Interview with Al and Larneatha Bowdre, retired couple from Prairie View, Texas. Mr. and Mrs. Bowdre discuss their childhood experiences, education, and raising their family in Texas. Mr. Bowdre also discusses his work as a volunteer firefighter.

Perez talked about his life as a migrant worker and working in a cannery. Supporting the walkouts in Uvalde was his first political march. He also participated in voter registration drives at Texas A&I. Mr. Perez also discusses his time working with the La Raza Unida Party in Crystal City.

Evaristo and Benita Albarado talked about the events surrounding the massacre at El Porvenir Ranch (Presidio County) in 1918, when a group of soldiers and Texas Rangers rounded up and shot Mexican American men who lived and worked at Porvenir. The father of Ms. Benita Albarado was a witness of the events, but did not talk about them until late in his life; his testimony motivated the Albarados to research and document the events surrounding the massacre. In addition to sharing the fruits of their efforts to show what really happened at Porvenir, the Albarados talked about growing up in segregated towns in west Texas (Benita Albarado is from Big Spring, while Evaristo Albarado was born and raised in Uvalde). They also talked about the importance of preserving the history of violence along the border, and discussed their collaboration with scholars in the production of an exhibit at the Bullock museum in Austin.

Mario spoke about growing up in La Pryor, Texas. He remembered his dad working in the Blewett mines near Uvalde; he talks a bit about the culture there because it was a company town. He talked about the discrimination his father felt in the mines and how his dad organized for union representation in the mine. His family moved to Uvalde in the 1950s. He talked about the segregated schooling in Uvalde--separate schools for ethnic Mexicans and African Americans. He talked about the reprimands he would receive for speaking Spanish in school. He also spoke about the importance of education to his family. Cruz left Uvalde for San Antonio to pursue a nursing degree/career but he retired in Uvalde later in life.

Lupe Uresti discussed her experiences in a segregated Rosenberg and racially tense schooling, working for her father's business, her public service as a council member and then the first Mexican-American female mayor of Rosenberg, and finally her work for public housing services.

Luciano "Lucky" Salinas was born in 1950 in Galveston. During the segregation era of the island, Salinas the attended Mexican American Goliad Elementary School. By the time he was in tenth grade, he would attended the integrated Ball High School. Due to a lack of college funding, Salinas opted to enlist in the Vietnam War. After serving in the war, he would attend Laredo Community College briefly before enrolling at the University of Houston. While at UH, Salinas became involved in student activism and took the first classes offered by the Center for Mexican American Studies. He talks about his involvement in the UH Mexican American Youth Organization, the various Mexican American student groups on campus, what he learned in the CMAS courses and how they shaped his worldview, his involvement in the Association for the Mexican American Advancement, and how he has dedicated his life to education endeavors.

Alice E. Valdez was born in El Paso, and grew up in a middle class, Anglo and Mexican American community. She discusses her father's WWII experience to detail. Ms. Valdez was involved in the arts from an early age through church groups and in school activities. She attended the University of Texas at El Paso where she was part of the band and graduated with a degree in music. She recalled the 1966 Texas Western College (name prior to UTEP) NCAA Basketball Championship during her college experience. Upon graduation, Ms. Valdez moved with her husband to Atlanta for his military service. She moved to Houston in 1971. Due to her arts background, she became involved in creating arts programs for children and subsequently founded the Multicultural Education Counseling through the Arts Center, (MECA).

Ben Reyes was born in Burton, Texas in 1947. His family moved to Denver Harbor in Houston. The Reyes family worked as local migrant workers, picking up different crops in the surrounding areas of Houston. He faced discrimination in the schools he attended, and was even placed in Special Education classes since he only spoke Spanish. Reyes' mother was active in the community, and thus encouraged his activism as he began his community work at the age of eleven, registering people to vote. Reyes fought in the Vietnam War, and upon his return to Houston, he became involved in veteran groups that were demanding equality.He then met Lionel Castillo, who groomed him to become a politician and became a mentor. In 1972, after the creation of Single-Member districts, Reyes ran for State Representative of District 87. He and Mickey Leland employed cross-racial campaign tactics in order to win the support of African-Americans in his district. Reyes won the election. As a State Representative, he helped with the creation of single-member districts in Texas to ensure the representation of minorities in politics. In 1979, he ran for Houston City Council and became the first Mexican-American to hold a seat in council. …

Johnson discussed his "visual poetry," its' connection to civil rights, and the need for a "new vocabulary" in our study of the past and in tackling contemporary social problems.

Michael "Mike" Espinoza was born in 1979 in the East End, a Mexican American enclave in Houston, TX. He grew up experiencing homelessness and having to join a gang in order to survive in his neighborhood. Having gained the assistance of the Ripley House on Navigation and the intervention of his parents, Espinosa would go on to attend Franklin Marshall College where he would develop a racial and political consciousness. He talked about how he would become involved in the Unviersity of Houston Movimiento Estudiantil Chicana/o de Aztlan and participate in efforts to address discrimination. His political involvement would reach a zenith when he became active in the fight for immigrant rights in the early 2000s. Espinoza spoke about how his community involvement lead him on a path to become an organizer for the SEIU Justice for Jaintors Campaign, a movement he is still involved in as a organizing consultant.

Delma Abalos was born and raised in Odessa, Texas. She attended Odessa College as well as the University of Texas-Permian Basin. Abalos gained her undergraduate degree in political science and her master’s degree in history. She now teaches courses in history, including Mexican American history, at Odessa College. Delma also served within the Ector County ISD board of trustees.

Interview with Odel Crawford, president and CEO Black Chamber of Commerce of the Permian Basin. Crawford was born in Brownwood Texas. He attended Abeline Christian University.

Armando S. Rodriguez was born and raised in south Odessa, Texas. He attended Ector County High School, where he was senior class president. As the class president, Rodriguez led a school walkout to demand that advance academic classes be offered in the majority minority school. He later attended St. Mary’s University in San Antonio and is now an Ector County Commissioner.

Christy Martinez-Garcia was born and raised in Lubbock. She attended Lubbock High School, Lamar University, and completed her degree at Texas Tech University. After college, Martinez-Garcia worked for the Lubbock city government and then for the National Council of La Raza in Washington D.C. Upon her return to Lubbock, Martinez-Garcia sought to counter the local media narrative that mostly only depicted Hispanics as criminals or only immigrants. Thus, she founded the magazine, Latino Lubbock. She also ran for a position in the Lubbock ISD Board of Trustees. Martinez-Garcia has participated in numerous community organizations and was responsible for the naming of Cesar Chavez street in Lubbock as well as having a historical marker for a what once a migrant labor camp.

Personal testimony of segregation and discrimination In East Texas/Corpus Christi.

Rachel Gonzalez-Hanson grew up in a neighborhood straddling the Anglo and Mexican "sides" of Uvalde. Even though she was a very good student, she had to repeat the 7th grade after participating in the 1970 Walkout. While she was very young at the time, Gonzalez-Hanson recalled being highly involved with the local activists, notably Amaro Cardona (MAYO leader in Uvalde). After her early activism, Gonzalez-Hanson remained involved in local politics, helping in Cardona's and Gilberto Torres' campaigns for County Commissioner. Throughout the interview, Gonzalez-Hanson talked at length about race relations in Uvalde, the backlash from Anglos and conservative Mexican Americans, and her later career as a manager of a community health organization covering the Winter Garden area.

Mr. Tafoya grew up in Georgetown, Texas, but spent part of his youth working in several Catholic initiatives, including running an orphanage in Cuervanaca, Mexico. Upon returning to his hometown, he started working in the local radio station, eventually launching the first Spanish-language programming. Later, his radio shows took a political role, encouraging the Mexican American community to become involved. In later years, Mr. Tafoya launched Spanish radio programming in several Texas communities including Austin, where he settled permanently. He also worked in television and created a Chicano newspaper called The Echo. In the interview, Mr. Tafoya talks about his role as a community leader in East Austin and his role in the dissemination of Tejano music.

Solomon Porfirio Ortiz is the former U.S. Representative for Texas's 27th congressional district, based in Corpus Christi, serving from 1983 until 2011. He is a member of the Democratic Party. In his interview, he discussed growing up in Robstown and his long political career.

Interview with Lawrence and Bessie Hicks of Bryan, Texas. In their interview, the Hicks describe their experiences with racial discrimination and civil rights activism.