Interview with Marie Black, July 7, 2015

ELOISA GOMEZ: Hi again, Marie. . .

MARIE BLACK: Hello.

GOMEZ: . . .it's nice to reconnect with you and I hope all is well and we have a number of questions as Tess mentioned, questions that you may have answered before. This way we'll have it all centralized in one location

BLACK: Sure.

GOMEZ: And we do have your name, of course, and your place of birth, which I understand is in Coahuila, Mexico.

BLACK: Right.

GOMEZ: And could you tell us when you came to Wisconsin. What age you were?

BLACK: Yeah, I was 11. I was 11.

GOMEZ: Okay, and what brought you to Wisconsin?

BLACK: My aunt started the first Mexican bakery and grocery store in Racine. And my mother was her twin so she asked my mother and father if they would come and help her because she wanted to open another one in Milwaukee. So that's what brought us to Racine.

GOMEZ: Oh, wonderful. What was the name of the bakery?

BLACK: The one in Racine was called Casa Sangolia and the one in Milwaukee was La Perla.

GOMEZ: La Perla. . . That's wonderful.

BLACK: I think it was on National or around there. It was around there.

GOMEZ: Oh yeah, it was kind of a hub.

BLACK: Yeah, oh yeah, in the early '50s, absolutely. I remember working there as a teenager, helping out with [Eddie] and so forth. It was very popular.

GOMEZ: So you said that you were helping out at the bakery. Tell us a little bit about that experience.

BLACK: Okay, well, definitely it was a lot of fun when we first came to Racine. Like I said, she was the first to have fresh tortillas and fresh bakery and other products, chorizo and other things like that. And I would help at night getting the food ready. The tortillas would come off of the vendor belt and I would wrap them and put them in boxes and then the following day, we would do 00:02:00this on a Friday night and then the following day, my dad and I would. . . Well, my dad would load up the van and we would go to the outskirts of Racine which was considered at that time a Mexican village, which it still is, actually. And we would take all fresh produce out there, product, and of course the people would buy it off the truck.

GOMEZ: Wonderful.

BLACK: And I would help my mom make chorizo and stuff it in the casing. And. . . you know. [talking over each other]

GOMEZ: Oh! Homemade chorizo, that's. . .

BLACK: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, and fresh bakery! So, it was interesting. It was a good experience for me.

GOMEZ: Yeah. Can you share with us what your community was like at that time when you first came to Racine?

BLACK: Well, it's interesting because the store actually was in a very non-Hispanic neighborhood. And so for me, I just kind of got thrown into the 00:03:00neighborhood, and said, "Okay, sink or swim. It's one or the other." And luckily I was a little girl who had a lot of. . . you know, [umph]. So, I went out and I made friends even though I didn't speak the language. And this was like, early June, probably. And I learned some English from the kids in the neighborhood. Somehow we communicated. We played and I had a good time. And by the time I got to go to school, I did have some difficulty with the language at that time and of course in those days, they didn't have any bilingual teachers. And so, luckily my parents were able to send me to a school in California where it was an all men's school, and they taught only English. They were Spanish speaking but they concentrated on English. So I went for a year there and then I went back to Racine.

TESS ARENAS: And how old were you at the time when you went to the California school?

BLACK: About 12.

ARENAS: Okay, okay. Thank you.

BLACK: Mhm.

GOMEZ: So, coming from Mexico and then being in Racine, which you described as the neighborhood that the store was in and where you lived was non-Hispanic, how did you identify yourself during that time and did that identity change over time?

BLACK: You know, I really never had a problem with identity. I've never considered myself different than anybody else. And I think it's partly because of my parents. My parents always taught me that you're no different, nobody's better than you are and so forth and so on. So, I never really had any problems with that. There might have been a face here or there but nothing that made an impact in me or made me ashamed of who I was or hurt or anything like that. I 00:05:00never experienced that. I was one of the lucky ones, I guess.

GOMEZ: Did you identify as Mexican? I would imagine people would have asked what your identity was and how did you describe that then?

BLACK: Once again, I may not remember, but I don't ever remember being asked if I was Mexican. I don't ever remember having to answer that question. The only thing is I remember that all of the neighborhood kids would come over because they loved to get the fresh pastries, and that was Mexican, of course, and so that was an introduction to them. And then at that time there weren't any Tostitos or anything like that at that time, and my mom always would make us a batch and we would all sit outside and eat it. So, I guess just by example, a different culture, I let them know that I was of a different culture than they 00:06:00were, but I don't think that it ever interfered with any of us.

GOMEZ: Okay. As you were describing the neighborhood there, was it very racially diverse?

BLACK: No, not at all. Not at all. Not at all.

GOMEZ: Okay. Was it ethnically diverse?

BLACK: It was mostly Anglos, Caucasians.

ARENAS: Marie, if I could ask, did that kind of interaction contribute to where the arenas you chose to be active?

BLACK: Uh huh.

ARENAS: Can you think about that and tell us a little about that?

BLACK: I guess because one of the questions that I was going to answer is, it asks where my activism started. And it mostly started in the non-Hispanic organizations. That's where I became more involved and as time went. . . I guess 00:07:00I have to admit, I did not have much contact with the non-Hispanic community other than when they came into the store to purchase items.

ARENAS: Oh, okay. So Latinos, you didn't have much experience with Latinos, I'm sorry, Hispanics, unless they were customers.

BLACK: Right, right, right.

ARENAS: Okay.

BLACK: Yeah. Later on I became involved, but. . .

ARENAS: Right.

BLACK: . . .I didn't know many of the people in the community until later in my life.

ARENAS: So would you say that in those mainstream, for a lack of a better description, the mainstream organizations, you honed some of your skills and those that you transferred then to when you did connect to the Latino community?

BLACK: Exactly. Exactly. And that was one of the answers I had exactly. So once I was involved in the non-Hispanic community, and I thought, okay, I think now 00:08:00we need to apply this now to the Hispanic community because I did see a need for it.

ARENAS: And what were those needs?

BLACK: Unity, for one. And it's still a little "un-united",, but it still has some work to do. Unity was one of those main things that needed to be addressed.

ARENAS: And unity in what sense? Can you tell me what you mean by unity?

BLACK: Being involved, getting them to be involved in different either Hispanic organizations or non-Hispanic organizations and being part of the community.

ARENAS: Oh, I see, so more engaged in the community dynamic.

BLACK: Right. Exactly, exactly, exactly.

ARENAS: Okay. Okay. I was not aware of that. Okay.

BLACK: Yeah, yeah.

ARENAS: Sorry for interrupting, Eloisa.

GOMEZ: No, no, no, no, no. Tell us a little, you said that your activism started 00:09:00in the non-Hispanic. . .

BLACK: Right.

GOMEZ: . . . organizations. Tell us where. . . we're interested in how you became an activist. So maybe you could share with us how that started and a little bit more on how it evolved.

BLACK: Right, right, well. The first board that I was asked to be on was the Girl Scouts board of directors and it was through Johnson Wax that recognized me and they wanted a Hispanic on the board, so I was asked to be on the board. And that was the beginning of my involvement. After that several other boards started asking me to be on board, because again, they wanted Hispanic representation and so I kind of became the person to go to. So that is how I 00:10:00started. And then like I say, then after that I said, "Wait a minute, now I need to do this for the Hispanic community." And that's when that started. I started the Hispanic Business and Professionals Association with the hopes of advocating the Hispanic businesses in town and promoting them to the general public and not just to the Mexican population more than anything. I also then started a newspaper so that I could highlight the positive image of our culture and our people in the community.

GOMEZ: I just wanted to probe a little bit more, why did you want to become involved with the Hispanic community?

BLACK: Well, because I just felt it was something that I needed to give back to 00:11:00my culture and my heritage. Yeah.

ARENAS: Can you tell me what about what time, about what decade that this might of. . . [inaudible]

BLACK: Very early '90s.

ARENAS: Okay. All right, good. Thank you.

BLACK: Sure.

GOMEZ: So, what was going on in the Hispanic community in the early '90s, during that time, and what were your observations of it?

BLACK: Again I wasn't that involved yet with the community. The only organization that I knew of was Por La Gente, [inaudible], but it's a male organization, really. It's a baseball league, type of sports, a group. They give out scholarships; it's a very good organization, but it's mostly males, and it still is mostly males. That was the only real organization at that time when I first got involved. And then later on, like I said, I started the Business 00:12:00Professionals Association and then the other ladies, [inaudible] and myself had started the Ms. Latina Scholarship Corporation. And the reason I got involved in that one was they asked me to be one of the judges and when I saw what a great job they were doing and what a positive impact they were making, I asked if I could be on the board and they asked and they accepted. I was on the board for quite some time in that organization. It's a great one; it's a very good one. It still does exist and it's going strong.

ARENAS: Wow.

GOMEZ: Was it a Latina organization?

BLACK: Mhm. Yeah. They give out their own scholarships to wonderful young ladies.

GOMEZ: Is that like, college scholarships?

BLACK: Yeah. Yes.

ARENAS: So this was a woman-run organization?

BLACK: Yes, yes. Well, I think now, now they have I think one or two males on 00:13:00the board, but at the time when I was there, it was all female.

ARENAS: Okay, thank you.

BLACK: Mhm.

GOMEZ: And what time frame was this?

BLACK: Again, early '90s. [talking over each other] Yeah, I think it was about '95 maybe, around that time.

GOMEZ: Okay. You know, we've used the word community activist. Is that a term that you would use to self-identify, and if not, what would the term be, and if yes, how would you describe that?

BLACK: Well, I think a community activist is somebody that becomes involved in the community, someone that cares and is concerned about the quality of life for the entire community. That's what I feel about an activist.

GOMEZ: So, you feel that describes your role?

BLACK: I think so, yeah.

GOMEZ: How would you describe your evolution in this work? You had mentioned working, your first introduction in the Latino community was for La Gente, and. . .

BLACK: I didn't work for them, that was the only one that I knew of at the time.

GOMEZ: Correct, that you were aware of.

BLACK: Right, yeah.

GOMEZ: Was there a connection between that and starting your business association or were they not connected?

BLACK: No. I had been president of the West Racine Business and Professional Association, which, again, was an entirely white organization, because that's all the business owners in the West Racine area. At that time I worked for a 00:15:00gentleman that had a business in the West Racine area. And I became involved for him basically. I would go to meetings in his place. And little by little, I got to learn more about the way that the organization works and then I became president. And that's when I thought, you know what, we need a Hispanic one just like this one, and that's when I started the Hispanic Business and Professional Association.

GOMEZ: So, your career, so there was an overlap, your work with that company that you referred to, and being sent to some of these meetings, and that helped you. . . Tell us a little bit about your career.

BLACK: Okay, let's see. In my career, I have done quite a bit actually, I've 00:16:00worked at corporations, I've worked at this particular business and we wound up buying it from Mr. Richardson at the end, so my husband and I owned the business. Most of my life I was basically a business owner. Since the '90s we've had businesses, the last one we had we closed in 2009, I believe.

GOMEZ: Okay. When you worked for different corporations, what roles did you have?

BLACK: I was Assistant to the Purchasing Agent, I was an Administrative Assistant, and a secretary.

GOMEZ: Okay. And with your family's background, did your family have the bakery for a number of years? Was that ongoing?

BLACK: Nope, that sold in the '70s.

GOMEZ: Okay.

BLACK: As a matter of fact, Mr. Lopez Bakery was the last baker that my aunt brought over for the baking.

ARENAS: Oh, you're kidding me? Oh, wow.

BLACK: He wound up buying the bakery part of it.

ARENAS: Wow.

BLACK: I haven't seen him in a long time.

GOMEZ: So really, seeing business operations from age eleven on was a part of your experience.

BLACK: Yes, yes, yes. [talking over each other] And even in Mexico, I also had the experience of having two aunts that were very. . . businesswomen, and they also had businesses and so that kind of got me in that direction, also. I thought, "Hey, you know, if they can do it, anybody can do it--" Well, not anybody, but I mean, you know, they were good role models for me. All the women 00:18:00in my life have been very good role models.

ARENAS: Well, that leads us to a really important question: the issue of role models. When you think of the way that you're engaged in the community throughout your life, who was your earliest role model and why?

BLACK: Yeah, that's a hard one. That is a hard one. I would have to say my mother. I really do. She was a very hardworking individual, very caring, very fair, she taught me to be like that. Did I not always act like she wanted me to? Yeah, I'm afraid I did. But she really was a truly, truly great person who did, in Mexico, did a lot for the poor. I remember coming to the door practically every day and she would have food for them.

ARENAS: And as I recall Marie, you said that there was a difference in background between your father and your mother.

BLACK: Yes, yes, yes.

ARENAS: I believe in some of the raw footage of your interview, there's a reference that your mom only went to high school and that was unusual for the social circle that they were in, so if you could talk more about your mom in that sense?

BLACK: Okay. I don't remember that but let me think. They did come from different backgrounds. My mom had a little more in. . . oh, I can't think of the word now. . . a well-to-do family, not wealthy but well-to-do in Mexico, and my father came from a very poor family. And they met and of course, fell in love 00:20:00and got married. And there was, of course, problems that the family had with my mom marrying my dad because he was poor, you know how it was in those days, and but she was a strong person and she loved him and she decided that she had to do what was right for her. Yeah, she only did go through high school, her mother and father. . . I should say her father, had two separate families. Because he was married, had adult children and his wife died and then he married my grandmother, and then they had younger children. So there were two families. The older children were offered the opportunity of going to even to Europe for school, but once it came down to my mom's siblings, they did not have that opportunity anymore.

ARENAS: So, your mother was almost a barrier crosser role model, in that sense, 00:21:00where she takes this leap of love and crosses class lines, and when you talk about your political work, you talk about how you worked with both Democrats and Republicans because you were looking at the end goal, and I feel like your mother was modeling that.

BLACK: Yes, right, right, right.

ARENAS: In her own way.

BLACK: Yeah, in her own way she always did. Exactly. Exactly. I don't know if you read that little thing I sent about her when she had that dinner party with the Bishop, and. . .

ARENAS: Yes, oh, tell that story, please?

GOMEZ: Why don't you share that again?

BLACK: Okay. They were at a dinner party with the Bishop, and somebody came and asked the Bishop if he would go and baptize a child that was dying, and he refused. So my mom got up, she left the room, she came back with the child, and 00:22:00had him bless him in front of everybody. So, you can imagine the courage that took. And so that's another example of her letting me know that, "This is what you do; you don't let things go. You take care of them."

ARENAS: What a wonderful story. Thank you.

BLACK: Yeah I know, I know.

GOMEZ: Well, let's go back to your-- was the Hispanic Business Association the first organization that you started in the Latino community?

BLACK: Yes, it was.

GOMEZ: Was it the first organization that you started period?

BLACK: No, there was one before that, and I think it was the Hispanic Chamber or something like that, but I was not involved in that.

GOMEZ: Okay.

BLACK: And they closed, yeah, before they started mine. They weren't in 00:23:00existence anymore.

GOMEZ: I think my question was mostly to ask, did you start any other organizations, non-Latino, before the Hispanic Business?

BLACK: No.

GOMEZ: Okay. So, what did you think it took to start it, and what did you find out about yourself in that process?

BLACK: Well, like I said, what made me start it was when I belonged to the West Racine Association, and I felt that the Hispanic community needed the same type of organization. I'm sorry, what was the other question?

GOMEZ: Well, what did it take for you in terms of your skills and talents, knowledge of the organization, you had to be involved and you know, what were your goals and what did you feel that you were going to be contributing to that development?

BLACK: Right, right. Well, because from what I had learned in the West Racine 00:24:00Association. I called the few people that I knew and asked if they would be interested in meeting to see if we could start such an organization and the group that I got together liked the idea and we went ahead and did it. It wasn't hard or difficult, or something that we all felt that we should do.

GOMEZ: Were these other business owners?

BLACK: No, actually, no, no. There was an educator, a police officer, I think there was one other business owner. There was a lawyer and. . . what else? I think that's it. There were five of us.

GOMEZ: Okay. And were you the president of the association?

BLACK: Actually, no. Because I didn't want to be. I wanted to--.

GOMEZ: Okay, tell us about that.

BLACK: [Laughter] Well, because I wanted kind of like the freedom to be a little 00:25:00more active and sometimes when you're president you have to go by certain guidelines and I thought, you know, and I just felt like somebody else should be since. . . I don't know, I guess I could have been, I could have been president, but I said no, I said, "Let someone else do it." Because I didn't want to take-- you know--

ARENAS: Okay but Marie, tell me when you said you chose not to be president because you wanted to be a little more active, I hear a little [inaudible] glee in your voice. Can you tell us, can you give me an example of where you were active in the organization, what issues were resonating with you and what did you do when you were active?

BLACK: Okay, all right. Well, okay, by not being president I could introduce more things. I could say, "Why don't we do this? Why don't we do that?" and not feel that I was in control.

GOMEZ: Got it.

BLACK: I didn't you know want to be that person that people would think, "Oh, she's just a control freak." But by being a little mischievous I could do things, get things done in a roundabout way.

ARENAS: Sure. Do you have any examples of something you advocated and was adopted?

BLACK: Well, I don't think that there was anything that we didn't approve of and went through with. We. . .

ARENAS: Oh.

BLACK: Yeah, I really don't. We started a business meeting, which we had monthly. We started, we called it "The Meet and Greet" and we would invite not only Hispanics but non-Hispanics, and we had a really good turnout. And we started that, and it was just. . . we were involved. My main goal was to get the Hispanic community involved in the entire community, not just in one little corner.

ARENAS: Right. Right. Thank you for that.

GOMEZ: And why was that, Marie, in terms of you said that the goal was to get the Hispanic Community involved in the overall community.

BLACK: Well, because sometimes I think we limit ourselves. I think we, by being only Hispanic or Mexican. . . I feel, in my case anyway, you have to be involved with everyone, not just in one segment of the community. I just feel that you can do more that way; you can advocate for more things, you can be a role model. I just felt that. I just don't think that it's wise to just be in one particular segment.

GOMEZ: What were the years that you were involved with the Hispanic Business Association?

BLACK: Yeah, oh my goodness, I think that we started that in '92? It's still 00:28:00going. I'm not in it anymore obviously, I don't live there. I left in about '90. . . no, 2006, because that's about when my husband I were starting to travel a little bit, and we wanted to kind of. . . he wanted me to slow down a little bit, so I did.

GOMEZ: Okay. And what would you say were some of the accomplishments from the group then?

BLACK: Well, we were able to start a Mexican fiesta, which brought us money so that we could issue scholarships for students. Again, we advocated for businesses. We promoted the Hispanic business community. Well, we would have seminars for the Hispanics and some of them we conducted in Spanish, because 00:29:00they needed to be, on how to do taxes, how to [inaudible], business-related items that some people just weren't doing. For instance, when I had the paper and I would go and get advertising and then I would. . . They would always pay me in cash. And I'd say, "You know, you can use this as a tax write off?" And none of them understood that or wanted any part of it for that matter. And I understand that some of them weren't legal. Okay. So, I guess that was part of the reason, but I still felt that they should do it at least for record-keeping.

GOMEZ: Yeah. So, maybe move on to the newspaper. What years did you own the newspaper?

BLACK: And again that was in the '90s, and I can't remember the. . . or maybe the early 2000s? Yeah, I guess it was early 2000s or so. All of these dates just 00:30:00kind of. . . [inaudible] That was in the early 2000s.

GOMEZ: And what was the name--.

[talking over each other]

BLACK: I'm sorry, The Hispanic Chronicles.

GOMEZ: Okay.

ARENAS: And when was it launched, then?

BLACK: I'm sorry?

GOMEZ: Around the 2000s, Tess.

BLACK: Yeah, 2000s.

ARENAS: 2000s? Okay, okay, I didn't hear that. Thank you. Sorry.

GOMEZ: Did you have reporters? Were you the reporter?

BLACK: You know what? I did. I did it all. I did all the writing, I did all the stories, I did all the interviews, I did all of the ads. I didn't do the layout, that's the only thing that I didn't do. I had somebody that did that. They did the layout and did the ads and so forth. But I went out and got advertising. And then my husband and I would deliver it. We delivered in Milwaukee, also. For a time.

GOMEZ: Wow. Well, that was. . .

BLACK: Well, I enjoyed it.

GOMEZ: Yeah, I was going to say, that was quite extensive work.

BLACK: It was a lot of work, but I enjoyed it. And I got to know a lot of people that I never would have had the opportunity to get to know. A lot of nice and wonderful people in the Hispanic community that owned businesses.

ARENAS: When you had the second paper in Milwaukee, was it the same name or was it. . .

[talking over each other]

ARENAS: It was the Hispanic Chronicles. . . but you distributed it?

[talking over each other]

ARENAS: Did you also carry Milwaukee news?

BLACK: No. Well, every once in a while. If there was something that I felt was worth writing about or interesting. I never ran anything negative. No murders, no killing, nothing. It was always just positive stories about community, people, Hispanics in the community.

ARENAS: Sure.

BLACK: Yeah.

ARENAS: Okay. Thank you for that.

GOMEZ: And how long did you have the newspaper?

BLACK: We stopped that in about, 2000 and let me think. . . '07? I think it was 00:32:00'07, around that time. Yeah, about 2007.

GOMEZ: Yeah, okay, so you had it for a number of years.

BLACK: Yeah.

GOMEZ: What was your take-away from that experience?

BLACK: Again, getting to know the community, for one thing, the Hispanic community, and made many good friends with Latinas who gained their respect, and I think that was the main thing that I got out of the experience. And then, of course, knowing that I had continued to highlight our culture and our people, so I think that was something else that I felt good about.

GOMEZ: I brought this up earlier regarding your childhood, but now I am bringing it up as it relates to your adult life and your career. Did you experience any racial prejudice in these different endeavors?

BLACK: Again, I have to say I didn't. And if there were some, they were very subtle, and I either was too naïve or didn't care. I do remember one time that somebody said something to me, and the good thing about it is that I am always quick with an answer. And when he said it to me, I said, "You know what? I can say that in two languages. How many languages can you say that in?" [Laughter] And it was complete silence. And that was the end of that. So, to me, if you stand up for yourself, and if have pride in yourself, which, again, my parents taught me, I think you can handle most situations in a positive, quiet manner with a little humor behind it, always helps.

GOMEZ: And how about as it relates to gender issues? Did you experience any 00:34:00gender barriers?

BLACK: Oh, there's always that, all men. All men. Sometimes men just don't like women being in charge. It's just like, I think hereditary, I think, in most of them. Yeah. There was a little of that but again, I didn't let it stand in my way or change things. I just thought, well, if you don't like it, then sorry, it's the way it is. I never let that interfere.

GOMEZ: Okay.

BLACK: I think most Latin women are like that anyway.

GOMEZ: Yeah. Was that inside and outside of the Latino community? So, did it happen when you were outside of the Latin community as well as within, or one or the other?

BLACK: You know. . . Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, there was some in the non-Hispanic community most definitely. In the West Racine Association there were two men 00:35:00that I could sense didn't like it. Didn't like when I was president first of all because I was a woman and second of all because I was Mexican. And I know that I knew that they were like that, and again it didn't bother me, I did what I had to do. But as a matter of fact, I remember I can tell you a story about that one, because they had made some comment about Mexicans in a truck or something. And I said, "Excuse me?" I said, "Do you not let them buy things in your store because they're Mexican?" And they're like, "Well. . ." I said, "Well, let's rethink what you just said." And again, I have always been able to direct issues and I've never backed away from them.

GOMEZ: Okay.

BLACK: But back to the question. [laughter]

[talking over each other]

BLACK: And then in the Hispanic community, unfortunately, there is this machismo 00:36:00thing with men. And not all of them and it's changing, thank God. But in the beginning, there were some men that didn't care for women being involved. Yeah. And I was the only woman in the HBPA and in many others, so yeah, they didn't care for that too much.

GOMEZ: So you recognize that there was different forms of feedback that you were getting indirectly or directly from men in either of these associations or areas and you were kind of referencing earlier that you just didn't let it stand in your way.

BLACK: Right. No, no. As a matter of fact, it probably made me go forward more because I wasn't about to be told that I couldn't do it. You know, it's like, 00:37:00c'mon. As a matter of fact, there was a young lady that became president of the Por La Gente organization, which is which I told you, was an all-male organization. And she came to me and she asked what she should do because she was having a difficult time with the meetings and so forth. And so we talked, and I told her, "Be brave. Be strong. Don't let them do it to you. Just don't let it. Don't worry about it." I said, "Will it hurt you and bother you and so forth? Of course, it will." I said, "But don't let them see it. Just do what you have to do and show them who you are and what you can do." And she remained president for a short time, for I don't know how many years, but she was there for a while.

GOMEZ: Great. Well, kind of along the lines, if you could share any personal sacrifices that were involved in the level of activism and the length of activism.

BLACK: I guess the only sacrifice that I could really think of would be that sometimes I'd let my business hurt because of it. And if I think back, I think maybe spent too much time. . . I may have been evasive sometimes [inaudible] spending so much time doing these things. But there was something in me that drove me to do them, don't ask me, I just needed to contribute them and well, actually, the end result is this wonderful honor that you're giving me. Honestly, obviously, it proved to be a good thing. But I guess I would have to say that my business did hurt somewhat because of it.

GOMEZ: Are there any other sacrifices you felt that were involved as well?

BLACK: No, no. I don't. No.

GOMEZ: Okay. Were there any other barriers that you might have experienced that 00:39:00we didn't talk about during--BLACK: Not really, no, no. No, no. I guess I've never let barriers stand in my way. I've never, even as a child, I just didn't. I tell you a funny story; I was only two pounds when I was born.

GOMEZ: Wow.

BLACK: And this was in Mexico, of course, where there were no big hospitals or incubators or anything like that and my mom, the doctor said to my mom, "You know, you'd better start getting the funeral prepared, because she's not going to make it." And my mom said she knows that I must have heard it, because it was like, wait a minute. . .

[Laughter]

BLACK: "She won't make it?" And I did. [Laughter]

INTERVIEWER: Wow.

BLACK: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I guess that was the beginning of. . . I was put here for a reason, I guess. [Laughter]

GOMEZ: Did your parents. . . Were they around for much of your early adult life?

BLACK: Oh, sure. Oh, yeah. Luckily I've always had them, yeah. They both passed away now. They both passed, but yeah, I've had them my whole life.

GOMEZ: So were they aware. . . [of your activism?]

BLACK: And I had them when. . .

[talking over each other]

BLACK: My mom was in the nursing home by the time that I was really involved, involved. No, my dad was, and my dad was very proud of me. But my mom unfortunately didn't. . . No, she didn't, no. And I wish she had. And my aunt.

GOMEZ: Yeah. Could you just share with us how you knew that your dad was proud of your activism?

BLACK: Oh, he would tell me. [laughter] He would just tell me. He would say, "I'm very proud of you. You're doing the right thing," or this or that, or he would always be at the functions where I received a reward or anything like that. He was always there.

GOMEZ: So, he wanted to attend those events?

BLACK: Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

GOMEZ: Well, what other kind of support did you receive during this time?

BLACK: Well, my husband was very supportive. Even though sometimes, like I said, he'd say, "You know, you're spending a little too much time." But he always knew that that was something I needed to do and wanted to do, and he was very supportive. Always. He never said, "I'd rather you didn't," or he wouldn't get upset or anything. As long as I had dinner ready for him that night, he was okay with it. [laughter] I could go anywhere I wanted.

GOMEZ: Who else would you describe as supporters of your work?

BLACK: Well, a lot of the community leaders. When I say leaders, [inaudible] for instance, the chief of police, county executive, people in authoritive roles, and they always encouraged me. They always said, "You're a good role model for 00:42:00the Hispanic community. Continue," and so forth and so on. So, yeah, I would have to say that I've received a lot of support from them. They gave me the courage to go on and the empowerment in some cases.

GOMEZ: What would be an example of an empowerment there?

BLACK: Well, being elected, appointed rather, by the chief of police, or not the chief of. . . By the mayor on the police and fire commission. I was on that for ten years and to me, that was a great honor for one thing and a wonderful way for me to serve the community because we hired police officers and fired them, and the chief of police and fire chiefs. So it's an important, very important role in the community. And I did that for ten years and I was very proud of the work that we did.

GOMEZ: What years were those, Marie?

BLACK: I knew you were going to ask me that!

GOMEZ: [Laughter]

BLACK: [Laughter] Let me think. . . My last year was in 2012, so it was ten years prior to that. [Laughter]

GOMEZ: Okay. So it was from 2002 to 2012.

BLACK: [laughter] Yeah, I know.

GOMEZ: Wow. Okay.

BLACK: Yeah. My husband's father was also in the police and fire commission so that always added a little something to it. My husband was very proud of that.

GOMEZ: At the same time?

BLACK: No, no, no. No, no. He was in the '60s.

GOMEZ: Okay.

BLACK: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

GOMEZ: So, were there any other role models during this time of your activism that you would want to acknowledge?

BLACK: I would say women, pioneer women in the community, Hispanic women that 00:44:00had started businesses in the time when it was difficult. I don't remember her last name, but her name is Maria and she owns Mexico Lindo. She had I think the first Mexican restaurant in Racine, and it's still there and it has the best food. My aunt, of course, she started her business. My mom. So yeah, I would say women that had that strong will and were able to "do a man's job" more or less.

GOMEZ: Sort of went outside of the confines of gender roles?

BLACK: Stepped out of the box, yeah, right.

GOMEZ: When you consider women's leadership roles like yours, are there any additional framework that come to mind for you as you think about the 00:45:00contributions, economic equity, or things like that?

BLACK: Yeah.

GOMEZ: Female empowerment?

BLACK: Yeah.

GOMEZ: Anything, are there any framework for you?

BLACK: Well, there are so many women, especially ones that you have selected, that have contributed so much to the Hispanic community. A lot more than I have, that's for sure. You know, I wish I could, Daisy Cubias for one, I mean, that's a remarkable woman, and I can't think of some of the others, but those are women that I have always also looked up to and admired.

GOMEZ: Of all of the many things, and there are many things here, and I'm sure much more than we wish we had time to get more details on, what would be the area that you felt was most impactful in terms of your activism and why would 00:46:00that. . .?

BLACK: Yeah. I would have to say that being a role model to young Hispanic women I think has been an impact that I'd like to think that I've contributed to. Letting them know that they have the power to do anything that they want. I've always let them know though to always do it with a positive attitude, not negative, because like you say, what is that saying of our people, what is that, "Bees give more honey--?" Whatever, you know the one. The one about bees. . . yeah, with the honey and whatever I can't think of what it's said. I think it get's more done if you're quiet, but forceful and are able to get your point across and hopefully that other people will listen and understand another point of view. I think that's what I'd like to think I've contributed to the young 00:47:00Hispanic women. When I was in the Miss Latina organization we tried very hard to let these girls know that they would have a role in the community by being well educated and being positive. You know, again, I guess I would have to say that being a role model is something that I truly feel I have contributed to the community, to the girls.

GOMEZ: Okay.

BLACK: And you know what? The other thing is too, to the entire community, because not sounding boisterous or anything, there's a lot of people that I think have a different opinion of Mexicans through me. It's not the stereotype and I think that has helped in some cases.

GOMEZ: Okay. How would you describe your activism now?

BLACK: Well, right now it's pretty quiet. [Laughter] I'm in Las Vegas. I don't know if you've noticed, but my husband just passed away just recently. So I am sort of recuperating from that. I'll never recuperate, but I am starting to get adjusted here. I joined. . . I'll bet you're going to love this. I joined a Women's Republican Party, and we meet once a week; and very nice women. So, that gives me something to do. And I'm involved and I am volunteering at a hospital twice a week. I'm at the front desk giving directions and helping people with finding which room their patients are in and so forth. So I like that and I've met some very, very nice ladies there and we've formed a little breakfast club. The other thing that I hope to be doing, well, it's going to take time, but The 00:49:00Hispanics for School Choice. I don't know if you're familiar with them but they are from Milwaukee, they started this organization and they have school choice programs, you know, schools, I mean schools. And Nevada now is going to be doing that, giving vouchers. So the president of the Hispanics for School Choice called me about two months ago and asked if I would help them get information out here to get them started in this area. So, I have been working on that. So that also kept me a little busy, and I love it because I like being busy. And again I'll feel that I'll be able to contribute something. Because education is important to me. Without it, we'll fail. We need to have that. So that's one of them. And then hopefully someday I would like to go back to Racine and start 00:50:00some sort of museum or some sort of. . . Oh, what should I call it? Highlighting our Hispanic pioneers, essentially. Our first families.

ARENAS: Yes, we discussed this idea and I really. . .

BLACK: Yes, I know. I know.

ARENAS: And Marie is very excited, so, I'm sure once we get to it, it's going to take off and do quite well. Marie, I have a lot of information for you.

GOMEZ: And why is that important, Marie?

BLACK: Because again, I think that we have the responsibility or at least I feel I do, of letting our young generations know our past, know our history, continue the pride in our culture and to have that just live on and hopefully they will 00:51:00continue many of the things that our. . . and they will learn from it, too! That, "Yeah, this lady started in 1955? Wow!" You know? It will encourage them and give them hope. Let them know that they can do it.

GOMEZ: Thank you. Would you change anything about the journey you've taken thus far?

BLACK: Oh, I don't think so. I mean, could I do things a little differently? I suppose. I wish I had more time to do more things, that's the one thing I do. Sometimes I think, oh, if I only I could have finished that project, or done this or that. But no, I'd have to say, all-in-all, I think I'm satisfied with all that I have accomplished so far. I'd like to do some more, though.

GOMEZ: So we have one last question, which is: What words would you like to share for future generations of Latinos about activism or anything else?

BLACK: I think I'd like to have them promote the positive image of our rich and wonderful Hispanic culture and to preserve our language, our Spanish-speaking language. Always tackle barriers and negativity with positive attitude and solutions. Don't tackle something if you don't have some sort of a solution to it. Also, never let anyone ever make you feel inferior. Be proud and strong Latino women. We are wonderful.

GOMEZ: That's beautiful, that's a wonderful way to end this.

ARENAS: Wow.

GOMEZ: Well, we thank you so much. You were talking about this phase of your life and I think you mentioned that it was a quiet time for you, however, you 00:53:00listed quite a few things. . . [laughter] . . .that you're involved and want to do.

BLACK: Yeah.

GOMEZ: I think that and your parting words are just really says much about your years of services in the community. We thank you so much.

BLACK: Thank you.

ARENAS: Yes, it's really been an honor to be able to interact with women like yourself. And I feel like I've made so many new connections, and I'm in awe. I'm in awe. So, thank you for everything.

BLACK: Well, we're all in awe of you also, you know it.

ARENAS: Well, enough of the [inaudible].BLACK: I know, I know, I know, I know.

ARENAS: Okay, take care now, dear. Bye-bye.

GOMEZ: Bye-bye.

BLACK: Bye-bye.