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Sep 15, 2026 6:00 PM - 7:15 PM
Emerging in the late 1960s as part of the Chicano Movement, the Brown Berets was a bold, youth-led civil rights organization and force for Mexican American community self-determination. In Wisconsin, and especially in Milwaukee—a city with a strong history of social activism—the Brown Berets’ work connected local struggles to wider challenges including discrimination, workers’ rights, educational inequalities, and policing and community safety. Come and learn more from Maria Cruz, a retired educator who keeps their legacy alive by documenting and sharing their long and storied history with social activism which continues today, bringing light to this overlooked history and educating and inspiring new generations in future activism through collective action. Maria D. Cruz Author, Oral Historian, Educator, Civil Rights Activist Maria D. Cruz is a first-generation Mexican American who was born in Humboldt, Kansas. Despite the challenges of racial and ethnic discrimination, she achieved success in her education and professional career and later as an activist for civil rights. Now retired, Ms. Cruz’s professional career spanned 40 years as a teacher, counselor, and administrator, including 26 years of service at the Milwaukee Area Technical College (MATC). She obtained her BA from the University of Missouri at Kansas City and her MA from The Ohio State University. Ms. Cruz is a lifetime activist and community volunteer and was featured in the book “Somos Latinas” which is a compilation of Latina women activists in the State of Wisconsin. She holds the distinction of being the first Latino/a who ran for a seat in the 3rd. Senate District of the State of Wisconsin in 1982. Ms. Cruz has written a memoir and coordinated and curated a photo exhibit, “Life Under the Shadow of a Smokestack,” that brings to life the stories of her family and other Mexican families who worked for a cement factory and lived in company-provided houses in Southeastern Kansas during Jim Crow practices and laws. Ms. Cruz is currently writing two books, “The Brown Berets of Wisconsin: Fighters for Social Justice,” and “Ramona’s Journey,” a children’s book about a former Brown Beret and her migrant family working and living in Wisconsin. She has also developed a lecture series on the “History of Chicano Activism in the State of Wisconsin” for both adult and youth audiences. |
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Dec 08, 2026 6:00 PM - 7:15 PM
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