Elena Herrada was born on March 28, 1957 in Detroit, Michigan. She attended Wayne State University in Detroit, becoming involved with activism and Chicano Boricua studies. She graduated in 1980 with a degree in Criminal Justice and a major in Chicano Boricua Studies. Her motivation to graduate partially stemmed from her grandfather, who attended her graduation wearing full revolutionary regalia, shouting, “Viva Herrada!”

Emily Martinez was born in Texas in 1939, and moved to Blissfield, Michigan as a child. The oldest of ten children, Martinez came from a family with a long history of working as migrant farmers. Although her grandparents and parents grew up following the crop from La Feria, Texas to northern Michigan, Martinez’s parents ultimately settled in Blissfield in 1948 to raise their family. In transitioning from being migrant farmworkers to seasonal workers, Martinez’s family experienced racial discrimination in school, in attempting to purchase a home in a white neighborhood, and at work.

Olivia Puentes Reynolds sits for her interview with a guitar on her knee. Hers is a story of music and mythology, her activism inspired by poetry. Reynolds’ archive of health reports and radical newsletters is peppered with songs and drawings, complete with an entire teatro frontera booklet. Throughout her life, Reynolds combined art, music, and writing to stand up for social change.