P11: After the union became visible, when Chicanos started entering college in greater
numbers, when Hispanics began running for public office in greater numbers, when our people
started asserting their rights on a broad range of issues and in many communities across this
land. The union survival, its very existence, sent out a signal to all Hispanics that we are fighting
for our dignity, that we were challenging and overcoming injustice, that we were empowering the
least educated among us, the poorest among us. The message was clear. If it could happen in
the fields, it could happen anywhere: in the cities, in the courts, in the city councils, in the state
legislatures. I didn't really appreciate it at the time, but the coming of our union signaled the start
of great changes among Hispanics that are only now beginning to be seen.