Mr. Morales started the first newspaper for Latinas/os in Fort Bend County in 1975. He spent a lot of his life in Corpus Christie, but moved to Houston and then Rosenberg. He mentioned labor unions, experiencing discrimination, and the transitioning of neighborhoods from predominantly White with some Latinas/os to more people of color.

Ms. Walker grew up Raywood, Texas which is a unincorporated town of a few hundred people. She was born in 1943 in Liberty County. Walker discussed the Black neighborhood she grew up in and changes in Raywood over time. Walker described her experiences attending segregated schools including the quality of resources and instruction. Walker also discussed the role of colorism in the community. Walker described a divide between some Black children and Creole children based on color. Walker left Raywood to attend Prairie View and returned to Raywood. Walker has taught in Raywood schools for 52 years. Walker also discusses how segregation operated in such a small town. She described a more positive Black-White relations during segregation in comparison to how others described race relations in surrounding areas.

Jannell Robles was born in 1987 in Northern Pasadena. She grew-up in an extended family environment. Robles recalls her family sharing stories of encounters with the Ku Klux Klan in Pasadena. After graduating from high school, she got involved in the Immigrant Rights Movement. Robles worked as an Immigrant Advocacy Coordinator for the Central American Resource Center, an Immigrant Outreach Coordinator for The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) in San Antonio, a Reconciliation Project Coordinator for the the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition, and as an intern for the Houston Interfaith Worker Justice Center's Build a Better Texas Campaign. She discusses the disparity of city services in North and South Pasadena, how Mexican American Studies at the University of North Texas set her on a community activist path, the rise of anti-immigrant bills after Arizona's SB 1070, addressing immigrant construction workers that are exposed to unsafe working conditions, and Secure Communities and the bridging of law enforcement and immigration enforcement. She also talks about how she worked to unite African Americans and Latinas/os around mutual issues, how Maria Jimenez served as a mentor to her, and how women's leadership style was more communal.

Patricia "Pat" Gonzales was born in 1967 in Houston in the Gulfgate area. She moved to the toxic Manchester neighborhood, a predominately Latina/o area of town next to the oil refineries, after she graduated from high school. Gonzales became active in the environmental justice movement due to the health issues she acquired while living next to the refineries. She later worked for the Texas Organizing Project to address the lack of infrastructure in the Northern Pasadena area. Gonzales discusses the risk of explosions in Pasadena, attending EPA conferences and addressing environmental racism, how the Anglo power structure functions in Pasadena, and how both African Americans and Latinas/os are neglected. She also talks about the recent voting rights violations in Pasadena and how the city capitulates to the interests of the oil industry.

Dallas “Dally” Willis was born in 1920 in Dallas, Texas but grew up in Cleburne, Texas, raised by a single mother of seven children after his father abandoned the family. Willis attended high school in Cleburne and joined the Marine Corps in 1941. In the Marine Corps, Willis worked as an aerial photographer mapping the Pacific territories controlled by Japan. Upon returning to Cleburne, Willis worked for Southwestern Bail and joined the Communication Workers of America union. He moved to Midland, Texas in 1949. From 1961 to 2005 he served within the CWA’s Political and Legislative Committee, lobbying in the Texas Legislature. Dally also began the Labor Day Celebration of the Permian Basin in 1957. He has been a delegate for the DNC convention and was the decades long president of the Permian Basin Central Labor Union.

Ms. Chumbley was born and raised in Nacogdoches. She worked as an elementary school teacher prior to integration and as a substitute while her children were small. She then became a teacher with Head Start. In the group interview, Ms. Chumbley describes her community and both going to and working for the segregated school system, as well as police brutality, African-American businesses, family structures, and the community involvement in raising children. Ms. Farr was born and raised in Nacogdoches. She went to Stephen F. Austin State University shortly after integration and became a nurse working for Lufkin State School and, later, worked as a nurse for Nacogdoches school district. In the group interview, she described life in segregated Nacogdoches, police brutality, African-American businesses, discrimination in her working career, protests and marches in Nacogdoches, and local politics. Ms. Sexton was born and raised in Nacogdoches. She attended EJ Campbell school prior to integration and Stephen F. Austin State University shortly after it integrated. She then worked for Lufkin State School until her retirement. In the group interview interview, she described her neighborhood, segregation in Nacogdoches, police brutality, protests and marches for equality, and the African-American community and businesses. Ms. Simpson was …

Mrs. Burrell was born and raised in Liberty, Texas. She attended the black Catholic school until she was in 3rd grade, when the Catholic schools integrated. After graduation, she joined the Air Force. After serving for a year, she married and eventually began working in multiple positions for the city of Baytown. She returned to LIberty in the 1990s and began working for the Sam Houston Regional LIbrary. In her interview, Mrs. Burrell described segregation in Liberty, the Creole community, the relationship between the black community and law enforcement, the role of the Catholic Church, her experience in the Air Force, discrimination and clashes on the job, and how Liberty has changed.

The Paul sisters were raised in Dayton, where their grandfather had owned and operated a farm, passed down to their father. Born ten years apart, the sisters lived in a segregated neighborhood, attended, and graduated from a segregated school. They both left for careers before returning to the area. In their interview, they described their family's history, segregation in Dayton, the differences between white and black schools, the effect of Brown v. Board, their career paths, changes in Dayton, and what they'd like to see in the future.

Lydia Evaro Madrigal was born in Odessa, Texas in 1957 and grew up in the majority minority area of south Odessa. She attended Zavala Elementary, Travis Elementary, Ector County Junior High and High School, and transferred to Permian Basin high school for the higher level of academic classes. Madrigal graduated from high school in 1975. She then attended Odessa College, and began working in a local television station due to a suit by attorney Richard Abalos due to the lack of people of color in that television station. She initially reported on the Larry Lozano case and saw the bias of the local media against Lozano and his family. Madrigal had been part political campaigns since she was thirteen and was offered a job at the Texas House of Representatives while in college. Eventually, she graduated from the University of Texas-Permian Basin 1989 after having attended Southwestern Texas State University. Madrigal has been the Latino outreach coordinator for the DNC in Washington D.C., has worked to make Odessa College a Hispanic Serving Institution, and is now a business owner in Odessa and Midland, Texas.

Lorraine Perryman was born in Pampa, Texas in 1953, but her family eventually settled in Odessa, Texas. She grew up as a liberal in conservative Odessa as a way to contradict her father, who was a staunch Republican conservative. After high school, she attended the University of Texas at Austin. She came back to Odessa in 1979 to became the heed of communications of Ector County ISD while it went through desegregation. Afterwards, she started her own public relations business and briefly became a news anchor. In the 1980s, Perryman ran for mayor of Odessa but lost. She ran again and became the first female and youngest mayor of Odessa in 1990. Under her tenure, the Odessa City Council voted in single member districts that allowed for better representation for people of color in the city. Perryman has since helped start a rape crises center and battered women’s shelter in Odessa and has worked for nonprofits to better the city’s schools.

David K. Baker was born in 1951 In Mckamy, Texas. He graduated from high school in 1969 and then worked for a few months in the oil fields of West Texas. Baker then worked for Southwestern Bell, beginning in October of 1969, and soon joined the Communication Workers of America union. He worked for Southwestern Bell until 2002 and then returned (now to AT&T until 2010). Baker was drafted in 1971 into the Vietnam War. Baker moved to Odessa, Texas in 1980 and then became part of the union’s executive board at the local level, and was president of the local from 1987 to 1990. He is now president of the Permian Basin Central Labor Union.

Interview with Carlos Moore, from Fort Worth, Texas. In his interview, he discusses his early life and family history, time in the military, race relations in Fort Worth, labor unions and Democratic party activities.

Diana Salgado grew up in the Barrio Chihuahua area of Del Rio in the 1940s. She recalled the discrimination in public spaces in the city (movie theaters, soda fountains…) and how the operators of these places would sometimes try to give her preferential treatment over other Mexican Americans due to her fair skin. Salgado married and dropped out of school shortly before her expected graduation; after spending some years in Arizona, her husband and her moved to San Jose, California, where she found a job in a fruit cannery. In her years working at the cannery, Salgado and her family witnessed the height of the farm workers' movement, and joined the boycotts (her husband was a union member). During her time at the cannery, she also realized the discriminatory practices against line workers and other unsavory actions by the management. She later quit the cannery and became a licensed realtor; after retiring, her family moved back to Texas, eventually resettling in Del Rio. She became involved with local politics through the Democratic Party; she was the chair of the Val Verde Co. committee and ran for several local posts. As leader of the local Democrats, in 2009 she challenged the …

Alonso speaks about growing up in San Felipe and the segregated nature of Del Rio generally. He also speaks a great deal about migrant farm work and following the seasonal harvest. He speaks about his time in the West Texas cotton fields and speaking Spanish in Anglo schools out in West Texas. He talks a little bit about the 1969 Palm Sunday march--he wasn't a participant but he talks about the march. He also talks about the importance of education he received from Bambi Cardenas and Aurelio Montemayor who were both educators at San Felipe in the late 1960s. All in all, this is a great interview that has tons of useful information on Del Rio, San Felipe, and Alonso's life story.