while living in san jose during the 1960's and 70's, mendoza witnessed the increasing tensions between anglo-american and mexican american residents of the city. in 1967, she worked to address cases of discrimination faced by mexican american students at roosevelt junior high school, the same school that her own children attended. there were claims that white teachers and students in the school were calling african american and mexican american students derogatory names. parents also claimed there were incidents in which the students were singled out and punished physically by the teachers, or they were being expelled for minor violations. other mexican american students also claimed they were denied of proper textbooks because teachers said they were not responsible enough to take care of them. in response to the accusations, mendoza began interviewing several parents of mexican american students and documented what they said about how their children were being treated at roosevelt junior high school. mendoza took the parents' grievances to the school's parent teacher association (pta). because she felt not enough was being done by the pta to address the parents' concerns, mendoza helped organize a school walkout. roosevelt faculty members jose carrasco and consuelo rodriguez helped mendoza organize the walkout. on april 29,1968, students from roosevelt junior high school walked out of classes during school hours and walked the streets of san jose, making this one of the first documented walkouts by mexican american students. shortly after the walk out, the students held a rally at school, leading to the principal, vice-principal, and several other faculty members being fired from the school.