The desire to serve others is born of experience and perseverance. I often believe mine was planted somewhere between the Waxahachie cotton fields where my grandmother spent long hours picking under the Texas sun and the foundation of the West Dallas church my great grandfather built for his Spanish-speaking community. I felt it begin to sprout in the high school office where I was discouraged from pursuing higher education by a counselor who questioned my citizenship, my background, and my ability to pursue higher education. This family history and personal experience embedded in me a desire to serve my community and I took it all the way to the Texas House. 

My work in politics began in college at the University of Texas at Dallas, when the State of Texas sought to enact the racist “Show Me Your Papers” law, SB4. I had never held much interest in politics before, due to a lack of understanding, but when I learned that this new law essentially built an infrastructure for systemic racial profiling, yet no one around me seemed to have noticed, I knew I couldn’t stay silent. Out of concern this would affect my community on campus, my friends and I organized to draw attention to the issue and urged the University President and Police Chief to commit to not enforcing the racist law on our college campus. My friends and I continued to teach ourselves about what was going on in the legislature and to make noise on our campus—something our very nerdy college atmosphere was completely unaccustomed to. Involvement and organizing in college introduced me to the power of advocacy, but I never thought I would have the opportunity to work in the Pink Dome, helping to craft legislation. In Spring of 2019, I got the opportunity to do just that.

Suddenly, I was faced with an opportunity to shape legislation with a known defender of civil rights in the Texas Legislature: State Representative Ramon Romero. As a Legislative Aide and lead policy staffer for public education, family issues, and many workforce issues, I was tasked with coordinating amongst constituents to promote legislation on behalf of victims of wage theft, migrant farmworkers, students, and immigrants. The legislation I was assigned became more than words on paper to me. It was the dignity of thousands of individuals like my grandmother who picked cotton as a migrant farmworker and my grandfather who mixed cement when first coming to this country. Seeing the way our stories intertwined reminded me daily of the importance of this work and the need for more women of color with teeth in the fight to be involved in this work.

With a couple sessions under my belt, friendships with some powerful changemakers across the state, and halfway through my legal education, I am dedicated now more than ever to ensure that women of color are breaking down the doors of the Pink Dome. Women in Texas politics, through the arms of legislative offices, as lobbyists, or as community organizers, are what this State needs and there’s a whole community of us always ready to welcome more fighters.