For first time in history, both State House and Senate headed by Latinos in California

*California State Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon have become leaders of the California legislature, the first time in history that Latinos head both chambers. It’s a milestone long-time coming. Congratulations to them and to California voters! VL

---

By Marcia Facundo, Fox News Latino (1.7 minute read)

For the first time in its history the California legislature is headed by Latinos, after Anthony Rendon became the state’s Assembly speaker.

Rendon was sworn in on Tuesday during a ceremony attended by state officials including Gov. Jerry Brown and Attorney General Kamala Harris.

Rendon and Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon, both Democrats, are of Mexican heritage.

Rendon is the fifth Latino speaker of the Assembly. De Leon is the first Latino to lead the Senate in the history of California.

“This is a very exciting time in the Golden State,” Assemblyman Luis Alejo, D-Watsonville, chair of the California Latino Legislative Caucus, told Fox News Latino. “We can all be very proud. These are two Latinos who have had very humble origins and have demonstrated to be outstanding leaders.”

Click HERE to read the fulll story.

---

---

[Photo courtesy of Fox News Latino]

Suggested reading

Chicano! The History of the Mexican American Civil Rights Movement is the most comprehensive account of the arduous struggle by Mexican Americans to secure and protect their civil rights. It is also a companion volume to the critically acclaimed, four-part documentary series of the same title. This volume is a testament to the Mexican American community’s hard-fought battle for social and legal equality as well as political and cultural identity.

Since the United States-Mexico War in 1846-1848, Mexican Americans have striven to achieve full rights as citizens. From peaceful resistance and violent demonstrations, when their rights were ignored or abused, to the establishment of support organizations to carry on the struggle and the formation of labor unions to provide a united voice, the movement grew in strength and numbers. However, it was during the 1960s and 1970s that the campaign exploded into a nationwide groundswell of Mexican Americans laying claim, once and for all, to their civil rights and asserting their cultural heritage. They took a name that had been used disparagingly against them for years—Chicano—and fashioned it into a battle cry, a term of pride, affirmation and struggle.

[cc_product sku=”978-1-55885-201-3″ display=”inline” quantity=”true” price=”true”]