Interview with María Rodriguez

              Caribbean Diaspora Oral History Collection
Interview with María Rodriguez
Miami, FL, January 4, 2016
Interview asm0344000010
Interviewed by Lucrèce Louisdhon-Louinis
Recorded by Javier Carrion
Outline by Kriti Sood
Length: 00:47:44
Interview with María Rodriguez, Executive Director of the Florida Immigrant Coalition (FLIC). María was born in Kansas and grew up in Puerto Rico. She describes her background as bi-cultural; her father was from the Dominican Republic and her mother from the United States. She attended Academia de Ignacio and Academia María Reina. Her family then immigrated to the United States, and she studied at Georgetown University. She founded the Florida Immigrant Coalition and is a coalition builder. She works with many issues such as wage theft, racial justice issues, worker movements, poverty, and public health coverage. She also does defense work at local, state, and federal levels. María is a board member for several organizations and programs such as the Florida New Majority, the ACLU of Florida, the World Foundation Board in New York, and the Highlander Center in Tennessee. She has also received prestigious awards such as the Cesar Chavez Community Hero Award from the White House.
This interview forms part of the Caribbean Diaspora Oral History Collection of the University of Miami Libraries Special Collections.
This oral history expresses the views, memories and opinions of the interviewee. It does not represent the viewpoints of the University of Miami, its officers, agents, employees, or volunteers. The University of Miami makes no warranty as to the accuracy or completeness of any information contained in the interview and expressly disclaims any liability therefor.
Copyright to this interview lies with the University of Miami. It may not be reproduced, retransmitted, published, distributed, or broadcast without the permission of the University of Miami Libraries Special Collections. For information about obtaining copies or to request permission to publish any part of this interview, please contact Special Collections at asc@miami.edu.
INTERVIEW OUTLINE
 00:00:10: Introduction
 00:00:13: It is a pleasure to be here today with María Rodriguez at the Florida Immigration Coalition. Today is Monday, January 4, 2016. The year already started and you are our first interview of the year María. It is a very very good thing.
 00:00:35: Well we are just going to talk about you, what you do, who you are and that kind of thing so the next generation will get a better feel for María and who María is. So we are going to start out at the beginning. Tell us about your childhood, birthplace, and family environment.
 00:01:57: So you started at the cradle, so to speak. Very few people can say that, right? So you have siblings? Did you grow up in Puerto Rico with your siblings?
 00:03:09: That is so amazing. As a child, who was the most influential person in your life growing up?
 00:04:48: And you went to school in Puerto Rico?
 00:05:37: So as a youth, you were pretty much immersed into a lot of activities that developed more and more into coalition building skills. Are there any activities that you have done as a youth that can really show you that “I really want to take that path?”
 00:07:20: Wow, that is an amazing thing. Because for a lot of people, it takes a lot of time to make connections, you know how to make a bridge. For you in some ways you started at the cradle and everything moved towards to the path that you are now.
 00:09:13: But it takes courage María. It takes courage for … I mean there are a lot of people who do have the academia, who write wonderful books and all that stuff. But never really step out of that to make it concrete, but you have. And to me that it is quite an accomplishment just the fact that you opened the gates to see what would be out there and the reality of that movement. Because I have read somewhere that you rallied for anti-apartheid so those were movements that you really have to be a real believer.
 00:11:02: And it is right there. I can see it in your eyes. You are still very much into it with that belief, you can see that. You can hear it from your voice too.
 00:12:31: You are excited, aren’t you?
 00:13:12: But it must be from your angle watching this and being a part of this – pretty much you are being a part of history because you organized and you feel you participated, so…
 00:14:09: So you are the founder of this coalition: The Florida Immigrant Coalition.  00:16:54: So getting the coalition together, were there certain groups that you would have … to bring it to the forefront?
 00:21:04: That is the essence of what you do and therefore it is important for it to be archived in a way and I know we probably have a lot of interviews all over the place, but this one is different because it is going to be put up as a library archive. Meaning it is going to be catalogued in a way very different from a newspaper, or whatever. So that information here will be considered much more organic because of the research skills and the level of what students and researchers will find … more credibility to it also.
 00:24:44: Wow, that’s a lot. No, and it makes a lot of sense is that if anyone is an immigrant in this country in the US, everything you just said makes a lot of sense. For most of us, I’m an immigrant from Haiti and maybe 30 or something years ago, but still we all go through that process of immigration and know that you have to fight your way through.
 00:25:20: A lot of unequal treatment, and still…
 00:26:48: Yeah, so you are always walking on a very thin line because for perception, for the people you are serving, for them to see and then the status quo that they don’t know how to deal with them and how far to go.
 00:27:57: Well that is wear usually is the biggest challenge for most people because a lot of people lose track or lose focus and can be pulled into one way or another, not knowing. So that balance takes a lot.
 00:29:10: Very good, wow. But you are also a part of several other boards and you serve on so many different things. How do you manage all of it?
 00:31:03: So your mother, how many children does she have? But you are a mother? And how old? Very nice… good age.
 00:32:09: That is so absolutely true. But you just said that you do everything you can this way, so you don’t want to excel at anything and then here you are in 2015; you received the Cesar Chavez Community Hero Award. People who do things just that way do not get this award. Tell me how did this happen?
 00:34:17: I can hear you very clearly and from my perspective and listening to you and seeing you emotional, come in. I still think that out of millions of people, right a lot of the people do the same work, it does take a special individual to put all of that as a primary. It is okay to take credit for that, not for the work of everyone else, but it takes someone to be the voice, the spokesperson, all of the things you do. A lot of people would not step into those shoes and I think you know. Because I was reading about you all weekend. You would be surprised. From one article to the next, to follow through and see that type of work. I was a public librarian for 25 years; I have seen a lot of things. I was an administrative at Miami Dade public library system. And working, I have seen a lot of people come through with right intentions, but it was missing ingredients. That little speck of courage and integrity, so that you make the choice each time to see how far you can go in this direction or that direction.
 00:36:38: Yeah, what can you control and what can you actually effectively change to help others.
 00:38:47: No, but this is what this is about. This is about you and the work you do and only you can voice that. No article out there can express it just as well as you did. You know, because what I feel is that the need of the people comes first. You are giving voices to people who don’t have voices. It is more than just stamping something and saying that is what they want. The "I am here to save the world complex", because I have sat at tables as an immigrant person and I am sitting at that table listening to people who have no clue. Right? Making policies, or changing things that these people think they should have. And it is always “these” people should have. So it is very refreshing to hear something different.
 00:42:38: So if you were to put in a nutshell, what is the legacy you want to leave for the next generation? What is your legacy? How do you want people to remember you?
 00:45:04: That is empowering. An awakening yes…because we need it right now.
 00:45:49: Well that is well put together. Well thank you so much, it has been quite a great conversation. We thank you for sharing as much. Actually you were quite concrete, much of the topics you touch upon are not mentioned everyday unless you are part of the movement or you consciously look for it. And that is what is amazing. People are not informed with what is going on.
 00:46:48: you do some work there too?
 00:47:44: END OF INTERVIEW