Beyond Guadalupe Street: Reflections on a Latino Life During Momentous Social Change

Beyond Guadalupe Street: Reflections on a Latino Life During Momentous Social Change

Latinos born during the 1940s, raised in the 1950s, and entering high school, the workforce, or college during the 1960s, like myself, faced rapid social change that shaped their life environment and options. The vast majority of us encountered challenging social, racial, economic, and political dynamics, which we had to navigate, embrace, and overcome. Our first decades growing up and becoming educated were during the pre-civil rights era, and many of us experienced residential and educational segregation, along with poverty and marginalized social and economic status. However, during our young lives, rapid social change began to transform every aspect of our environment. Civil rights movements challenged racial segregation. Social legislation opened doors of opportunity, including voting rights. Affirmative action transformed previously closed or biased educational institutions, leading as well to new opportunities in employment. As a result, many Latinos were able to attain an education and embark on professional careers that led to economic progress and higher standards of living. An important key to achieving advancement and success, however, was the ways in which we learned to navigate the changing and turbulent social environment. Beyond Guadalupe Street is my story and reflections as a member of this Latino generation. I was born to a poor family during the segregation of Jim Crow laws in Texas. I began my educational journey in a segregated school for Mexicans and completed my doctoral degree at UC Berkeley. My family came from tenant farmers and blue-collar workers, yet I was fortunate to end my professional career as president of an institution of higher education. I invite you to reflect on your life own journey as you visit mine in this book, and to consider the ways you can similarly embrace the challenges you encounter as you walk through your life. David Maldonado, Jr. is President Emeritus of the Iliff School of Theology in Denver. After an academic career in Social Work Education and Theological Education, he and his spouse, Charlotte Nieto Maldonado, retired in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He also retired from the Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University. He is the author of Crossing Guadalupe Street (University of New Mexico Press), the novella Crypto: The Secret Life of the Anaya Family, the story collection Mi Abuela Era Flaca: Tales from the Barrio and Cafecito Con Samuel. He has also published extensively on the Hispanic elderly and on Hispanic religion.