As we celebrate Latino Heritage Month we have the opportunity to amplify the great accomplishments of leaders that have done so much to advance the fortunes of the community. The roll call usually begins with leaders of the Chicano Movement like Cesar Chavez, Jose Angel Gutierrez, Reies Lopez Tijerina and Colorado’s own Rodolofo Corky Gonzalez.
Then there are the more immediate political leaders that have made a major difference of distinction like Polly Baca, Federico Pena, Richard Castro and Ken Salazar among others. Their roads to leadership and effective representation of community interests have provided important historical lessons for those that may want to follow in their steps.
Recently, I had the honor and pleasure of traveling with Dolores Huerta, the great Cesar Chavez era icon, from Montgomery, Alabama to Atlanta to catch our planes. The two hours we spent chatting about our experiences confirmed my belief that there is simplicity of greatness derived from being with unique people.
One of the best stories of women reaching for the highest level of political office is being played out in Mexico’s 2024 presidential election. Claudia Sheinbaum is the candidate of MORENA, the ruling party in Mexico and Xochitl Galvez is the candidate of the opposition.
Both are very accomplished characters in the Mexican political scene. But it is Sheinbaum that is capturing the imagination of the Mexican public because of her accomplishments and the character of her national service. Her Jewish family comes from a hard science tradition. Her father is a chemist and her mother a biologist.
The family has also been long involved in the search for political change away from authoritarianism. Both parents were members of the 1968 Student Movement that experienced the massacre of as high as five thousand students in Tlatelolco pyramid square on October 2nd of that year.
Claudia Sheinbaum is a scientist, politician and a writer. As a scientist with a doctorate in energy, Sheinbaum has made a major contribution as an expert on climate change. She served as Environmental Secretary in both the Mexico City administration and the national government.
The highlight of her work on Environmental Science was her membership in the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that won the 2007 Nobel Prize. She is also a member of the Mexican Academy of Sciences.
As a politician, she is one of the founders of the MORENA Party. Sheinbaum has also served in key posts in the Mexico City administration and the national government. Her last major political office was as the head of the Mexico City government to which she was elected in 2018.
She resigned in July of this year to begin her campaign for President.
I had an opportunity to talk to a friend in Mexico City about Sheinbaum’s candidacy. He admitted that she is the favorite to win but questioned how she would be received as a woman.
That reminded me of my Chicano days when we convinced ourselves that we had to be twice as good as someone else in order to be professionally accepted. Claudia Sheinbaum has faced all of the obstacles a woman leader normally faces plus a lot more because the culture of her country is still adapting to woman involvement at the highest levels of society.
Her hard work as a scientist led to major changes in environmental policies and a Nobel Prize. As a politician Claudia Sheinbaum is on a trajectory for election as the first Jewish and woman President of her country.
The views expressed by David Conde are not necessarily the views of la Voz bilingüe. Comments and responses may be directed to news@lavozcolorado.com.
