Rafael Cruz Ruiz

Raised in Arvin and one of my former classmates, Gurrola comes from a family of Mexican immigrants and understands the disparities my community faces. In an effort to increase access to higher education, Gurrola contributed to the passage of a county proposition allocating funds to establish a community college campus in Arvin. Additionally, he has collaborated with community organizations by increasing access to clean drinking water and has demonstrated support towards immigrant rights when announcing the city would not use its resources to enforce deportation orders.

He also had a desire to help the least advantaged in society. While teaching Mexican-American children in Cotulla, Texas, that exposed him to poverty and discrimination.

The subject of my interview was Juan Chavay. He was born and raised in small village close to the mountains. The actual name was not mentioned by Juan, but he emphasized on a small, remote village. He came to America in 2009 and has been here since. He is currently trying to achieve citizenship, but is encountering problems with actually achieving it. He has since been here on a work visa, which allows him to stay in the US for an extended period of time. He says he will continue the work he is doing in Mississippi.

Last Wednesday on October 12, I was able to go to the talk of Nelson A. Denis about War Against All Puerto Ricans. Being born and raised in Puerto Rico, I already knew what Nelson was talking about, however it was still nice to fresh up on some history that I may have forgotten. It was also, nice to see Nelson A. Denis tell the audience how Puerto Rico got to where is now in a clear and unique way.

Before L.B.J. got into politics, he worked at a Mexican-American school in Cotulla, Texas. President Johnson taught 5th, 6th, and 7th, grade at this small elementary school. President L.B.J. says, “They never seemed to know why people disliked them. But they knew it was so, because I saw it in their eyes.” This proves that President Johnson had some heart for these students. Mr. Wilbur

Cardenas & Kerby (2012) reveal, “Our country is rapidly changing. As we approach the year 2050, our nation will be increasingly more diverse, and Latinos will be one of the forces driving this demographic change. According to the 2010 U.S. Census Bureau population estimate, there are roughly 50.5 million Hispanics representing about 16 percent of the U.S. population. By 2050, when demographers tell us that there will be no racial or ethnic majority among the general population of the United States, it is projected that the Latino population will double to 30 percent. Consequently, the role of Latinos in shaping our country’s political and economic climate is becoming more significant (Para. 1).This essay will explain some of the social class experiences of Hispanic Americans including economic struggles, education attainment, and healthcare insurance.

Reies Lopez Tijerina was one of the prominent civil rights activist of the Chicano Movement. Tijerina was born on September 21, 1923 in Fall City, Texas. He began working the farmers’ fields at the tender age of 4. This first hand expirence of exploitation by racist Anglo’s would shape his political future. The Treaty of Lupe Higaldo would also serve to stimulous to gain his intreset in land grants. In 1848 he demanded the repatriation of land confiscated by Anglos. Tijerina served to popularize the land-grant movement during the 1960’s by using a radio program called The Voice of Justice and on a column of the New Cheiftain newspaper to argue that land grants were still valid. He also established La Alianza Federal de Mercedes (Federal Alliance

Diana Martinez, a junior at Texas A&M University, and a recipient of DACA, said following the news of Trump’s DACA decision.

Before Julian Castro completed his first year as the U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, political analysts forecast a highly likelihood that this public administrator might soon land a role that could bring him much closer to the Oval Office. Currently, Castro is working to increase HUD’s $45 billion budget to aid increase the reach of the nation’s homeless and public housing agencies. Indeed, experts have had their eye on this promising administrator since his winning campaign in San Antonio for the mayoral seat. Castro was also the first Hispanic political figure to deliver the keynote speech at the 2012 Democratic National Convention, which has earned him even more acclaim and some affectionately refer to the prominent public administrator as the next Obama.

United States Senator for Florida, Marco Rubio once stated, “The Hispanic community understands the American Dream and have not forgotten what they were promised – that in the U.S., a free market system allows us all to succeed economically, achieve stability and security for your family and leave your children better off than yourselves.” Every year Hispanics search the regions of Texas in search of this very opportunity to better themselves and especially their youth. One such region is the poverty stricken region that is the Rio Grande Valley. It is a region that has begun to accept its current role as nothing more than a region of widespread poverty and undervalued skill, but there is one man who will not sit idly by and watch as this region and the Hispanics who inhabit it are characterized by benighted stereotypes and filled with cruel insults. There is one man who will work diligently to better the region. That man is Eric Garza. Garza believes, “Future opportunity exists for Hispanics to excel and advance themselves and their families” (Garza). He sees that a disheartened culture has suddenly sprung up and is on the cusp of something greater than what people believe they can achieve. Eric Garza, a prominent figure in the RGV and State of Texas, has been working to better the welfare of Hispanics since he was a teenager, through his work with The Libre Initiative and his various involvements in local and statewide communities.

As consul-general to Haiti in 1889 through 1891, Mr. Douglass was the official representative that assisted and protected the citizens of America with the friendship and commerce between the two different countries. At the same time he facilitated friendly relationships and information with Santos Domingo (known as the Dominican Republic). In this position he was able to help develop foreign policy with each country.

Gilbert Martinez was born in 1942, in crystal city Texas. Mr. Martinez was born Mexican American and his parents were both from Mexico City. During that time racism was still very much alive and most people in the city were Mexican American while the city council were white people. The city council was unfair to most people and never listened to their opinion on city affairs. So Gilbert decided when he was about 17 to start a campaign to run for city council. However he wasn’t even eighteen so he got some of his childhood friends to help him. Together they wanted to put local people in for city council to get their word in and have representation.

Born Francisco Gonzalez Pizarro to Gonzalo Pizarro and Francisca Gonzalez, Pizarro was an illegitimate son in a society that canonised breeding. He was abandoned by his father, a poor infantry colonel, and grew up in the poverty-stricken Trujillo, Spain. The exact date of his birth is unknown, but he is thought to to have been born some time between 1470 and 1471. Pizarro was given little or no education, and he remained illiterate throughout his life. His mother, Francisca Gonzalez, married later in life, and gave birth to Pizarro’s half-brother, Francisco Martín de Alcántara. Alcantara would later accompany Pizarro on his conquest of Peru.

Raul Galvan came to the Stevens Point campus to talk to the students about immigration. He is an immigrant himself and he came to America, just like everyone else, for a better life. He now is an avid speaker for the Latino community. He travels around the state educating people on the Latino lifestyle as well as the struggles they face.

Luis Valdez owes it to himself, family, and friends, and also his community to be the best version of strength and positivity, no matter the circumstances we face inequality, race, and