Gustavo "Gus" C. Garcia was born on July 27, 1915, in Laredo, Texas.In Mendez v. Westminster ISD and Delgado v. Bastrop ISD, Garcia successfully brought an end to discriminatory treatment of Mexican America children by public schools.
Margarita Huantes, born in Nueva Rosita, Coahuila, Mexico was a founder and first executive director of the San Antonio Literacy Council.She worked tirelessly to combat adult illiteracy for more than three decades.
Albert Pena, born on December 15, 1917, served at forefront of the fight for Mexican-American rights.As an attorney, Mr. Pena lead desegregation battles during the civil rights era and fought relentlessly for the poor.He was a founding member of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) in 1968.
Emma Tenayuca was born in San Antonio, Texas on December 21, 1916.She was a pioneering activist involved with issues that resemble those of modern times: disparity of rich and poor, and substandard wages and working conditions of laborers and migrant workers.Amongst her many labor organizing efforts was the Pecan Sheller's Strike of 1938.
William (Willie) C. Velasquez, Chicano movement organizer and founder of the Southwest Voter Registration Education Project, was born on May 9, 1944.In 1995, President Bill Clinton awarded Velasquez The Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest honor any civilian can receive - and only the second Latino ever to earn that honor.
Lydia Mendoza was born to a music family in Houston, Texas in 1916.During her 60-year career, she recorded 50 LPs and over 200 songs for many different labels around the country.She received the National Heritage Award and the National Medal of the Arts.
Meet The Artist:
Adan Hernandez
The son of migrant workers, Adan Hernandez was born in Childress, Texas on October 15, 1951. Hernandez, who has been actively painting the past two decades, has had his work exhibited in museums in the United States and Mexico. In 1991, his work caught the attention of film director Taylor Hackford (La Bamba, Devil's Advocate), who signed him up to create more than 30 original paintings, drawings, and a mural, and to star in a cameo role for the 1993 epic barrio cult-classic, Blood In Blood Out.
Hernandez's work merges neo-expressionism with "Chicano noir". The aesthetics in his art evoke emotions of alienation, uncertainty, desperation, and loss, which dominate the Chicano experience. In describing his work, Hernandez says, ''the high drama and highly charged content in my work reflects the day-to-day epic struggle of life in the barrio. Here, the challenge to overcome overwhelming adversity, which we celebrate in films, is a common occurrence.
"I prefer to call myself a chicano artist out of respect for my heros from the civil rights movement of the distant past, to the 1960's, 70's and 80's.These chicanos didn't just march for our rights, but actually put their lives on the line for us.Many of them were threatened with incarceration or death.Their heroic effforts are what allowed many of us now to dream and realize a better life.Gus Garcia, Margarita Huantes, Albert Pena, Emma Tenayuca, Willie Velasquez, and Lydia Mendoza should never be forgotten "
