Friday, September 15, 2017

Hispanic Heritage Month: the often unsung heroes who fought for what is right

Today starts Hispanic Heritage Month which will continue until October 15th. This month is designed to recognize the contributions of Hispanic and Latino Americans to the group’s heritage and culture as well as their contributions to the United States. September 15th was chosen as the start of Hispanic Heritage Month as it is the anniversary of independence for five Latin American countries: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. All occurring in 1821. Other Latin American countries celebrate their independence days in September as well: Mexico (September 16), Chile (September 18) and Belize (September 21). In the coming posts, I will focus on famous Hispanics and Latinos in the areas of literature, movies and TV and music. For this post, I want to feature people who may not have heard about; but their story has had an impact on our country.


First, Sylvia Mendez is a little girl who became the face of segregation long before Brown v Board of Education (1954). Mendez v Westminster (1946) successfully ended a de jure (law) segregation and paved the way for integration and the American Civil Rights Movement. Sylvia was born in 1936 in Santa Ana, California to Gonzalo Mendez, a Mexican immigrant,  and his wife, Felicitas, a native of Juncos, Puerto Rico. When the family moved to Westminster, California, there were two schools: Hoover Elementary, a two room wooden shack in the middle of the city’s Mexican neighborhood, and 17th Street Elementary, designated as whites only. Realizing that 17th Street Elementary provided better educational benefits, Gonzalo along with his sister Sally Vidaurri, attempted to enroll their children there. Vidaurri’s children were permitted to enroll because they were light skinned; however the Mendez children were not due to their dark skin and Hispanic last name. The families immediately went into action and filed suit with the city. The school board tried to claim a “language barrier” but it was quickly proven false when the children testified showing proficiently in English. The case made its way to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals where the court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs. Governor Earl Warren moved to desegregate all public schools in California. Thurgood Marshall used the Mendez case in his arguments in the Brown v Board of Education. When Brown appeared before the Supreme Court, Earl Warren was now Chief Justice and deeply influenced by the Mendez case, helping desegregate the nation. Sylvia Mendez would become a nurse and after 30 years, retired from the field. She has received many honors and recognition, the most recent being the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011.


Second, Ralph Lazo is the only known non-spouse, non-Japanese American who voluntarily relocated to a World War II internment camp. Born November 3, 1924 in Los Angeles, Lazo was of Mexican and Irish descent. At 17, he learned his Japanese American friends and neighbors were being forcibly removed and incarcerated at Manzanar. He was so outraged that he joined them on the train to the camp in May 1942. The officials at the camp never questioned his ancestry. He remained at Manzanar High School, where he was elected class president, until August 1944 when he joined the army. He served as a Staff Sergeant in the South Pacific and would receive a Bronze Star for heroism in combat. After the war, Lazo would graduate from UCLA and earn a master’s degree from California State University, Northridge. He would spend his career teaching, mentoring disabled students and encouraging Hispanics to attend college and vote. He was also instrumental in a class action lawsuit in which Japanese Americans were seeking reparations which resulted in the Civil Liberties Act of 1988. The act offered an apology to interned Japanese Americans on behalf of the U.S. government and stated that the internment was based on “race prejudice, war hysteria, and a failure of political leadership.” He died on January 1, 1992 from liver cancer. He was 67.


Third, Rodolfo Gonzales whose poem Yo Soy Joaquin (I am Joaquin) helped solidify the Chicano movement. Born June 18, 1928 the youngest of eight children, Gonzalez grew up in Denver, Colorado’s tough Eastside Barrio where the Great Depression took a heavier toll on Mexican Americans. He would graduate from Manual High School at 16. He was known for his fiery disposition that he was given the nickname “Corky” because he was “always popping off like a cork.” He is best known for his poem and his activism. The poem, Yo Soy Joaquin, is viewed as the cosmological vision of the Chicano people. Neither Indian nor European. Neither Mexican nor American but a combination of these identifies. Where an individual can be all four without conflict or ridicule. Scholars have credit Gonzalez with authoring the historical and political definition of what it is to be Chicano. After a violent incident in Denver, Gonzalez retreated to a private life in 1973 with family and Denver’s Chicano community. He was still active in the movement; however, he maintained a lower profile. In 2005, he was diagnosed with renal and coronary distress with acute liver disease. He refused treatment, preferring to live out his last days with his family. He died April 12, 2005 at the age of 76. If you have the chance to read his poem, Yo Soy Joaquin is a powerful trip through the historical inheritance of the Chicano people as well as the current struggles. The opening stanza sets the tone of this powerful poem:
“I am Joaquin,
Lost in a world of confusion,
Caught up in a whirl of a gringo society,
Confused by the rules, Scorned by attitudes,
Suppressed by a manipulations, And destroyed by modern society
My fathers have lost the economic battle and won the struggle of cultural survival.
And now! I must choose between the paradox of
Victory of the spirit, despite the physical hunger”


In conclusion, everyone knows the most famous individuals who have helped the Hispanic and Latino people. However, there are so many other individuals, unsung heroes who have stood up against the oppression of their own people and for the oppression of others. I thoroughly enjoyed write about these three individuals. Although only eight at the time, the experience of trying to enroll in school had a deep impact on Sylvia Mendez that she continues to advocate education for Hispanics. Ralph Lazo was a wrong and stood with his friends and suffered with them as they were interned due to hysteria and fear. Rodolfo Gonzalez become the voice of a movement. While I had to brief in terms of this post, their stories have had a great impact on me. I look forward to researching and writing my future posts as I look into the impact that Hispanics and Latinos have had on literature, movies and TV and music. I hope you will come back to read more about these amazing individuals.


P.S. For those who may be confused by the differing terms. Hispanic refers to people who are from Spain, Spanish heritage or Spanish speaking. Latino refers to people are native of Latin American countries or have a family past in those countries. Chicano is the chosen identity of those who are Mexican origin or descent. Since I married my husband, I have learned that many individuals do not like the terms Hispanic or Latino and prefer Chicano. I will be using all three terms as it pertains a particular post or individual

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