Even as a third grader I would look for books that had someone that was Latino. In college I would write on index cards with facts about either historical facts or something I had learned about Mexicans or Mexican Americans. Sadly, our contributions to the United States have been minimized. In College I wrote a historical paper on the Neighborhood House that was located at 1809 National Ave. Later, I would take those interviews, add several more, and wrote a book about that settlement house that had meant so much to the Mexican/Mexican American Community. After that book was written I realized that we had a need to record our history for future generations. My book: “WE MADE SAN DIEGO” was written to tell the stories about our contributions to the city of San Diego. The first section of the book tells about those men and women that were or are activists between 1960 and 1980. They choose a variety of careers and faced man hurdles in order to achieve the successes they have experienced. The section on Vietnam teaches us that the war affected our community and our solders in many different ways. One veteran changed his life in a positive manner after his Vietnam experience.
Latinos are also involved in a variety of businesses. Three young men started the “Xetca Beer Company,” and two young women started “Hola,” a swim suit store for women of all sizes. Two other women started a dance studio. These are only a few of the business Latinos are involved in. The biggest surprise could be the section on “firsts”. The first Latino Police Chief was not hired anywhere in San Diego County until 1999. This happened after having spent twenty years in the police department. Mary Salas, born and raised in Chula Vista, became the first Latina mayor in San Diego County. My book shares our history, our contributions and we explain how WE MADE SAN DIEGO.