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Great Wall Institute: The Process of the Great Wall of Los Angeles

1983 - Local 11 - Maria Elena Durazo started organizing with the union

Maria Elena started organizing with the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Union Local 11 in 1983.

UNITE HERE Local 11, currently representing over 32,000 hospitality workers in southern California and Arizona, has a long history in Los Angeles. The Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees (HERE) Local 11 brought together previously separate locals for waiters, waitresses, bartenders, cooks, and other hotel workers.

In the 1970s and 1980s, the predominantly Spanish-speaking membership of Local 11 fought for fuller participation in their union against a largely Anglo leadership. In 1989, María Elena Durazo became the first Latina to lead a major Los Angeles union. She began reorienting the local towards greater membership participation and a more assertive stance with employers.

Since then, Local 11 merged with locals in Santa Monica, Long Beach, and Orange County, and in 2016, with Local 631 in Arizona.

CONTEXT:
As late as the 1980s, organized labor’s political power was limited and conservative, concentrated in the building trade unions and the Los Angeles Police Protective League, with their respective interests in development and public safety.

Then came Durazo and her husband Miguel Contreras and their colleagues. They refocused labor’s energy toward immigrant communities and low-wage workers. Their volunteers joined political campaigns, walked precincts and made phone calls. They rewarded those who supported them and punished those who did not. Today there is no more powerful force in local and state politics than organized labor.

Further Context/ Resources:

Here's a summary from Local 11 on archives of their actions/movement that is housed at UCLA.
These additional leads also in part come from the summary linked above:
- 28 oral histories (in video & transcript) of organizers & members of UNITE HERE Local 11 from the 1980s-2016
- Here's a detailed finding aid of the records housed in the UCLA Special Collections. These archives are not digitally accessible and would require in-person visits so we would need to decide & do more work to schedule/organize a visit. Maria Elena Durazo's files (1998-2008) are part of this collection (subseries 1.4).

https://memorywork.irle.ucla.edu/archives/tag/unitehere/page/2

During the 1970s, the Hotel and Restaurant Employees union (HERE) Local 11 in Los Angeles was losing power as restaurant owners dropped their union contracts and hotels cut wages and benefits. In 1978 a multiracial group of members calling themselves United Workers of Local 11 challenged the union’s long-serving leader Scotty Allan. The group distributed campaign flyers accusing union leaders with making backroom deals with employers and ignoring the concerns of the Spanish-speaking majority of members. Meeting weekly at the People’s College of Law near MacArthur Park, the rank-and-file activist found support from progressive lawyers and activists from other unions. Their bilingual campaign literature declared, “We can no longer disregard a major portion of our membership and make ‘second class members’ of so many.” Although United Workers lost the election, they helped established the right of non-citizens to hold office and participate fully in the union’s affairs through the lawsuit of Daniel Ruiz their candidate for secretary-treasurer. Their effort was the beginning of a decade long struggle for union leadership that culminated in the election of Maria Elena Durazo in 1989. From the papers of the ACLU of Southern California, box 826 folder 6, Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles. Learn more about UNITE HERE Local 11.

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3. 1989 Maria Elena became elected President of Local 11 In the 1970s and 1980s, the predominantly Spanish-speaking membership of Local 11 fought for fuller participation in their union against a largely Anglo leadership. In 1989, María Elena Durazo became the first Latina to lead a major Los Angeles union. She began reorienting the local towards greater membership participation and a more assertive stance with employers. Since then, Local 11 merged with locals in Santa Monica, Long Beach, and Orange County, and in 2016, with Local 631 in Arizona.
4. "Gente del Maíz" by Judith Baca (2012) Located at Miguel Contreras Learning Complex Cafeteria - At the request of Maria Elena Durazo, of the AFL-CIO collaborated with the UCLA Labor Center, Professors Kent Wong and Janna Shaddock Hernandez, the Miguel Contreras Learning Complex (MCLC) High School Students, and UCLA/SPARC DIGITAL MURAL LAB under Prof. Baca’s direction produced a new 18ft x 28ft digital mural for permanent placement in the downtown LA school with a 56% drop out rate. The work, sponsored by the Miguel Contreras Foundation, is installed in the Miguel Contreras Learning Complex cafeteria. Both UCLA students and MCLC high school students were assigned to create a mural in a 20 week period that commemorates the legacy of labor leader Miguel Contreras while visually representing the issues affecting the students of the Center, who come from neighborhoods with many conditions that impede high school graduation.
Contents of this path:
6. 1980 - Ken Horne - CDC identifies first American Patient of the Aids Empidemic
7. 1981 First Major News Article about HIV/ AIDS Article: https://www.nytimes.com/1981/07/03/us/rare-cancer-seen-in-41-homosexuals.html Entitled “Rare Cancer Seen in 41 Homosexuals,” the article was penned by Lawrence K. Altman and appeared in the New York Times. At the time, gay men were dying of an unusual disease. They presented with purple spots on the skin, and their lymph nodes eventually became swollen before they died. It seemed to be cancer—but the symptoms matched a type usually only seen in very old people. The people who were dying at the time, however, were young and otherwise healthy. Doctors did not understand what was happening or whether the cancer was contagious.
9. 1981 Mural - History of Unitarianism
11. June 29, 1982: Voting Rights Act Extended
12. 1982 Plyler v. Doe This Supreme Court case ruled that public school districts cannot constitutionally refuse admission to unauthorized immigrant children because the harmful effects to the public outweighed the cost savings. Every child deserves a fair chance to learn and thrive. That might seem an obvious statement today, but it took years of legal battles fought by MALDEF to ensure that “every” child did not exclude any child – particularly, immigrant children. After nearly five years of litigation, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1982 that all children, regardless of immigration status, have a constitutional right to a free public education from kindergarten to 12th grade. The landmark case, Plyler v. Doe, grew out of a 1977 attempt by the Tyler Independent School District in Texas to oust the children of undocumented workers – farmhands, for the most part – from the school system by imposing tuition of as much as $1,000 per student to attend what were for everyone else free public schools.
14. 1983 In Today’s Headlines, Echoes of Central America’s Proxy Wars of the 1980s deadly conflicts in crowded Central American cities and dusty hamlets during the 1980s. Their effects are still felt today. Over the decades, several million Central America migrants have sought opportunity, refuge, and stability in the United States, driven by a mix of factors including battered economies, violence, corrupt governments, and the desire to reunite with relatives who emigrated earlier or to find a family-sustaining job. While media attention in recent years has focused on the arrival of unaccompanied minors and families, primarily from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, the lion’s share of the 3.8 million Central American immigrants in the United States as of 2019 have been in the country for at least a decade. Displacement and economic instability caused by regional civil wars, in which the U.S. government had involvement, led many Central Americans to migrate in the 1980s. The wars ended, but economic instability remained—as did migration. The Central American immigrant population in the United States more than tripled between 1980 and 1990. Hurricane Mitch in 1998 and two earthquakes in 2001 were among the factors further driving migration from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. Similar factors have remained at work in recent years. In November 2020, Hurricanes Eta and Iota devasted the region, affecting as many as 11 million people throughout Central America. Drought also has plagued parts of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras in what is known as the “Dry Corridor.” Further, government corruption, gang activity, and high homicide rates continue to affect parts of the region, driving emigration. The total Central American-born population in the United States has grown more than tenfold since 1980, and by 24 percent since 2010. The 3.8 million Central American immigrants present in 2019 accounted for 8 percent of the U.S. foreign-born population of 44.9 million.
16. "Carecen: Migration of the Golden People" by Judith Baca (2002)
17. 1983 Carecen The Central American Resource Center (CARECEN), then called the Central American Refugee Center, was founded by Salvadoran refugees who were fleeing persecution by the military during the civil war. CARECEN was founded to secure political asylum for the refugees fleeing persecution, to defend their human rights and to offer immigration and basic social services needed by the refugees who were arriving in large numbers to Los Angeles. CARECEN received its 501 (c) (3) non-profit status.
21. 1984 - 15 Day Hunger Strike at La Placita Olvera Church
23. 1984 Joan Benoit Samuelson’s Olympic Marathon Win The moment when Joan Benoit Samuelson emerged into the sunlight of the Los Angeles Olympic stadium was the perfect symbol for how far women’s running had come. Even more than a symbol, the message Samuelson gave as she moved from obscurity to acclaim triggered a transformation that 35 years later is still gaining momentum. That was the moment when women's running worldwide moved from the margins to the mainstream.
25. 1985 Anti-Apartheid Protests Spread Across US
26. "Love is for Everyone" By Mary Linn-Hughes and Reginald Zachary (1991) Painted on the Minority AIDS Project Building 5149 West Jefferson Boulevard (on Sycamore) ARTIST: Based in Huntington Beach, Linn-Hughes has spearheaded various art therapy projects. Among them, running a self-portrait photography workshop for people with AIDS and being the artist in residence at Orangewood Children's Home. SUBJECT:Text on the mural: I am your co-worker, I am the married couple who live down the street, I am your high school teacher, the woman you sit next to on the bus, the plumber who fixes your sink, the athlete you watch of television, the field worker who harvests your food, I am your brother, your sister, I am a person living with AIDS. The same text repeats in Spanish.
27. 1985 ABC Settlement
33. 1987 Silence=Death The Silence=Death Project, best known for its iconic political poster,[1] was the work of a six-person collective in New York City: Avram Finkelstein, Brian Howard, Oliver Johnston, Charles Kreloff, Chris Lione, and Jorge Soccarás. Avram Finkelstein founded the Silence=Death project in 1987 with Jorge Socarras, Chris Lione, Charles Kreloff, Oliver Johnston, and Brian Howard during the AIDS crisis as a consciousness-raising group,[3] and as a means of mutual support. The content of their discussions quickly turned political. Inspired by posters made by the Art Workers Coalition and the Guerrilla Girls, the group decided to create their own poster to be wheatpasted around New York City. Rejecting any photographic image as necessarily exclusionary, the group decided to use more abstract language in an attempt to reach multiple audiences. They created the Silence=Death poster using the title phrase and a pink triangle, known from its association with the persecution of homosexuals in Nazi Germany in the 1930s and 1940s. The Silence=Death poster was also used by the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) as a central image in their activist campaign against the AIDS epidemic.[8] Because of ACT UP's advocacy, the pink triangle remains synonymous with AIDS activism. In 2017, the image was reinstalled in the windows of the Leslie Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art[9] with a new line at the bottom: "Be Vigilant. Refuse. Resist."
37. 1989 Fall of Berlin Wall
38. 1989 - A diverse group of AIDS activists march in front of Oakland City Hall. April 1. This photograph, taken on April Fool's Day in 1989, shows minority AIDS activists marching to Oakland's City Hall to demand programs and funding for AIDS prevention and education in their communities. The disease first emerged between 1980 and 1981 in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and New York. Doctors there reported to the Federal Centers for Disease Control (CDC) they had seen a handful of people suffering from Kaposi's sarcoma, an extremely rare form of cancer, or pneumocistis carinii, a rare form of pneumonia, and swollen lymph nodes. The first wave of sufferers who sought medical attention was overwhelmingly white gay men. As a result, the few politicians, journalists, and members of the public who were paying attention responded as if AIDS was a gay disease affecting the white community.
39. 1989 Maria Elena became elected President of Local 11 In the 1970s and 1980s, the predominantly Spanish-speaking membership of Local 11 fought for fuller participation in their union against a largely Anglo leadership. In 1989, María Elena Durazo became the first Latina to lead a major Los Angeles union. She began reorienting the local towards greater membership participation and a more assertive stance with employers. Since then, Local 11 merged with locals in Santa Monica, Long Beach, and Orange County, and in 2016, with Local 631 in Arizona.
40. "Cecil " By Richard Wyatt (1989) Painted onWatts Tower Arts Center 1727 East 107th Street. ARTIST:Born in Compton, Richard Wyatt was first commissioned to paint a mural at the age of 14 by UCLA. He graduated from the university a few years later and has since exhibited widely and taught in various schools across the nation. His murals can be found scattered throughout the Los Angeles area, including pieces at Union Station, LAX, and Long Beach City Hall. SUBJECT:Cecil Fergusen is a legendary figure in the field of African American Art; he is known as the "community curator" and celebrated for his incredible rise through the ranks of the contemporary art world. Starting as a janitor for LACMA, he worked his way up to the position of curator. The first African American to hold the position, he encouraged ethnically based art and co-founded the Black Arts Council. His reputation for tireless support and advocacy for his cause has given him a wealth of loyalty and respect among his peers, the artists he has helped, and the entire African American community of Los Angeles.
41. Say No At the Richmond Boys Club, a sign urging young people to "say no" to drugs. December 15, 1989. Michael Macor, photographer. Gelatin silver print. Collection of Oakland Museum of California. The Oakland Tribune Collection. Gift of ANG Newspapers. In this 1989 photo, a young boy plays ping-pong at the Richmond Boys Club. Above him is a sign with the anti-drug slogan "Just Say No!" originally promoted by the Reagan Administration in 1984 to coincide with the administration's War on Drugs.
42. "Contributions of Asians for the development and progress of California" By Orlando Castillo (1990) 4375 Beverly Boulevard at Harvard Boulevard ARTIST: Born in the Philippines, Castillo studied art at the University of San Tomas. From a young age he wanted to be an artist but his traditional parents felt it was their duty to choose a career path for their four children. However, the young artist was determined to waylay their plans of making him into an architect. To support his studies in fine art, Castillo undertook commercial art, even doing fashion designs at the age of 15. Always very political, Castillo views himself as a social realism artist-which has gotten him in trouble at times. He was imprisoned during the Ferdinand Marcos dictatorship for distributing political prints, posters, and flyers to field and factory workers. “Artists don’t belong to any country. The artist’s work must reflect the community he lives in” –Orlando Castillo SUBJECT: This mural shows the U.S., represented as a woman with a torch, welcoming immigrants to help build California. Coming to America, or finding one's place in america, is one of the many themes muralists concentrate on in L.A. The struggle for survival as migrant workers, their perseverance in preserving their cultural knowledge, and their aspirations and dreams in this country are some prominent themes shown. The mural depicts the ways in which immigrants from his country and from other places in Asia have contributed to the economy and culture of California.
43. "Koreans" By Dong-In Park (1989) Located at 7th Los Angeles, 690 Wilshire Place. ARTIST:Dong-IN Park, a native of Seoul, Korea, studied architecture at the College of Fine Arts at Hong-Ik University. He came to Los Angeles in 1974 after doing combat service in Vietnam as a solider in the Korean army. In 1991 his first mural, a portrait of Ansel Adams, was painted over for advertising. SUBJECT:The mural is made up of several panels depicting the plight of the newly arrived immigrant. Issues addressed include culture shock, loneliness, the rewards of hard work, and the blending of cultural differences.
44. 1989 Tiananmen Square The Communist Party was divided between those urging more rapid change and hardliners wanting to maintain strict state control. In the mid-1980s, student-led protests started. Those taking part included people who had lived abroad and been exposed to new ideas and higher standards of living. How did the protests grow? In spring 1989, the protests grew, with demands for greater political freedom. Protesters were spurred on by the death of a leading politician, Hu Yaobang, who had overseen some of the economic and political changes. He had been pushed out of a top position in the party by political opponents two years earlier. Tens of thousands gathered on the day of Hu's funeral, in April, calling for greater freedom of speech and less censorship. In the following weeks, protesters gathered in Tiananmen Square, with numbers estimated to be up to one million at their largest. The square is one of Beijing's most famous landmarks. At first, the government took no direct action against the protesters. Party officials disagreed on how to respond, some backing concessions, others wanting to take a harder line. The hardliners won the debate, and in the last two weeks of May, martial law was declared in Beijing. On 3 to 4 June, troops began to move towards Tiananmen Square, opening fire, crushing and arresting protesters to regain control of the area. No-one knows for sure how many people were killed. At the end of June 1989, the Chinese government said 200 civilians and several dozen security personnel had died. Other estimates have ranged from hundreds to many thousands. In 2017, newly released UK documents revealed that a diplomatic cable from then British Ambassador to China, Sir Alan Donald, had said that 10,000 had died. Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-48445934
45. "Literacy" By Roderick Sykes (1989) Located at St. Elmo Village 4830 St. Elmo Drive Los Angeles, California. ARTIST Roderick Sykes has been involved in local community arts since 1970. he is the co-founder of St. Elmo Village, a neighborhood-based arts center in the mid-Wilshire are. ABOUT THE MURAL The mural depicts three faces, that of an African-American, an Asiana-American and a Latino, meant as a celebration of the ethnic diversity in Los Angeles. It emphasizes the importance of literacy, creativity and the role of the community in education.
46. 1988-2002: Neighborhood Pride A program initiated and developed by SPARC and sponsored by the City of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department produced 105 community artworks in every ethnic community in Los Angeles, commissioned 95 artists and trained over 1800 youth apprentices. In 2002 alone (the last year of the program), SPARC conducted 80 community dialogues citywide with community participants determining the placement and content of 15 new large-scale public artworks. These works confronted some of the most critical issues in our city such as; the on going migration and integration of the Central Americans particularly in the 1980’s to Pico Union from el Salvador, Nicaragua and Guatemala, and the changing demographics in our schools, creating the phenomena of “ chocolate schools in vanilla suburbs” which has resulted in the demise of the age old “neighborhood school’ concept in many Los Angeles communities.