MEET THE CHICANA VISIONARIES WHO SHAPED SAN DIEGO
In the 1960s, women in the United States were fighting for the Equal Rights Amendment while Mexican Americans were fighting for racial and economic justice along with Black Americans. Those were turbulent times. We were fighting for our very identity, bent on sharing the beauty of our Mexican heritage and our rightful contributions to American history. To show that streng th and pride, we called ourselves Chicanas.
We are still living in critical times, and are unafraid. When it comes to solving complex problems, women stand strong. As far back as I can remember, women have shown courage and hope for the future. Today we want to remember them.
In 2016, a book entitled “Chicana Tributes” came out that celebrates Chicana/ L atina activists for civil rights in the U.S. I co-edited it with Sonia Lopez, who taught the first Chicana course at San Diego State University in 1973. I also taught a first course for Mexican American women at Stanford University that same year. We wanted to honor other women who had contributed so much but were not fully recognized.
These women were responsible for the first college courses to include our true history and were the first to teach the courses and among the first community organizers to ensure equal opportunity. Gracia Molina de Pick contributed much to building the first Chicano Studies department at San Diego Mesa College. She mentored first-generation students like Linda and Carlos LeGerrette, who volunteered for the United Farm Workers one summer, then stayed for 12 years! Others were Chicanas/Latinas nominated for humanitarian awards given by Rachael Ortiz at Barrio Station, like Gloria Serrano Medina, the county’s first affirmative action officer, and Carmen Lopez, who coordinated voter outreach at the San Diego County Registrar’s Office.
“SHEroes” proved that women could do the work of men when Irma Castro took leadership of the Chicano Federation; Tommie Camarillo headed the Chicano Park Steering Committee; Josie Talamantez and Veronica Enrique were the first and arguably best directors of the Centro Cultural de la Raza; Maria Nieto Senour was the first Latina president for the San Diego Community College District board; and Maria Garcia wrote “La Neighbor: A Settlement House in Logan Heights.” The Women’s Museum of California in San Diego has inducted many of them into its Hall of Fame.
“Chicana Tributes” reconciles past, present and future. It revisits local heroes no longer with us. These include Laura
Rodriguez, matriarch of the only standing people’s park besides Berkeley’s, who was honored by President George H.W. Bush as one of his 1,000 points of light; Faustina Solis, who cared about the poor and became chancellor of public health at UC San Diego; and Marta Sotomayor, who fought for the aged and was the president and CEO for many years of the National Hispanic Council on Aging in Washing ton, D.C. Others fought for our Indigenous Mexican culture, including founders like Herminia Enrique of Ballet Folklorico, Delia Moreno of Trio Moreno and Delia Ravelo of Teatro Chicana. Presently, Yolanda Lopez earned national acclaim for her contemporary art. “Chicana Tributes” also recognizes the younger generation: Berenice Badillo, an artist for a new generation; Carmen Chavez, CEO of Casa Cornelia Law Center, which focuses on immigrant rights, and Norma Chávez-Peterson, first Chicana executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of San Diego and Imperial Counties.
The year “Chicana Tributes” was completed — 2016 — was an election year in the U.S. Women gathered in droves, protesting Donald Trump’s abusive treatment of women and challenging his talk of building a U.S.-Mexico border wall that painted a discriminatory picture of Mexicans coming across the border. Our women’s tributes represented a wall of hope.
To show women’s streng th, 40,000 people marched through the city of San Diego to voice their opposition, including Beatrice Zamora-Aguilar, a Southwestern Community College District dean who celebrated Indigenous dance; Viviana Enrique Acosta, artistic director at Centro Cultural de la Raza, and Norma Cazares, who led in the South Bay. That same day, 500,000 people from all over the nation marched in Washing ton, D.C., opposing Trump’s divisive policies.
Our book negated the notion of walls that divide and was introduced to overf lowing audiences at the Women’s Museum, San Diego State University, the San Diego Public Library system and the San Diego Historical Society, attesting to the enduring presence of many activist San Diego women.
Today we are still living in the midst of a crisis, but we are unafraid because Chicanas stand strong. “All these accomplishments,” Irene Mena, grandmother of the Brown Berets, once noted, “were not just handed to us; we had to fight for every one of them.” Women continue to challenge injustice today, always ready to fight for the people and our civil rights.
Sanchez