Our Stories
Executive Director Post Armed with a master’s degree in Urban Development, I was hired as the Executive Director of the Chicano Federation in 1979, while juggling my duties as a single mother of two children. The tasks for the Federation were daunting, yet we moved forward. We focused on social services designed to increase access to higher education, decrease the K-12 drop-out rate, provide better services for seniors and veterans, offer equality in employment, and end gang violence in the barrio. In 1985, we expanded our efforts to include the building of affordable housing—the Vista Serna Senior Housing Project —for low-income seniors. That development provided the impetus that would create more than 300 housing units for families throughout San Diego County.
Irma Castro and her children Alex and Marisol (Photo courtesy Irma Castro Family Archives)
Chicano Federation Leadership Institute (Photo courtesy SD County Chicano Federation)
Seeking Political Representation In retrospect, it was a tumultuous 12 years.
Evening Tribune – February 2, 1987 (Courtesy The San Diego Union-Tribune)
That promise of hope prompted us to create the Leadership Institute. One of our first applicants, a young hairdresser, apologized for not having a college degree. I said, “That you care is enough for us. You’ve been accepted.” The Leadership Institute continued for the next 25 years! Family and Community I grew up in Barrio Logan, one of four children. My mother worked in the canneries and my father was a mechanic. My parents believed strongly in the value of family and community. So, from the time we were children, we attended union meetings and marched in picket lines. Those experiences became the foundation of my life’s work; exploring how to attain justice for people, how to work for a better world and how to create opportunities and equality for all.
We demanded political representation based on population growth. In 1990, the Chicano Federation won a federal court settlement that forced San Diego to redraw all of its city council districts to reflect their increasingly diverse populations. We had forever changed the political landscape of the City’s council districts.
When I first heard the decision, I was surprised. I didn’t have a lot of faith in the justice system because it had always worked against us. I can’t even describe that feeling of, “Maybe, just maybe, there’s hope or change and equality for us.”
The Tribune – October 3, 1989 (Courtesy The San Diego Union-Tribune)
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San Diego Latino Legacy – Timeline • Milestones • Stories
Chapter 4 – The Rise & Legacy of the Chicano Movement
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