Out of the “lemons” handed to Mexican American workers in Corona, California--low pay, segregated schooling, inadequate housing, and racial discrimination--Mexican men and women made “lemonade” by transforming leisure spaces such as baseball games, parades, festivals, and churches into politicized spaces where workers voiced their grievances, debated strategies for advancement, and built solidarity. Using oral history interviews, extensive citrus company records, and his own experiences in Corona, José Alamillo argues that Mexican Americans helped lay the groundwork for civil rights struggles and electoral campaigns in the post-World War II era.
ISBN: | 9780252073250 |
Publication date: | 27th April 2006 |
Author: | José M. Alamillo |
Publisher: | University of Illinois Press |
Format: | Paperback |
Pagination: | 248 pages |
Series: | Statue of Liberty Ellis Island |
Genres: |
Social and cultural history Social and cultural history Industrial relations, occupational health and safety History of the Americas Local history Society and culture: general Ethnic studies |