Enriqueta Vasquez was born in 1930 in Cheraw, Colorado to a large family near the farm labor camps. Her parents were very political, and her mother was a curandera and midwife for the community. Her first experiences with racism took place at school: all the Mexican American children were segregated to one room and taught by only one teacher. The students were punished for speaking Spanish and there were separate swings for the Mexican American and Anglo children. But Enriqueta found her activist voice at a young age.