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It seems as if Hilda was born to be an activist. Her junior high school teacher tells about how, when he mentioned the Bill of Rights, Hilda would ask why Cesar Chavez was being denied the right to form a union for his farm-workers.
To Hilda and her family, college seemed an impossible dream. But education is the golden door to the American dream, and Hilda found the key. Pell Grants helped bring the impossible dream within reach, and she made the most of it.
She graduated from California Polytechnic University at Pomona, and then earned a master's degree in public administration at USC. She learned the ways of Washington by serving in the White House Office of Hispanic Affairs during the Carter Administration, where she was editor of the first Hispanic newsletter published by the White House.
Back home in Los Angeles in the 1980s, she was soon elected to the Board of Trustees of a local community college. It was here, in the battle to stop the expansion of a local landfill, that she first became active on the issue of environmental justice for the residents of minority communities, and she's been a leader on the issue ever since.
As Hilda once said, "If you flew over my State Senate district, you'd think it was a war zone - the enormous garbage dumps -- the largest landfill west of the Mississippi River -- acre after acre of gigantic rock mining pits -- rocket-fuel additives polluting the ground-water."
When she took a helicopter tour of the vast area, her reaction was intense. Here is what she said: "It was disgusting. I was ashamed at the degradation of the earth, the communities, the landscape."
She dedicated herself to ending that injustice. She didn't hesitate to take on the entire Los Angeles County Sanitation District -- and all 80 local mayors who made it so powerful. And Hilda Solis has turned out to be the irresistible force that makes the immovable object move.
As a member of the California legislature, first in the State Assembly and then as the first Latina in the State Senate, she continued her leadership on environmental justice for low income communities.
Every battle was uphill. On one of her first days in the State Senate, the elevator operator told her to get off. It was reserved for State Senators, and he couldn't believe a Latina could be a Senator.
She also became renowned for her strong support for workers' rights and women's rights. One of her most impressive victories was in raising the state minimum wage to $5.75 an hour. In Congress, we haven't been able to increase the level beyond $5.15 an hour - so I've already asked Hilda to give me a minimum wage lesson.
As you all probably know, Hilda's star is continuing to rise. She's just won a landslide victory in the California primary for nomination for the U.S. House of Representatives to serve her local Congressional district -- and she's certain to be elected this fall. I just wish she were in Congress already -- we'd have been more successful this year in raising the federal minimum wage to a fair level.
As Shakespeare said, "All the world's a stage." And I know that Hilda will be a star on this new stage in her life and career of public service.
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