Pioneer of Mexican-American Civil Rights: Alonso S. Perales by Cynthia E. Orozco is an impressively researched study of great breadth covering the long life and political work of a key figure in Mexican American–led activism during the twentieth century. Orozco has done immense research while situating this study within a vast and diverse set of literature covering both Perales himself and the Mexican American civil rights movement more broadly. One of the book’s largest strengths includes the author’s insistence on interweaving the life and ideologies of Perales with scholarship on broader topics such as the history of LULAC and the conceptualization of race within Mexican American-led political movements.
Much of the book covers the upbringing, career changes, and political involvement of Perales over the course of the early to mid-twentieth century. Many of these details are illuminating, helping the reader gain a deeper understanding of Perales not only as a...
University of California Press