By John-Michael Torres, published in the Rio Grande Guardian on March 22, 2022

Maria Gomez was hunched over onion furrows when she heard about the strike.

In 1977, Maria, her husband, small children, and three siblings were all working the onion harvest when farmworkers spontaneously walked off the job to demand higher wages and better working conditions. Her family urged her not to join. They feared losing their already meager wages and not being able to pay bills.

Maria was afraid, too. She was born on the U.S. side of the border, which made her a citizen. But her parents were undocumented, and she grew up on the Mexican side. When she moved to the U.S. at about age 15 to work the fields, she brought with her a fear of immigration officers.

She also brought with her a deep sense of right and wrong. Right away, she recognized the injustices of field work: long hours for low pay, no drinking water or bathrooms, excluded from most laws protecting workers.

Years later, when the strike came, she saw her chance to change all that.

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