Somos Latinas

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Voices of Wisconsin Latina Activists

Andrea-Teresa Arenas and Eloisa Gómez

An illuminating collection of first-person narratives by Latina activists working for their communities.

312 pages, 6 x 9, 38 b&w photos
Paperback: $24.95 | ISBN: 978-0-87020-859-1
Ebook: $15.99 | ISBN: 978-0-87020-860-7
Publication Date: 5/11/2018

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Description

Celebrated Latina civil rights activist Dolores Huerta once said, “Every moment is an organizing opportunity, every person a potential activist, every minute a chance to change the world.” Somos Latinas shares the powerful narratives of 25 women from Wisconsin who have lived Huerta’s words—from outspoken demonstrators to collaborative community-builders to determined individuals working for change behind the scenes—offering first-hand evidence of the long-standing legacy of Latina activism throughout the state.

Each story in Somos Latina is told in the activist’s own words, drawn from interviews conducted as part of the Somos Latinas Digital History Project housed at the Wisconsin Historical Society. Authors Andrea-Teresa Arenas and Eloisa Gómez also provide insights into the motivations and influences that impelled the women to activism and the risks they took in working toward their goals.

Though Latinas have a rich legacy of community activism in the state and throughout the country, their stories are often not reflected in our history. Somos Latinas is essential reading for scholars, historians, activists, and anyone curious about how everyday citizens can effect change in their communities.

Andrea-Teresa Arenas and Eloisa Gómez author photo

Andrea-Teresa Arenas (left) and Eloisa Gómez (right)

Author Bios

Andrea-Teresa “Tess” Arenas, PhD, was a faculty affiliate in Chican@ and Latin@ Studies at UW–Madison and the director of the Office of Service Learning and Community-Based Research in the College of Letters & Science. In the mid-1980s, she was a founding member of the Latina Task Force and the Wisconsin Hispanic Council on Higher Education, and she has been active in the UW Women’s and Gender Studies Consortium for many years. She is currently the director of the Somos Latinas Digital History Project.

Eloisa Gómez is the director of the Milwaukee County UW–Extension Office. She was a founding member of the Latina Task Force and the Wisconsin Hispanic Council on Higher Education in the mid-1980s, and she served on the Wisconsin Women’s Council in 1984. In 1988, she was the first Latina to serve in the mayor’s office for the city of Milwaukee. From 2008 to 2012, she was the vice president of the Latino Historical Society of Wisconsin, and she served on the Somos Latinas Advisory Committee from 2012 to 2015.

‘Somos Latinas’ offers access to oral history narratives of Latina activists too long neglected. The unsung Latina heroes in this book share their paths toward community change despite the many obstacles they faced. As a younger Latina leader, it is clear that I stand on their shoulders and the shoulders of many others whose stories are waiting to be told. I hope this book is a source of inspiration for current and future community change leaders.

JoCasta Zamarripa

Wisconsin State Representative

“The narratives collected in Somos Latinas document histories of migration, educational activism, immigrant organizing, and community-building that demonstrate the everyday heroism of our madres, tias, and abuelas as they struggled to make better lives for their families and for Latina/o communities in Wisconsin. . . . By documenting and reflecting upon the often ‘hidden’ labor that many women undertook to make real change in their communities, Somos Latinas complicates conventional notions of ‘activism’ even as it expands and enriches our understanding of Wisconsin’s Latina/o history.”

—Maria E. Cotera, Latina/o Studies Program Director, University of Michigan