Cesar Cruz

César Cruz is a gang violence prevention advocate^[1] and Dean of Secondary Schools Program at Harvard University. He was born in Guadalajara c. 1974,^[1][2] coming to the United States as an undocumented immigrant at age 9,^[3] and holds a B.A. in history from UC Berkeley,^[4] and a doctorate in educational leadership from Harvard Graduate School of Education.^[5] On May 1, 1992, he was one of 65 people arrested marching on the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge after the acquittal of officers charged with beating Rodney King.^[1][6] In 1995, he was involved in a fifteen-day hunger strike at University of California, Irvine.^[7][8] The 1995 strike was undertaken by Cruz and others from UC Berkeley and UC Irvine to protect and promote affirmative action at UC Irvine.^[9] Cruz was later part of a 26-day hunger strike in 2004, which resulted in Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger agreeing to refinance the West Contra Costa Unified School District's high interest loans.^[10] He was keynote speaker for the Cesar Chavez Convocation at UC Santa Cruz in 2014 and Hermanos Unidos National Conference Archived 2018-04-10 at the Wayback Machine^[11] at California State University, Fullerton in 2017.^[12][13] Research at Homeboy Industries, a job skills program in the Los Angeles area for gang members, served as his Harvard doctoral capstone work.^[14][15] He was the first male Mexican-immigrant to earn a doctorate at Harvard's Education Leadership program.^[16]

He was awarded the Orange County Human Rights Award in 1995 and the Peacemaker of the Year award by the California State Senate in 2005.^[1] In 2011, he was awarded a local Jefferson Award for Public Service for his work with the Homies Empowerment program.^[17]

Bibliography

• Preciado-Cruz, César A, Revenge of the Illegal Alien: A Mexican Takes on the Empire, 2008, Oakland: Making Changes Press, OCLC 259714147
• Preciado-Cruz, César A, Norteños/Sureños : time to 'bang' for freedom : a brief history of the conflict between the Mexican Mafia and Nuestra familia (2009) (alternate title Bang For Freedom; A Brief History of Mexican Mafia, Nuestra Familia and Latino Activism in the U.S. (2015)), Oakland: Making Changes Press, OCLC 810178174
• Voces: A Journal of Chicana/Latina Studies Vol. 2, No. 2, Special Poetry Issue (Summer 1999) Published by Mujeres Activas en Letras y Cambio Social (MALCS) JSTOR 23013237

See also