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H. Tomàs Padilla
Hector Tomàs Padilla served as the first Latino city commissioner of Pontiac, Michigan. During his tenure from 1975 to 1983, he was the only Latino commissioner of the city. He risked his life during the school bus bombings on 31 August 1971. He suffered a heart attack at age 48. His legacy was the impetus behind the formation of the Pontiac Hispanic History Preservation Project. Early life Padilla was born in Puerto Rico and moved to Pontiac in 1953. He secured a job delivering mail for the school district of the city of Pontiac. During this time there was a bombing 10 school buses by the Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to KKK or Klan, is an American Protestant-led Christian terrorism, Christian extremist, white supremacist, Right-wing terrorism, far-right hate group. It was founded in 1865 during Reconstruction era, ... during which he and seven others (Loren Spangler, Mordica J. Barefoot, W. K. Skelton, Wilbur Johnson, George Jones, Charles Spa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Latino (demonym)
''Latino'' ( masculine) and ''Latina'' ( feminine) as a noun refer to people living in the United States who have cultural ties to Latin America. As an adjective, the terms refer to things as having ties with Latin America. The term ''Hispanic'' usually includes Spaniards, whereas ''Latino'' as a noun often does not. ''Latino/Latina'' may include Brazilians, Spaniards and sometimes even some European romanophones such as Portuguese (a usage sometimes found in bilingual subgroups within the U.S., borrowing from how the word is defined in Spanish), but ''Hispanic'' does not include any of those other than Spaniards. Usage of the term is mostly limited to the United States and Canada. Latin American countries usually refer to themselves by national origin, rarely as ''Latino'' because the whole continent does not have a cohesive national identity like in the United States. Because of this, many Latin American scholars, journalists, and Indigenous-rights organizations have obje ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
City Commission Government
City commission government is a form of local government in the United States. In a city commission government, voters elect a small commission, typically of five to seven members, typically on a plurality-at-large voting basis. These commissioners constitute the legislative body of the city and, as a group, are responsible for taxation, appropriations, ordinances, and other general functions. Individual commissioners are also assigned executive responsibility for a specific aspect of municipal affairs, such as public works, finance, or public safety. This form of government thus blends legislative branch, legislative and executive branch functions in the same body. One commissioner may be designated to function as mayor, but this largely is an honorific or ceremonial designation. The mayor principally serves as chairman or president of the commission, presiding over meetings, but typically does not have additional powers over and above the other commissioners. In many cases, the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pontiac, MI
Pontiac ( ') is a city in and the county seat of Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. Located roughly northwest of downtown Detroit, Pontiac is part of the Detroit metropolitan area, and is variously described as a satellite city or suburb of Detroit. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 61,606. Founded in 1818, Pontiac was the second European-American organized settlement in Michigan near Detroit, after Dearborn. It was named after Pontiac, a war chief of the Ottawa Tribe, who occupied the area before the European settlers. The city was best known for its General Motors automobile manufacturing plants of the 20th century, which were the basis of its economy and contributed to the wealth of the region. These included Fisher Body, Pontiac East Assembly (a.k.a. Truck & Coach/Bus), which manufactured GMC products, and the Pontiac Motor Division. In the city's heyday, it was the site of the primary automobile assembly plant for the production of the famed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
