Velarde-Hernandez, Diane

Metadata

Abstract

An oral history of Diane Velarde-Hernandez, a retired educator with the Los Angeles Unified School District. This interview was conducted for the Women, Politics, and Activism Oral History Project at California State University, Fullerton. The purpose of this interview was to gather information about Velarde-Hernandez’s involvement with the Chicano Movement, through education and literature. This interview covers Velarde-Hernandez’s childhood in Pacoima; remembers her close relationship with her mother, grandmother, and community; talks about her awareness of Chicano civil rights, participation in the 1968 East Los Angeles high school walkouts, and United Farmworker’s Union protests; recollects participation and distribution of Con Safos magazine; discusses 33-year long teaching career at San Fernando High School, participation in the Chicano Moritorium, and advocating an end to the Vietnam War; recalls the power and influence of Chicano/a leaders and individuals in her life and educational opportunities; provides advice for future women activists; reflects on challenges and accomplishments as an activist; shares opinion on men in power, and how #MeToo movement impacts her interactions with men today; and finally, provides thoughts on feminism and how Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign affected women and politics.