Lodi native to join Mexican-American Hall of Fame soon
For a majority of his life, Lodi native Reuben Serna has been fighting for social justice not just in San Joaquin County, but across the United States and abroad.
Because of his efforts and contributions to the community, he is one of seven individuals who will be honored and inducted into the Mexican-American Hall of Fame on Saturday at the Elkhorn Country Club.
“It’s a very humbling experience for him. He‘s just very humbled by it,” his sister Maria Elena Serna said. “This is how we were raised in our family, that you work with the community and you do the things you believe in that are going to help advance the social situation in your community.”
Reuben’s efforts began when he joined the Peace Corps in 1969 and was sent to serve in what was known then as West Cameroon in Africa.
Reuben had been attending American River College at the time and was working Robert Kennedy’s campaign for president when after the senator’s assassination he decided to join the corps.
According to Maria, while in Cameroon Reuben helped teach agriculture to the local people.
“I think it was good thing for him to go into the Peace Corps because he came back as a person who was much more aware of what was going on not only in our country but around the world as well,” Maria said.
Upon his return from the Peace Corps in 1971, Reuben joined the United Farm Workers of America and helped organize farm workers in San Joaquin County, which included the Franzia grape strikes in 1973.
Following his involvement with the UWF, Reuben later served as a labor union representative for various unions in several states.
“He lived in Fargo, North Dakota and served in the unions over there. He’s worked for various unions from California to New York. He was in Florida for a while helping employees organize,” Maria said.
Reuben eventually made his way back to California and became a representative for the San Joaquin Employees Association (SJEA), acting for employees in the Public Works Department and the San Joaquin County General Hospital.
“Our parents were farm workers. We obviously know what poverty is all about and what it means not to have representation,” Maria said.
Maria said that organizing strikes and fighting for change was something that came natural to her and Reuben as well as the rest of their siblings.
Their mother’s family as well as their father were involved in labor strikes in the 1930s, Maria said.
“We all grew up with the whole idea of helping make social change for the better and that philosophy came from my grandmother who came from Mexico,” Maria said.
In addition to be a union representative, Reuben is a notable photographer.
He created a photo exhibit along with Steve Montalvo, “Gold Mines in the Fields,” containing images of the poor conditions of farm workers in the Central Valley. It was exhibited throughout California, notably at the Haggin Museum and the Mexican Heritage Center in Stockton.
“My brother felt that no one had ever done a documentary about the farm workers today because some of the conditions are still the same, and they still have children out there in the fields working when they should be in school,” Maria said. “There have been changes, but there are still people living in trees, there are still people living in labor tents and people that are working for low wages .”
Reuben was born and raised in Lodi . He is a graduate of Lodi Union High School where Maria said he was the first Hispanic to play on the varsity football team.