May 18, 2087
Yep. Discovered another amazing woman I had not known about, and she is a terrific inspiration for our
times.
These People Are Not Aliens Luisa Moreno was a powerful and inspirational labor leader throughout the Great Depression, organizing Florida cigar-rollers, Louisiana sugar cane workers, cotton pickers in Texas, beet harvesters in Colorado and cannery workers in California.
Only five
feet tall, Luisa was a giant force for poor workers. Charismatic in Spanish and English, she
wrote and spoke with passion. A speech she gave in 1940 eloquently championed Mexican migrant workers.
"These people are not aliens. They have contributed their endurance, sacrifices, youth and labor to the Southwest. Indirectly, they have paid more taxes than all the stockholders of California's industrialized agriculture, the sugar companies and the large cotton interests, that operate or have operated with the labor of Mexican
workers."
But somehow Luisa Moreno's name seems most often to come up in connection with the infamous "Sleepy Lagoon murder trial," and the wrongly-convicted men she helped free from San Quentin. The morning of August 2, 1942, an unconscious and dying 22-year-old José Gallardo Díaz was found near a water reservoir in rural East Los Angeles.
The cause
of José's injuries was never determined for sure. It may have been a hit and run driver, but police were quick to suspect Mexican-American youth in the area.
Before the week was out, three hundred young men had been rounded up and taken into custody. The prosecution had no evidence tying anyone to José's
death.
But eventually 17 Mexican-Americans were charged with murder. A jury convicted nine of them of second degree, and they were sentenced to San Quentin Prison. The remaining defendants, convicted of lesser offenses were held in the Los Angeles County Jail. Below, the defendants on trial.
The Mexican-American community denounced the racist attitudes of the police, prosecutor and judge as well as
the circus atmosphere of the trial. People from the community, film industry, education and labor unions formed the Sleepy Lagoon Defense Committee to support the young men, whom they believed to be innocent.
After more than a year, they raised money to appeal the verdicts and in October 1944, the state Court of Appeals unanimously ruled the evidence could not sustain the guilty verdict. It reversed the convictions and criticized the trial judge for his bias and mishandling of the case.
By the time Luisa Moreno joined the Sleepy Lagoon Defense Committee, she had already been working on behalf of justice for nearly two decades. Born to a wealthy family in Guatemala, Luisa was educated at the College of Holy Names in Oakland, California. After graduation, she returned home, but eventually rejected her privileged life to become a journalist.
She immigrated to New York in 1928 with her husband and baby daughter, where she got a
waitress job and was soon on strike with her co-workers.
But it was a protest against a Warner Bros movie that motivated Luisa's efforts
to unify
Spanish-speaking communities, as well as workers.
When Under a Texas Moon (1930) opened at a New York City theater, Cuban and Mexican students picketed, saying it was an offensive portrayal of Mexican women.
Police arrived, attacked the protesters and killed the leader, a student name Gonzalo González. Luisa joined in the huge protest that followed, Cubans, Mexicans, Central and South Americans in New York uniting to condemn the murder and police brutality.
Several years later, she was the major force
behind the first national civil rights assembly, El Congreso de Pueblos que Hablan Español (the Congress of Spanish Speaking Peoples). In 1938, El Congreso was ahead of it's time in advocating women's equality, and moving women into leadership positions.
Luisa was
a tough realist about labor organizing and politics. “If you want to survive in politics, you need to be thick-skinned and not be baited by distractions or turbulent individuals.”
When anti-communist hysteria swept the nation, Luisa was stunned to find herself targeted by immigration officials. While awaiting word on her citizenship application, she was offered citizenship by the FBI in exchange for her testifying against International Longshore and Warehouse Union leader Harry Bridges, who was charged with being a communist. She refused the deal saying that she would not be “a free woman with a mortgaged soul.”
Luisa Moreno was deported in 1950, publicly called a “parasitic menace” by a California politician who had subpoenaed her to appear before the California State Senate Committee on Un-American
Activities. I was inspired this week by the hundreds of Americans across the country arrested for standing up, (or sitting down) for justice and the new Poor People's Campaign.
This in
Arkansas! This in Jefferson City, Missouri, where 88 people were arrested. Possibly motivating these demonstrators, last year Missouri legislators preempted a vote by Kansas City and St. Louis to raise minimum wages to $10 an hour. Politicians forced local governments to stick with the state
minimum wage of $7.70.
In closing, I'm on the waiting list at my local library for the novel recommended by loyal subscriber Cathy Greenwood. She wrote, "I just finished “Manhattan Beach” by Jennifer Egan. Loved every page! Gorgeous writing, rich historical accuracy, characters I really cared about. Until next week... Have you read a great book? Tell me about it. Have a burning question? Let me know. If you know someone who might enjoy
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