SAN JUAN — The hallways of the San Juan office for La Unión del Pueblo Entero are lined with poster boards, newspaper clippings and photographs documenting LUPE and The United Farm Workers’ decorated history of battles and triumphs.
There are photographs depicting countless protests and marches. The phrase, ‘Sí se puede’ is a common sight, as well as images of American labor leaders and civil rights activists including Dolores Huerta, Genoveva Puga, Rebecca Flores, Zulema Hernandez, Maria Gomez and Cesar Chavez, whose name was adopted for the road where the San Juan office sits.
Another common sight in all those images is Juanita Valdez-Cox, LUPE’s long standing executive director who retired on December 30.
Juanita Valdez-Cox talks about the injustices as she cleans out her office at La Unión del Pueblo Entero Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2023, in San Juan. (Delcia Lopez | [email protected])Juanita Valdez-Cox clenches her fists as she talks about the ‘lucha’ and about racial discrimination in the Rio Grande Valley during an interview on Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023, in San Juan. (Delcia Lopez | [email protected])Juanita Valdez-Cox looks up at a former employee/student after she receives word he got his citizenship on Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023, in San Juan. (Delcia Lopez | [email protected])Juanita Valdez-Cox walks the grounds at La Unión del Pueblo Entero (LUPE) as she makes her way to her office on Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2023, in San Juan. (Delcia Lopez | [email protected])Juanita Valdez-Cox adjusts a picture in the hallway near her office on Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2023, in San Juan. (Delcia Lopez | [email protected])A Cesar Chavez photograph is seen in the background as Juanita Valdez-Cox looks over some paperwork while at La Unión del Pueblo Entero offices on Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2023, in San Juan. (Delcia Lopez | [email protected])A political button referencing something that President George H.W. Bush said about the United Farm Workers, according to Juanita Valdez-Cox. This is part of her collection seen Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2023, in San Juan. (Delcia Lopez | [email protected])Juanita Valdez-Cox, a non-profit community organizer from La Unión del Pueblo Entero, talks about racial discrimination in the Rio Grande Valley, work with migrant children, the farm workers’ movement, labor organizing, and community organizations Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023, in San Juan. (Delcia Lopez | [email protected])Cesar Chavez and Juanita Valdez-Cox seen in a photo that hangs in her office at La Unión del Pueblo Entero Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2023, in San Juan. (Delcia Lopez | [email protected])Black and white flyers are seen in Juanita Valdez-Cox’s office at La Unión del Pueblo Entero Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2023, in San Juan. (Delcia Lopez | [email protected])Artwork at La Unión del Pueblo Entero offices on Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023, in San Juan. LUPE is committed to building stronger, healthier communities where people have the power to affect social change through community organizing and civic engagement. (Delcia Lopez | [email protected])Artwork at La Unión del Pueblo Entero offices on Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023, in San Juan. LUPE is committed to building stronger, healthier communities where people have the power to affect social change through community organizing and civic engagement. (Delcia Lopez | [email protected])
