Celebrating Luisa Moreno

In honor of US Hispanic Heritage Month, today’s Doodle celebrates Guatemalan American labor organizer, journalist, and activist Luisa Moreno. The artwork, depicting Moreno linking arms with people from the various communities she tirelessly advocated for, was illustrated by Guatemala City-based guest artist Juliet Menendez. 

Moreno was born “Blanca Rosa Lopez Rodrigues” in Guatemala City on August 30, 1907. As a child, her family immigrated to Oakland, California. She moved back to Guatemala as a teenager, but her education was halted as women were not allowed to attend universities at the time. In response, Moreno organized a group to lobby for a woman's right to pursue higher education. Winning this civil rights campaign sparked her lifelong passion for activism.

Moreno pursued her interest in social issues as a journalist in Mexico City for a few years before moving to New York City in 1928. Shortly after her move, a group of Latino protesters were brutalized and killed by police after speaking out against a Warner Brothers film perpetuating anti-Mexican sentiment; She later stated this incident motivated her work to unify Spanish-speaking communities. When the Great Depression struck, she began working as a seamstress at a garment factory to support her family. She immediately saw the need for labor reform as workers were underpaid for long hours and endured dangerous working conditions. 

In 1935, Moreno joined the American Federation of Labor as a professional organizer. Within that role, her work with the United Cannery, Agricultural, Packing and Allied Workers of America (UCAPAWA) took her across the country, helping workers such as cigar factory workers in the east, sugar cane laborers and pecan shellers in the South, and beet farmers and tuna packers in the West. She was eventually elected vice president of the UCAPAWA in 1941. 

In addition to her labor rights work, Moreno advocated for racial and ethnic equality. In 1938 she founded the National Congress of Spanish-Speaking Peoples — the first national Latino civil rights assembly. The group advocated for the fair treatment of Latino employees and the desegregation of schools and neighborhoods. Notably, in 1942, she established a defense committee who successfully fought for the dismissal of charges against a group of Mexican American teenagers who were arrested without evidence. 

Despite Moreno’s tireless efforts to improve the lives of thousands of US workers, her status as a labor leader made her a target for the Immigration and Naturalization Services (INS). The INS began threatening her with deportation unless she testified against fellow union leaders. Refusing to do so, she was forced to leave the US and returned to Latin America. There, she continued her work by unionizing workers in Mexico, Cuba, and Guatemala.

Thank you for dedicating your life to improving conditions for every community you touched. Here’s to you, Luisa.

Special thanks to Luisa Moreno’s granddaughter Mytyl Playford for her collaboration on this project. Below, she shares her thoughts on Luisa’s legacy.

On my last visit to my grandma in 1980s Guadalajara, Mexico, I requested we use a taxi instead of the local bus. She refused and told me "we ride with the people." This experience of riding the crowded buses with “the people" allowed me to better witness and understand the plight of the people in Latin America. This memory has stuck with me to this day and is one of the many reasons why I have a deep respect for my grandma’s dedication to the poor. 

I hope this Doodle teaches more people about Luisa’s story and her dedication to improving the lives of so many.

Pictured: Luisa Moreno

Courtesy of Lusia Moreno estate

Guest Artist Q&A with Juliet Menendez

Today’s Doodle was illustrated by Guatemala City-based guest artist Juliet Menendez. Below, she shares her thoughts behind the making of this Doodle:

Q: Why was this topic meaningful to you personally?

A: I was thrilled for the chance to work on a project celebrating a strong woman who shares my Guatemalan and bi-cultural background. But what truly inspires me and feels very meaningful today, is how Luisa Moreno was able to bring so many groups together across borders, races, and class lines to stand up.

Q: What message do you hope people take away from your doodle? 

A: I want people to see that, though our stories don’t often get told, Latinas are very much part of our shared American history and have been here, planting the seeds of our biggest social movements, since the beginning.