This multi-generational family portrait of my grandmother, her five children and three grandchildren, was inspired by my mother’s recollections of my grandmother’s work in a California cannery during the 1940s and explores themes of labor, resilience, and discrimination. The title holds both personal and cultural significance, referencing the significance of brown skin in this history and the song Piel Canela by Eydie Gormé and Trio Los Panchos—a song my mom used to sing to me when I was a child.

When I read historian Vicki L. Ruiz’s Cannery Women, Cannery Lives, it was eye-opening to learn that women with brown skin were prohibited from handling fruit during its final packing stage due to public image concerns held by the canning company. The history recounted in the book echoed stories I had heard from my mother growing up, prompting me to ask her to write down her memories of my grandmother’s experiences to contribute to this historical record.

Despite the challenges of ethnic discrimination and inequality, Mexican women like my grandmother—alongside other women of color—formed tight-knit communities, shared gender-specific concerns, and played a vital role in labor activism and unionization efforts. The anti-immigrant sentiment and labor struggles of that era continue to resonate in today’s conversations about race, immigration, and workers’ rights.

To read my mom's history, click here.

To hear Piel Canela, click here.

____________________

Herrera, Esther. My Mother’s Work in the Cannery, 2024

Ruiz, Vicki L. Cannery Women Cannery Lives: Mexican women, unionization, and the California Food Processing Industry 1930-1950. Albuquerque, University of New Mexico Press, 1987.