Reynaldo Rodriguez was born in 1947 in Corpus Christi. He discusses growing up in Corpus and briefly shared his Vietnam War experience and how it took him to Alaska. Upon being discharged from the military, he attends Del Mar College and decides to attend the University of Houston. Mr. Rodriguez discusses his activism during college in MAYO, the struggle to create the Center for Mexican American Studies (CMAS), and the painting of the UH Chicano Mural. He also discusses his involvement in LRUP and the founding of Centro Aztlan in the East End.

Agustin Loredo was born in Baytown, Texas in 1974 and comes from a family with long ties to the area. In the 1930s, several family members, including his father, were repatriated even though they were U.S. citizens. Loredo grew up with stories (that he later researched as a college student at UH) about the vibrant Mexican American community in Baytown, including stories of fiestas patrias and Guadalupe Church, the hub for the community. In 1996, he attended the University of Houston, where he enrolled in courses taught by the Center for Mexican American Studies (CMAS). These courses sparked his interest in the culture, history, and eventually encouraged his community involvement. After he spent some time in Austin, he returned to Baytown in the early 2000s. After the Luis Alfonso Torres police incident in 2002, Loredo met Fred Aguilar, and became involved in the marches and protests that followed. Loredo witnessed the coalition of African Americans and Latinos to help the youth of Baytown. He then became a member of the West Baytown Homeowners Association and a board member for the Promise Center (led by Aguilar). A teacher at South Houston High School, he is an advocate for Mexican American Studies …

Irene Favila was raised in Lockney, Texas. As a child and teenager, Favila’s family would migrate to Kansas and Colorado during the summers to work in agricultural fields. After graduating from high school, Favila did not attend college—being discouraged by school officials—and entered the workforce. She then entered court reporting school in Plainview, Texas and worked as a court reporter in Amarillo, Texas—perhaps becoming the first Mexican American court reporter in the Texas Panhandle. Favila then moved back to the Plainview area and began working for Motivation, Education, and Training (a migrant farmworker services organization) from 1975 to 2015. Favila was elected as the first person of color in the Plainview City Council. She has been a lifelong member of LULAC and has been instrumental in promoting voting rights and educational rights in Plainview—helping launch Department of Justice investigations in the town and Hail County along with marches.

Mrs. Wade attended an all-Black school in Houston and during freedom of choice the Black students collectively decided not to integrate because white school officials had sought to only allow the top Black students to integrate. Wade benefited from the land ownership of her family. By owning land, Wade's mother was able to take care of her two children following the early death of her husband. Wade attributed her father's early death to an injury that occurred during his military service. Wade also attributed her brother contracting polio and her mother's subsequent difficulty obtaining care for her brother to discrimination. Wade's mother initially worked in menial jobs despite having a degree because she could not be hired as an secretary. Wade's mother ultimately started in the 1960s and sustained her own in-home business for decades. Wade described her schooling experiences at Texas Woman's University and Texas Christian University. Wade received some negative feedback from her teacher's for deciding to not attend a historically Black college or university. Wade decided to attend a predominantly white university because she was curious about the level of education white people were receiving. Wade began a career in corporate America shortly after graduating from TCU …

Interview with Leroy Sterling, an Army veteran and educator from Bryan, Texas. In his interview, Sterling discusses his family background, living under Jim Crow segregation, segregated neighborhoods and housing, agricultural work, military service and his experience being one of the first African-American students to attend Texas A&M University.

Interview with Clarice Watkins, a Justice of the Peace from Marshall, Texas. In the interview, Watkins discusses her background, education, racial violence, community activism, integration, experiences with discrimination, and her radio career.

Interview with Edward D. Moore, city councilman from Tyler, Texas. In the interview, Moore discusses his family background, childhood, education, desegregation, his work for Kelly-Springfield Tire, labor unions, community activism, and city politics.

Ms. Ali was born in Beford, Texas. She was raised in her family's community, County Line, outside of Nacogdoches. Ms. Ali went to Cushing High School, UT-Austin, and is currently a librarian at the Nacogdoches Public Library. She is also a hip-hop artist. In her interview, Ms. Ali described the rich history of her family's community, dating back to newly freed slaves moving in from Tennessee. She relates stories of racism and violence as well as community building and endurance. Her personal account describes racism at Cushing schools in the 2000s and her efforts to build a sustainable homestead for herself in County Line.

Recounted his role as LULAC national president and local leader.

Discussed her career as a longtime member of the Texas State School Board

Luis Cano was born in Corpus Christi, TX. After attending University of North Texas, he came to Houston and would become involved in the Mexican American Youth Organization and La Raza Unida Party. As a teacher at Austin High School, he would develop one of the first Mexican American courses. This experience along with his awareness of his family's political history would lead him to dedicate his life to education efforts. Cano talks the Huelga School Movement, a false pairing plan that placed Mexican American and African American youth together and called it integration. He also speaks about co-founding the Association for the Advancement of Mexican Americans and developing some of its cultural and youth-oriented initiatives, including teatro, a library, a school for at-risk students, and gang prevention. Cano describes his experiences as one of the first lecturers for the UH Center for Mexcian American Studies.

Jew Don Boney, Jr. was born in 1951 in Temple. His first experience with segregation was when his mother was initally denied entry into Scott and White Hospital when she went into labor with Boney. His parents were educators and his father wrote a dissertation on the racial biases in standarized testing while pursuing a doctorate in Educational Psychology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Boney relocated to Austin in 1966 and attended the University of Texas at Austin in the Fall of 1969. He became involved in Black-Brown student activism at this time. After spending a few years in radio and TV, Boney worked for the Urban League and became the Chairman of the National Black United Front Chapter in Houston. He later served as a city councilman for District D and a Mayor Pro Tem. Boney dedicated three years to the Free Clarence Bradley Campaign in order to exonerate a man falsely accused of the rape and murder of a white woman in Conroe, spent time bridging African and U.S. relations, advanced economic initiatives in Africa, and secured grants to process the Mickey Leland Papers at Texas Southern University while he served as the Associate Director for …

Interview with Salvador Avila, a civil rights activist from Canutillo, Texas. Mr. Avila discusses his early life, education, career, race relations and his involvement with civil rights and community organizations in the El Paso area.

Interview with Jaspyr Sanford of Huntsville, Texas. In her interview, she describes her early life and education, experiences with desegregation, racial issues in East Texas, civil rights activism, her work as a librarian at Sam Houston State University. Much of her interview focuses on integration at Texas state universities.

Mr. Sayles discussed his career as a longshoreman and growing up in segregated Corpus Christi.

Discussed childhood and life in Kingsville, Texas.

Joe Vera discusses his family's Tejano background, his time in the Navy, and his work with the Hispanic community in the region.