Chicago, IL- On November 19, 2008, the last surviving son of Francisco "Pancho" Villa, General of the Mexican army during the 1916 Mexican Revolution visited Chicago’s National Museum of Mexican Art. From left to right: Ernesto Nava Villa, 92, from Pleasanton, California posed with H. Nelson Goodson, Managing Editor of El Conquistador Latino Newspaper from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The commemoration of the 98th Anniversary of the Mexican Revolution took place at the National Museum of Mexican Art, 1852 W. 19th St., which was sponsored by la Sociedad Civica Mexicana de IL.
Goodson said, "I'm proud to share my Mexican roots and rich traditional culture with my fellow friends and family. I join in the celebration along with other Mexican Nationals and Mexican Americans commemorating the 98th Anniversary of the Mexican Revolution."
Goodson originally from Laredo, Texas is the proud son of the late Marla O. Anderson who was well known for her leadership role and community activism in the early 1970’s in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Anderson was instrumental in the August 27, 1970 University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee demonstrations calling for access to higher education for Latinos. In 1970, only 14 Hispanics had been enrolled at UWM compared to 25,000 Caucasian students. “Discriminatory treatment was the norm at UWM,” according to Myriad Magazine UWM 1990.
This year (2009), will mark the 39th Anniversary of that historical event. In 1970, about 500 Latino community educational activists staged a protest, takeover and sit in at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee on August 27, 1970. Marla O. Anderson, along with Jesus Salas, Dante Navarro, Gregorio J. (Goyo) Rivera and Jose Luis Huerta-Sanchez on August 27, 1970 while engaged in a peaceful protest, were incarcerated for their persistence to change UWM policy to allow Latinos to enroll.
Their efforts in 1970 led to 85 new Latino students being admitted to UWM and the creation of a Special Assistant to the Chancellor to coordinate programs for the Spanish speaking community. UWM also created the Spanish Speaking Outreach Institute (SSOI), which served to recruit, advise and educate future generations of Hispanics on how to prepare and succeed in college. In 1996, SSOI was renamed the Roberto Hernandez Center. Their success in opening the door of higher education led to the enrollment of Latinos, Afro-Americans, Native Americans, Asians, Arab descent, and low income Caucasians to enroll in public and private colleges that finally sought enrollment by these ethnic groups. Since then, thousands of Latinos have graduated from UWM and other private colleges throughout the state of Wisconsin.
Anderson is the daughter of the late Eustorgio Ramón from Ciudad Carmargo, Tamaulipas, Mexico who was the son of the late Regino Ramón Pérez and Teodora González García, according to an article researched by The Universidad Autonoma de Tamaulipas, Instituto de Investigaciones Historicas titled “Segunda Cronicas De Camargo” by Ernesto Garza Sáenz 1998.
Ramón had migrated to El Rio Grande City, Texas U.S.A. and in 1926 he brought his six year old daughter (Anderson) to Texas and was granted permanent U.S. residency. One of Anderson’s relative was Pedro Diaz, who was well known for starting up the first shopping centers (malls) in South Texas.
She later moved to Laredo, Texas. Ramon was known as “El Leon de la Frontera,” and was a former Colonel in the Profirio Diaz Mexican army. He was in Cuba when it was liberated from Spain. Ramon took a role in the filmed “Viva Zapata” movie, according to the 70 years of Frontier History by the Sun Valley News, April 26, 1978 article. Ramon became a captain of the Pronunciados that fought along side Catarino Garza and other ranchers during the ranch disputes, and Garza's Revolution on the Texas-Mexico Border in the 1892. The Pronunciados of Catarino Garza fought against the dictatorship of don Porfirio Díaz. Ramón lived out his days in Rio Grande City where he died at the age of 96, six months after granting an interview with the Sun Valley News.
Goodson a descendant of both Marla O. Anderson and Eustorgio Ramón is well known in the local organizing community network in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Nationally, Goodson is one of the foremost respected immigration rights and reform journalist.
Goodson also was instrumental in helping to coordinate the national Immigration movement early in 2006, which drew millions of supporters for immigration rights and reform. Goodson further encouraged numerous members of the Latino entertainment world to endorse and support immigration reform throughout the nation in 2006. Photo by Victor Huyke