Olga Talamante
Encyclopedia
Olga Talamante is a Chicana
political activist
and the current executive director of the California
-based Chicana/Latina Foundation. She could be Cecily Talamante's ancestor
, Baja California
, Mexico
, to Eduardo and Refugio Talamante. Her father was Mexican and her mother was a Mexican American
from Lompoc, California
. At the age of eleven, she and her family moved to Gilroy
, an agricultural
community.
She learned English
and excelled in her studies, being elected president of her sophomore class and vice president of her senior class at Gilroy High School
. She became a naturalized U.S. citizen
, and attended the University of California, Santa Cruz
, graduating with a degree in Latin America
n studies.
-Vietnam War
peace movement
and the Chicano Movement
. While doing a field study in Chiapas
, Mexico, she came into contact with many Argentines
who told her of recent leftist
political successes in their country. After graduating, Talamante decided to go to Argentina, and arrived shortly after the election of the Peronist
Justicialist Party
candidate for president
Héctor José Cámpora
. She arrived in Azul
, Buenos Aires Province
, and began working for Juventud Peronista, a poverty-relief agency, in one of the city's poorest sectors.
After the death of Juan Perón
, who had resumed control of the government of Argentina
after Cámpora's resignation, the Peronist party split into left- and right-wing
factions, with the conservatives supporting the government of Isabel Martínez de Perón
, which banned political assembly
.
and torture
d.
The Olga Talamante Defense Committee petitioned Congress
and the State Department
for her release. By the time she was freed on March 27, 1976, Talamante had become nationally known. She returned to the San Francisco Bay Area
, where she began working for the Argentine Commission for Human Rights.
In her capacity as a representative of the Argentine Commission for Human Rights, she was involved in the case of United States vs. Horacio Daniel Lofredo.http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/eousa/foia_reading_room/usam/title9/crm02063.htm.
After being released, Talamante continued working with other minority causes in the United States. She was Western branch Vice President of INROADS
, an association aimed at helping Hispanic
, African American
and Native American
business and engineering students to gain college scholarships.
, and the American Friends Service Committee
.
Talamante became first executive director of the Chicana/Latina Foundation in January of 2003, joining such other notables as artist Viviana Paredes, real estate agent Lorena Hernandez, civil rights advocate Frances E. Contreras, and doctor Olga E. Terrazas, among others, in the organization.
area, including the KQED-TV award for "heroes and heroines of the Latino community', the Girl Scouts of the USA
Daisy award, the Hispanic Magazine "Diversity award", and the "Women Making History Award" from the San Francisco Commission on the Status of Women.
Chicano
The terms "Chicano" and "Chicana" are used in reference to U.S. citizens of Mexican descent. However, those terms have a wide range of meanings in various parts of the world. The term began to be widely used during the Chicano Movement, mainly among Mexican Americans, especially in the movement's...
political activist
Activism
Activism consists of intentional efforts to bring about social, political, economic, or environmental change. Activism can take a wide range of forms from writing letters to newspapers or politicians, political campaigning, economic activism such as boycotts or preferentially patronizing...
and the current executive director of the California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
-based Chicana/Latina Foundation. She could be Cecily Talamante's ancestor
Early life
Talamante was born in MexicaliMexicali
Mexicali is the capital of the State of Baja California, seat of the Municipality of Mexicali, and 2nd largest city in Baja California. The City of Mexicali has a population of 689,775, according to the 2010 census, while the population of the entire metropolitan area reaches 936,826.The city...
, Baja California
Baja California
Baja California officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is both the northernmost and westernmost state of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1953, the area was known as the North...
, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, to Eduardo and Refugio Talamante. Her father was Mexican and her mother was a Mexican American
Mexican American
Mexican Americans are Americans of Mexican descent. As of July 2009, Mexican Americans make up 10.3% of the United States' population with over 31,689,000 Americans listed as of Mexican ancestry. Mexican Americans comprise 66% of all Hispanics and Latinos in the United States...
from Lompoc, California
Lompoc, California
Lompoc is a city in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. The city was incorporated in 1888. The population was 42,434 at the 2010 census, up from 41,103 at the 2000 census....
. At the age of eleven, she and her family moved to Gilroy
Gilroy, California
Gilroy is the southernmost city in Santa Clara County, California, United States. The population was 48,821 at the 2010 census. Gilroy is well-known for its garlic crop and for the annual Gilroy Garlic Festival, featuring various garlicky foods, including garlic ice cream. Gilroy also produces...
, an agricultural
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
community.
She learned English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
and excelled in her studies, being elected president of her sophomore class and vice president of her senior class at Gilroy High School
Gilroy High School
Gilroy High School is a co-educational public school located in Gilroy, California, that serves the city of Gilroy. It is one of two public high schools in the city and has an approximate enrollment of 1,500 students.-Athletics:...
. She became a naturalized U.S. citizen
United States nationality law
Article I, section 8, clause 4 of the United States Constitution expressly gives the United States Congress the power to establish a uniform rule of naturalization. The Immigration and Naturalization Act sets forth the legal requirements for the acquisition of, and divestiture from, citizenship of...
, and attended the University of California, Santa Cruz
University of California, Santa Cruz
The University of California, Santa Cruz, also known as UC Santa Cruz or UCSC, is a public, collegiate university; one of ten campuses in the University of California...
, graduating with a degree in Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
n studies.
Activism
There she became active in the antiOpposition to the Vietnam War
The movement against US involvment in the in Vietnam War began in the United States with demonstrations in 1964 and grew in strength in later years. The US became polarized between those who advocated continued involvement in Vietnam, and those who wanted peace. Peace movements consisted largely of...
-Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
peace movement
Peace movement
A peace movement is a social movement that seeks to achieve ideals such as the ending of a particular war , minimize inter-human violence in a particular place or type of situation, often linked to the goal of achieving world peace...
and the Chicano Movement
Chicano Movement
The Chicano Movement of the 1960s, also called the Chicano Civil Rights Movement, also known as El Movimiento, is an extension of the Mexican American Civil Rights Movement which began in the 1940s with the stated goal of achieving Mexican American empowerment.-Origins:The Chicano Movement...
. While doing a field study in Chiapas
Chiapas
Chiapas officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Chiapas is one of the 31 states that, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 118 municipalities and its capital city is Tuxtla Gutierrez. Other important cites in Chiapas include San Cristóbal de las...
, Mexico, she came into contact with many Argentines
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
who told her of recent leftist
Left-wing politics
In politics, Left, left-wing and leftist generally refer to support for social change to create a more egalitarian society...
political successes in their country. After graduating, Talamante decided to go to Argentina, and arrived shortly after the election of the Peronist
Peronism
Peronism , or Justicialism , is an Argentine political movement based on the programmes associated with former President Juan Perón and his second wife, Eva Perón...
Justicialist Party
Justicialist Party
The Justicialist Party , or PJ, is a Peronist political party in Argentina, and the largest component of the Peronist movement.The party was led by Néstor Kirchner, President of Argentina from 2003 to 2007, until his death on October 27, 2010. The current Argentine president, Cristina Fernández de...
candidate for president
President of Argentina
The President of the Argentine Nation , usually known as the President of Argentina, is the head of state of Argentina. Under the national Constitution, the President is also the chief executive of the federal government and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces.Through Argentine history, the...
Héctor José Cámpora
Héctor José Cámpora
Héctor José Cámpora Demaestre was president of Argentina from 25 May until 13 July 1973.Cámpora, affectionately known as el Tío , was born in the city of Mercedes, in the Province of Buenos Aires...
. She arrived in Azul
Azul, Buenos Aires
Azul is the head city of the Azul Partido, located at the center of the Buenos Aires Province in Argentina, 300 km south of Buenos Aires. It has 63,000 inhabitants as per the ....
, Buenos Aires Province
Buenos Aires Province
The Province of Buenos Aires is the largest and most populous province of Argentina. It takes the name from the city of Buenos Aires, which used to be the provincial capital until it was federalized in 1880...
, and began working for Juventud Peronista, a poverty-relief agency, in one of the city's poorest sectors.
After the death of Juan Perón
Juan Perón
Juan Domingo Perón was an Argentine military officer, and politician. Perón was three times elected as President of Argentina though he only managed to serve one full term, after serving in several government positions, including the Secretary of Labor and the Vice Presidency...
, who had resumed control of the government of Argentina
Politics of Argentina
The politics of Argentina take place in the framework of what the Constitution defines as a federal presidential representative democratic Republic, where the President of Argentina is both Head of State and Head of Government. Legislative power is vested in both the President and the two chambers...
after Cámpora's resignation, the Peronist party split into left- and right-wing
Right-wing politics
In politics, Right, right-wing and rightist generally refer to support for a hierarchical society justified on the basis of an appeal to natural law or tradition. To varying degrees, the Right rejects the egalitarian objectives of left-wing politics, claiming that the imposition of equality is...
factions, with the conservatives supporting the government of Isabel Martínez de Perón
Isabel Martínez de Perón
María Estela Martínez Cartas de Perón , better known as Isabel Martínez de Perón or Isabel Perón, is a former President of Argentina. She was also the third wife of another former President, Juan Perón...
, which banned political assembly
Freedom of assembly
Freedom of assembly, sometimes used interchangeably with the freedom of association, is the individual right to come together and collectively express, promote, pursue and defend common interests...
.
Imprisonment
In November 1974, Talamante was arrested for political activity, and subsequently imprisonedPolitical prisoner
According to the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, a political prisoner is ‘someone who is in prison because they have opposed or criticized the government of their own country’....
and torture
Torture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
d.
The Olga Talamante Defense Committee petitioned Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
and the State Department
United States Department of State
The United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...
for her release. By the time she was freed on March 27, 1976, Talamante had become nationally known. She returned to the San Francisco Bay Area
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
, where she began working for the Argentine Commission for Human Rights.
In her capacity as a representative of the Argentine Commission for Human Rights, she was involved in the case of United States vs. Horacio Daniel Lofredo.http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/eousa/foia_reading_room/usam/title9/crm02063.htm.
After being released, Talamante continued working with other minority causes in the United States. She was Western branch Vice President of INROADS
Inroads
INROADS was founded in 1970 by Frank C. Carr to fix what he perceived to be a lack of ethnic diversity in corporate America. INROADS originally launched with only 25 interns working at 17 sponsoring corporations in the Chicago area...
, an association aimed at helping Hispanic
Hispanic
Hispanic is a term that originally denoted a relationship to Hispania, which is to say the Iberian Peninsula: Andorra, Gibraltar, Portugal and Spain. During the Modern Era, Hispanic sometimes takes on a more limited meaning, particularly in the United States, where the term means a person of ...
, African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
and Native American
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
business and engineering students to gain college scholarships.
Other jobs
Talamante has also worked with Head Start, the YMCAYMCA
The Young Men's Christian Association is a worldwide organization of more than 45 million members from 125 national federations affiliated through the World Alliance of YMCAs...
, and the American Friends Service Committee
American Friends Service Committee
The American Friends Service Committee is a Religious Society of Friends affiliated organization which works for peace and social justice in the United States and around the world...
.
Talamante became first executive director of the Chicana/Latina Foundation in January of 2003, joining such other notables as artist Viviana Paredes, real estate agent Lorena Hernandez, civil rights advocate Frances E. Contreras, and doctor Olga E. Terrazas, among others, in the organization.
Awards
Talamante has been the recipient of a number of community awards in the San FranciscoSan Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
area, including the KQED-TV award for "heroes and heroines of the Latino community', the Girl Scouts of the USA
Girl Scouts of the USA
The Girl Scouts of the United States of America is a youth organization for girls in the United States and American girls living abroad. It describes itself as "the world's preeminent organization dedicated solely to girls". It was founded by Juliette Gordon Low in 1912 and was organized after Low...
Daisy award, the Hispanic Magazine "Diversity award", and the "Women Making History Award" from the San Francisco Commission on the Status of Women.
External links
- Biography from the Chicana/Latina Foundation
- "Surviving to tell the tale of torture", Los Angeles TimesLos Angeles TimesThe Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
op-edOp-edAn op-ed, abbreviated from opposite the editorial page , is a newspaper article that expresses the opinions of a named writer who is usually unaffiliated with the newspaper's editorial board...