Hispanic Heritage
When the Young Lords Put Garbage on Display to Demand Change
In 1969, a group of New York City youth known as the Young Lords demanded change in the way the largest city in the United States handled sanitation. The initiative, known as the Garbage Offensive, wasn’t the group’s original plan of action, but it proved highly effective in ...read more
A Timeline of US-Cuba Relations
The United States and Cuba share a long, complex history—first as allies and trade partners, and later as bitter ideological enemies. For four centuries after the arrival of Christopher Columbus, Spain ruled Cuba as its main colony in the Caribbean, but the U.S. long coveted the ...read more
When 20-Year-Old Rookie Fernando Valenzuela Captivated LA—and Major League Baseball
In 1981, Fernando Valenzuela woke up from a nap and began pitching, and winning, sparking the phenomenon known as “Fernandomania” and almost singlehandedly repairing a fractured relationship between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the city's Mexican American community. As an encore, ...read more
Why Isn't Puerto Rico a State?
Located about a thousand miles southeast of Florida, Puerto Rico is a Caribbean archipelago with a complex colonial history and political status. As a territory of the United States, Puerto Rico’s 3.2 million residents are U.S. citizens. However, while subject to U.S. federal ...read more
History Shorts: Dolores Huerta Organizes a Movement
While many know the name Cesar Chavez today, his most trusted lieutenant was just as vital to the Mexican farmworkers movement.
History Shorts: The First Hispanic Congressman Fights for His Seat
Representation matters, and Romauldo Pacheco proved that as the first Hispanic Congressman in American history.
History Shorts: When an Undocumented Immigrant Became a War Hero
Marcelino Serna came to the U.S. as a undocumented immigrant, and within just a few years, became one of the country's bravest heroes.
Cesar Chavez
The Mexican-American labor leader and civil rights activist Cesar Chavez dedicated his life’s work to what he called la causa (the cause): the struggle of farm workers in the United States to improve their working and living conditions through organizing and negotiating contracts ...read more
How Cesar Chavez Joined Larry Itliong to Demand Farm Workers' Rights
In the late 1960s, grapes grabbed national attention—and not in a good way. Newly organized farm workers, fronted by Mexican-American civil-rights activist Cesar Chavez, asked Americans to boycott the popular California fruit because of the paltry pay and poor work conditions ...read more
The Mariel Boatlift: How Cold War Politics Drove Thousands of Cubans to Florida in 1980
The Mariel Boatlift of 1980 was a mass emigration of Cubans to the United States. The exodus was driven by a stagnant economy that had weakened under the grip of a U.S. trade embargo and by Cuban President Fidel Castro's exasperation with dissent. “Those who have no revolutionary ...read more
How the Chicano Movement Championed Mexican-American Identity
In the 1960s, a radicalized Mexican-American movement began pushing for a new identification. The Chicano Movement, aka El Movimiento, advocated social and political empowerment through a chicanismo or cultural nationalism. As the activist Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzales declared in a ...read more
5 Latino-Led Labor Strikes That Championed Rights for American Workers
When it comes to the fight for workers’ rights in the United States, Latino Americans have been critical players since the early 1900s. Their organizing and agitating have led to improved working conditions and wages in industries across the U.S. “Latinos have been part of the ...read more
Hispanic History Milestones: Timeline
The American Hispanic/Latinx history is a rich, diverse and long one, with immigrants, refugees and Spanish-speaking or Indigenous people living in the United States since long before the nation was established. And, bringing with them traditions and culture from Mexico, Spain, ...read more
Latino, Hispanic, Latinx, Chicano: The History Behind the Terms
The terms Latino, Hispanic and Latinx are often used interchangeably to describe a group that makes up about 18 percent of the U.S. population. While it’s now common to use umbrella terms to categorize those with ties to more than 20 Latin American countries, these words haven’t ...read more
Hispanic Heritage Month
Hispanic Heritage Month is an annual celebration of the history and culture of the U.S. Latinx and Hispanic communities. The event, which spans from September 15 to October 15, commemorates how those communities have influenced and contributed to American society at large. The ...read more
How JFK’s ‘Viva Kennedy’ Campaign Galvanized the Latino Vote
During his 1960 bid for the White House, John F. Kennedy faced a tight race. Kennedy and his Republican opponent, Richard Nixon, remained neck-and-neck in the polls throughout the campaign season. Kennedy gained leads after his historic TV debate performances, but Nixon gained ...read more
This Mexican American Teenager Spent Years in a Japanese Internment Camp—On Purpose
The station was filled with worried faces and hushed voices. Soon, those who gathered there would leave their lives and livelihoods behind as prisoners of the prison camps where over 110,000 people of Japanese descent—most American citizens—would be incarcerated for the duration ...read more
The Election of One of the First Latino Congressmen Was Contested—Twice
When Romualdo Pacheco walked up to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1877, he’d already served in nearly every government capacity in the still-new state of California. Now, the charismatic politician had broken another barrier as one of the first-ever Latino Congressman. ...read more
The Mendez Family Fought School Segregation 8 Years Before Brown v. Board of Ed
Brown v. Board of Education was the landmark Supreme Court case that ended racial segregation in schools in 1954. But it wasn’t the first to take on the issue. Eight years earlier, in 1946, a group of Mexican American families in California won the very first federal court case ...read more
Before the Supreme Court, Sonia Sotomayor Saved Baseball
Growing up in the Bronx, Sonia Sotomayor grew up a die-hard Yankees fan. Little did she know that one day, she would play a role in saving the entire sport.
The U.S. Deported a Million of Its Own Citizens to Mexico During the Great Depression
In the 1930s, the Los Angeles Welfare Department decided to start deporting hospital patients of Mexican descent. One of the patients was a woman with leprosy who was driven just over the border and left in Mexicali, Mexico. Others had tuberculosis, paralysis, mental illness or ...read more
How Border-Crossing Became a Crime in the United States
In the early 20th century, it wasn’t a crime to enter the U.S. without authorization. Though authorities could still deport immigrants who hadn’t gone through an official entry point, they couldn’t be detained and prosecuted for a federal crime. But that all changed in 1929 when ...read more
The Surprising Connection Between Cinco de Mayo and the Civil War
There can be confusion over the origins of Cinco de Mayo. Some think it’s a holiday celebrating Mexican independence from Spain (that’s actually September 16), or the 1910 Mexican Revolution (November 20), or that it was dreamed up to sell more beer and guacamole. Cinco de Mayo ...read more
The Secret Cold War Program That Airlifted Cuban Kids to the U.S.—Without Their Parents
“What are you doing here?” The social worker peered at Carlos Eire, shocked to find the Cuban 12-year-old in a home for delinquent boys in Miami, Florida. “You’re supposed to be with your uncle.” By 1963, the preteen had been living in the foster home for months, accompanied by ...read more