by Abe Asher, Jacobin
In 2006, Hugo Soto-Martinez was just weeks away from becoming the first member of his family to graduate from college when something happened that changed the course of his life.
Soto-Martinez grew up in South Los Angeles as the son of two immigrant parents who worked as street vendors. When Soto-Martinez was sixteen, his father hurt his back and became unable to work, forcing Soto-Martinez to drop out of high school and get a job at a hotel in downtown Los Angeles to help support his family.
Soto-Martinez kept the hotel job for years. He worked shifts as a food runner as he made his way through high school and then college, after which he planned to attend law school. But by 2006, things at the hotel had taken a turn for the worse. Working conditions had quickly deteriorated under new management, and eventually one of Soto-Martinez’s colleagues asked him if he wanted to try to unionize the place. He did.
Recent Posts
The Ancient History Of Socialism In North America
Take Action Now There was nothing simplistic about moving — in many ways back to earlier traditions — to a system of governance not…
New Mexico Is Providing Free Childcare For All. It’s Time For Others To Do The Same
Take Action Now The state is setting a powerful example with its first-in-the-nation plan. But the policy has support across the USBy Katrina…
Nobel Peace Prize Winner Supports Israel’s Genocide & Trump’s War On Venezuela
Take Action Now Nobel Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado is a far-right Venezuelan coup-plotter funded by the US government. She supports…
Israeli Historian Ilan Pappé: Despite Ceasefire, Palestinians Still Face “Elimination, Genocide”
Take Action Now “I hope that the world will not be misled that Israel is now ready to open a different kind of page in its relationship with…