The University of Arizona Press
Date: Thursday, October 26, 2023
Time: 12 – 1 p.m., PST
Where: Student Center, San José City College, 2100 Moorpark Ave., San José, CA
Josie Méndez-Negrete, author of Activist Leaders of San José, California: En sus propias voces, will speak at “Paths of Activism and Leadership: Chicana/Latino Stories of San José.” Josie Méndez-Negrete is a professor emerita of Mexican American studies in the Department of Bilingual-Bicultural Studies, the Mexican American Studies Program, and the College of Education and Human Development at the University of Texas at San Antonio.She will talk about activists Sofia Mendoza, Mike Garcia, Jack Brito, Cecilia Arroyo, Ernestina Garcia, Josie Torralba Romero, Anthony R. Soto, Jose & Clare Villa, and Esther Medina.
About the book:
The community of San José, California, is a national model for social justice and community activism. This legacy has been hard earned. In the twentieth century, the activists of the city’s Mexican American community fought for equality in education and pay, better conditions in the workplace, better health care, and much more.
Sociologist and activist Josie Méndez-Negrete has returned to her hometown to document and record the stories of those who made contributions to the cultural and civic life of San José. Through interview excerpts, biographical and historical information, and analysis, Méndez-Negrete shows the contributions of this singular community throughout the twentieth century and the diversity of motivations across the generations.
