Herrera shares story of reclaiming her name
Irma Herrera, the once quiet and shy kid and proud Alice, Texas native, performs in her self-written play sharing the story of reclaiming her name as a Mexican American, touring the country bringing awareness to civil rights and social justice.
“Why would I mispronounce my own name?” is a one-woman show written by Herrera. She brought the show to Texas A&M University-Kingsville Tuesday, March 7.
This was only the second time Herrera performed in Texas.
“I’ve been inspired by many, many things. Mostly, I am concerned about people treating others fairly and when we don’t bother to learn the pronunciation of someone’s name, we’re disrespectful and it is often the case that for people of color we have to make adjustments so that white Anglo-Saxon European Americans don’t have to struggle with our names and to me that’s just not fair. I’ve spent my career working for civil rights for social justice,” she said.
The play is a creative nonfiction story made up of events from her life and the historical events of Mexican Americans throughout history, from Felix Longoria and Jose Torres.
Herrera attended then Texas A&I University before transferring to St. Mary’s in San Antonio when she was 18, fulfilling her dreams to live in a big city. She eventually moved to South Bend, Ind., where she attended law school at the University of Notre Dame.
“Women’s History Month is so important because we are 50 percent of the population, and we have so much talent and we have made so many contributions to the world wide and we were kept from having a vote, kept from getting an education for thousands of years and as of the last two or three generations, women have had much greater opportunities. I think it’s important to recognize women who are on the move making change today,” she said
Herrera moved to eastern Washington early in her career where she worked representing farm workers before moving to San Francisco working with the Mexican American Legal Defense Fund.
“I found that the stories that I kept writing about, were about some form of injustice, and that often it involved the mispronunciation of someone’s name, or wanting to give someone a different name or being asked the question constantly ‘where are you really from?’ As if we are outsiders; many of us have had family here for generations, and yet many, many Latinos/Chicanos are considered not real Americans and so all of those things inspired my play,” Herrera said.
Herrera also worked as a journalist writing on issues of race, class gender and social justice.
Perla Wheeler, neighbor to Herrera growing up, helped arrange for longtime friend to perform at TAMUK.
“I had seen her show in San Antonio when she brought it and I just thought it was just so inspirational and I thought this was the best time. Women’s History Month would be the best time to get her to come,” she said. “One thing about Irma is she’s always remained very humble. She traveled the world. She’s done so much, she’s so successful, and it’s great to see her relate to other people.”
In the last 15 years of her career, Herrera headed a women’s rights organization, Equal Rights Advocates, that represented women when it came to discrimination in education and in the workplace.
“I celebrate all women who are working to do, to bring out the best of their talents and to pay it forward for other women and for people of color,” Herrera said.
Herrera now resides in San Francisco.
For more information on where the play will be performed next or to view a teaser of her play visit https://www.irmaherrera.com/