M.E.Ch.A. is a US-based organization that seeks to promote Chicano unity and empowerment through political action. The acronym of the organization's name is the Chicano word mecha,which is the Chicano pronunciation of the English word match and therefore symbolic of a fire or spark;mecha in Spanish means fuse or wick. The motto of MEChA is 'La Union Hace La Fuerza'.
Esteban Edward Torres was an American politician who served as member of the United States House of Representatives for California's 34th congressional district from 1983 to 1999.
Hispanic and Latino Americans are Americans of Spanish and/or Hispanic 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.
Maria de Lourdes Hinojosa Ojeda is a Mexican-American journalist. She is the anchor and executive producer of Latino USA on National Public Radio,a public radio show devoted to Latino issues. She is also the founder,president and CEO of Futuro Media Group,which produces the show. In 2022,Hinojosa won a Pulitzer Prize.
UnidosUS,formerly National Council of La Raza (NCLR),is the United States's largest Latino nonprofit advocacy organization. It advocates in favor of progressive public policy changes including immigration reform,a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants,and reduced deportations.
Dominican Americans are Americans who trace their ancestry to the Dominican Republic. The word may refer to someone born in the United States of Dominican descent or to someone who has migrated to the United States from the Dominican Republic. As of 2021,there were approximately 2.4 million people of Dominican descent in the United States,including both native and foreign-born. They are the second largest Hispanic groups in the Northeastern region of the United States and the fifth-largest Latin American group,after Mexicans,Puerto Ricans,Salvadorans and Cubans.
The Spanish expression la Raza has historically been used to refer to the Hispanophone populations,considered as an ethnic or racial unit historically deriving from the Spanish Empire,and the process of racial intermixing of the Spanish colonizers with the indigenous populations of the Americas.
Partido Nacional de La Raza Unida was a Hispanic political party centered on Chicano (Mexican-American) nationalism. It was created in 1970 and became prominent throughout Texas and Southern California. It was started to combat growing inequality and dissatisfaction with the Democratic Party that was typically supported by Mexican-American voters. After its establishment in Texas,the party launched electoral campaigns in Colorado,Arizona,New Mexico,and California,though it only secured official party status for statewide races in Texas. It did poorly in the 1978 Texas elections and dissolved when leaders and members dropped out.
Rosalba Géraldine Bazán Ortíz is a Mexican actress.
Janet Murguía is an American civil rights activist in the United States. She is president of UnidosUS,formerly National Council of La Raza (NCLR),a Hispanic advocacy organization. Her twin sister Mary and elder brother Carlos are both federal judges.
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights,formerly called the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights,is an umbrella group of American civil rights interest groups.
Jesús Salvador Treviño is an American television director of Mexican descent.
The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) is the largest and oldest Hispanic and Latin-American civil rights organization in the United States. It was established on February 17,1929,in Corpus Christi,Texas,largely by Hispanics returning from World War I who sought to end ethnic discrimination against Latinos in the United States. The goal of LULAC is to advance the economic condition,educational attainment,political influence,housing,health,and civil rights of Hispanic people in the United States. LULAC uses nationwide councils and group community organizations to achieve all these goals. LULAC has about 132,000 members in the United States.
Cecilia Muñoz is an American political advisor who served as Director of the White House Domestic Policy Council under President Obama,a position she held for five years. Prior to that,she served as the White House Director of Intergovernmental Affairs for three years.
LatinoJustice PRLDEF,long known by its former name the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund,is a New York-based national civil rights organization with the goal of changing discriminatory practices via advocacy and litigation. Privately funded,nonprofit and nonpartisan,it is part of the umbrella Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights.
The White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics is a multi-agency working group within the Department of Education charged with strengthening the nation's capacity to provide high-quality education while increasing opportunities for Hispanic American participation in federal education programs. In addition,the Initiative serves as a resource for information related to closing the educational achievement gap for Hispanic Americans. Finally,the Initiative provides staffing to support and coordinate the mission of a President's Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanics.
Raul Yzaguirre Schools for Success (RYSS) is a state charter school system in Texas. The organization operates two schools in Texas;one is in Brownsville,and one is in Houston. The Tejano Center for Community Concerns,which operates the charter school system,has its headquarters in the RYSS campus in Houston. The Houston school has grades PK-12 in elementary,middle,and high school divisions while the Brownsville school is K-8.
Polly Baca is an American politician who served as Chair of the Democratic Caucus of the Colorado House of Representatives (1976–79),being the first woman to hold that office and the first Hispanic woman elected to the Colorado State Senate and in the House and Senate of a state Legislature.
James Walter Brewster Jr.,commonly known as Wally Brewster,served as the United States Ambassador to the Dominican Republic. He was unanimously confirmed by the Senate of the United States on November 14,2013. Brewster was the first person in a same-sex marriage to represent the United States at the ambassadorial level in the Americas. He left office on January 20,2017. Ambassador Brewster currently serves as a Principal for Insignias Global,an international political and brand advisory firm. He also serves on the Advisory Board for the Atlantic Council,Parliamentarians for Global Action and the National Democratic institute.
Presidential Medal of Freedom (2022)
United States 
United States Air Force 