Maria E. Ramirez, of Chicana, Puerto Rican, and Apache heritage, was a 1960s student activist fighting for racial justice in higher education. After joining Los Siete in San Francisco through her UCB prison project work, she left college for full-time community activism. In 1972, she became one of the first Chicanas to visit China. Later returning to Union City, she earned her master's degree and has served as a community college counselor for over 25 years while developing her storytelling show "Chicana Herstory." She continues fighting gentrification and pollution as co-founder of Families United for Equity, advocating for the developmentally disabled.