The Mexican American Historical Archives (MAHA):

Carlos Heredia, (1948) Born in Mexico City and at the age of 12yrs,, his parents migrated to Chicago, Illinois. Carlos immediately took the soccer field and avoided the various gangs that claimed Chicago neighbourhoods.

 

 'I remember going to Harrison Carter High School gym and it was filled with tall black and a few brown basketball players and I being five feet and five inches, I didn't see much I could do with basketball. So I took gym and played soccer and played it both in school and after school."

I never forgot my roots and kept on learning about my Mexican history and entering college I was fluent in Spanish and English. 

 

At Loop Jr. College (now Harold Washington College) I co-founded the Organization of Latin American Students (OLAS) and it grew for several decades. One of many demonstrations that OLAS organized and led was the Zapata March against the Elgin Watch Company.

The company placed a full-page ad with Emiliano Zapata's image with the Caption: Zapata would steal for an Elgin watch. The march to the Tribune Newspaper downtown headquarters was a success with the removal of the ad and a formal apology from the Elgin Watch Company. Carlos completed his Associate's Degree at Loop Jr. and moved on to the University of Illinois Chicago. Obtaining his BA in Education and pursuing Latin American History & Literature. he soon engaged in various community organizations, causes, and activism. 

 

In the early seventies, Carlos and his wife Mina founded Por Un Barrio Mejor a community organization in Little Village. The organization provided various services and resources to the residents and was instrumental in community organizing and changes in government programs. Carlos and Mina, proud parents of Cuitlahuac and Cuauhtemoc and five grandchildren have retired but are still active in the community. Carlos is a board member of Latinos of the Southwest (LOS), radio commentary, chairman of the Spanish Book Club, co-founder of OLAS, co-founder of Mexican American Historical Archives (MAHA), and a consultant on the history of Little Village, Pilsen, Chicano, and Mexico.