Chicago Latina Trailblazers: Testimonios of Political Activism

＂Mexican American and Puerto Rican American women have long taken up the challenge to improve the lives of Chicagoans in the city’s Latino/a/x communities. Rita D. Hernâandez, Leticia Villarreal Sosa, and Elena Gutiâerrez present testimonies by Latina leaders who blazed new trails from the 1960s through today. Taking a do-it-all attitude, these women advanced agendas, built institutions, forged alliances, and created essential resources that Latino/a/x communities lacked. Time and again, they found themselves the first Latina to hold their post or part of the first Latino/a/x institution of its kind. Just as often, early grassroots efforts to address issues affecting themselves, their families, and their neighborhoods grew into larger endeavors. Their experiences ranged from public schools to healthcare to politics, and each woman’s story shows how her work changed countless lives and still reverberates across the entire city. An eyewitness view of an unknown history, Chicago Latina Trailblazers reveals the vision and passion that fueled a group of women in the vanguard of reform＂--

Rita D. Hernández is a former instructor of education and human development at Texas A&M University, Corpus Christi. Leticia Villarreal Sosa is the associate dean for research and faculty development and a professor in the School of Social Work at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. Elena R. Gutiérrez is an associate professor in the Department of Gender and Women’s Studies and the Department of Latin American and Latino Studies at the University of Illinois Chicago.