Ernesto Galarza moved from Mexico to California when he was eight years old. A Chicano, an immigrant, and a leader—he is a role model to disenfranchised Americans to fight for our rights, keep learning, and motivate others to do the same.

Born in 1905, he led labor protests as a young boy while also studying English.  As he learned, he was able to represent the people who couldn’t speak their opinions due to a language barrier. Firmly rooted in activism , forty years later Galarza began running the National Farm Labor Union fighting for equal rights and humane working standards for immigrants.

He not only led movements, but was a huge influencer to key figures for workers’ rights such as Cesar Chavez.

Throughout his life, he wrote nobel-peace prize nominated books, essays, and poems about his life, which shed a light on immigrant working conditions at the time. Most notably, his autobiography Barrio Boy gave Americans insight on what it’s like to be an immigrant and have your whole life changed with culture shock.

Galarza’s works, activism, and leadership helped bring a voice to hard-working immigrants. He pioneered a better life for Chicanos in America. The movement cannot stop there—as women and minorities are still fighting to be more equal in the workforce.

The prominent leader also became one of the first working poor Mexican immigrants to get a college education, but didn’t stop there. He went on to get his Masters at Stanford and PhD at Colombia. His academic excellence is one of the reasons a San Jose elementary school as well as research centers named after him.