Correction: An early edition of this story used a pronoun in reference to Marlú Carolina Abarca, who prefers them.
The Iowa Latin American Affairs Commission has the six Iowans inducted into the Iowa Latino Hall of Fame this fall.
The Hall of Fame was created in 2017 through the Iowa Latin American Affairs Commission “to ensure that the efforts of Latin American leaders are recognized, celebrated and commemorated with honor,” according to the Iowa Department of Human Rights website.
Each year, new inductees are identified at the Iowa Latino Hall of Fame’s annual ceremony, held as National Latino Heritage Month from September 15 to October 15. 15.
This year, six new winners will be inducted into the Iowa Latino Hall of Fame at 5:30 p. m. m. on October 15 at the Des Moines Art Center. Among the revered are:
Honoré Joe Gonzales was born in Yurécuaro, Michoacán, Mexico, and emigrated with his mother and siblings to sign his father in Des Moines in 1957, when he was five years old.
After taking a robber justice course from the best school, Gonzales knew he wanted to be a police officer.
“I knew they had to walk with the officers (in the class) and I think it would be interesting. I’ll try,” Gonzales said.
After high school, he applied to a cadet program with the Des Moines Police Department, but there was a problem: He was not yet a U. S. citizen. A police sergeant took Gonzales to a rite of oath of citizenship in Davenport, and for 18 years, he was still a citizen. He was hired as a cadet in the Des Moines Police Department in November 1971 and served in the police for 42 years before retiring.
He worked with many other people during his time with the police and “always thought relationships were important,” he said. When an assistant to the leader sought to launch an outreach program with the Des Moines Latino community, Gonzales volunteered.
“The last 12 or thirteen years I’ve been running there, one of the deputy chiefs at the time sought to start a program with Hispanic netpaintings because they were developing by leaps and bounds and were afraid of the police,” Gonzales said. . . “And we know the truth is that many other people were here as undocumented, and other people who lived under the radar infrequently would be victims and would not report the crimes. So I was asked to paint on that and from there, the rest of my career was essentially netpaintings and painting programs. “
He was promoted to sergeant and then to lieutenant before retiring. Gonzales also volunteered for the Iowa Latino Heritage Festival for a long time before taking the reins as CEO of Latino Resources Inc. in 2015.
“I say this country has given so much to me and my family, to my mom and my siblings that I sought to give back,” Gonzales said. the network with an organization’s festival, things like that. “
Gonzales said he was “stunned, humiliated and very honored” when he learned he would be inducted into the Iowa Latino Hall of Fame.
“Personally, my good fortune came from the other people around me, who worked around me and the places I went, like the police branch or the festival,” Gonzales said. “I have been a sociable user and my good fortune has come from relationships and building trust. For me, I don’t consider myself so unique. “
Edith Cabrera-Tello was born in Guatemala City, Guatemala, and moved to New Jersey in 1989, her fourth year of college. promoted to Parent Outreach Coordinator.
“One of the benefits of living in Iowa is that it’s here. Traffic is also better,” Cabrera-Tello said with a laugh. “I like to walk outdoors on the net and I think I can do it more here because there is more nature. And I have more opportunities to serve in the network. “
Although he almost finished his bachelor’s degree in Guatemala, he had to start over in the United States. While working, he earned a bachelor’s degree in business accounting, a master’s degree in business administration, and a doctorate in organizational leadership with a specialization in high education.
Cabrera-Tello joined the bankruptcy of the League of United Latin American Citizens, LULAC 377, as board chair in 2019. She is also a volunteer for CASA, the court-appointed special advocates for children.
Cabrera-Tello is a member of the Board of Directors of United Way Of Wapello County. Last year, he finished six years of service as a board member of Community First Credit Union.
For more than seven years, Cabrera-Tello has worked as the English Learning Center Coordinator for Indian Hills Community College. In addition to coordinating programs, managing extension services, and instructors, she also teaches English to the university’s foreign students.
It strives to take Latino students down the path of postsecondary education, whether it’s a four-year college, a technical school, or a certificate program.
Cabrera-Tello also published her first e-book this year, “Vida de Sueños,” a Spanish-language tale about respect for the ancestors of family circle and culture.
She plans to attend the Iowa Women’s Hall of Fame induction ceremony, a popularity she said was “very hard to believe. “
Emilia Marroquín was born in San Salvador, El Salvador, before moving to California in 1992.
She and her husband were hired through Iowa Beef Processors in Storm Lake and moved to Iowa in November 2000. However, the move hampered the language barrier between the circle of relatives and their rural Iowa community.
“I went to school of course in my country,” Marroquin said. “And when I came here to the United States, to California, I never went to school because, honestly, I didn’t think it was mandatory for me to go to school. because I had two jobs. And my jobs were with Spanish speakers, so I didn’t know English. “
When her son started kindergarten and none of the teachers spoke Spanish, Marroquín saw volunteering in the classroom as an opportunity to learn English skills. She also used Even Start, a family circle literacy program, to start taking English as a second language. Language classes.
After receiving from the Head Start program, a federal program that provides educational facilities and resources to low-income families, she was encouraged to apply for a task in the program. Marroquín worked for Head Start for 15 years, while obtaining his GED, associate degree and despite everything baccalaureate from the University of Buena Vista.
“I keep telling my young people that an education, no one can take it away from you,” Marroquín said. “Everything you have in your brain, it’s there forever. It is a treasure that you will have to know. nothing that no one will take away from you. “
Lately she works for the Migrant Education Program to help those moving to Storm Lake obtain a variety of networks and resources. He is also a member of the School Board of the Storm Lake Community School District.
Marroquín provides his translation skills to network members when needed. She is also involved in Salud!, a multicultural fitness coalition in Storm Lake, whose recent projects included home food delivery during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s amazing how many volunteers we have in the network to do this,” Marroquín said. “It’s amazing to see because we have children, we have seniors, other people, we have other people in the network who put boxes together and deliver food. “. “
When she won the call informing her that she would be inducted into the Iowa Latino Hall of Fame, her first reaction was, “Do you have the right person?”
“It was a surprise, and I can believe the paintings it takes to name someone,” Marroquín said. “So it’s actually humbling to hear that. “
Alexia Sanchez, winner of the 2022 Iowa Latinx Youth Leadership Award, was born in Toluca, Mexico and grew up in Des Moines.
After attending Valley High School in West Des Moines, she graduated from the University of Iowa in 2020 with a bachelor’s degree in political science and social justice with high school subjects in philosophy and Latino studies.
“It was a little busy, but it was a lot of fun,” Sanchez said of the university. not like mathematics. And all my policy categories were much more interesting, so I made the change. And it’s thanks to the counselors and mentors I’ve had that they’ve supported me. “
During her college studies, she decided to be the U. S. student representative. The Global Forum of Women Leaders held in Iceland, a three-day program that gives women leaders from around the world the opportunity to network and share concepts on how to move society forward.
Sanchez joined iowa City’s bankruptcy of the League of United Latin American Citizens and served as vice president before becoming president. During the 2020 election cycle, he worked to give the Latino electorate in Iowa City the resources and data they needed to vote, adding presidential campaigns and organizing fake caucuses.
“I was a big r in the mission, and I’m still on the mission, to make certain Latinos in this country have a voice on other platforms, whether environmental issues are their thing, or food security, housing, anything,” Sanchez said. .
In 2020, Sanchez accepted the Greater Des Moines Leadership Initiative, a program that builds on students’ leadership skills while offering one-on-one mentoring. She was also a legislative intern at the workplace of U. S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto.
Sanchez, a congresswoman with Running Start, a nonprofit that trains young women to run for public office, and a public policy fellow at the National Immigration Law Center, an organization committed to protecting and promoting immigrant rights.
“I think it’s vital that underrepresented communities have a voice, because those issues end up impacting our lives, like who we vote for and where our money goes,” Sanchez said. “I also think we didn’t participate in those conversations, and because of that, we were overlooked in decision-making, whether it’s in this country, but also within our own communities. Therefore, having a voice in policymaking can make a genuine difference in how our lives are affected. “
She most recently works as an executive partner at Supermajority, a voting rights organization focused on protecting women’s rights, where she supports the organization’s control team and special projects.
Sanchez said he was moved when he learned he would receive the Iowa Latino Youth Leadership Award.
“I think it’s such an incredible award, and there are so many other people who have been to Iowa who have done so much more than me. I feel a little unworthy,” she said.
Marlú Carolina Abarca, winner of the 2022 Iowa LGBTQIA Leadership Award, was born in Torrance, California, and grew up in North Hollywood before moving to Waukee.
They graduated from North Hollywood High School before earning a bachelor’s degree in psychology and language studies from Grinnell College.
From 2014 to 2019, Abarca was a board member and then president emeritus of Al Éxito, a Des Moines-based organization committed to promoting educational goodwill and leadership among Latino youth. Al Éxito Executive Director Dawn Martinez Oropeza encouraged Abarca to take a leadership position, and Abarca attributes his fondness for network service to his experience with the organization.
“She saw something in me and said, ‘Hey, would you like to apply for a position on the board of Al Éxito?'” said Abarca. “And since then, I’ve learned how much it means for someone like me to serve in this capacity. Because at the time, she was looking to diversify the board to be more like the fellows being served. So I think that’s one of my motivations. Since then, for all that worries me, is to make sure that other people like me, other people who look like me, are represented.
She joined the Latino Forum, an organization committed to advancing Latinos in Iowa, and the Building Better Boards Coalition in 2015.
She accepted an appointment to the Iowa Governor’s Latino Affairs Commission in 2016 and was reappointed in 2018. She has also been concerned about fundraising efforts for many local organizations, adding the Young Women Resource Center, LUNA Iowa, the Des Moines Arts Center, and Blank Park. Zoo.
Having held many roles and talents since moving to Iowa to attend school in 2010, Abarca has advice for other young people who need to get involved in the network but don’t know where to start: ask for help.
“The biggest thing you can do for yourself is ask for help. It took me a long time to know how to do it,” Abarca said. “But when you do, other people in you, your potential and your project will step forward and help you, and you can make things happen that maybe you never imagined. So if you have a dream, if you have a goal, even if you are curious, tell someone and ask them for help. , because it’s there and other people need to see you succeed. “
In the past, Abarca worked at Orchard Place, an intellectual conditioning charity for children, as a bilingual behavioral intervention specialist. She also worked at Hola America Media Group as a marketing and outreach specialist, before joining the Des Moines Public Library as a 2017 bilingual assistant.
Most recently he works in case disclosure and processing for the Iowa Division of Insurance.
Abarca ran unsuccessfully for a seat on the Des Moines City Council in 2019. He focused his crusade on the basic issues of affordable housing, ending racial discrimination, and expanding public functions and transportation.
Having noticed that many other people give back to their communities without recognition, she said that “her expectation is that they will never identify her for everything I do. “LGBTQIA Leadership Award.
“I cried,” Abarca said upon hearing the news of his award. “I feel so fortunate to be able to appreciate this popularity for things because it doesn’t happen. And so I’ve learned not to be expecting anything, but I feel really, really, really grateful for it. “
R. Samuel Braden, winner of the 2022 Robert D. Ray Award for Equity and Justice, was born in Elkhart, Indiana, before moving to Fredonia in 2009.
She earned her bachelor’s degree in Advanced Biblical Studies from Calvary University and taught at Pathway Christian School in Kalona from 2017 to 2020. When the roughly 240 citizens of the small town of Fredonia faced dissolution in 2021 due to a vacant mayoral position, Braden, who was then a member of the city council, took office.
“We are one of the oldest frequently incorporated towns in all of Iowa. Fredonia was founded in 1836,” Braden said. the user watching my young people run for a vacant city council seat. And that’s what we’ve done, and we’ve controlled it to reassemble a fully functional government of passage. “
However, heading to a rural area of Iowa City is not without its difficulties.
“We found out that there were certain racist elements here in the city who were looking to get rid of refugees, Burmese and other people living here,” Braden said. “They disguised their concerns as public safety concerns . . . but the more we talked to other people, the more we saw that they were expressing considerations that would not explain if other people were more like them. “
Braden knew that the other people of Fredonia needed more opportunities to get together and get to know their neighbors, rather than judging themselves by their differences. This year, it hosted the city’s first picnic, for which Tyson Foods agreed to supply bulk food.
The event, an opportunity to advertise the network and inspire citizens to get to know each other, is something Braden hopes will continue the year.
“We’d like to have something every year to help celebrate the network and bring other people together,” Braden said. communicating with them face to face and seeing what they literally look like. “
In addition to being mayor of Fredonia, Braden works as a pastor at Hope Bible Church in Columbus Junction and has a part-time assignment driving a propane truck.
The winner of the Robert D. Ray Award for Fairness and Justice hopes to “do what I can to live up” to the honor of the award, he said.
“I thank you,” Braden said. A lot of other people, whether they admit it or not, like to be identified by what they do. It’s encouraging and helps other people have the emotional power to keep going even if they face opposition. “
Grace Altenhofen is a journalist at Des Moines Register. Se can be reached on galtenhofen@registermedia. com or on Twitter @gracealtenhofen.