Antonia
Her nánd ez
W HY
C HOSE
H ER
Antonia Hernández gives new meaning
to the phrase “give back.” As a child
of uneducated Mexican immigrants
w ho believed in their children”s children”s
potential and the opportunities in America,
Hern ández has had a remarkable c areer as a civil-
rights activist and an attorney, most notably with
the M
and o exican American Legal Defense & Educational
Fund (MALDEF). She has worked tirelessly to open (MALDEF). She has worked tirelessly to open
educ ational and political opportunities for immigrants
thers who have been disenfra nchised.
HERS TORY
I’m a child of the ”60s. At that time, as a child of the ”60s. At that time, as a
the ea
with n
taugh rly story is I was born in Mexico
and I” man immigrant who came to Los Lat inaanda woman, the goal wastobe a
teac her. But to understand me better,
Angel es when I was
8.
I r emember the trip, my own life
exper ience in not understanding the
langu age and settling in a new city. I
acqui red an inclination to be very much
involv ed in the process of change. My
paren ts were extremely hard-working
o education and seven kids.
My fa ther never went to school and
of us t himself to read and write; my
moth er had a sixth-grade education.
He wo rked in a factory. She worked in
a nur sery. Typical immigrant laborers.
But a ll of their children went to college.
They knew the key to a better life for all
was education.
