Suffrage, Sufrimiento y Corazón
An inter-generational platica offering Chicana perspectives on women’s suffrage acknowledging la lucha as it relates to our personal histories in Santa Clara Valley, the political landscape through the times, and the urgency of our present moment. Get your remedios ready and sip your tea as you listen to Blanca Alvarado, Laura Castro, Elisa Marina Alvarado, Dulce Aguilera, and Christina Morales Guzman in a beautiful conversation about activism, community, and their legacy of corazón. Moderated by yours truly, Rosanna Alvarez. Hosted by La Raza Historical Society of Santa Clara Valley in collaboration with the Chicana and Chicano Studies Department of San Jose State University, Marisa Gaska, Latina Coalition of Silicon Valley, and San Jose Woman's Club with funding from the Santa Clara County Office of Women's Policy, Division of Equity and Social Justice.
For the full video version of this episode, we gotchu!
Speaker Bios:
Blanca Alvarado is a Chicana social activist and former politician. She was the first Latina elected to San Jose City Council and the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors and the first Latina to serve as the board's chairperson. She was born in the Colorado mining town of Cokedale as the daughter of a coal miner who was active in the union. Alvarado was also active in efforts to improve Santa Clara County's juvenile detention system. Other notable achievements included ensuring that all children in the county would receive home health insurance coverage from their parents' employment, improvements to the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center and construction of a Mexican Heritage Plaza, one of the largest Latino cultural centers in the country. She has led hundreds of social justice and human rights campaigns – from organizing a Latino club in high school to the days of Cesar Chavez and now the resistance against Donald Trump – all while opening the door for the next generation of Latina leaders.
Laura Castro is a Chicana organizer, activist, and Aztec dancer with long-standing roots in Santa Clara Valley. She became involved in community organizing as early as the late 1970’s where she was exposed to progressive movements that advocated social change and equality in the Chicano/Native community. After initiating the first Aztec Dance group in San Jose, Laura and her familia applied traditional teachings to assist youth and Families to find balance in their lives. Her work continues, as she works to provide culturally relevant programming for youth toward violence prevention and intervention. Most recently, she is the co-founder of the Youth Outreach And Learning Institute (YOALI) which expands on their cultural and Kalpulli Izkalli danzante teachings to strive toward humility and reciprocity as specified in our cultural value system while developing intentional cognitive development approaches grounded in cultura.
Elisa Marina Alvarado is a Chicana director, actress, educator, social worker, practitioner of traditional Mexican medicine, and dancer. Alvarado has been involved in community organizing and Chicano theater for over thirty years. She helped establish Teatro Visión with a group of women teatristas, originally named Teatro Huipil, for its representations of a community through its various colors and weaves. Growing up, Elisa was exposed to a world of imagination and creativity from her parents, who showered her with books, and fed her creativity with the arts. Her work with the Instituto de Teatro, which offered comprehensive training in community and culture-based theater, continues to have ripple effects on so many of it\s participants in their work throughout the area. She has extensive experience as a clinical social worker and continues to advocate for culturally responsive health practices as an extension of her work with the Indian Health Center. She currently runs her own private therapy practice.
Dulce Aguilera began her passion for working in the community to give back those who believed in her. She is a committed member in the community and for the past 26 years helping in cultural events and needs of the neighborhood. Born and raised in San Jose, she began as a youth participant at the MACSA Youth Center by completing a Job Placement, Tattoo Removal and Life Skills programs in the 10th grade. She was hired as an Intervention Worker at the MACSA Youth Center with Juvenile Probation Program called Restorative Justice. From there, she worked for Catholic Charities of Santa Clara County, who received a grant to continue the RJP Program and begin another Juvenile Probation Program called Success and Support Services (SES). Soon Dulce became the Supervisor and brought in another program to Catholic Charities called Vocational and Educational Services (VES). 14 years passed in a flash while helping families in the community with housing, mental health, and support for everyday life. On the weekends, she also was a facilitator for Victim Services at James Ranch. Dulce has co-written curriculum to help youth offenders gain compassion and empathy toward their victims. She is currently is currently working as a Disaster Service Worker for the County of Santa Clara Shelter in Place program supporting homeless adults while serving as a Community Worker within the Santa Clara County Adult Probation Department. She married her high school love and has 3 sons named Angel, Anthony and Alex. If you are ever at the Mexican Heritage Plaza, her pictures are on the wall in the garden.
Christina Guzman is a Bay Area native with roots in Gilroy. She is a historian, an independent scholar, and an alumna of Santa Clara University who received her M.A. and Ph.D. at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Dr. Guzman has served as Director of the Office of Multicultural Learning at Santa Clara University. She has a tremendous love for working with students and a commitment to issues of diversity, inclusion, and social justice. Some of her favorite things to do include singing in the car with her four young children and reading books of historical fiction. Her commitment, both in and out of the institution, remains firm toward building a more just and equitable world for our future generations.
This panel platica was funded by the Santa Clara County Office of Women's Policy, Division of Equity and Social Justice. Collaborating organizations include: The Hella Chingona Podcast, Latina Coalition of Silicon Valley, San Jose Women's Club, community member Marisa Gaska, and the Chicana and Chicano Studies Department at San José State University.
