El Congreso de Pueblos de Habla Española facts for kids
The El Congreso de Pueblos de Habla Española (which means "The Spanish-Speaking People's Congress"), often called El Congreso, was an important group in California during the 1930s and 1940s. It was made up of Latino workers and people who fought for equal rights.
The first meeting of El Congreso was held on December 4, 1938, in Los Angeles. It was led by Luisa Moreno. Over 100 different groups attended, representing more than 70,000 people!
Other groups for Latinos in the United States, like LULAC and the American GI Forum, often focused on helping people become more like Americans. But El Congreso had a different idea. They wanted to unite all Latinos, including immigrants who were not yet citizens. They also welcomed everyday working people, which was different from some other groups.
El Congreso hoped to become a national organization. However, it was most active and successful in California. It had at least 10 branches in the Los Angeles area. The group became less active in the mid-1940s. This happened because the FBI watched them closely, suspecting them of activities the government didn't like.
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What El Congreso Believed In
El Congreso worked to make working conditions better and to gain equal rights for Latinos in the United States. This included both citizens and immigrants. They supported many efforts against unfair treatment based on race. These efforts included improving medical care, building government housing, ensuring fair wages, and getting better education.
Their main focus was on working-class people. Many of their leaders and members were also part of other worker groups, like the CIO and UCAPAWA. El Congreso encouraged workers to join unions and to stick together, no matter if they were citizens or not. They also spoke out against people being forced to leave the country during the Great Depression.
Members were told to register to vote. They were also encouraged to help elect leaders who would fight for racial equality. Delegates were asked to think about how their actions affected people in other Latin American countries. Some people wondered if El Congreso was connected to the Communist Party, a political group.
Fighting for New Laws
El Congreso played a big part in stopping several unfair laws in California. These laws would have hurt Mexican people or Mexican Americans. In 1939, El Congreso organized a march to the state capitol in Sacramento. They marched against a bill called "the Swing bill." This bill would have stopped non-citizens from getting help from many New Deal programs.
Josefina Fierro de Bright met with Governor Olson. He eventually stopped the "Swing bill" from becoming a law. El Congreso also opposed another bill in 1940 that tried to deport non-citizens who received state welfare. That bill also failed.
Working for Better Homes
El Congreso worked hard to improve housing for Mexican Americans in Los Angeles. At that time, many Mexican American neighborhoods were separated from others. They were also very crowded and had many diseases like tuberculosis.
In 1939, El Congreso started a campaign for public housing in Los Angeles. They focused on making neighborhoods better by adding electricity and better ways to handle water. They also pushed for Mexican American families to be able to live in public housing projects.
El Congreso argued that the U.S. Constitution promised equal access to housing for Mexican American citizens. They said denying this right made the U.S. look bad, especially given President Roosevelt’s Good Neighbor Policy with Latin America. In November 1939, El Congreso held a public meeting. Homeowners could talk with state officials about a new government housing project. The government wanted to buy homes in Mexican neighborhoods like Maravilla Park and Ramona Gardens to build new low-cost housing. With help from El Congreso, many Mexican American families got fair prices for their homes. They were also allowed to move into the new low-cost housing.
Efforts in Education
In education, El Congreso wanted schools to offer bilingual education. They also pushed for more chances for adults to learn, with teachers who spoke Spanish. They wanted schools to teach Mexican history and culture. This focus on Mexican history and culture was meant to help people understand each other better. It also aimed to fight unfair ideas about Mexican people.
Some good changes El Congreso helped make in education included:
- Hiring more Mexican American teachers in schools with mostly Mexican students.
- Training sessions for public school teachers about Mexican American culture.
- Funding scholarships for Mexican American high school and college students.
However, El Congreso was not successful in getting bilingual education in Los Angeles schools.
Women and El Congreso
Women were very important to El Congreso, right from the start. Leaders like Luisa Moreno and Josefina Fierro de Bright showed this. El Congreso was different from other Mexican and Latino civil rights groups because it also fought for women's rights.
About 30% of El Congreso's members were women. Many of them held important leadership roles. At their second California state meeting, El Congreso passed a resolution about gender equality. This resolution recognized that Mexican and Mexican American women faced unfair treatment for two reasons: their race and their gender. El Congreso suggested creating Women’s Committees within its local groups. These committees would fight for equal pay and encourage more Mexican American women to register and vote.
Important Leaders
Luisa Moreno was a main leader of El Congreso. She was an experienced leader in workers' groups and used her many connections to help form the organization. Josefina Fierro managed the daily work of the groups in southern California. Even though El Congreso stopped being active after the Cold War era, its leaders continued to work for Latino rights into the 1960s.
- Luisa Moreno
- Josefina Fierro de Bright
- Eduardo Quevado
- Bert Corona
Connections to Other Groups
There is no clear proof that El Congreso was directly linked to the Communist Party. However, it was set up with ideas similar to many groups in the "Popular Front." This was a group of left-leaning organizations that fought against unfair treatment based on race and class. Because of its structure and goals, some people thought El Congreso was based on the National Negro Congress, which the Communist Party organized in 1935.
El Congreso's involvement with worker groups like the CIO led to more attention from the FBI. This happened during WWII and continued into the 1950s, a time when there was strong opposition to communism.
