Maria Ramirez with son Alberto, a full-time organizer with the Coalition for Clean and Safe Ports

Maria Ramirez always dreamed of coming to the United States from her native Chihuahua, Mexico, to go to a university. Her parents had a different vision—they wanted her to work, but she managed to finish high school and came to the U.S. when she was 20, determined that her children would have the college education she had missed.

In fact, all six of her children—three boys and three girls ranging in age from 21 to 35—have completed college (the youngest is finishing at Loyola Marymount University). “Now,” she says, “I see my dream come true.” But Ramirez is not one to rest on her laurels.

When a LAANE organizer visited her office and told her about the more than 16,000 underpaid truck drivers at the Ports of L.A. and the health impacts of the diesel-spewing trucks they operate but cannot afford to maintain, Ramirez joined the Coalition for Clean and Safe Ports and began attending meetings of residents and reaching out to parents at Banning High School, where she directs the Parent’s Center. She sought to involve parents for the sake of their children’s health. “Every time I can help, I’m there.”

Ramirez invited the Long Beach Alliance for Children with Asthma (also a member of the Coalition) to make a presentation at the high school. She met with L.A. City Council Member Janice Hahn and helped persuade her to join the campaign. She also attended meetings of the Harbor Commissions for the Ports of L.A. and Long Beach. There she spoke about the importance of changing the system to make the drivers’ lives better and reduce pollution affecting the community.

Maria Ramirez directs the activities of the Banning High School Parent’s Center.

“I spoke of one student who has a brother with asthma, and I can see how he suffers and wants to have clean air,” Ramirez said. The Commissioners “listen when people speak.” Ramirez has a long history of community activism. A resident of San Pedro, she lived for 25 years in Wilmington where she was president of the PTA at a local middle school. From that position, she was recruited to direct the Parent’s Center at Banning High School, where she works with parents, teachers and students in a variety of programs to provide guidance to parents in dealing with their children’s problems. She views involving parents in their children’s education as key. “This is the most important time—the time when they decide about going on to university, and the parents must be involved.”

Ramirez also helps new citizens register to vote and works in political campaigns. She decided to become a citizen herself in reaction to the anti-immigrant Proposition 187 in 1994. Ramirez’s son Alberto also shares his mother’s passion for improving his community. At one meeting of the Coalition for Clean and Safe Ports, she was surprised to learn that he had just been brought on as a full-time organizer in the campaign and hadn’t yet had a chance to tell her of his new assignment.

With all her activities, what’s most important to Ramirez is her kids and “helping people like me.”