Series:

"La Batalla Está Aquí": The Chicana/o Movement in Los Angeles

Topic:

Latina and Latino History

Social Movements

Chicano Movement

Biographical Note:

Organizer with United Farm Workers alongside Cesar Chavez and instructor for teatro campesino courses in Mexican American studies department at San Diego Sate University. Later known as Taru Ruth Rivera

Interviewer:

Espino, Virginia

Interviewee:

Rivera, Ruth Robinson

Persons Present:

Rivera and Espino.

Place Conducted:

Rivera's home in La Mesa, California.

Supporting Documents:

Records relating to the interview are located in the office of the UCLA Library's Center for Oral History Research.

Interviewer Background and Preparation:

The interview was conducted by Virginia Espino, UCLA Center for Oral History Research; B.A., UC, Santa Cruz (Psychology); Ph.D., Arizona State University (History).Espino prepared for the interview by consulting numerous secondary sources on the history of the Chicana and Chicano Movement in Los Angeles, such as Youth, Identity, Power: The Chicano Movement by Carlos Muñoz, Chicano Politics Reality and Promise 1940-1990 by Juan Gomez Quinones, From Out of the Shadows: Mexican Women in Twentieth-Century America by Vicki L. Ruiz, and Racism on Trial: The Chicano Fight for Justice, by Ian F. Lopez Haney. The Historical Los Angeles Times database was consulted along with primary resources from the Chicana/o Movement housed at UCLA's Chicano Studies Research Center.

Processing of Interview:

The transcript is a verbatim transcription of the recording as transcribed by a professional transcribing agency. The interviewee did not review the transcript, and therefore some proper names may remain unverified.

Length:

4.5 hrs

Language:

English

Copyright:

Regents of the University of California, UCLA Library.

Audio:

Series Statement:

The interviews in this series document the ideological transformation of the Chicana and Chicano generation in Los Angeles. Dissatisfied with their position in U.S. society, Chicana and Chicano activists built a civil rights movement from the ground up. Interviewees were selected based on their experience as members or leaders of Chicana and Chicano Movement organizations from 1962 to 1978. Collectively the oral histories document a variety of social justice struggles that include, but are not limited to, educational improvement, union advocacy, voting and political rights, gender equality, and anti-war activism.

Childhood and family history—Religion—Education and political consciousness—Organizing with farm workers--Teatro Campesino—Gender dynamics—Cesar Chavez—Protests and retaliation—La Raza newspaper—Los Angeles—Cuba—Community publications and organizing—Leaders in the movement—San Diego State University

Political education—Race and gender relations—Parents and family—Standford—Organizing—Relationships—Farm workers—Grassroots organizing

Student walk outs—La Raza community members—Arrests—Leaders— Eliezer Risco—Armed struggle—La Raza—Lasting legacy and lessons