Hispanic and Latino Americans are Americans of Spaniard and/or Latin American ancestry. These demographics include all Americans who identify as Hispanic or Latino regardless of ancestry. As of 2020, the Census Bureau estimated that there were almost 65.3 million Hispanics and Latinos living in the United States and its territories.
Richard Alfred Tapia is an American mathematician and University Professor at Rice University in Houston, Texas, the university's highest academic title. In 2011, President Obama awarded Tapia the National Medal of Science. He is currently the Maxfield and Oshman Professor of Engineering; Associate Director of Graduate Studies, Office of Research and Graduate Studies; and Director of the Center for Excellence and Equity in Education at Rice University.
Héctor Pérez García was a Mexican-American physician, surgeon, World War II veteran, civil rights advocate, and founder of the American GI Forum (AGIF). As a result of the national prominence he earned through his work on behalf of Hispanic Americans, he was instrumental in the appointment of Vicente T. Ximenes, a Mexican American and AGIF charter member, to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 1966.
Tomás Rivera was a Mexican American author, poet, and educator. He was born in Texas to migrant farm workers, and worked in the fields as a young boy. However, he achieved social mobility through education—earning a degree at Southwest Texas State University, and later a Doctor of Philosophy degree (PhD) at the University of Oklahoma—and came to believe strongly in the virtues of education for Mexican-Americans.
Arnulfo Duenes Trejo was a writer and Professor of Library Science at the University of Arizona. He was a leader in the movement to increase library collections of Latino literature and Spanish-language materials in the United States. He was also instrumental in efforts to train more Latino and Spanish-speaking people as professional librarians.
Rodolfo "Rudy" Francisco Acuña is an American historian, professor emeritus at California State University, Northridge, and a scholar of Chicano studies. He authored the 1972 book Occupied America: A History of Chicanos, approaching history of the Southwestern United States with a heavy emphasis on Mexican Americans. An eighth edition was published in 2014. Acuña has also written for the Los Angeles Times,The Los Angeles Herald-Express, La Opinión, and numerous other newspapers. His work emphasizes the struggles of Mexican American people. Acuña is an activist and he has supported numerous causes of the Chicano Movement. He currently teaches an on-line history course at California State University, Northridge.
Lopez Negrete Communications is an advertising agency based out of Houston, Texas that focuses on the Hispanic community. Lopez Negrete has created advertising campaigns for numerous national brands, including Bank of America, Wal-Mart, Microsoft, Royal Dutch Shell, Miller Brewing Company, the Houston Astros, and NBC Universal. In a 2007 Billboard magazine article, Lopez Negrete was described as the "top Latin ad agency" and the company's CEO, Alex López Negrete, was named 2012 Agency Executive of the Year by HispanicAd.com.
Jimmie V. Reyna is an American lawyer, former president of the Hispanic National Bar Association, and a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
The city of Houston has significant populations of Mexican Americans, Mexican immigrants, and Mexican citizen expatriates. Houston residents of Mexican origin make up the oldest Hispanic ethnic group in Houston, and Jessi Elana Aaron and José Esteban Hernández, authors of "Quantitative evidence for contact-induced accommodation: Shifts in /s/ reduction patterns in Salvadoran Spanish in Houston," referring to another large Latino group in Houston, stated that as of 2007 it was the most "well-established" Hispanophone ethnic group there. Houston is the third city for Mexican immigrants after Chicago and Los Angeles.
African American Texans or Black Texans are residents of the state of Texas who are of African ancestry and people that have origins as African-American slaves. African Americans formed a unique ethnic identity in Texas while facing the problems of societal and institutional discrimination as well as colorism for many years. The first person of African heritage to arrive in Texas was Estevanico, who came to Texas in 1528.
Alma Flor Ada is a Cuban-American author of children's books, poetry, and novels. A Professor Emerita at the University of San Francisco, she is recognized for her work promoting bilingual and multicultural education in the United States.
Hispanic and Latino Texans are residents of the state of Texas who are of Hispanic or Latino ancestry. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, Hispanics and Latinos of any race were 39.3% of the state's population. Moreover, the U.S Census shows that the 2010 estimated Hispanic population in Texas was 9.7 million and increased to 11.4 million in 2020 with a 2,064,657 population jump from the 2010 Latino population estimate.
Nancy “Rusty” Barceló is the former president of Northern New Mexico College, she is a leading figure with National Initiative for Women in Higher Education (NIWHE). She has chaired Mujeres Activas en Letras y Cambio Social (MALCS) as well as the Washington State Native American Advisory Board (NAAB). In 2004, Barceló was awarded the Ohtli award, which is a special recognition presented by the Mexican government to Mexicans or Latinos whose work has benefited Mexicans living abroad. In addition, Barcelo was a University of Iowa alum who also held positions at the University of Iowa and later at the University of Minnesota, as well as the University of Washington.
The following is a timeline of Latino civil rights in the United States.
The Hispanic population in Houston is increasing as more immigrants from Latin American countries come to work in the area. As of 2006 the city has the third-largest Hispanic population in the United States. As of 2011, the city is 44% Hispanic. As of 2011, of the city's U.S. citizens that are Hispanic, half are age 18 or older, and are therefore at the age range eligible to vote. As of 2011 many Hispanics in Houston are not U.S. citizens, especially those living in Gulfton and Spring Branch, and are therefore ineligible to vote in elections. As a result, Hispanics have proportionally less representation in the municipal government than other ethnic groups. As of April 2011 two of the Houston City Council members are Hispanic, making up 18% of the council.
Ana Recio Harvey is a Mexican translation entrepreneur and government economic activist who is the President and CEO of the Greater Washington Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (GWHCC). Part of her job working in the United States government involves coordinating and implementing initiatives for the Small Business Administration (SBA) in Washington to benefit small, struggling, women-owned businesses, by offering them federal government contract awards. In January 2015 she was appointed acting director of the District of Columbia Department of Small and Local Business Development (DSLBD). Harvey is the founder of the multilingual communications company Syntaxis, which translates in 25 languages.
Sister Melanie Maczka is a member of the Society of Sisters for the Church and founder of Casa ALBA Melanie, a Hispanic resource center for the greater Green Bay area. She began serving the Hispanic population of Green Bay in 1982 as an associate at St. Willebrord Catholic Parish.
Gabriela Teissier Zavala is a journalist, news anchor and radio talk show host. She is the anchor for the early morning news formerly known as A Primera Hora on Univision's Los Angeles station KMEX-DT, and hosting Uforia Audio Network's morning radio show, Tu Voz En Los Angeles. and is known for her environmental issue reports.
Joseph I. Castro is an American academic and was the eighth chancellor of the California State University. Before that, Castro was the eighth president of California State University, Fresno, and the first California native and first Mexican-American to hold the position. In 2016, he received the Ohtli Award from the Mexican government. He resigned in 2022 as CSU chancellor after accusations of mishandling sexual harassment claims against a fellow administrator.
The state of Utah has an increasingly diverse population, home to hundreds of thousands of Hispanic/Latino people who share ancestry from Latin American countries. It is estimated that there are roughly 383,400 residents of Hispanic/Latino descent currently living in Utah.
