Xavier Becerra Running for Governor of California, Family Tree by Mary Cummins

xavier becerra, family tree, parents, grandparents, siblings, mexico, mary cummins, genealogist, dna, heritage, ethnicity, ancestry, governor, california

Xavier Becerra's is running for Governor of California. Xavier Becerra was born January 26, 1958 in California. He is an attorney and politician who served as the 25th United States secretary of health and human services until January 2025. As a member of the Democratic Party, Becerra previously served as the attorney general of California from 2017 until 2021.

Xavier Becerra's family is of course from Mexico. His paternal side goes back at least eight generations in Mexico. He is of Spanish and Native Indigenous descent. His maternal side is from Mexico and farther back also from Germany. So far Becerra is 7/8 Mexican and 1/8 German. I haven't been able to go back to Spain yet from the Mexican ancestors. Grandmother Schmidt had three children before she married her husband. I assumed they were the children of a previous husband who died but I haven't yet found that information. I will now just assume the marriage I found was a second marriage for the same spouse. Sometimes people were married more than once for legal reasons. The marriage I found listed them both as single, not widowed, divorced.

I also did Xavier Becerra's tree on Geneanet. I added him to my tree. No blood relationship. Relationship through marriage. https://gw.geneanet.org/marycummins?lang=en&p=xavier&n=becerra I added him to Geneastar few years ago as a famous Mexican American politican https://en.geneastar.org/genealogy/becerraxavi/xavier-becerra I started a huge project many years ago adding Mexican, Spanish, Jewish, African American and women to Geneastar. Geneastar was mainly just the family trees of famous white guys and I felt others needed representation. I speak and read Spanish which is needed to read through very old documents written in old Spanish cursive.

Here is Xavier Becerra's father's obituary.

"Manuel Guerrero Becerra, 91, passed away peacefully at home in Sacramento, CA on January 1, 2020, surrounded by his loving wife Maria Teresa and family. "Hardworking, devoted, humble and true" describes the man his family knew affectionately as Pop. Manuel was born in Sacramento on July 14, 1928, the eldest of eight children to Heliodoro and Otilia Becerra. Raised in the shadow of the Great Depression, long before he became a teenager, Manuel began working to help support his family. His parents moved the family to Tijuana, Mexico while he was a child, where he began to shine shoes or sell fruits picked from his father's farm after school. When he returned to California as a young teenager, living with relatives, he learned schools made little effort to teach an industrious "migrant", but employers were intent on hiring him. For several years, Manuel worked as a farm worker along the spine of Highway 99 and as a railroad worker for Southern Pacific Railroad. In 1953, he married the love of his life, Maria Teresa, whom he met in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico and brought to California. They settled in Sacramento where he worked as a cannery worker for Campbell Soup before beginning a decades long career as a road construction worker under the Laborer's union, Local 185 (64 year pensioned member), with Teichert Construction Co. Soon they started their family and bought their tiny first home. A decade later, with four growing children, Manuel dedicated his after-work hours building the family's second home with frequent help from friend and neighbor construction workers. For his 91 years, Manuel was a builder...the home where his children grew up...the fruits and vegetables we eat...the roads and highways we travel...the homes he and Maria Teresa bought, rented and renovated. While never within their reach, he and Maria Teresa worked to see their children enter college and serve in the military. He deeply loved this country though it took its time accepting him. His memory will be proudly and faithfully carried by Maria Teresa, his bride of 67 years; four children: Margie (Manuel) Juarez, Maria Elena (Ray) Becerra Rivera, Xavier (Carolina), and Teresa (Roy Fessenden) Tulp; ten grandchildren: Christy, Steven, Eric, Michael, Adrienne, Adam, Anelisa, Clarisa, Olivia, and Natalia; and three great-grandchildren: Olivia, Lily and Gabriel. He is survived by siblings Alfredo (Mercedes), Heliodoro (Velia), and Gloria, and a loving extended family. Manuel was preceded in death by his parents Heliodoro and Otilia, his siblings Angel, Dolores (Max) Hernandez, Consuelo (Miguel) Gomez, and Jose (Elena). From an early age, Manuel learned to rise with the sun. As the sun set on the first day of 2020, the angels took our beloved Manuel to his lasting home in heaven where he is no doubt, tools in hand, building. He is forever loved, and we will always build in his honor. Private services will be held for Manuel in Sacramento. "

Parents, grandparents, dna, ethnicity, ancestry, heritage, children, siblings, mexico, germany

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Cesar Chavez Family Tree, Ancestry, DNA, Heritage, Ethnicity by Mary Cummins, Maria Rivera genealogist

Cesar Chavez family tree, ancestry, wife, children, dna, heritage, mary cummins, genealogist

I did Cesar Chavez family tree for Geneastar many years ago. I also did Dolores Fernandez Huerta's family tree. Below is Cesar Chavez family tree. Here is the link to the tree I did on Geneastar https://en.geneastar.org/genealogy/chavezcesar/cesar-chavez I just added his two daughters with Dolores Huerta.

Cesar Chavez family tree, ancestry, wife, children, dna, heritage, mary cummins, genealogist

Here is the tree I did for Dolores Fernandez Chavez for Geneastar. Her mother's name is Chavez, a very common Mexican name. I have quite a few Chavez in my Rivera family as well. 

https://en.geneastar.org/genealogy/fernandezdo/dolores-huerta

Below are my Ancestry trees. I go back farther than five generations. Dolores had three husbands, Ralph William Head, Ventura Huerta and Richard Chavez. She has 13 children including her two daughters with Cesar Chavez. I've met her in person a few times. Very nice, very sharp, so devoted to the cause. I feel bad what she had to go through with Cesar Chavez. I can't even imagine how she felt giving her daughters to another family. Maybe the daughters figured out who their father was by doing a DNA test. Others have said that many knew who their father was for many years.

Dolores Huerta, Dolores Fernandez family tree, ancestry, husbands, children, dna, heritage, mary cummins, genealogist, Cesar Chavez

Dolores Huerta, Dolores Fernandez family tree, ancestry, husbands, children, dna, heritage, mary cummins, genealogist, Cesar Chavez

Dolores Huerta, Dolores Fernandez family tree, ancestry, husbands, children, dna, heritage, mary cummins, genealogist, Cesar Chavez

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Ofelia Rivera Esparza Altar Exhibit at Vincent Price Museum by Mary Cummins, Maria Rivera

Artist Ofelia Rivera Esparza exhibit at the Vincent Price museum at East Los Angeles college. It was wonderful learning about her life through the exhibit today. The pieces were curated so perfectly to reflect her artistic journey. I went to my first Dia de Muertos in 2006 at one of her Self Help Graphics & Art events. #altarista #artist #ofeliaesparza #ofeliarivera #vincentpricemuseum #marycummins #mariarivera  #eastlosangelescollege #losangeles #california 

Link to video of exhibit below https://youtu.be/wuH-cZ4-8qk

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What does Dia de Muertos, Day of the Dead Mean to Me as a Latina in the US by Mary Cummins, Maria Rivera

What does today November 2 Dia de los Muertos mean to me? My grandmother was born in Mexico City, Mexico in 1899. She raised me and was my mother, father and all grandparents combined. As Catholics her family honored All Souls day and would go to church for mass then visit the cemetery to care for the graves of their dearly departed. There was no big Catrina culture or Dia de Muertos festivals or parades at that time. Dia de Muertos was originally celebrated more in southern Mexico. It's been more recently popularized and amplified for tourism and commerce.

Growing up Roman Catholic with Mexican heritage our family honored All Souls day here in Los Angeles, California. We would go to church for mass and say a rosary for our loved ones who had passed. Dia de Muertos for my family was a day of honoring our deceased family members. My Nana would talk fondly about her father and siblings. Her mother died when she was 1.5 years old, father died when she was 12. She'd tell me stories about her siblings who were my Aunt Katie and Uncles Luis, Albert and Joe.

My nana is long gone today having died over 30 years ago. I've since been involved in Dia de Muerto festivals, parades and Catrina culture exploring my Latinidad and Mexican roots. Today I sometimes visit my Nana's grave in San Diego, California. I also visit her brother Albert's grave while I'm there. I'm not driving to San Diego because of car issues and cost of gas this year. I will just fondly remember my Nana and her siblings. May they rest in peace. Q.E.P.D. Here are some photos from when I visited her grave two years ago on Dia de Muertos.

#dayofthedead #diadelosmuertos #ddlm #diademuertos #mexico #losangeles #california #marycummins #mariarivera #qepd

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Tradition of the Catrina in Dia de los Muertos by Mary Cummins aka Maria Catrina Rivera Cummins

catrina, day of the dead, dia de los muertos, mexico, diego rivera, mary cummins, jose posada, calavera, garbancera, skull, skeleton, makeup, dress, hat, los angeles, california, catrine, maria rivera, maria catrina rivera

Today Dia de los Muertos aka Day of the Dead has been highly commercialized in Mexico, USA and around the world. Dia de Muertos has been mixed in with Halloween here in the United States. The fancy lady skeleton Catrina costume to some is now just a "spooky" Halloween costume. The real Catrina from Dia de los Muertos is not a scary Halloween costume at all. It has a rich and complex history starting in Mexico.

Artist Jose Guadalupe Posada (1852-1913) created the original "calavera catrina" pictured above published 1913 which he named "Calavera Garbancera." "Calavera" means "skull." "Catrina" translates roughly as "dapper" or "fancy." “Garbancera” means "chickpeas" and is a nickname for an Indigenous American (who sold chickpeas) who try to look European and deny their own heritage. They look at their own people with disdain and refuse to help them. "The Catrina hides her Mexican origins by wearing a French style hat and just her bones which make her look whiter." Posada's catrina wore a turn of the century European dress. The original engraving was part of an article, poem Posada wrote about the subject which is below in Spanish. You can read it here by clicking the image to make it larger. It is a long Spanish poem blasting Catrinas as empty, pathetic women who buy cheap jewelry and only care about their looks. They've turned their backs on their people and country. https://www.cristintierney.com/artworks/2299-jose-guadalupe-posada-remate-de-calaveras-alegres-y-sandungueras-1913/

Jose Posada was making fun of indigenous Mexicans who put on European airs. He was also showing us that we are all merely humans who will die and become skeletons. What we look like, what we wear doesn't matter. “Death is democratic. At the end, regardless of whether you are white, dark, rich or poor, we all end up as skeletons.” (Jose Posada)

Jose Posada was not the first to make calavera characters for the newspaper. Manuel Manilla also made calaveras for the paper some of which have been incorrectly credited to Posada. There were more artists before them who used calavera characters. Calaveras have been part of Mexican culture long before colonization. Real skulls were used in different ceremonies and rituals besides written documents.  

"In 1947, the Mexican muralist Diego Rivera (1886-1957) elaborated on Posada's image and created a full-scale figure that he placed in his fresco "A Dream of a Sunday Afternoon in the Alameda Park" (now in the Museo Mural Diego Rivera). Whereas Posada's print likely intended to satirize upper class women of the Porfiriato, Rivera, through various iconographic attributes that referenced indigenous cultures, rehabilitated her into a Mexican national symbol." 

The central focus of Diego's mural is the "display of bourgeois complacency and values shortly before the Mexican Revolution of 1910." Diego's catrina was a Mexican woman who wore a fancy European hat, dress and feather boa but the feather boa had the head of a serpent. The catrina is on the arm of Jose Posada. Diego as a child holds her hand as if she is his mother.

"Catrina became central to Mexican identity in part because Posada was made into the "primary artistic ancestor figure" for the generation of the Mexican Muralists. Additionally, for many years, influential Day of the Dead festivities in Mexico City were held at museums that centered on Rivera and Kahlo, where the Linares family made three dimensional versions of Posada's prints out of papier mâché. Consequently, Posada, Rivera, and Kahlo were woven into foundational urban commemorations in Mexico City. Even without the Mesoamerican attributes Rivera provided to Catrina, she still functions as a national emblem associated specifically with Mexico."

Day of the Dead is an even more complex event. Some say the origins are from the Aztec's Lady of Death. Others say it's from the Catholic influence of All Saints and All Souls day from Europe and Spain. Still others say it became popular as Mexican politicians tried to instill Mexican nationalism in its people. An interesting note is that Day of the Dead parades were not that prevalent in major cities in Mexico until after a 2015 James Bond film Spectre included one. Mexico gave the movie $14,000,000 to film in Mexico to promote Mexico. The opening sequence was filmed in Zócalo and the Centro Histórico district in Mexico City. Due to the interest raised by Spectre and the government's desire to promote the pre-Hispanic Mexican culture, the federal and local authorities decided to organise an actual "Día de Muertos" parade through Paseo de la Reforma and Centro Histórico on 29 October 2016 which was attended by 250,000 people. Before they were mainly in smaller towns. Today many Mexican cities have these events to encourage tourism and local business. The Mexican Secretary of Tourism started promoting Dia de Muertos year round in 2016 in Mexico and abroad. They even hired a catrin dressed as a mariachi.

Whatever the case as Dia de los Muertos became more popular and commercialized in Mexico and the US catrinas also became more popular. Today we have catrinas of all types. There are classic traditional catrinas similar to the original who wear a fancy old style European dress and hat while wearing skull face makeup. Some catrinas feature an Aztec lady of death fashion and headdress. Still others are more modern glam interpretations of the catrina with large quinceanera dresses and flower crowns. Many have sugar skull makeup and face painting. There are even catrine (masculine) contests at most Dia de los Muertos events. These contests include catrines or male versions of the catrina. The male version can just be a dapper well dressed gentleman or a mariachi. The possibilities are endless today. The catrina of today is very different than Jose Posada and Diego Rivera's catrinas. 

Below are some photos I took from some Dia de los Muertos events and catrina contests I've attended in Los Angeles, California the last couple of years. Catrinas, Dia de los Muertos is for everyone to honor and celebrate our dearly departed loved ones. I hope you attend a Dia de los Muertos event and enjoy the festivities! I'll soon be posting my most recent catrina look here. I posted an older one of mine below.

FYI my family is from Mexico. We observed All Soul's day and All Saint's day by going to mass at church. We also tended and cared for the graves of our family. We didn't dress up as catrinas growing up. I only got involved in Dia de los Muertos activities in the last 17 years here in Los Angeles, California where I live. I think my first event was Self-Help graphics in 2006 in East LA. 

catrina, day of the dead, dia de los muertos, mexico, diego rivera, mary cummins, jose posada, calavera, garbancera, skull, skeleton, makeup, dress, hat, los angeles, california, catrine

catrina, day of the dead, dia de los muertos, mexico, diego rivera, mary cummins, jose posada, calavera, garbancera, skull, skeleton, makeup, dress, hat, los angeles, california, catrine, maria catrina rivera, maria rivera cummins

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