Luisa Moreno: A Guatemalan Social Activist and Labor Leader

Luisa Moreno, born on August 30, 1907, and passing away on November 4, 1992, was a social activist from Guatemala.

She played a role in the United States labor movement by organizing workers, leading strikes, and writing pamphlets in both English and Spanish.

In 1939, she brought together the “first national Latino civil rights assembly” called the Congreso de Pueblos de Habla Española. Later, in 1950, she returned to Guatemala.

Early life Of  Luisa Moreno

Moreno, born Blanca Rosa López Rodríguez in Guatemala City, organized La Sociedad with Gabriela Mistral, successfully advocating for women’s admission to Guatemalan universities.

Disenchanted, she left for Mexico City at nineteen to pursue journalism and explore poetry.

Marrying artist Angel De León, they moved to New York City, where her daughter Mytyl was born.

The 1930 protest against Warner Bros.’s anti-Mexican film, led by Gonzalo González, resulted in tragedy, inspiring Moreno to unite Spanish-speaking communities.

Her educational journey culminated at the Catholic women’s university, College of the Holy Names in Oakland, California.

What was Luisa Moreno known For?

In 1929, during the Great Depression, Moreno worked as a seamstress in Spanish Harlem to support her family.

She organized Latina co-workers into a union and joined the Communist Party USA in 1930.

Hired as a professional organizer by the American Federation of Labor (AFL) in 1935, Moreno left her abusive husband and moved to Florida.

There, she unionized African-American and Latina cigar-rollers, participating in some violent protests with the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO).

As a UCAPAWA representative, she organized workers in Texas and Los Angeles, empowering women in union roles.

Settling in San Diego in 1937, Moreno used it as a base for nationwide activism.

In 1939, she co-organized the Spanish-speaking People’s Congress and advocated for Latino workers and Spanish Civil War refugees.

In 1940, her “Caravan of Sorrow” speech criticized discrimination against migrant Mexican workers.

Continuing her activism during World War II, Moreno addressed the Sleepy Lagoon murder trial in 1942, organizing the Sleepy Lagoon Defense Committee and facing accusations of an “anti-American conspiracy.”

Throughout the late 1940s, she represented walnut pickers in El Monte and married Gray Bemis, a Navy veteran sharing her interest in Mexican American civil rights.

In the late 1940s, Moreno established a San Diego chapter of the Mexican Civil Rights Committee, warning against racial tensions and police brutality in speeches to the Young Progressives of America chapters.

When Did Luisa Moreno Get Deported?

In the 1950s, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) carried out Operation Wetback to forcefully send Mexicans and Mexican Americans back.

They targeted labor leaders, including a woman who, although seen as polite and law-abiding, faced trouble due to her activism and past involvement with the CIO and Communist Party.

Because of this, she and her husband received threatening letters for their efforts against police brutality.

Tenney, who deemed her a “dangerous alien,” played a key role in getting her deported.

She was offered citizenship in exchange for testifying against Harry Bridges, but she refused, stating she wouldn’t be “a free woman with a mortgaged soul.”

On November 30, 1950, she and her second husband, Gray Bemis, left the U.S. through Ciudad Juárez, heading to Mexico City.

Her deportation warrant cited her past Communist Party membership, even though she had been inactive since 1935.

The couple eventually settled in Guatemala but had to flee when a 1954 CIA-backed coup ousted the progressive President Jacobo Arbenz Guzmán.

After the 1959 Cuban Revolution and the establishment of a Communist government under Fidel Castro, she taught in Cuba.

Later, she returned to Guatemala, where historians interviewed her before her death.

 Luisa  Of Moreno Legacy

Luisa Moreno played a significant role in the pre-Chicano Movement and American labor movement, but her contributions are often overlooked.

Since the 1970s, activists and historians have worked to highlight her role and give her the credit she deserves.

Muralist and professor Judy Baca, known for the Great Wall of Los Angeles, showcased Moreno’s involvement in organizing Cal San workers.

The wall, a visual history of Los Angeles, features Moreno’s image surrounded by striking workers.

Moreno’s story is part of the National Museum of American History’s “American Enterprise” installation.

On September 15, 2023, Google honored Luisa Moreno with a Google Doodle for Hispanic Heritage Month.

Summary

Luisa Moreno, a Guatemalan activist, played a key role in the U.S. labor movement.

She led workers, organized strikes, wrote pamphlets in English and Spanish, and hosted the 1939 Congreso de Pueblos de Habla Española, the first national Latino civil rights assembly.

However, due to her ties to the communist party during the second red scare, she had to retire from activism and leave the U.S.

Despite this, her legacy inspires future activists worldwide.

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