- Collection:
- Civil Rights in Black and Brown
- Title:
- Oral History Interview with Ben Reyes on July 14, 2016.
- Creator:
- Enriquez, Sandra
Rodriguez, Samantha
Reyes, Ben - Date of Original:
- 2016-07-14
- Subject:
- Persons
Ethnic groups
Civil rights - People:
- Reyes, Ben
- Location:
- United States, Texas, Harris County, Houston, 29.76328, -95.36327
- Medium:
- oral histories (literary works)
biographies (literary works)
interviews - Type:
- MovingImage
- Format:
- video/mp4
- Description:
- Ben Reyes was born in Burton, Texas in 1947. His family moved to Denver Harbor in Houston. The Reyes family worked as local migrant workers, picking up different crops in the surrounding areas of Houston. He faced discrimination in the schools he attended, and was even placed in Special Education classes since he only spoke Spanish. Reyes' mother was active in the community, and thus encouraged his activism as he began his community work at the age of eleven, registering people to vote. Reyes fought in the Vietnam War, and upon his return to Houston, he became involved in veteran groups that were demanding equality.He then met Lionel Castillo, who groomed him to become a politician and became a mentor. In 1972, after the creation of Single-Member districts, Reyes ran for State Representative of District 87. He and Mickey Leland employed cross-racial campaign tactics in order to win the support of African-Americans in his district. Reyes won the election. As a State Representative, he helped with the creation of single-member districts in Texas to ensure the representation of minorities in politics. In 1979, he ran for Houston City Council and became the first Mexican-American to hold a seat in council. He eventually termed out of his position. In 1992, Reyes ran against Gene Green for the U.S. House of Representatives unsuccessfully. He also discusses the current political sphere in Houston and Texas.
- Metadata URL:
- https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth987524/
- Language:
- eng
- Extent:
- 8 video recordings (1 hr., 48 min.) : sd., col.
- Original Collection:
- https://crbb.tcu.edu/interviews/interview-with-ben-reyes
- Contributing Institution:
- University of North Texas. Libraries
- Rights:
-
