"Creating a Just Future {Martha Cotera}: Save Palm School and Palm Park," by Guadalupe Triana

Hats off to the legendary Martha P. Cotera for doing all she can to advocate for the preservation of both Palm School and Palm Park for future generations. 

With a proposed focus on Austin's unique history, that includes the history of East Austin's historic Mexican American community, the Tonkawa, the Trail of Tears, and other Indigenous groups like the Coauhiltecans, the Apache, and Comanche, as well as Texas' Underground Railroad legacies that highlight an important history of Black-Brown relations, this initiative will educate generations to come on a core part of Austin's history that has been overlooked. With well-documented stories of victory, survival, and resistance, this initiative will encourage and promote more research in these areas, as well as greater understanding of a neglected history that promises to foster positive intergroup relations.

Hence, Saving Palm School and Palm Park for the future, offers a unique and important opportunity for our community to both enrich, deepen, and enliven the story of our city, state, and nation. 

Please consider joining the effort, beginning with a visit to the Save-Palm-School Facebook page to get informed and take action: https://www.facebook.com/Save-Palm-School-353274911962999 Thanks, Martha, for all you do to preserve our history in ways that enrich our city for future generations to come.

-Angela Valenzuela

Creating a Just Future {Martha Cotera}

Writer, Historian, & Community Leader

Words by Guadalupe Triana  Photos by Eric Morales

---

Inside Martha Cotera’s office is a grand, wooden bookshelf that displays a colorful array of her most powerful tools to date: books. On the shelf are plenty of influential titles, like La Historia de México and The New Jim Crow, books that have clearly inspired Martha’s work through the years. 

As a professional historian and librarian, Martha’s two occupations have long been intertwined with her work in the community. “Knowledge and information are my strengths,” she explains.

These days, the writer, historian, influential Chicana feminist, and civil rights activist expresses that la lucha sigue. Martha proves that the work is far from over, and her schedule shows it. 

While there might be plenty left to do, it’s also important to step back and acknowledge what’s been achieved. Few can say that they’ve helped shape history—especially when it comes to civil rights in Texas. Even fewer can say their work has opened doors for the women after them.

Through her published works, Martha has cemented her influential status in the Chicana Feminist movement, something she doesn’t take lightly. To Martha, it’s powerful to hear young people boldly claim the feminist label, something that hasn’t always been the case. “This is despite the fact that everything has been done to suppress the power of women.”

Throughout the years, Martha’s been involved in movements and campaigns that sought to ensure that Latinx, along with other disenfranchised BIPOC populations in Austin, received access to the resources they desperately need to succeed. It all clearly inspires her work today. 

“My wish is that Austin would live up to its promise to become a progressive community for everybody,” she explains. 

She credits her inspiration to do lifelong liberation work to a value her mother taught her when she was young: to be servicial, or to be helpful, and service-minded. “I saw people stepping up to help my mother navigate a foreign country, a foreign language—I  was learning from it,” Martha reflects. “I now realize I got those skills by watching people help us.”

Martha is passionate about many of the issues affecting some of the city’s most vulnerable populations, but now there’s one issue she’ll be dedicating extra time to these next few months.

Martha is focused on the reclamation of the historic Palm School and Palm Park on Cesar Chavez Street. She explains that at least nine generations of Mexican American students attended Palm School, making it a significant part of Mexican American history in Austin.

Martha, along with several other community activists, wants to ensure that the space, and the history surrounding it, are properly preserved. 

“Justice calls for an acknowledgment of this rich history,” Martha smiles.

---

Saving Palm Park
In order to preserve its cultural heritage, many Latinx community leaders are urging the county to transfer ownership of the Palm School building to the Mexican American Cultural Center, which is run by the city. 

Activists want to ensure that the space, and the history surrounding it, are preserved properly. Many are working diligently to ensure the museum also honors indigenous peoples’ history, as well as the often-overlooked Afro Mexican and Underground Railroad legacies. In order for the museum to happen, the county will have to partner with the city.

---

Contact:
savepalmschool@gmail.com 
speakupaustin.org/palmdistrict