Forging latino power, p.54
Forging Latino Power, page 54
Becerra as Democratic Caucus chair, 20, 306
Becerra first Latino secretary of health and human services, 270, 294, 296
“California Corner” of Latino and Latina US Senators, 314, 315, 318
the DC “Latino Lobby,” 134–136
Escutia as member of “the Group,” 132, 133–134, 136–137
Escutia at NCLR, 128, 130–132
Fajardo, Richard, 138
Fajardo as member of “the Group,” 136
Hernández takes Judiciary Committee staff job in DC, 110
Hernández takes over MALDEF-DC, 112, 114, 116
Hernández volunteers with Ted Kennedy presidential campaign, 111
Martínez as president and general counsel of MALDEF, 111
Padilla appointment to US Judiciary Committee, 293–294
Padilla sworn in as US Senator, 295, 308
questions about political impact of Trump on Congress, 2026 midterms, 316–317
Roybal elected to Congress, 72, 308
Torres, Arnoldo as member of “the Group,” 134, 136
See also individual names
Watergate Committee Hearings, 225–226
Waxman, Henry, 130, 139
Waxman–Berman machine, 130
wildfires, 208, 290, 301
Wilson, Pete, administration of, 174, 177, 182–183, 186
See also Proposition 187
World War II, 49, 50, 56, 60, 320
Wright, Juanita, 180
Y
YEH (¡Ya Es Hora!)
among greatest Latino-empowerment strategies forged in LA, 249
citizenship campaign, internet home page of, 258
citizenship campaign, results and impacts, 259–261
slogan adopted, 255
the YEH model, 257
Z
Zapata, Emiliano, 81, 202
About the Authors
DAVID R. AYÓN, coauthor of Power Shift: How Latinos in California Transformed Politics in America, has written and taught on the politics and policymaking of Latinas/os, California, the US, Mexico, and Latin America at UC Berkeley, Stanford, UC Santa Cruz, Occidental College, USC, Loyola Marymount, and UC San Diego. His work is featured in The Oxford Encyclopedia of Latinas and Latinos in Contemporary Politics, Law, and Social Movements; International Relations of California and Texas with Mexico and the World; Contemporary U.S.-Latin American Relations, Foreign Affairs Latinoamérica; Mexico’s Democratic Challenges; the opinion pages of Los Angeles Times, and other publications. A senior fellow of the Center for the Study of Los Angeles, Ayón has also served as senior advisor to the Mexico Institute of the Woodrow Wilson Center, as well as to the firm Latino Decisions; directed programs of the Mexico Institute and the USC School of International Relations; and worked as analyst, consultant, political columnist Univision.com, 2014–15), and special producer for Spanish-language TV news for elections in the US and Mexico since 1992. Twice a visiting research fellow of the Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies, Ayón was educated at Princeton, Stanford, and El Colegio de México. He is a former director of the U.S.-Mexico Foundation; serves on the editorial board of Foreign Affairs Latinoamérica, for which he has also acted as guest editor; and is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations, serving on its term membership committee.
GEORGE L. PLA, founder and CEO of Cordoba Corporation, is an entrepreneur, author, and philanthropist whose work spans business and civic activities that hold the common theme of empowering communities throughout California. George Pla’s founding of Cordoba Corporation as a full-service engineering company and his philosophy of leadership were the subjects of a curriculum-based case study by the Harvard Business School. In May 2023, California State University, Los Angeles awarded George Pla an Honorary Doctorate Degree in recognition of his contributions to education and community and business leadership. Dr. Pla’s involvement in academic institutions includes serving as a regent emeritus at Loyola Marymount University, as a presidential associate at the University of Southern California (USC), and on the Board of Councilors for USC’s Sol Price School of Public Policy. From his early days in grassroots and community activism, to a position in government as the youngest official in California serving in Governor Jerry Brown’s first administration, and throughout his career, Pla has been on the forefront of Latino politics in California. He is the coauthor of the formative book on Latino politics, Power Shift: How Latinos in California Transformed Politics in America, which recounts the origins and development of ten Los Angeles Latino leaders who transformed politics and government, forging a remarkable Latino-empowerment process. Pla currently serves on the board of directors of the LA28 Olympic Games, as President of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Commission, and as Chair of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce.
George L Pla, Forging Latino Power
