Out of the “lemons” handed to Mexican American workers in Corona, California--low pay, segregated schooling, inadequate housing, and racial discrimination--Mexican men and women made “lemonade” by transforming leisure spaces such as baseball games, parades, festivals, and churches into politicized spaces where workers voiced their grievances, debated strategies for advancement, and built solidarity. Using oral history interviews, extensive citrus company records, and his own experiences in Corona, Jos? Alamillo argues that Mexican Americans helped lay the groundwork for civil rights struggles and electoral campaigns in the post-World War II era.
Contents Acknowledgments Introduction Part One 1. Lemon Capital of the World 2. Red, White, and Greening of Corona Part Two 3. Boozing and Bootlegging 4. "We Depended on Each Other for Entertainment" 5. Play Pelota! Part Three 6. Bitter Lem
