Chicano, Caribbean, Central American, and Spanish History and Culture

Vocabulary-style flashcards covering key figures, historical events, and cultural concepts across Chicano history, the Caribbean, Central America, and Spain.

Dolores Huerta

Labor organizer and civil rights activist who co-founded the United Farm Workers union alongside César Chávez.

César Chávez

Iconic labor leader who fought for the rights of farmworkers through nonviolent protest and boycotts.

Selena

Beloved Tejano music queen whose crossover success made her a cultural icon before her tragic death in 1995.

Ritchie Valens

Pioneer of rock and roll who became one of the first Mexican-American musicians to achieve mainstream success.

Ellen Ochoa

First Hispanic woman to go to space, serving as a NASA astronaut in 1993.

Carlos Santana

Legendary guitarist who blended rock, jazz, and Latin music into a globally celebrated sound.

Edward J. Olmos

Actor and activist best known for Stand and Deliver and his advocacy for the Latino community.

UFW

The United Farm Workers union, founded to fight for fair wages and humane conditions for agricultural laborers.

Bracero Program

A U.S.-Mexico agreement from 1942–1964 that brought Mexican laborers to work in American fields under often exploitative conditions.

Boicot de uvas

The grape boycott led by Chávez and Huerta urging Americans not to buy grapes until farmworkers were treated fairly.

Zoot Suit Riots

A 1943 series of attacks in Los Angeles where white servicemen violently targeted young Mexican-American men wearing zoot suits.

Tratado de Guadalupe Hidalgo

The 1848 treaty that ended the Mexican-American War and forced Mexico to cede half its territory to the United States.

"No cruzamos la frontera, la frontera nos cruzó"

A powerful phrase meaning "We didn't cross the border, the border crossed us," referencing how the U.S. expansion absorbed Mexican communities.

Compra de Gadsden

The 1853 purchase by the U.S. of additional land from Mexico, finalizing the current southwestern border.

Walkouts in East LA

The 1968 student walkouts in Los Angeles where thousands of Chicano students protested inferior education and demanded equal rights.

Bad Bunny

Global reggaeton superstar from Puerto Rico who became one of the most streamed artists in the world.

Rita Moreno

EGOT-winning actress and Puerto Rican icon best known for her role in West Side Story.

JLO

Jennifer Lopez, Bronx-born Puerto Rican entertainer and mogul who became one of the most influential pop stars of her generation.

Marc Anthony

Grammy-winning salsa singer and one of the best-selling tropical salsa artists of all time.

Lin-Manuel Miranda

Playwright and composer who created Hamilton and In the Heights, celebrating Latino stories on Broadway.

Anthony Ramos

Actor and singer of Puerto Rican descent known for Hamilton and In the Heights.

José Feliciano

Blind Puerto Rican guitarist and singer famous for his soulful rendition of "Feliz Navidad."

Luis Fonsi

Puerto Rican singer who released "Despacito," one of the most-streamed songs in history.

Huracán María

The catastrophic 2017 hurricane that devastated Puerto Rico and exposed the U.S. government's inadequate disaster response.

Ciudadanía 1917

The Jones Act of 1917 granted Puerto Ricans U.S. citizenship, though without full political rights.

Representación en congreso / derecho de votar en elecciones presidenciales

Puerto Ricans on the island cannot vote in U.S. presidential elections and have no voting representation in Congress.

US Territory

Puerto Rico is an unincorporated U.S. territory, meaning it is governed by the U.S. but its residents lack full constitutional rights.

Fidel Castro

Communist revolutionary who led Cuba from 1959 until 2008, defying the U.S. for decades and reshaping Latin American politics.

Raúl Castro

Fidel's brother who took over leadership of Cuba in 2008 and pursued limited reforms before stepping down in 2021.

Marcello Hernandez

Rising Cuban-American comedian known for his viral social media presence and Netflix specials.

Marco Rubio

Cuban-American Republican senator from Florida and prominent conservative political figure.

Ted Cruz

Texas Republican senator whose father is Cuban, making him one of the most prominent Latino conservatives in U.S. politics.

Celia Cruz

The legendary "Queen of Salsa" whose powerful voice and electrifying performances made her a global symbol of Cuban music.

José Martí

Poet and revolutionary hero who is considered the father of Cuban independence from Spain.

Desi Arnaz

Cuban-American entertainer and co-star of I Love Lucy who became one of the first Latinos to achieve massive mainstream success in Hollywood.

Cameron Díaz

Cuban-American actress who became one of Hollywood's biggest stars in the 1990s and 2000s.

Ana de Armas

Cuban-born actress who rose to global fame with roles in Knives Out and No Time to Die.

Cuban Missile Crisis

The tense 1962 standoff between the U.S. and Soviet Union over nuclear missiles placed in Cuba, bringing the world to the brink of war.

Bay of Pigs

The failed 1961 CIA-backed invasion of Cuba by Cuban exiles attempting to overthrow Fidel Castro.

Revolución

The 1959 Cuban Revolution in which Fidel Castro and his guerrilla forces overthrew dictator Fulgencio Batista and established a communist government.

Elián González / "Pies mojados"

The 1999–2000 international custody crisis over a Cuban boy rescued at sea, highlighting the "wet foot, dry foot" policy.

Marielitos

The 125,000 Cuban refugees who fled to the U.S. during the 1980 Mariel boatlift, allowed to leave by Castro in a mass exodus.

Hermanas Mirabal

The three Mirabal sisters who were murdered in 1960 for resisting the Trujillo dictatorship, becoming martyrs of resistance across Latin America.

Trujillo

Rafael Trujillo, the brutal Dominican dictator who ruled from 1930 to 1961 and committed widespread atrocities including the Parsley Massacre.

Julia Álvarez

Dominican-American author best known for In the Time of the Butterflies, which told the story of the Mirabal sisters.

Junot Díaz

Pulitzer Prize-winning Dominican-American author of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao.

Haiti y DR

Nations that share the island of Hispaniola but have a deeply complex and often painful history marked by racial tension and conflict.

Parsley Massacre

The 1937 massacre ordered by Trujillo in which thousands of Haitians living near the Dominican border were killed, identified by their pronunciation of "perejil".

Farabundo Martí

Salvadoran revolutionary and Marxist leader whose 1932 uprising was crushed, and whose name was later adopted by the FMLN guerrilla movement.

Padre Romero

Archbishop Óscar Romero of El Salvador, assassinated in 1980 while saying Mass after speaking out against military violence.

Rigoberta Menchú

Guatemalan Indigenous activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner who brought international attention to the genocide against Maya people.

Sandino

Augusto César Sandino, Nicaraguan guerrilla leader who resisted U.S. military occupation in the 1920s–30s and became a symbol of anti-imperialism.

Daniel Ortega

Nicaraguan revolutionary turned authoritarian president who led the Sandinistas to victory in 1979.

Oscar Arias

Costa Rican president who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1987 for brokering peace agreements to end Central American civil wars.

America Ferrera

Honduran-American actress and prominent advocate for Latino representation known for Ugly Betty and Barbie.

Oscar Isaac

Guatemalan-Cuban-American actor known for Star Wars, Ex Machina, and Moon Knight.

Iran-Contra Scandal

The 1980s scandal in which the Reagan administration secretly sold weapons to Iran to illegally fund Nicaraguan Contra rebels.

Guerra Civil de El Salvador

The brutal civil war from 1979–1992 in which U.S.-backed government forces fought leftist guerrillas, resulting in over 75,000 deaths.

United Fruit Company

The powerful American corporation that dominated Central American economies and politics, giving rise to the term "banana republic."

Isabel y Fernando (Los Reyes Católicos)

Queen Isabella of Castile and King Ferdinand of Aragon, whose marriage unified Spain and launched the Inquisition and Columbus's voyages.

Francisco Franco

Fascist dictator who ruled Spain from 1939 until 1975 after winning the Spanish Civil War.

Rey Juan Carlos y Reina Sofía

The king and queen who oversaw Spain's transition to democracy after Franco's death.

Rey Felipe VI y Reina Leticia

The current king and queen of Spain, who took the throne in 2014 when Juan Carlos abdicated.

Pedro Almodóvar

Spain's most celebrated filmmaker, known for bold, colorful films exploring gender, desire, and identity.

Penélope Cruz

Spanish actress and the first Spanish woman to win an Academy Award.

Pablo Picasso

Revolutionary Spanish artist who co-founded Cubism and created Guernica.

Salvador Dalí

Flamboyant Spanish surrealist painter known for dreamlike imagery like the melting clocks.

Francisco Goya

Spanish master painter whose dark works captured the horrors of war and madness.

Diego Velázquez

Baroque Spanish painter and court artist to King Philip IV, considered one of the greatest painters in Western art history.

Miguel de Cervantes

Author of Don Quixote, widely considered the first modern novel.

711 Muslim invasion

The year Muslim forces from North Africa crossed into Iberia, beginning nearly 800 years of Islamic presence in Spain.

Reconquista

The centuries-long campaign by Christian kingdoms to reclaim the Iberian Peninsula from Muslim rule, completed in 1492.

Inquisición

The Spanish Inquisition, established in 1478 to enforce Catholic orthodoxy through surveillance, torture, and execution.

1492

The year Spain expelled its Jewish population (Alhambra Decree), Columbus sailed to the Americas, and Granada fell.

Siglo de Oro

The Golden Age of Spanish art and literature in the 16th and 17th centuries, producing figures like Cervantes and Velázquez.

Spanish Armada 1588

The massive Spanish fleet sent to invade England that was defeated, marking the beginning of Spain's decline as a naval power.

Imperio Español

One of the largest empires in history, spanning the Americas, Asia, and Africa at its peak.

Caída del Imperio Español

The gradual collapse of the empire through the 19th century, culminating in the loss of Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines in 1898.

La segunda república

The Second Spanish Republic (1931), which introduced progressive reforms before being overthrown by Franco's forces.

La guerra civil 1936–1939

The devastating conflict in which Franco's Nationalist forces, aided by Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, defeated the Republican government.

Muerte de Franco 1975

An event that opened the door to Spain's transition to democracy, known as La Transición.

1981 Golpe de Estado

The attempted military coup on February 23, 1981, when Civil Guards stormed parliament; it failed because Juan Carlos publicly opposed it.