JOSEFINA FIERRO DE BRIGHT 1920 REFORMER AND POLITICAL ACTIVIST FIERRO DE BRIGHT JOSEFINA 1920 CIVIL RIGHTS/EQUALITY REFORM MOVEMENTS AMERICAN CULTURE BORN IN MEXICALI MEXICO JOSEFINA FIERRO LATER MOVED TO LOS ANGELES WITH HER MOTHER FIERRO'S FAMILY MOVED OFTEN HER MOTHER EARNED A LIVING BY SELLING FOOD TO MEXICAN MIGRANT WORKERS OUT OF A TRAILER THAT WAS BOTH A HOME AND A TRAVELING RESTAURANT FIERRO BRIEFLY ATTENDED THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT LOS ANGELES BEFORE MARRYING JOHN BRIGHT IN THE LATE 1930S SHE SOON BECAME POLITICALLY ACTIVE AND ORGANIZED A SUCCESSFUL BOYCOTT OF A COMPANY THAT REFUSED TO HIRE MEXICAN AMERICANS FIERRO DE BRIGHT WORKED AS A FUND RAISER AND EDUCATOR FOR EL CONGRESO A CIVIL RIGHTS ORGANIZATION FOR SPANISH SPEAKING PEOPLE IN THE UNITED STATES SHE RAN UNSUCCESSFULLY FOR CONGRESS IN 1951 DURING THE RED SCARE SHE AND MANY OTHER EL CONGRESO MEMBERS WERE ACCUSED OF BEING COMMUNIST BECAUSE OF THEIR CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVITIES SOON THEREAFTER FIERRO DE BRIGHT VOLUNTARILY LEFT THE UNITED STATES
