Clyde “Chico” James grew up in segregated 1940s and 1970s Lubbock. He later graduated from the University of Texas at Austin. He spent time in Mexico City and has lived between Lubbock and Mexico City for several decades. In Lubbock, James has been active in city politics and neighborhood associations. Specifically, James helped start an effort to save a Lubbock magnet school attended by Mexican Americans from destruction by a anti-Mexican school board.

Maria Strong was born in Nebraska but grew up between Lubbock and California’s Coachella Valley. As a teenager, she left school and became the sole breadwinner for her household made of her parents and siblings. After obtaining her GED and working various jobs, she began to attend Texas Tech University, where she obtained both her undergraduate and graduate degrees. She has worked with migrant farm workers (her family was once a migrant family), as a an adviser at South Plains College, and has participated in various community organizations.