement	By Rebecca Millner In more than 40 years of service, Mary Espiritu De Leon received at least 45 awards and honors, recognizing her commitment to San Antonio's Latino community, and especially its women. Her role as a spokeswoman and... Read More	Stephen Casanova
Diana Fernandez	Political & Civic Engagement	Diana Fernandez was born in 1950 in Corpus Christi, Texas. She grew up in a newly developed, integrated neighbored designed to serve people working at the Navy base. Pursuing higher education was not a continuous topic of discussion in Fernandez’... Read More	Brittany Mendez
Blandina Cardenas Flores	Political & Civic Engagement	By the Voces Staff Former University of Texas-Pan American president Blandina “Bambi” Cardenas Flores found her life’s purpose at a very early age: working to provide quality education to students, no matter their ethnicity or their... Read More	Nathalia Hernandez
Iris Galvan	Political & Civic Engagement	By Rebecca Chavoya An old Hispanic man pushed a tamale cart down the streets of Rosenberg, Texas, in 1974. Iris Galvan, 18-year-old high school student and member of Juventud Unida, approached him with a warm, welcoming demeanor. “... Read More	Rebecca Chavoya
Dr. Juliet Villareal Garcia	Political & Civic Engagement	Juliet Garcia forged her own way into the all-male “club” of Texas community college presidents to become president of Brownsville’s Texas Southmost College in 1986. Eventually, she would become the president of the University of Texas at... Read More	Chelsea Moreno
Carolyn Jean Garcia	Political & Civic Engagement	By Alexandra Cannon Carolyn Garcia has lived by the words her father shared with her when she was only a child: "God gave you a voice. And if you don't talk for yourself or for others, then what good was it that he gave you a voice? You... Read More	Alexandra Cannon
Maria R. Garcia	Political & Civic Engagement	By the time her husband began pushing the idea of greater participation by Mexican Americans in her small South Texas town, Maria Ramirez Garcia had developed a strong and broad network of contacts who could support the effort. Garcia was... Read More	Joseph Garcia
Josué "George" Garza	Political & Civic Engagement	By Taylor Gantt In 1970, George Garza was a popular middle school teacher in Uvalde, Texas. But when the school board repeatedly declined to renew his contract, he became a central figure in a six-week school walkout that changed the small... Read More	Prakriti Bhardwaj
Federico Garza Jr.	Political & Civic Engagement	By: Voces Staff Federico Garza recalls his early childhood life. Garza grew up on a rural farm, seven miles north of Mission. He described his early life as selling tomatoes on the side of the road and getting into trouble. Growing up in... Read More	Chris Touma
Margaret Juárez Gómez	Political & Civic Engagement	By the Voces staff Margaret J. Gómez credits her early political awareness to her father. He was a Mexican immigrant with little education, but he closely followed political and world events. “He read the newspaper from cover to... Read More	Arnold Garcia
Jack Greenberg	Political & Civic Engagement	By Samantha Gallion Jack Greenberg had been working with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People for 17 years in 1966, when he received repeated requests from Mexican Americans and Native Americans. “We had... Read More	Dr. Maggie Rivas-Rodriguez
Gabriel Gutierrez	Political & Civic Engagement	A lawyer for a landmark Texas desegregation case in the 1970s, Gabriel Gutierrez Jr. made contributions that brought important changes for Latinos’ access to public education. Gutierrez was born Jan. 10, 1938, in Austin, Texas. His mother... Read More	Chris Hummer
Jose Angel Gutierrez	Political & Civic Engagement	By: Voces Staff In the early 1960s Latino people in Texas had to be 21 years old and pay a poll tax to vote. Gutiérrez says, Latino people just didn’t vote. Later in the decade the poll tax was eliminated and the voting age was lowered as... Read More	Mario Castro-Villarreal
Lencho Hernandez	Political & Civic Engagement	By Paige More Retired labor organizer Lawrence "Lencho" Hernandez is still haunted by his elementary school principal's big green disciplinary paddle. That paddle would snap him in a direction that he would later regret. "I had... Read More	Paige More
Ed Idar	World War II, Political & Civic Engagement	By Liliana Martinez When Ed Idar was a teenager living in Buenos Aires, a neighborhood in Laredo, Texas, he never thought he’d volunteer as a civilian for Station X in England, and go to India and China while in the Army. "I came to... Read More	Dr. Maggie Rivas-Rodriguez
Albert Henry Kauffman	Political & Civic Engagement	By Amayeli Arnal-Reveles Al Kauffman's middle-class background, attending segregated schools in Galveston, Texas, might not have seemed to prepare him for a role in Mexican American civil rights. But other aspects of his life - he was a... Read More	Amayeli Arnal-Reveles
George J Korbel	Political & Civic Engagement	By Vinicio Sinta For George Joseph Korbel, going back to Pearsall, Texas, a city about 55 miles southwest of San Antonio, unearthed memories of a time when Mexican American and black Texans were almost completely excluded from the... Read More	Mr. Vinicio Sinta
Mario Lewis	Political & Civic Engagement	In high school in El Paso, TX, Mario Lewis was told to forget college, that he “could not compete with Anglos,” recalled Lewis, a Mexican American. But others saw promise in Lewis as he became active in the Junior League of United Latin American... Read More
Teresa Lozano Long	Political & Civic Engagement	By Lindsay Fitzpatrick Growing up on her parents’ dairy farm in South Texas, Teresa Lozano Long learned the importance of education and philanthropy early in life. “My parents believed that you went to school everyday,” Lozano Long... Read More	Brenda Sendejo
Eleazar M. Lugo	Political & Civic Engagement	By Anusha Lalani As the son of migrant farm workers, Eleazar Lugo might not have seemed a likely leader of a six-week school walkout in Uvalde, Texas. But in April of 1970, only a few weeks... Read More	Jorge Haynes
Frances Rodriguez Luna	Political & Civic Engagement	By Joan Vinson Politics in small-town Texas were very different when Frances Luna was young. Back in the days of the poll tax, politicians would offer to cover the fee to encourage local residents to vote for them. Luna said that... Read More	Joan Vinson
Arturo Madrid	Political & Civic Engagement	By: Voces Staff Arturo Madrid recalls his involvement in the South Texas Border Initiative. Madrid hosted the community groups that were also involved in the South Texas Border Initiative and wanted to establish various goals that would... Read More	Scarlett Gamiz