On Jan. 31, 2026, A small rural community south of Shafter will mark a major milestone this year as residents gather to commemorate 100 years of history, resilience, and advocacy in the Mexican Colony.
La Colonia, a newly formed grassroots organization whose name stands for Community Organized for Leadership, Opportunity, Neighborhood Inclusion and Advancement, will host an event honoring the century-old community and the generations who have called it home.
The Mexican Colony is located about three miles south of Shafter. Dora Hernandez-Jara, a longtime resident and community advocate who serves as president of La Colonia, is the lead organizer of the event. Hernandez-Jara has lived in the Mexican Colony for more than 75 years and has advocated for the community for five decades.
Established around 1927 by displaced Mexican families, the colony became a place where residents built community and support systems despite the limited infrastructure and resources available. Nearly a century later, residents continue to face challenges such as environmental injustice, limited public investment, and a lack of amenities.
Back in 2018, community members, alongside Hernandez-Jara, organized and worked with the county to bring in recreational amenities, and six years later, that was made possible through a new community park. Yet Hernandez-Jara emphasises that what the community needed was left out of this.
“ This past year in October, they finished the park, but there were some amenities, and all those years that we talked on the planning stages, they didn’t include what we needed,” explained Hernandez-Jara.
In the mid-1970s, Hernandez-Jara stated that residents had worked for years with the county to secure sidewalks and a sewer system. Before those improvements, community members relied on their own efforts to establish a water system. She also recalls a time when a company built a cow lot behind the colony, creating unsanitary living conditions.
“I was young at the time, but someone was instrumental in taking the issue to the state or wherever it needed to go,” Hernandez-Jara said. “They ended up ousting the company from here.”
Her involvement on the AB 617 committee has also helped ensure the colony receives funding to address air pollution, pesticide exposure, and fuel contamination. While residents have received evaporative coolers to help mitigate poor air quality, Hernandez-Jara said the fight for clean air and environmental protections continues.
Hernandez-Jara previously worked as an educator at Shafter High School and said she often found herself teaching students about the history of the Mexican Colony — a history many were unaware of.
She hopes the upcoming event will highlight the resilience and determination that have sustained the community for generations.
“I dreamed of having a presentation because my kids grew up here,” she said. “They built a home across the alley from me, and a lot of people don’t know the history. I want our people to come together and understand the richness of our heritage in the colony.”
The event will include a presentation by Deanna Rodriguez-Root and Brandi Root, who will share stories and historical moments that shaped the Mexican Colony. Rodriguez-Root is a longtime Shafter resident whose grandfather, known as “Big John,” founded the colony alongside his wife, Margarita Rodriguez.
The presentation will feature firsthand accounts from multiple generations of residents, along with historical research and studies documenting the community’s legacy.
