Interviewer: Samantha Rodriguez

Project: University Of Houston

Maria Jimenez came to Houston from Mexico with her family in 1957.She recalls growing up in the Houston school system where she was not allowed to speak Spanish and faced repeated instances of discrimination by her classmates. Rather than bow down, she became actively involved in speech and debate at Milby High School where she won awards for debate and her oratory on the discrimination faced by Mexican Americans. She expanded her fight for social justice in the late 1960s and early 1970s while a student at the University of Houston. Actively involved with the Young Democrats and then the Mexican America Youth Organization (MAYO), she was an advocate for farmworkers, feminism, gender quality, abortion/reproductive rights, and establishment of the Center for Mexican American Studies. She worked with other activist groups on campus such as the Afro-Americans for Blac Liberation (AABL) to achieve common goals.