- According to the latest census, the Hispanic community is the fastest growing population sector in the US.

Unfortunately, they are underrepresented in most areas of government.

While Hispanic people make up 19% of the US population, the House of Representatives is only 9% Hispanic, yet there are so many trailblazing Hispanic leaders both past and present who have shaped our country and our culture.

Let's take a look at a few of those pioneering Americans.

(bright music) Sonia Sotomayor was born in New York City to immigrant parents from Puerto Rico.

She didn't learn to speak English until she was seven years old, but knew by age 10 she wanted to be a lawyer and a judge.

Appointed by Barack Obama in 2009, she became the first woman of color, first Hispanic, and first Latina to serve on the US Supreme Court.

Cesar Chavez grew up during the Great Depression and had to drop out of school in the eighth grade to work the fields and support his family.

Because of his firsthand experience in agriculture's harsh conditions, he used his life savings to create the Farm Workers Association in 1962.

This union represented the rights of farm workers who were not protected by minimum wage loss, and often made only 40 cents per hour.

Throughout his life, he fought for workers' rights to fair pay, safe conditions, and the right to organize.

In 1988, at the age of 61, he even went on a 36 day hunger strike to draw attention to the dangers of pesticides to farm workers.

(bright music) As a third grader, Sylvia Mendez attended school in Westminster, California.

Sylvia's parents wanted her to attend the nearby 17th Street Elementary School, but she was denied admission because her skin was too dark.

In the breakthrough 1947 case, Mendez versus Westminster, Sylvia's parents won a lawsuit that desegregated all schools in California.

This case was the first of its kind in the country and opened the door for the critical 1954 Brown versus Board of Education Supreme Court Decision that led to the desegregation of schools nationwide.

Hispanic Americans have helped shape our country, and with more and more diversity in US leadership, there is no doubt the Hispanic community will continue to make a difference for generations to come.

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