As members of the Equity, Partnership, and Inclusion Committee, we recognize the many contributions of Hispanic Americans in shaping our professions’ attention to social justice, the worth and dignity of each person, and the value of relationships. Today we recognize Emma Beatrice Tenayuca, a Mexican American educator, civil rights, and labor leader.
Emma Tenayuca was born in 1916 in San Antonio, Texas, and came of age during the Great Depression. Due to her own family’s economic struggles, Emma spent some of her childhood living with her maternal grandparents. She was deeply influenced by her grandfather, Francisco Zepeda, who exposed Emma to conversations about Mexican politics in the United States and Mexico. Emma often accompanied her grandfather to local parks for political rallies and speeches, and was inspired by socialist veterans of the Mexican Revolution of 1910.
Tenayuca participated in her first strike before graduating from high school. She joined the women workers at the H.W. Finck Cigar Company as they went on strike in 1933, and bore witness to their labor conditions. Tenayuca was arrested alongside the workers, and would go on to lead marches, demonstrations, and sit-ins in support of workers, eventually becoming active in the Worker’s Alliance of America. Tenayuca pushed labor leaders to pay greater attention to the needs of the Mexican American community, which was subject to police brutality and the illegal deportations of US citizens that took place under Mexican American “repatriation”. Tenayuca also protested against the Work Projects Administration’s discrimination against Mexican Americans in jobs and the removal of Mexican American families from relief rolls during the Great Depression.
Tenayuca became best known for her leadership of the 1938 Pecan Sheller’s strike, which remains one of the largest strikes in San Antonio’s history. Tenayuca became familiar with the workers’ dangerous and difficult working conditions while organizing with Worker’s Alliance. The workers, predominantly Mexican women, walked off the job when their employers announced a 20% pay cut. They convened at a nearby park, electing Tenayuca as their strike leader. During the months-long strike, the workers faced violent retaliation, including tear gassing and arrest. Because of her connections to the Communist Party, union leaders eventually ousted Tenayuca from her leadership role in the strike. Tenayuca continued to support the striking women though, organizing soup kitchens, picketing, and distributing flyers to share the workers’ demands. Ultimately, their strike forced the Texas Industrial Commission to investigate, and demand the Southern Pecan Shelling Company abide by the minimum wage, in accordance with the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938.
Soon after, Tenayuca was forced to leave San Antonio due to protests, including death threats, from community members who rejected her plans to hold a gathering of the Communist Party in San Antonio. She eventually obtained a teaching degree from San Francisco State College, and upon her return to San Antonio in 1960, earned a master’s degree in education. Tenayuca taught bilingual education until her retirement in 1982.
Emma Tenayuca died in 1999, and was buried at Mission Burial Park in San Antonio. Her advocacy for the working poor earned her the title “La Pasionaria” (“The Passionate One”). Her memory is celebrated in murals, documentaries, corridos, plays, and a children’s book. EPIC celebrates Tenayuca’s memory as an example of our professions’ legacies of activism, advocacy, and organizing in pursuit of social justice and the worth and dignity of each person.
Check out some of these local organizations working within the Hispanic community towards a vision of racial equity and social justice.
Adelante Mujeres focuses on the needs of Latine women and their families, offering support with education, youth-focused programs, entrepreneurship, health and wellness, culturally-responsive approaches to healing from generational trauma, and more.
Beinestar builds housing, hope, and community for the wellbeing of Latinxs, immigrants, and all families in need. Bienestar was founded in 1981 with a mission to provide quality housing to farmworkers and their families due to substandard living conditions in migrant camps.
Centro Cultural provides housing, workforce development, K-12 STEAM education, civic engagement, community-based art and cultural events for Latino people in Washington county.
PCUN, or Pineros Y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste, has its origins in the need for farmworkers to have a union to establish collective bargaining rights and ensure safe labor conditions. Today, PCUN also engages in public education and advocacy for policies that ensure the health and well-being of Latinx communities.
Western Farm Workers Association is another voluntary, member-led organization for low-income farm workers, seasonal, and other low-income workers focused on political advocacy to create better living conditions for everyone in Oregon.
Raíces de Bienestar: an organization passionate about improving the emotional health and well being of Latine communities in Oregon.
Latino Network provides comprehensive services to Latine youth, families, and communities, including early literacy and parent engagement, housing supports, energy assistance and case management, youth empowerment, health and wellness, and immigration navigation.
And because we are in a moment when immigrants, particularly undocumented immigrants, are being targeted for mass deportations, we remember Tenayuca’s legacy of fighting the targeting of Hispanic people for deportation, and highlight a few local organizations supporting immigrants:
SOAR immigration legal services: is focused on the needs of low-income immigrants and refugees across Oregon, and offers culturally-competent legal education and representation.
Pueblo Unido: focuses on members of our community with vulnerable immigration status, offering support with Indigenous language interpretation services, and connecting to legal and social services.
IRCO provides health and well-being, early learning, youth and academic supports, and more for immigrants, refugees, and other diverse communities in Oregon and SW Washington.