How long has Graciela Sánchez been standing up for the poor and marginalized in San Antonio? How long has she been advocating for women’s rights? For voting rights? For empowering people whom our city, state and national leaders often try to cast aside? Longer than most of us, and longer than many of us have been alive. From her work with MALDEF and the Southwest Voter Registration Project in her early career to her co-founding of the Esperanza Peace & Justice Center, Sánchez deserves recognition for being a constant and vital voice in making San Antonio a more just, equitable and vibrant place.

U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro lived in the shadow of his twin brother, former San Antonio Mayor and Obama White House Housing Chief Julian Castro, for part of his political career. Not anymore. As former head of the House Hispanic Caucus, Joaquin Castro has grown into a significant voice in advocating for Latinx media representation, and he’s emerged as one of the most outspoken and visible critics of Trump’s inhumane immigration policies, having successfully fought for the release of 5-year-old Minneapolis boy Liam Conejo Ramos and others swept up in the cruelty.