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[Music]

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I was born in Calvert Texas and that's

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central Texas it's about an hour from

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Waco it's about 30 minutes from Bryan

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Texas I don't think very far from Dallas

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although I never traveled to Dallas Waco

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was about as far as I went to go

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shopping my dad get ran a gas station he

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managed that gas station and he would

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often tell stories when we were growing

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up about how he came from Mexico City

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and he didn't know a word of English so

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he talked about his struggles you know

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he came when he was about 17 and his

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struggles of earning learning the

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language and how he'd have to go into a

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restaurant and listen to what people are

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ordering to be able to order something

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you know and then he met mom when they

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were about 21 and then they've got

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married and they had my oldest brother

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and then my second brother and then my

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sister Rachel then Ben and then I guess

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it was Toni ester Ruben and myself so

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there were eight of us I was the last

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one and I had the advantage I think

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maybe Ruben and I both had the advantage

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of seeing all my older brothers and

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sisters grow up and we always heard

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about their mistakes too you know when

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dad would sit at the dinner table and

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mom we were always we always ate

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together and it was always at dinner

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because at breakfast I guess dad would

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go off to work so early like it's 6:00

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in the morning

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you know it was dawn and he was gone in

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first grade there was a little girl my

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best friend who came to school one day

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and she said I can't play with you

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anymore and I said why she said cuz

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you're Mexican yeah are you sure I

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thought it was a disease so I went to my

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first grade teacher and I said my friend

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Ellen said I can't play with her anymore

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because I'm Mexican that's not true is

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it and the teacher said oh I don't know

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she just just didn't know how to answer

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the question you know and now it it's

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kind of amusing but at the time they

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didn't know how to deal with those

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situations and quite honestly that

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school was one that was

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at one time and my dad was able to break

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that barrier he asked the school to

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please allow my older brothers sisters

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to start school there and they didn't

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want to do it at first and he went to

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the school board and eventually he got

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his children in or those were the first

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Hispanics to ever go there and by the

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time Reuben and I were there were other

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Hispanic children were already in there

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and I guess all of that background you

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know growing up with that kind of

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support system and that strong belief

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that everybody should be treated equally

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probably played a very big role in my

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life growing up and I loved speech from

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the time I was a little girl I can

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remember learning in from getting

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information about presidents and so

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forth and I'd go to the back yard when

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my brother had cut down the mulberry

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tree because it was so messy and I'd

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climb up there and I was giving a speech

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because I had just learned about Abraham

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Lincoln and George Washington and and so

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I would speak to the hens because my

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chickens were were my pets and and you

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know I really loved doing that and so

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one day my mother said what are you

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doing I said well she saw me bringing

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all these bricks and I don't know where

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we'd gotten bricks but I was putting all

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these bricks around she said what are

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you doing I said well I'm building a

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little office this is my little brick

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office and this is this is my entrance

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to my office she's oh okay and she let

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me you know and I can do whatever and of

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course they had built me this real cute

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little Playhouse with the windows and

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the door and had a little lock on it and

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it didn't have electricity which I

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always wanted to have but I would bring

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a little candle and I would light it and

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sometimes I was there during the

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rainstorm so I had an opportunity to

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enjoy being outdoors enjoying just the

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freedom of pretending and so drama and

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acting was a big part of my life

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of course dad wanted straight A's on

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those report cards and you better not

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come back with a B and lord have mercy

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if you ever saw C on your report card I

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don't think we saw any C's but he was

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just you know really really adamant

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about that and mom was just you know the

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loving

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carrying mother but she was always

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giving you tips you know just always

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giving you a little advice and I

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remember one time I came home from the

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second grade I said you know mom the

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teacher said that I should be in the

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spelling bee what do you think that's a

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little scary and my mother was washing

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clothes I'll still remember and she said

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I think you should go for it

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we moved to Corpus at a young age

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because dad had a heart attack in about

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1958 I think or maybe it was a little

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after that 59 and they told him he

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really had to stop working so we moved

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to Corpus where I already had in 1960 a

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brother who was already practicing law

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since 53 which was William Tony had just

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graduated from Law School in 1960 and

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Esther graduated with her teaching

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degree from Baylor she had graduated I

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guess it was in 58 so everybody was

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already in Corpus so when we came most

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of my brothers and sisters were here and

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so I went to Hamlin to enroll with my

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brother Ruben who was a couple years

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older and when we got there we went in

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to visit with the counselor and a

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counselor told my dad well I know your

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children are used to making A's but

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you're not in a country school you're in

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a city school and we don't have very

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many Hispanic children here quite

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frankly and we had the cream of the crop

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so just be prepared because things could

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change and we left that office and my

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dad said don't listen to a word that

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woman said you have grown up in home

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with your mom and with me and you will

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continue to do good work so that was the

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beginning of our middle school years

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then we went on to high school at rey

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high school that was at hamlin junior

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high we went to ray high school and

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again i got really into the speech I

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started going to speech tournaments and

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and was getting a lot of success there

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and took debate I had a wonderful

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teacher I had a really good Spanish

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teacher but she expected me to know

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everything all the time and she I didn't

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raise my hand she'd call on me anyway it

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was very stressful but I'm glad she did

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it because I really listened to what she

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had to say and it was all historical it

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was just so interesting and I had I had

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just some wonderful teachers I think at

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ray high school and so when I graduated

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from Ray I went to the University of

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Houston because my brother was going to

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go to UT and you have to remember all my

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other brothers and sisters had all had

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can you go to college that was the one

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thing my parents said you must get an

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education that's your salvation and

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that's gonna be your success in life

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you've got to be successful you've got

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to get an education so we already knew

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that we knew we were going to go to

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college that was destiny I graduated

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from the University of Houston with

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Bachelor of Arts and I said gosh you

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know maybe I should go into teaching and

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my mother I remember my mother saying

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why don't you go to law school you've

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got brothers that are already practicing

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attorneys to Ruben's already in law

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school why don't you think about law

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school or you'd be the first female in

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our family and I thought gosh there were

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no females in Corpus even I think maybe

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there was one maybe and I don't even

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think yet I think it happened sometime

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during the time I was studying there

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were just no females in law and I said

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gosh your mother you know they're not

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very many females and that says it

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doesn't matter you have three brothers

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there that's why I say she'd give us a

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little tidbits of information and just

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enough to be really encouraging and I

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said well maybe I will so I found out

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quickly where I could enroll so I

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wouldn't miss too much time to get in in

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South Texas College of Law downtown was

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available so I enrolled registered and

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started law school and I loved criminal

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law of course once I got out I never

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wanted to practice criminal law I found

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my niche in immigration law and social

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security and I think immigration law

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because I knew my parents were

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immigrants and I knew what they had

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suffered and I wanted to be able to

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unite families and I think Social

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Security law because it's administrative

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law and you're helping people who who

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can't work you know because of the

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disabling condition whether it's mental

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or physical and I felt like I was giving

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you know to those people who needed help

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and didn't have anyone to really help

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them didn't have anyone to defend them

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so I think that's where my areas came in

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and I think the the family the support

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system all that helped because the

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second year that I was in college before

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law school my father died but my father

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had always and I knew my father had

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always told my second oldest brother

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William who was

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singing law here since 53 he said if

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anything happens to me I want you to

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take care of my wife and take care of

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the two younger children and he did

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there were 400 students in law school

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and if I remember correctly that there

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were like 10 women and I was one of them

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and I really never had classes with any

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other there were just so many male

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students I really never had classes with

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I don't think with any of the females

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maybe one but it was very very stressful

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and there was a lot of you know you had

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to read your cases and it was you know I

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had like 15 hours should've never taken

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15 hours at a time because it was hard

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really hard I mean it was hard enough

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that you were female and so you had to

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when the teacher called on you had to

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stand up and recite the the case and

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what happened in the case and so forth

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and then the whole class would discuss

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it and you always you had to do super

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well because you were the female and you

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didn't want the males to thank you you

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know you couldn't keep up with them so

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in a way that was good because it was

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more challenging that way but it was it

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was difficult and it was it required a

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lot of dedication a lot of time it

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didn't give you much time to party or go

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out or do anything except study I met my

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husband in 1974 and I met him at a party

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actually it was my brother Tony's party

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that I think he was holding for William

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no it was Williams home somebody was

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having a birthday and so I went with a

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date

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and so my brother Tony calls me over he

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says Oh Mary Ellen I want you to meet

272
00:11:19,930 --> 00:11:22,180
someone and I said okay and he says this

273
00:11:22,180 --> 00:11:23,769
friend of mine Mary and her husband

274
00:11:23,769 --> 00:11:25,269
Arnold is her brother David and he's

275
00:11:25,269 --> 00:11:25,720
single

276
00:11:25,720 --> 00:11:27,519
well that struck me the wrong way

277
00:11:27,519 --> 00:11:29,230
because here I was in college you know

278
00:11:29,230 --> 00:11:32,260
and I I already just finished college

279
00:11:32,260 --> 00:11:34,899
and I'm thinking why's he's introducing

280
00:11:34,899 --> 00:11:36,790
me that way this is so embarrassing and

281
00:11:36,790 --> 00:11:39,130
so I said oh well it's very nice to meet

282
00:11:39,130 --> 00:11:41,800
you and I turned around and left and

283
00:11:41,800 --> 00:11:45,040
went back to where I was socializing and

284
00:11:45,040 --> 00:11:48,670
and then later David call me at home I

285
00:11:48,670 --> 00:11:49,870
guess he didn't forget my name or

286
00:11:49,870 --> 00:11:51,670
whatever found me in the film

287
00:11:51,670 --> 00:11:53,500
and he called me and invited me to go

288
00:11:53,500 --> 00:11:55,330
someone but I wasn't there so in my when

289
00:11:55,330 --> 00:11:57,880
I came home mother says oh and a David

290
00:11:57,880 --> 00:11:59,470
Berlanga called you and I said in who's

291
00:11:59,470 --> 00:12:01,270
David Braga and he she says I don't know

292
00:12:01,270 --> 00:12:03,040
but he said that was his name I said I

293
00:12:03,040 --> 00:12:04,390
don't know what David bro

294
00:12:04,390 --> 00:12:06,390
she said okay well don't worry about it

295
00:12:06,390 --> 00:12:08,410
he just asked for you didn't leave a

296
00:12:08,410 --> 00:12:10,150
number I said ok fine so I forgot about

297
00:12:10,150 --> 00:12:13,360
it and then one day the LULAC

298
00:12:13,360 --> 00:12:15,040
organization and I was about the only

299
00:12:15,040 --> 00:12:16,930
organization you could join at the time

300
00:12:16,930 --> 00:12:18,250
there wasn't anything else but it was a

301
00:12:18,250 --> 00:12:20,620
real good one it was real strong the

302
00:12:20,620 --> 00:12:22,750
LULAC organization so anyway I joined

303
00:12:22,750 --> 00:12:27,480
the female branch and they were doing a

304
00:12:27,480 --> 00:12:31,480
one of these yes time he got and I think

305
00:12:31,480 --> 00:12:32,770
it's what it was called and it was

306
00:12:32,770 --> 00:12:35,050
before Bayfest and and they was hit at

307
00:12:35,050 --> 00:12:37,060
Booth's downtown and it was really nice

308
00:12:37,060 --> 00:12:39,220
and they closed off the street and I

309
00:12:39,220 --> 00:12:41,230
said oh I'll be a gypsy because I know

310
00:12:41,230 --> 00:12:43,300
about reading palms I learned that from

311
00:12:43,300 --> 00:12:44,800
some friends who were from India at

312
00:12:44,800 --> 00:12:47,650
school so sure enough I dressed up my

313
00:12:47,650 --> 00:12:51,490
sister made me the outfit and and so in

314
00:12:51,490 --> 00:12:53,500
order before I went out there I went to

315
00:12:53,500 --> 00:12:55,270
sell tickets so people would come to

316
00:12:55,270 --> 00:13:00,940
this thing so I found David and some

317
00:13:00,940 --> 00:13:02,260
other people that worked with him and I

318
00:13:02,260 --> 00:13:03,930
was selling them tickets so then he said

319
00:13:03,930 --> 00:13:06,010
well would you like to have a cup of

320
00:13:06,010 --> 00:13:08,260
coffee one day and I said yes and so

321
00:13:08,260 --> 00:13:13,120
after that he went to the to the psi-man

322
00:13:13,120 --> 00:13:14,650
he kinda of course I was dressed as a

323
00:13:14,650 --> 00:13:17,080
gypsy her eating hands well I want you

324
00:13:17,080 --> 00:13:20,770
to know the line to my tent was all the

325
00:13:20,770 --> 00:13:22,900
way down to the street and it was a tent

326
00:13:22,900 --> 00:13:24,280
they actually set it up and we gave you

327
00:13:24,280 --> 00:13:26,230
a lot of atmosphere some of that dry

328
00:13:26,230 --> 00:13:28,480
eyes and you know but I could read the

329
00:13:28,480 --> 00:13:31,090
hands and so I had a lot of fun doing

330
00:13:31,090 --> 00:13:34,240
that I lost my voice and that was kind

331
00:13:34,240 --> 00:13:36,040
of the beginning of our courtship and

332
00:13:36,040 --> 00:13:40,030
then for Christmas one year he gave me a

333
00:13:40,030 --> 00:13:42,460
stocking well that year December of of

334
00:13:42,460 --> 00:13:45,460
94 he gave me a stocking and so he it

335
00:13:45,460 --> 00:13:47,920
was a cute little doll stuck in there he

336
00:13:47,920 --> 00:13:51,100
knew I love dolls and so I pulled out

337
00:13:51,100 --> 00:13:54,190
the little doll and I kept getting all

338
00:13:54,190 --> 00:13:55,570
these little things the very bottom was

339
00:13:55,570 --> 00:13:57,160
this little bitty box well it was my

340
00:13:57,160 --> 00:14:00,280
engagement ring so then we planned the

341
00:14:00,280 --> 00:14:02,530
wedding for June and then June came May

342
00:14:02,530 --> 00:14:04,640
I got my results on the bar that I had

343
00:14:04,640 --> 00:14:06,890
so in June we got married so it was kind

344
00:14:06,890 --> 00:14:09,230
of a nice wedding because not only were

345
00:14:09,230 --> 00:14:10,910
we celebrating our wedding but the fact

346
00:14:10,910 --> 00:14:14,120
that I had passed my exam and we went on

347
00:14:14,120 --> 00:14:16,190
our honeymoon to birth of a yacht came

348
00:14:16,190 --> 00:14:18,860
back and I started practicing law and he

349
00:14:18,860 --> 00:14:19,730
was working with

350
00:14:19,730 --> 00:14:22,400
I think MHMR at that time and he decided

351
00:14:22,400 --> 00:14:24,680
my gosh she's got she's a an attorney

352
00:14:24,680 --> 00:14:26,510
and I've got a master's I'm gonna go

353
00:14:26,510 --> 00:14:29,030
back and get my doctorate so he went to

354
00:14:29,030 --> 00:14:33,380
A&M Kingsville and who had a Doctorate

355
00:14:33,380 --> 00:14:35,740
doctoral program and he went and got his

356
00:14:35,740 --> 00:14:38,710
doctoral degree in bilingual education

357
00:14:38,710 --> 00:14:41,210
and the one thing that we always had in

358
00:14:41,210 --> 00:14:42,560
common was this whole thing about

359
00:14:42,560 --> 00:14:44,990
education and what we wanted to do for

360
00:14:44,990 --> 00:14:46,610
our children if one day we had children

361
00:14:46,610 --> 00:14:50,110
well the first one came about a year and

362
00:14:50,110 --> 00:14:52,520
almost two years because I think we were

363
00:14:52,520 --> 00:14:55,880
married in June of 75 and she was born

364
00:14:55,880 --> 00:14:59,630
in September of 76 so it was kind of

365
00:14:59,630 --> 00:15:01,730
like a long wait till we got our first

366
00:15:01,730 --> 00:15:05,900
baby and we were so excited and so we

367
00:15:05,900 --> 00:15:07,430
started planning you know all these

368
00:15:07,430 --> 00:15:08,840
things that we were gonna be doing with

369
00:15:08,840 --> 00:15:09,140
her

370
00:15:09,140 --> 00:15:12,950
well when she was just a few months old

371
00:15:12,950 --> 00:15:15,530
I started feeling sick and then the

372
00:15:15,530 --> 00:15:17,480
doctor said oh my gosh were pregnant and

373
00:15:17,480 --> 00:15:20,810
I said okay well okay I have a baby at

374
00:15:20,810 --> 00:15:23,570
home okay well it's six months I said

375
00:15:23,570 --> 00:15:25,010
I'm just not feeling very well and the

376
00:15:25,010 --> 00:15:26,270
doctor said well we're gonna have to do

377
00:15:26,270 --> 00:15:28,580
is a scan on you and they did a scan on

378
00:15:28,580 --> 00:15:30,410
me and the people there running the

379
00:15:30,410 --> 00:15:33,590
scanner going and I went what what's the

380
00:15:33,590 --> 00:15:35,060
matter and I'm lying down you know just

381
00:15:35,060 --> 00:15:38,720
real concerned and they said and they

382
00:15:38,720 --> 00:15:40,100
looked at each other and I said what

383
00:15:40,100 --> 00:15:42,230
well just a minute let's confirm it it's

384
00:15:42,230 --> 00:15:44,450
nothing bad and then they go oh you've

385
00:15:44,450 --> 00:15:47,930
got twins so I went twins I have a baby

386
00:15:47,930 --> 00:15:48,650
at home

387
00:15:48,650 --> 00:15:52,730
what do you mean twist oh my gosh and

388
00:15:52,730 --> 00:15:54,980
then I sat up and I said oh my gosh I've

389
00:15:54,980 --> 00:15:56,330
got to call mother so I called mother

390
00:15:56,330 --> 00:15:58,670
said mother I'm having twins and my

391
00:15:58,670 --> 00:16:02,150
mother went oh how wonderful I said yes

392
00:16:02,150 --> 00:16:05,930
mother but I'm carrying it's very hard

393
00:16:05,930 --> 00:16:08,510
no that's wonderful I've always wanted

394
00:16:08,510 --> 00:16:10,580
twins in our family but she had had a 8

395
00:16:10,580 --> 00:16:15,110
and so so my mother was really the one

396
00:16:15,110 --> 00:16:17,830
and my husband's mother they

397
00:16:17,830 --> 00:16:20,080
helped us with the children she had

398
00:16:20,080 --> 00:16:21,850
watched Christina for me my oldest one

399
00:16:21,850 --> 00:16:23,830
when the twins were born I had to kind

400
00:16:23,830 --> 00:16:25,510
of I'd send the twins to my

401
00:16:25,510 --> 00:16:26,980
mother-in-law and Christina with my

402
00:16:26,980 --> 00:16:28,240
mother when Christina was two-and-a-half

403
00:16:28,240 --> 00:16:30,820
I put her in a day care program with the

404
00:16:30,820 --> 00:16:34,380
with the Baptist Church and then when

405
00:16:34,380 --> 00:16:36,520
because that's really about all we had

406
00:16:36,520 --> 00:16:38,530
available and then when my twins were

407
00:16:38,530 --> 00:16:41,110
old and if I put them in the program he

408
00:16:41,110 --> 00:16:42,640
had to be two and a half I think and

409
00:16:42,640 --> 00:16:45,160
then the last one to come was Kathy and

410
00:16:45,160 --> 00:16:46,810
Kathy was born when they were about two

411
00:16:46,810 --> 00:16:48,250
and a half when the twins were two and a

412
00:16:48,250 --> 00:16:50,260
half Christine was three and a half so

413
00:16:50,260 --> 00:16:53,710
they were pretty close in age and and

414
00:16:53,710 --> 00:16:56,020
then mother helped watch Kathy and they

415
00:16:56,020 --> 00:16:57,430
were very very close

416
00:16:57,430 --> 00:16:59,920
and my kids all came out I always felt

417
00:16:59,920 --> 00:17:02,740
that they should I knew all children in

418
00:17:02,740 --> 00:17:05,230
this world they all have a gift but I

419
00:17:05,230 --> 00:17:07,209
wanted to see if they could find their

420
00:17:07,209 --> 00:17:09,400
own gift or if sometimes we had to help

421
00:17:09,400 --> 00:17:12,390
nourish to find out what that gift was

422
00:17:12,390 --> 00:17:16,209
she got elected in 1983 I always said

423
00:17:16,209 --> 00:17:19,240
that she started out with a bank because

424
00:17:19,240 --> 00:17:21,869
it was the first time for an Hispanic

425
00:17:21,869 --> 00:17:25,060
and for a woman to be elected to the

426
00:17:25,060 --> 00:17:28,920
State Board of Education a woman and

427
00:17:28,920 --> 00:17:31,690
everybody thought that she was going to

428
00:17:31,690 --> 00:17:34,810
be coming from the valley and corpus and

429
00:17:34,810 --> 00:17:37,540
everybody was expecting and all they had

430
00:17:37,540 --> 00:17:38,950
ever heard about of the Val you know

431
00:17:38,950 --> 00:17:41,200
that was Russell neva and they said oh

432
00:17:41,200 --> 00:17:45,000
they're sending us Russell need a lawyer

433
00:17:45,000 --> 00:17:48,010
woman from the valley and they were all

434
00:17:48,010 --> 00:17:50,440
just we had already heard this through

435
00:17:50,440 --> 00:17:52,570
the grapevine that they were they were

436
00:17:52,570 --> 00:17:56,560
very worried about that but the very

437
00:17:56,560 --> 00:17:59,140
first meeting that she went to she was

438
00:17:59,140 --> 00:18:03,190
up against the establishment and she was

439
00:18:03,190 --> 00:18:07,060
dispersed by foot for young lady really

440
00:18:07,060 --> 00:18:11,740
she was in her early 30s and she was up

441
00:18:11,740 --> 00:18:15,130
against the establishment and and she

442
00:18:15,130 --> 00:18:16,300
immediately went against the

443
00:18:16,300 --> 00:18:18,910
establishment because we both agreed

444
00:18:18,910 --> 00:18:21,640
that what was happening there was

445
00:18:21,640 --> 00:18:24,250
something very wrong what I want you to

446
00:18:24,250 --> 00:18:27,370
do as private citizens and unless you

447
00:18:27,370 --> 00:18:29,770
are already on that panel what I want

448
00:18:29,770 --> 00:18:30,950
you to do

449
00:18:30,950 --> 00:18:34,040
just review the textbooks review for

450
00:18:34,040 --> 00:18:37,520
example history look for the history

451
00:18:37,520 --> 00:18:41,450
books that discuss civil rights that

452
00:18:41,450 --> 00:18:46,010
discuss for example the the geography of

453
00:18:46,010 --> 00:18:50,330
our land look for that and see if after

454
00:18:50,330 --> 00:18:52,160
you've heard the presentation from from

455
00:18:52,160 --> 00:18:55,880
our professors who I think did an

456
00:18:55,880 --> 00:18:59,510
outstanding job you can look to see if

457
00:18:59,510 --> 00:19:03,320
we have been involved like a common

458
00:19:03,320 --> 00:19:05,120
thread going throughout the book in

459
00:19:05,120 --> 00:19:09,020
history and you should find that I think

460
00:19:09,020 --> 00:19:10,970
the most important thing is to provide a

461
00:19:10,970 --> 00:19:13,190
quality education for all children and

462
00:19:13,190 --> 00:19:15,530
what I have had to face on the board is

463
00:19:15,530 --> 00:19:17,720
that when I came on board

464
00:19:17,720 --> 00:19:19,640
there were board members who thought

465
00:19:19,640 --> 00:19:21,980
that the children from the valley and

466
00:19:21,980 --> 00:19:23,570
from the Corpus Christi area the area

467
00:19:23,570 --> 00:19:26,720
that I represented were not necessarily

468
00:19:26,720 --> 00:19:28,670
children that needed the same thing that

469
00:19:28,670 --> 00:19:30,320
the children in other parts of the state

470
00:19:30,320 --> 00:19:32,300
needed and I thought well wait a minute

471
00:19:32,300 --> 00:19:33,260
there's something wrong with this

472
00:19:33,260 --> 00:19:35,360
picture my children live in Corpus

473
00:19:35,360 --> 00:19:37,790
Christi and whether they lived in Corpus

474
00:19:37,790 --> 00:19:39,350
Christi or the valley why would my

475
00:19:39,350 --> 00:19:41,870
children need anything less than what

476
00:19:41,870 --> 00:19:43,190
your children are receiving and they

477
00:19:43,190 --> 00:19:45,470
said oh well it's just that there's

478
00:19:45,470 --> 00:19:47,150
different categories of kids you've got

479
00:19:47,150 --> 00:19:49,220
kids who couldn't really learn material

480
00:19:49,220 --> 00:19:51,440
and you've got children who who struggle

481
00:19:51,440 --> 00:19:52,730
with that and so we have to prepare

482
00:19:52,730 --> 00:19:54,860
books in a different manner for those

483
00:19:54,860 --> 00:19:55,340
children

484
00:19:55,340 --> 00:19:56,630
I said you're telling me that the

485
00:19:56,630 --> 00:19:58,880
children that I represent are not

486
00:19:58,880 --> 00:20:00,710
capable of reading the material that

487
00:20:00,710 --> 00:20:02,900
you're preparing for supposedly the kids

488
00:20:02,900 --> 00:20:05,240
in your district I'm sorry I totally

489
00:20:05,240 --> 00:20:07,820
reject that I will not be a part of this

490
00:20:07,820 --> 00:20:10,670
I want the same materials for my

491
00:20:10,670 --> 00:20:13,130
children as I would for all the children

492
00:20:13,130 --> 00:20:14,930
across the state and that was the first

493
00:20:14,930 --> 00:20:18,260
line of battle there was a history book

494
00:20:18,260 --> 00:20:21,230
that was coming up for adoption and a

495
00:20:21,230 --> 00:20:24,260
lady came up and said this is a seventh

496
00:20:24,260 --> 00:20:25,490
grade history book and you have pictures

497
00:20:25,490 --> 00:20:27,560
selena quintanilla in here and I want it

498
00:20:27,560 --> 00:20:29,480
removed and I'd like to see Vicki Carr's

499
00:20:29,480 --> 00:20:32,600
picture replaced in the book and I

500
00:20:32,600 --> 00:20:34,430
looked at the history book and I turned

501
00:20:34,430 --> 00:20:36,470
to the page and I said well wait a

502
00:20:36,470 --> 00:20:38,330
minute it says this person made the

503
00:20:38,330 --> 00:20:40,310
hähnel music popular if we put Vicki

504
00:20:40,310 --> 00:20:41,960
Carr's picture in there that's not going

505
00:20:41,960 --> 00:20:43,460
to be accurate why would you want to

506
00:20:43,460 --> 00:20:44,480
remove Selena

507
00:20:44,480 --> 00:20:46,790
Quintanilla and she said because she's

508
00:20:46,790 --> 00:20:49,760
dead I said ma'am this is a history book

509
00:20:49,760 --> 00:20:52,220
everybody's dead in this book you've

510
00:20:52,220 --> 00:20:55,760
faced situations like this and you know

511
00:20:55,760 --> 00:20:57,799
you face a situation of the lady that

512
00:20:57,799 --> 00:21:00,890
comes up to you and says I want to make

513
00:21:00,890 --> 00:21:02,419
sure you're gonna include my great-great

514
00:21:02,419 --> 00:21:04,130
grandfather stephen f austin and you say

515
00:21:04,130 --> 00:21:05,150
yes ma'am

516
00:21:05,150 --> 00:21:07,429
i just also want to make sure that the

517
00:21:07,429 --> 00:21:09,169
people who were here to greet him are

518
00:21:09,169 --> 00:21:11,960
also included in the book we have always

519
00:21:11,960 --> 00:21:13,730
been advocates that she has always been

520
00:21:13,730 --> 00:21:16,010
an advocate for teachers and for

521
00:21:16,010 --> 00:21:19,669
students and and basically she's been an

522
00:21:19,669 --> 00:21:23,900
advocate for what's right and she's you

523
00:21:23,900 --> 00:21:26,059
know she's been on the board for 20-some

524
00:21:26,059 --> 00:21:29,270
odd years and every time she says I'm

525
00:21:29,270 --> 00:21:32,260
going to retire I've been there enough

526
00:21:32,260 --> 00:21:37,040
people who who she knows from all over

527
00:21:37,040 --> 00:21:38,980
the country and from all over the state

528
00:21:38,980 --> 00:21:41,870
convince her not to retire with the

529
00:21:41,870 --> 00:21:46,640
words you are the only reasonable person

530
00:21:46,640 --> 00:21:48,679
the only word of reason on that board

531
00:21:48,679 --> 00:21:52,179
because among two or three others

532
00:21:52,179 --> 00:21:55,520
everybody else is you know just not not

533
00:21:55,520 --> 00:21:57,919
thinking straight so she then they

534
00:21:57,919 --> 00:21:59,990
convince her she stays on the board and

535
00:21:59,990 --> 00:22:02,630
so here we are she is still on the State

536
00:22:02,630 --> 00:22:05,360
Board of Education and I'm very proud of

537
00:22:05,360 --> 00:22:07,390
her work she's really very courageous

538
00:22:07,390 --> 00:22:10,340
this is our opportunity to have some

539
00:22:10,340 --> 00:22:13,160
input in history because we have been

540
00:22:13,160 --> 00:22:15,049
left out of the history books and this

541
00:22:15,049 --> 00:22:16,640
has been since day one since I've been

542
00:22:16,640 --> 00:22:20,030
on the board since 1983 when they used

543
00:22:20,030 --> 00:22:22,100
to spend ten pages on talking about all

544
00:22:22,100 --> 00:22:25,100
the negative things about the Aztecs and

545
00:22:25,100 --> 00:22:28,250
I you know several of us argued well

546
00:22:28,250 --> 00:22:29,960
wait a minute why don't you talk about

547
00:22:29,960 --> 00:22:31,880
the positive things like these people

548
00:22:31,880 --> 00:22:35,419
were scientists they were mathematicians

549
00:22:35,419 --> 00:22:38,630
they did the they found cocoa and before

550
00:22:38,630 --> 00:22:40,250
Hershey's made their millions off of it

551
00:22:40,250 --> 00:22:41,960
you know that was the cocoa our plan and

552
00:22:41,960 --> 00:22:44,540
all these other wonderful things and let

553
00:22:44,540 --> 00:22:47,000
our children read about how the

554
00:22:47,000 --> 00:22:48,710
wonderful things that they did you know

555
00:22:48,710 --> 00:22:50,480
you want to tell if you negative things

556
00:22:50,480 --> 00:22:52,610
okay you know it's just like slavery why

557
00:22:52,610 --> 00:22:54,380
do they say so little about slavery

558
00:22:54,380 --> 00:22:56,600
because they say oh that's not nice for

559
00:22:56,600 --> 00:22:57,690
children to have to read

560
00:22:57,690 --> 00:22:59,850
slavery you know maybe we can just say a

561
00:22:59,850 --> 00:23:02,100
little bit less about it no talk about

562
00:23:02,100 --> 00:23:04,050
how you never want that to happen again

563
00:23:04,050 --> 00:23:05,850
how this happened and when you talk

564
00:23:05,850 --> 00:23:07,710
about discrimination talk about how it

565
00:23:07,710 --> 00:23:10,430
impacted all these people not just a few

566
00:23:10,430 --> 00:23:13,560
everybody what some education

567
00:23:13,560 --> 00:23:17,150
I mean her legacy is going to be that

568
00:23:17,150 --> 00:23:21,060
she always puts students first she

569
00:23:21,060 --> 00:23:24,890
always puts teachers first her legacy is

570
00:23:24,890 --> 00:23:28,530
that she always fought for the rights of

571
00:23:28,530 --> 00:23:32,280
children and students and teachers board

572
00:23:32,280 --> 00:23:34,710
members remember we didn't have an

573
00:23:34,710 --> 00:23:37,710
opportunity to develop this test we did

574
00:23:37,710 --> 00:23:40,980
not and our Commissioner very clearly

575
00:23:40,980 --> 00:23:43,620
told us last time

576
00:23:43,620 --> 00:23:46,530
last week in our work session that this

577
00:23:46,530 --> 00:23:49,170
standard setting is our responsibility

578
00:23:49,170 --> 00:23:51,240
this is the role but we're going to play

579
00:23:51,240 --> 00:23:53,760
but this is a very important role

580
00:23:53,760 --> 00:23:55,590
because this is the one that's going to

581
00:23:55,590 --> 00:23:58,410
impact your students we need to be very

582
00:23:58,410 --> 00:24:01,290
careful and if we're going to be careful

583
00:24:01,290 --> 00:24:04,080
and we want to set high standards as

584
00:24:04,080 --> 00:24:05,700
we've all talked about and I think we

585
00:24:05,700 --> 00:24:07,530
all agree to that and we all agree that

586
00:24:07,530 --> 00:24:11,090
it should be phased in I think our first

587
00:24:11,090 --> 00:24:13,410
commitment should be to those third

588
00:24:13,410 --> 00:24:16,200
graders who have to pass that reading

589
00:24:16,200 --> 00:24:19,100
test to go on to the next level of

590
00:24:19,100 --> 00:24:23,540
school so please support this motion and

591
00:24:23,540 --> 00:24:27,690
give us time as a group to study the

592
00:24:27,690 --> 00:24:30,900
results of the spring semester before we

593
00:24:30,900 --> 00:24:33,930
move into the next step the fact of the

594
00:24:33,930 --> 00:24:37,380
matter is that the decision that we have

595
00:24:37,380 --> 00:24:39,290
made today is going to cause so much

596
00:24:39,290 --> 00:24:41,430
consternation on some of our students

597
00:24:41,430 --> 00:24:44,960
that this is this is just a bad decision

598
00:24:44,960 --> 00:24:48,240
and I would also like to comment on that

599
00:24:48,240 --> 00:24:52,080
because of the high failure rates on the

600
00:24:52,080 --> 00:24:54,660
field test when we know that this test

601
00:24:54,660 --> 00:24:57,240
is so very different from the taas test

602
00:24:57,240 --> 00:24:59,310
because now we have the algebra and

603
00:24:59,310 --> 00:25:02,160
geometry the biology the chemistry the

604
00:25:02,160 --> 00:25:05,100
physics and if you look at the number of

605
00:25:05,100 --> 00:25:07,380
certified teachers I'd be curious to

606
00:25:07,380 --> 00:25:09,210
know if anybody knew how many certified

607
00:25:09,210 --> 00:25:09,770
teacher

608
00:25:09,770 --> 00:25:12,620
even in this room as a board member if

609
00:25:12,620 --> 00:25:14,540
you know how many certified teachers are

610
00:25:14,540 --> 00:25:16,070
in those classrooms teaching those

611
00:25:16,070 --> 00:25:18,250
courses and how many of them have

612
00:25:18,250 --> 00:25:21,170
waivers and how many of them are really

613
00:25:21,170 --> 00:25:25,160
certified in some other field and you

614
00:25:25,160 --> 00:25:27,050
know that the textbooks aren't out there

615
00:25:27,050 --> 00:25:28,940
because the social studies won't be out

616
00:25:28,940 --> 00:25:31,670
there till next fall and biology it may

617
00:25:31,670 --> 00:25:35,510
take an additional year so I think it's

618
00:25:35,510 --> 00:25:38,630
it's a very sad situation and of course

619
00:25:38,630 --> 00:25:40,460
the ones that are really going to

620
00:25:40,460 --> 00:25:42,230
struggle with this or the children and

621
00:25:42,230 --> 00:25:44,570
the parents as they see the high failure

622
00:25:44,570 --> 00:25:47,570
rates I feel that we have not really had

623
00:25:47,570 --> 00:25:50,090
a we didn't really have a sufficient

624
00:25:50,090 --> 00:25:53,210
time today to discuss and debate this

625
00:25:53,210 --> 00:25:56,540
issue because I think by casting the

626
00:25:56,540 --> 00:25:59,390
vote as it went through by the majority

627
00:25:59,390 --> 00:26:02,660
we now are going to have a high failure

628
00:26:02,660 --> 00:26:04,790
rate which is going to be something

629
00:26:04,790 --> 00:26:06,200
that's going to be difficult for you to

630
00:26:06,200 --> 00:26:09,920
explain to me her legacy is that she's

631
00:26:09,920 --> 00:26:12,679
just been a wonderful mother she's been

632
00:26:12,679 --> 00:26:17,510
a wonderful wife and she's the love of

633
00:26:17,510 --> 00:26:20,240
my life and my partner and all the good

634
00:26:20,240 --> 00:26:21,530
things that you say about a person you

635
00:26:21,530 --> 00:26:24,940
know after 33 years and and I too

636
00:26:24,940 --> 00:26:28,429
believe that in her work she strives for

637
00:26:28,429 --> 00:26:32,000
excellence and in her home life she's

638
00:26:32,000 --> 00:26:35,300
always strive to do the best for her for

639
00:26:35,300 --> 00:26:40,280
her family I would like to think that I

640
00:26:40,280 --> 00:26:44,570
have somehow inspired a child or

641
00:26:44,570 --> 00:26:48,230
children to take the challenge to either

642
00:26:48,230 --> 00:26:52,840
pursue a career or pursue their dream

643
00:26:52,840 --> 00:26:56,330
and know that they can be proud of who

644
00:26:56,330 --> 00:26:59,120
they are they don't have to be Caucasian

645
00:26:59,120 --> 00:27:01,899
to be proud

646
00:27:10,730 --> 00:28:05,949
[Music]

647
00:28:08,440 --> 00:28:16,080
ah the mighty scorpion