Emma Tenayuca was a teacher, a labor activist, and a great community organizer. She was born in San Antonio on December 21, 1916. She grew up on the west side of the city, spending lots of time in church and in La Plaza de Zacate, listening to people preach the Bible, read the news from Mexico, and share stories. She started her activism early - girlfriend got arrested for joining a picket line of workers striking against the Finck Cigar Company when she was only 16 years old.
Emma founded two chapters of the International Ladies' Garment Workers. And in 1938, when she was just 21, she organized more than 10,000 pecan shellers, many of whom were women or children, to strike against their employers. It's odd to think about it now, but pecan shelling used to be one of San Antonio's major industries. So at that time, organized resistance against it was incredibly radical and a big change. This was also, according to historian Don Carleton, the first successful action in the Mexican-American social justice movement. The strike lasted a month and won higher wages for the shellers.
Needless to say, Emma was a very controversial figure. She was a lightning rod for conservative critics and a ray of hope for poor folks and Latino/as. She was jailed many times for her Communist beliefs and her involvement in protests and strikes. The tension culminated in what many have called the worst riot in San Antonio history. Emma was speaking to a crowd of Communists and labor activists at Municipal Auditorium when a mob of 5,000 people descended on the facility and began throwing bricks and stones. Chaos ensued. Emma received death threats and was blacklisted and unable to find employment - all this because she argued for things like Social Security, unemployment benefits, and the right to unionize, which we take for granted today.
After the dust settled, she left for California, where she earned her teacher's certification. She returned to San Antonio in the late 1960s, eventually obtaining a master's in education from Our Lady of the Lake University. She spent the remainder of her life teaching migrant children and continuing to inspire young activists until her death in 1999. Still beloved, she was known in the community as La Pasionaria de Tejas. As Carmen Tafolla said in her eulogy, "... She was our heart, defendiendo de los pobres [defending the poor], speaking out at a time when neither Mexicans nor women were expected to speak at all."
For more info:
