FUERZA del Valle

I remember when I started my first job. I was 12 years old, working in the fields of Blissfield, MI picking cucumbers, working between 8-12 hours and getting paid by the bucket. It did not matter if my back ached under the hot sun or if it rained and my shoes got muddy. It didn’t matter if I had blisters in my hands or didn’t have the proper safety equipment. What was required was to be quick and effective, as it was a competition against every other laborer. There were many injustices in the workplace, from being paid less than the minimum wage to not receiving the proper equipment to perform the job. There was no room to complain, only to hope for a better life. My story is similar to other low-wage workers and families who live in colonias in the Rio Grande Valley. Roughly one third of the Valley population depends on employment in agriculture. Two local counties, Hidalgo and Cameron, consistently rank among the five poorest urban counties in the nation. More than 34% of the population in these two counties lives below the federal poverty line. With unemployment rates hovering at around 12%, families struggle to make ends meet. Low-income and immigrant workers are most likely to experience work-related abuses and exploitation in our area because they are more likely not to report their cases as they are not aware of their rights as workers. With my mother’s support and my desire to make a positive difference, I was the first in my family to graduate from high school and go to college. I graduated from Kalamazoo College, MI and came back to my hometown in 2009. My determination and hope that my community will improve and prosper have brought me to be a tenacious leader, one who is honest and not afraid to stand up to injustice. That is why I am a co-founder of FUERZA del Valle, a workers center.