Hada Matías was born in Dover, New Jersey and grew up in Elgin, Illinois. In this interview, she examines her family’s Puerto Rican heritage and her own racial identity. She shares insights into her childhood and her growth as a trans woman and a human being. She also explains the challenges and joys of being trans in the United States today.
San Luis Potosí, 1958
Ramon Angel Campos was born in San Luis Potosí, Mexico in 1942. As a young man, he traveled across Mexico and Central America as part of several musical groups. He regularly performed comedy and impressions under the stage name “Quello El Bello.” In the 1950s and 60s, Campos rubbed elbows with illustrious actors and musicians of Mexico’s world famous Golden Age of Cinema — La Época del Oro del Cine Mexicano — such as Agustín Insunza, Libertad Lamarque, and Manuel Medel.
Ramon Angel Campos came to the Chicago area in the mid-1960s and has resided here ever since. In 1978, he started Radio Fiesta, Elgin’s first Spanish-language radio program, and was its host for more than twenty years. Over many decades, he organized dances, parties, and musical performances across Chicagolandia, the state of Illinois, and the United States.
In this Spanish-language clip, Campos talks about establishing his first musical group as a 12 year-old boy. He also shares how he developed his impressions of performers like Cantinflas while sitting in the balconies of Mexican theaters.
Tony Figueroa describes his parents’ lives in Puerto Rico and their arrival to Waukegan, Illinois in the 1940s. The Figueroas were among the earliest Puerto Rican migrants to the Chicago area.
Tony Figueroa describes his father’s experience working in foundries in Waukegan. He remembers the vibrant African American neighborhood where he and many other Puerto Ricans lived.
Tony Figueroa describes the founding of the Puerto Rican Society in the 1950s and its development into one of Waukegan’s most important organizations under the leadership of Edwin Montano and others.
